The Red Dragon Lord is OP, but Insists on a Pop Culture Invasion!

All sorts of theories existed: that they were lovers, that he was her mentor, that she was his prey, or his plaything. Each side clung to their own interpretation, arguing endlessly online.

Starling herself offered no definitive answer, because she didn't know either.

According to Zog, it was best to just let them argue. 'A thousand viewers will see a thousand different relationships between the main characters.'

Starling thought his words made a lot of sense.

In the original *Silence of the Lambs* novel, love had indeed blossomed between Starling and Hannibal. The film, however, wasn't as direct, leaving much more room for interpretation.

Zog himself disliked the original's romantic angle, feeling it cheapened the story.

So, he followed the film's lead, deciding to just let people debate.

Aside from Starling being bombarded with all sorts of strange questions, the public also turned their attention to the other Devils.

They were living, breathing Devils! No one had ever seen one before.

What's more, they looked so... "devilish." They weren't like Miss Starling, whom you'd never guess was a Devil unless she admitted it herself.

For these old swindlers, it was the first time in their demonic lives that they had encountered Humans who were so utterly unguarded.

First, the Humans started asking all sorts of questions. Then, they started to take liberties.

"Can I touch your big horns?"

And so, the Devils were subjected to a barrage of groping.

It made their professional instincts flare up. 'Such defenseless people,' they thought. 'It'd be a shame not to swindle them out of something.'

Fortunately, Asmodis kept the bigger picture in mind. He gave the Devils a "thoughtful" warning.

Anyone who went back to their old ways could forget about leaving with their body intact.

The public open house was an unexpected success. The Devils and the people of Twin Tower City were getting along harmoniously. Moreover, the public was obsessed with the nature of Starling and Hannibal's relationship, with the "love story" camp being particularly large. Seeing all this, Zog couldn't help but cook up a new hot topic.

'Why not create a love story between a Devil and a Human? A novel and a Magic Vision Drama, a two-pronged approach.'

A soap opera, the kind that runs for a hundred-plus episodes. It would be a great way to cash in on the romance-obsessed market.

Maybe one day in the future, audiences would get sick of having romance subplots shoehorned into every genre.

But for now, the romance genre just worked.

In reality, love between a Devil and a Human is almost impossible.

It wasn't like with Elves and Dwarves, races much closer to Humans, who shared similar aesthetic standards.

In a Devil's eyes, Humans didn't even have horns. Their bodies were smooth and slippery, like fleshy worms. Plus, they were reproductively incompatible.

Not that a fetish for fleshy worms was out of the question—after all, when it comes to kinks, anything goes—but that was far too niche.

The public open house also had many follow-up activities, like weapon and equipment experiences, crime scene reenactments, and so on.

But Zog and Asmodis didn't participate in these.

They went to another place.

The grounds for the new expo.

This year's expo was more professional. Instead of having event zones scattered across the city, it was now centralized within a single campus.

Each country or organization could build its own pavilion in a designated area, and those with insufficient funds could choose to use a public pavilion.

Within these custom-built pavilions, they had complete creative freedom in design. The exhibits were no longer limited to just merchandise, either; they could promote their unique cultures or anything else they wished.

The organizers also planned to further expand the expo's influence by rotating host cities across the Continent for future events, rather than keeping it permanently in Twin Tower City.

Asmodis was fighting for this opportunity for Hell.

Zog had initially wanted to secure a hosting spot for Deepwater City as well. But after some thought, he decided his territory wouldn't be short on exposure in the future. Besides, these events were usually just about losing money to make a name for yourself. He abandoned the idea. It was better to just piggyback off someone else's event and use their space to advertise.

And so, Zog and Asmodis, birds of a foul feather—no, that is, like-minded individuals—decided to put together a Nine Hells of Bator pavilion at this year's expo.

According to Asmodis's idea, the pavilion should be designed just like the real Nine Prisons of Bator, with a total of nine floors connected by the Nether River.

And it had to be big. No, it had to be *huge*. It absolutely had to be the largest pavilion on the entire campus.

An excellent idea. One that would make his Gold Coin balance spin.

