Chapter 80: Chapter 80: A Valuable Group Project

On Shudian Island, there was a grassy field with no buildings.

From amidst the half-person-high grass, an agile figure shot out like a bolt of lightning.

It was a cheetah.

Its lean limbs drew a beautiful arc in the air as it pursued its prey.

A gazelle, or a wildebeest?

No, it was neither. Several hundred meters ahead of the cheetah, a woman in a white dress was fleeing in a panic, a bottle clutched in her hand.

"Why are you chasing me?"

"I want to drink Snow King milk tea!" War Axe roared into the input of a recording spell, his voice deep and muffled.

"Cut!" shouted Zog, who was wearing a sun hat.

Even a Red Dragon was afraid of the sun. Don’t be fooled by how dragons of this color were always roaring on top of volcanoes, especially during eruptions. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

In reality, it was all for show, a way to attract female dragons—though the female dragons unanimously agreed the behavior was stupid beyond belief.

Their Dragon Scales wouldn’t burn, but the heat was still uncomfortable, which was why they always sought out cool, shady caves to sleep in.

On such a hot day, Zog had given every member of the commercial’s film crew a Frost Talisman as a high-temperature bonus.

"Director, was that take okay?" the commercial’s leading lady asked as she walked over.

She was also the female lead of *Firepower Young King*, playing the role of Milly.

To make full use of this batch of actors, Zog had created a pile of commercial scripts for them, framing it as the final group project for their acting class.

An excellent businessman never misses an opportunity to profit.

Once the series aired, the actors’ fame was sure to skyrocket.

So, what they were filming now were commercials with future stars, but for zero appearance fees.

"It was a bit better than before, but you still don’t look scared enough. You’re being chased by a predator. You need to be more tense."

"But... I really can’t get scared of it..."

The actress looked awkwardly at the cheetah, which was now lying by her feet, belly up, rubbing its head against her one moment and fervently licking her feet the next.

It was, admittedly, not very frightening.

Zog, of course, used a real cheetah for his commercials. The Beastman Tribe raised many animals for hunting.

However, they were used differently than human-raised animals. These animals were mainly responsible for finding prey; once found, the Beastmen would handle the hunt themselves.

Among them, the cheetah was the shame of the feline family in terms of combat strength, unable to even defeat an Ordinary adult human.

That was why, despite their high hunting success rate, their prey was constantly being stolen.

"How about we switch to something fiercer? You can pick any animal you’re afraid of. We have everything you could want, and if we don’t, we’ll go catch it."

"Uh, maybe we should just shoot another take. I’ll try to find the feeling again," the actress said, looking troubled.

Fortunately, thanks to the talisman, the cheetah’s heat dissipation problem was solved. Otherwise, it really wouldn’t have been able to do many more takes.

"Hey, I’ve got it! Elsa! Stop memorizing fruit trees! I need your Illusion Technique right now."

"Who’s memorizing fruit trees? I’ve learned several new words now!" Elsa retorted, still carrying her textbook everywhere she went.

"And how many is ’several’?"

"F-five."

"Amazing, God Elsa, just amazing."

"What’s that supposed to mean!" Although Elsa didn’t understand what "amazing" meant in this context, her intuition told her Zog was being sarcastic.

"Nothing. Just cast a little fear on her. Not too much fear, but just enough. Basically, make her run in terror, but not so much that she’s psychologically scarred."

Those words sent Elsa right back to her part-time days as an Illusionist in a theater troupe.

It was all too familiar. Even now, she would jolt awake from nightmares about such ambiguous requests.

However, the rest of the shoot went smoothly. The actress ran with genuine terror.

When she was about to be caught, she flailed her arms and legs so wildly that she actually startled the cheetah.

"What kind of fear did you give her?" Zog asked, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

"A very fearful fear."

"What if she’s traumatized? She still has to play Milly."

"It’s fine. I’ll just erase this part of her memory," she said, walking over with her Magic Staff.

