Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 118 Battlefield of the Times

"It's already dark."

On the skull of the Frostfire King, Loren finally emerged from his meditative state and slowly opened his eyes.

Outside the Lava Heart arena, below lies a completely dark zoo, while a crescent moon hangs diagonally above.

"This time it really took a long time, but it was still somewhat useful."

With clear eyes, the little red dragon naturally began to examine its own condition.

Unlike the state of his mind when he first started meditating at noon, which was filled with distracting thoughts, he was finally able to integrate and adjust his thoughts after this meditation.

"I was probably too impatient before. Perhaps it was because my body was growing but I had nowhere to exert my energy, and this growth process caused a special kind of anxiety..."

"What should this be called, the restlessness of adolescence?"

Loren chuckled self-deprecatingly and raised his dragon wings high.

"Let's go back to our room and sleep. After all, we're still growing."

After the magical cleansing that afternoon, the energy in his body was once again abundant, which meant that he could grow a little larger again, though not as much as last time. However, this would bring a new balance between his soul and body.

Loren returned to the skull of the Frostfire King, found a good spot, lay down, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep, no longer paying attention to the storms and disturbances outside.

Meanwhile, on the Magic Crystal Network, discussions about the little red dragon were in full swing.

The contrast Loren created today has, well, made his online meme collection even richer.

Some people have put together the image of the Red Dragon during its sparkler performance with the chibi version of the character introduced by the Green Leaf Rare Animals Zoo, adding the labels "real object" and "performance" to the images respectively.

The phrase "You can mess around and make a fuss, but you can't actually be bad" was also used in Loren's new image.

Sisos and Lyra took advantage of this time to release the album's trailer.

The trailer, accompanied by melodious music and a powerful image of a dark red dragon emerging from a snow-covered mountain amidst cold winds and snow, along with the two already having a large and active fanbase, quickly gained popularity. Combined with Loren's performance today, the hype reached new heights.

Everything was going well, and then, unsurprisingly, the story took an unexpected turn.

In a basement in a city far from Greenleaf City, the Shifting Ones gathered together, their brows furrowed as they watched the Little Red Dragon's popularity soar.

"If we let him continue like this, he'll become a star creature in the Federation sooner or later."

"With a constant stream of revenue, the conditions we could offer at that time were no longer attractive enough."

“In today’s Federation, as long as you can afford it, you’ll never have to worry about people doing things for you.”

"How about we find some shady forces on the Magic Crystal Network to smear him?"

A subordinate made a suggestion.

"No, minor smear campaigns are completely meaningless. Our goal is to show the world the harm caused by the immortals, not to mention that what they possess is also very important..."

The local official shook his head, then offered his own thoughts.

"To destroy someone, you must first make them arrogant..."

"Now is a good opportunity. Let's give it a push, attract traffic, and expand its circle. The reputation of this red dragon is still expanding among young people, and these people will not listen to us."

"But those working adults, especially those who deal with real dragons in their jobs, won't side with him just because of a few memes."

The supervisor made up his mind, and many people below nodded in agreement.

In the higher-end industries of various cities in the Federation, there are often those dragons who collect money without working, occasionally coming out to troubleshoot problems. They are arrogant, lazy, and sleep all day, yet they receive much higher wages than these people. Their work is easy and no one dares to mess with them.

Especially the red dragon, even if its job is just to act as a mascot, it will always suddenly jump out and interfere with the work you're doing, which is quite troublesome.

These people are also involved in Magic Crystal Network, but the generation gap between different age groups means that most of them may not know that a young red dragon has suddenly become an internet celebrity star without any works, only live broadcast clips and memes.

These rich people, this wealthy superior race, actually want to get involved in this kind of field, and in such a forced and awkward way, they don't even need any works, just a few pictures and memes?
It’s so shameless!
"Once he falls from the mountaintop and is in a state of dejection, we can take advantage of his weakness and break through the psychological defenses of this cautious red dragon. Then the bait we threw out earlier will not have been wasted."

The supervisor then forwarded his request to the superiors of the "Fleeting Ones" group, and received approval quickly:
"Yes, I've already instructed someone to do it."

In these respects, the Transcendent Ones are extremely efficient.

After all, before becoming a cultist, a significant portion of them worked in mid-level positions in large companies. It was because the immortals held their positions due to their long lifespan and could not get promoted that they were attracted to the ideas of the Transcendent Ones.

There's no need for online trolls; simply by connecting believers with hidden believers, they can make a significant impact on the Magic Crystal Network.

Does the Cuiye City Rare Animal Zoo's significant investment of public resources in promoting a red dragon constitute an abuse of government funding?

If even these opportunities for ordinary people to rise up are seized by the superior race, where will the path to equality for all races lead?

As the story spread and reached the ears of some middle-aged people who had come into contact with the Five-Colored Dragon, several "powerful articles" were written, expounding their views in a detailed style and with a compassionate tone:
I'm not targeting this particular dragon that's gone viral; I just feel that if this phenomenon becomes widespread, it's unfair and could easily lead to problems.

Even before the little red dragon, no intelligent creature had ever gone down the path of performing in zoos. Many druid-run zoos were driven out of business by those who sided with the devil. Even though this was just the beginning, the problem he mentioned didn't exist...

But I meant well.

I'm worried about you guys.

These powerful articles stirred the emotions of readers and spread anxiety. Furthermore, a significant portion of those drawn to the circle of the "Eternal Life" individuals had previously suffered at the hands of these immortal beings, and, moved by their experiences, many began to share their own stories.
"A red dragon that doesn't stay in its lair counting its treasures is out here becoming an internet celebrity? I think it's just bored!"

"We only see our Blue Dragon consultant a few times a year, and every time he comes, he wants to revise the plan and double the budget!"