Zog didn't mind, though. It wasn't his money, after all. Asmodis, who didn't have deep pockets but insisted on acting like a tycoon, was footing the bill.

Zog only rented a part of the venue.

Unlike last time, where Zog Group had a huge pile of products to release, this time Zog didn't have many projects to promote—only a few, but they were all "big-ticket items."

In terms of games, he was preparing to release a spin-off of *Red Alert*, *Yuri's Revenge*.

The plot would shift from a great war between the Devils and the Human Alliance Army to them joining forces against an evil Great Demon named Yuri.

Yes, the Great Demon Yuri.

Given that the Devils were now cooperating with Humans, it was no longer appropriate for a Devil to be the main villain.

The Demons could be the scapegoats.

Yuri's new backstory was that he was a Demon mole who had infiltrated the Devils. He had instigated the war between the Devils and Humans so that the Demons could swoop in and reap the benefits.

He had also mastered an incomparably evil technology: Mind Control!

Strictly speaking, *Yuri's Revenge* should be considered an expansion pack for *Red Alert*.

In the history of Earth's game development, the expansion pack was a concept that was gradually phased out, becoming a part of DLC (downloadable content).

Because early games were sold mainly as physical copies, the purchased expansion packs were also physical discs and could be run standalone.

Later, as the internet became more developed, large expansion packs could also be downloaded directly, and thus there was no difference from DLC.

Damn it! The "DLCs" back then could actually be played without the base game!

In terms of industrial products, Zog Group's most important product for this expo was the automobile.

Benz's automobile would be revealed to the world on the highly anticipated platform of the expo.

Handmade Magic-guided Vehicles had always been a regular at the expo. These high-tech, top-tier luxury items, although having few customers, had always been the cream of the crop.

According to tradition, those Magic-guided Vehicle workshops would also hold a racing competition at the expo.

Zog's plan was to have Benz's car participate in the race as well, using just the most Ordinary, mass-produced model.

Benz wasn't very confident about this. He believed the performance of a mass-produced car stood no chance of winning against the finely tuned Magic-guided Vehicles on the track.

But Zog's reply was, "Just don't lose too badly. We aren't planning to beat them on performance anyway."

He had already conceded that the car couldn't win.

This left Benz feeling sullen. He felt that if he designed a dedicated race car, he could go head-to-head with those precious Magic-guided Vehicles.

He might not be guaranteed a win, but at least he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

Moreover, in past years, the vehicle promotional events were held right after the race. The cars would come straight off the track and onto the stage for advertising. The principle was simple: the winner got the most orders.

The other workshops could only fight for the scraps left over by the winner.

'If the car performs poorly on the track, what will we do if no one places an order?'

But Zog refused again, telling Benz to just wait. He would soon experience the joy of playing the underdog to devour the champion.

Besides the game and the car, Zog also brought a miniature model of Deepwater City, mainly to showcase its public transportation system.

This wasn't for sale; even if they sold it, other cities wouldn't be able to build it. It was just to show off how advanced Deepwater City was.

There was also the Magic Power supply system. This one he really intended to sell.

The basic version's power supply wasn't high, but it could at least support traffic lights and streetlights.

There was also a promotional video for Deepwater City, meant for talent recruitment.

The promotional slogan was, "No matter who you are, in this magical land, as long as you work tirelessly, you can achieve a better life."

In short, the "Deepwater Dream."

Beyond all that, he also brought a simplified version of a new-concept game. The full experience, he claimed, was only available in Deepwater City's scenic area and was absolutely unique, offering unparalleled immersion and realism by allowing players to participate in person.

A live-action *Doomsday Warrior* demo.

Zog believed this would definitely be the most popular interactive exhibit at the expo.

The physical demo stage was built, weapons and equipment were ready—everything was in place, save for the actors.

The actors who would get beaten up.

Zog took Asmodis for a stroll around the demo stage area.

"It looks pretty good, but what's it for?" Asmodis asked, confused.

"Ahem, let's not worry about what it's for just yet. I hear that even if a Devil is smashed to pieces on the Main Plane, they don't die, they just resurrect in Hell, right?"

"That's right."

"So, in Hell, are there any Devils who wouldn't mind being smashed to pieces several times a day? The pay is very generous."