"Amazing, God Elsa. This time, I mean it."

"Are we done filming?" the dazed actress asked as she was led back to her dorm to rest.

"All done! You were great. Get some rest!" Zog decided to give her a small bonus—deducted from Elsa’s salary.

She wasn’t short on money these days anyway.

But since this method worked, a very inhumane idea suddenly occurred to him.

’I could just have Furin cast the Illusion Technique. She could cover the whole set by herself. If anyone can’t act out an emotion, we’ll just use the Illusion Technique to give them a little "help."’

’Heh, I really am a wicked, capitalist dragon.’

"Uh, Lord Zog," War Axe said, "War Axe isn’t very smart, but what does a cheetah chasing a woman have to do with milk tea?"

"You can’t figure it out, can you?"

"Nope."

"It’s good that you can’t figure it out. Otherwise, how could I be your boss? Watch and learn."

With his claws behind his back, Zog put on an inscrutable air and sauntered toward the inn.

"Did you figure it out?" War Axe asked the cheetah, which was currently unleashing a flurry of kitty-cat punches on the grass.

The cheetah was confused.

None of the commands it had learned were in the form of a question.

"Hmph. It’s good that you can’t figure it out. Otherwise, how could I be *your* boss..."

In his room at the inn, Zog was adjusting the marketing strategy for tea leaves.

The Druids had already figured out how to produce black tea and oolong tea. Green tea, dark tea, and others hadn’t been developed yet, but they could already start selling what they had.

Furthermore, at Zog’s suggestion, the Druids wrote a paper titled "The Cultivation and Genetics of the ’Tea Leaf’ Shrub’s Characteristics" and sent it to the Research Institute.

It immediately caused a huge sensation, and the Research Institute even awarded the Druids honorary doctorates.

Thus, the marketing angle for the tea was established: "A brand-new super-plant cultivated over many years by the Research Institute’s team of doctors."

What? You ask what’s so "super" about it? Don’t worry about it. It just is.

But they made a huge mistake in the initial promotional campaign.

Zog had initially planned to market tea as a health drink, and it was, in fact, quite healthy.

He wanted to replicate the whole avocado trend.

After all, when it came to the health-conscious middle class, capitalists really knew how to milk them for all they were worth.

A takeout meal with nothing but coarse grain rice, some leafy greens, half an egg, two cherry tomatoes, and a few pieces of chicken breast could be sold for 20 bucks under the banner of a "healthy light meal."

And it would sell quite well, too.

However, he had clearly misjudged the actual situation on the Feilin Continent.

They had just gone through an industrial revolution here. The common folk had only been able to eat their fill for a few years. Who wanted "low-sugar, low-fat, healthy eating"?

In the cities, fatty meat sold for more than lean meat.

As a result, the first wave of tea went completely ignored when it hit the market.

Zog immediately made adjustments, adding heaps of sugar and milk to the tea, along with toppings. They even offered individual toppings and congee.

The marketing angle was changed to: "Developed over many years by the Research Institute’s team of doctors—a high-calorie beverage comparable to a full meal."

With enough sugar added, it wasn’t just comparable; it could easily surpass a full meal.

And one had to admit, sugar water mixed with tea did indeed taste better than plain sugar water.

The new milk tea chain was set to open simultaneously with the airing of the commercial to maximize hype.

As for why the commercial was the way it was...

One could only say its brilliance lay in its incomprehensibility and complete lack of relevance.

Did a cheetah chasing a person have anything to do with Jizhi cough syrup?

But it was precisely because it was so bizarre that everyone remembered Jizhi cough syrup.

For a commercial, having a gimmick makes it a good commercial.

Most of the actors’ group projects were nearing the end of filming. Production on *Firepower Young King* could begin soon.

Now, they were just waiting for one key person.

KNOCK KNOCK, a knock sounded at the door. Elsa spoke from outside, "Craig has arrived on the island."

"Quickly, quickly, go welcome my dearest friend and brother!"