"Exactly! What do these immortal beings know about the hardships of ordinary people? Their amateur performances consume countless human and material resources, and in the end, all the money goes into their own pockets!"

"Hehe, the higher you're praised now, the harder you'll fall in the future. A dragon is a dragon, arrogance and ego are ingrained in its bones, and it will eventually reveal its true colors."

These remarks, imbued with strong personal emotions, stand in sharp contrast to the tone that young netizens find fun and cool.

Following this, some goblin-themed marketing accounts jumped in, using increasingly sensational headlines:

From gimmicky antics to artistic mastery: A meticulously planned traffic scam?

Beware! The cultural invasion behind the Red Dragon craze: What values ​​are influencing our children?

……

Malice was carefully packaged as doubt and concern, and precisely targeted through push notifications to groups that already harbored reservations about dragons or had an instinctive aversion to the rapidly rising internet phenomenon. Discordant voices began to emerge under the Little Red Dragon's videos. The once harmonious comment section gradually became filled with sarcastic mockery and direct accusations.

"The performance was good, but the thought of a red dragon trying to attract attention made it feel off."

"You've made so much money, how much tax have you paid? Why don't you donate some to charity?"

"I hope you stay this spark forever, and don't lose your temper one day and set the zoo on fire."

……

Loren was completely unaware of these comments; he was fast asleep at the moment.

But Anna, a junior civil servant in the Publicity Department of Cuiye City, who had just finished writing a publicity article after staying up all night and was about to upload it, couldn't sit still any longer.

I just finished writing the promotional material for the little red dragon!
She took out her magic crystal terminal and made a contact call to her boss.

"Boss, someone's stirring up trouble again!"

……

The following morning, Loren awoke from his deep sleep.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt the difference in his body.

The view seemed higher, and the surrounding rock walls appeared closer than yesterday. He looked down at his claws; the scales were wider, the dark red patterns resembling flowing lava, and his size had indeed increased slightly, exuding a stronger aura.

"Hmm, that feels better now."

Loren stretched comfortably, his bones making a soft crackling sound.

The restlessness caused by overactive thinking has subsided, and the body and soul have once again achieved a harmonious balance.

He took out the Hundred-Day Cream and used his mage's hand to apply it to the dragon scales for maintenance. At the same time, he opened the magic crystal terminal to check the news and see what had happened recently.

However, when Loren opened it, he was taken aback by the pile of unread messages.

Something interesting must have happened last night.

Loren laughed and began checking the messages.

First, there was the Eternal Club of the Fleeting Ones. While receiving the red envelopes from the other party who had helped him gather supplies, Loren pieced together the events by looking at the comforting messages they sent, finding it increasingly amusing.

"I've only been in the industry for a few days. Although I don't know the specifics yet, aren't you guys being a bit too hasty in your actions and offering comfort?"

Loren scoffed. How was this any different from the first time he fooled Maurice?
The more eager and fierce the attack, the more it reveals one's lack of confidence.

"Interesting. If I were really just a young dragon, I might have been fooled by you bunch of bastards."

Seeing that he had received all the red envelopes, Loren opened another message and filled in the whole story from Morris and old Aaron.

"They've resorted to such tricks? That's really underhanded."

Loren, having fully understood the situation, was not angry; instead, he laughed.

He lamented that the world's development was converging on the same path, and with the retreat of the two great cesspools of demons and devils, the entertainment industry, this cesspool, was indeed about to enter an era of rampant chaos.

"Even public intellectuals who can worry about everything have emerged. How interesting, truly interesting."

The little red dragon laughed, a wild and happy laugh.

When the druids' zoo was squeezed out and went bankrupt, why didn't you all come out and say it was unfair?
When the demons were putting on all sorts of gruesome performances to grab attention, why didn't you speak up and say it was unfair?

When these devils used all sorts of vulgar, emotionally manipulative storylines to provoke the audience, why didn't you all come out and complain about the unfairness?
Now I'm just a little red dragon, relying on performances, putting in effort to play magic and sell merchandise, and you're jumping out to say it's unfair?

Do you think I, Honglong, am a good person who can be held at gunpoint?

Loren opened his old part-time job chat group, copied the addresses of the first few articles, and started posting tasks in it.

"Help me collect some unknown dirt on these idiots, and the price is negotiable."

"No problem, I took it."

"Watch out, next up is the technology."

Loren quickly received a response, but what almost made him lose his composure was that the guy who sent "Next up is technology" sent a new meme, one that he himself had made after his performance yesterday.

"There's a high chance there's another one, which probably says something funny is coming up..."

Loren thought about it and started searching for pictures on the Magic Crystal website. Sure enough, he found the corresponding ones, and at the same time, he also saw a lot of embarrassing pictures of himself.

"It's really fast to do."

Loren opened the comments section, where a fierce battle of words was raging between the two sides. Because these people had started the conflict spontaneously and were often angered by the immortal race, they were incredibly powerful. Of course, the people who made memes of Loren were equally formidable.

Watching a TV series requires preaching, watching a movie requires preaching, watching a funny video requires preaching. Everything can be turned into those weird things. Is that interesting?

This is Magic Crystal Network, and I'm here to have some fun!
Can't we simply have some happy and relaxing time?
The gap between the two generations was vividly displayed at this moment, but this was just the beginning.

As the devils and demons retreat, their former positions will be filled by new forces. After a brief period of peace, these new forces will engage in endless battles for market share, with public opinion battlefields like this one starting again and again.

"An era of change..."

Loren sighed, increasingly feeling the surging tide of this era. It was astonishing that a red dragon of his age could accomplish so much.

We're so awesome!

Loren was getting happier, but then he remembered that a portion of the main customers for his toys seemed to be children, and that most of the money for children came from their parents, so he started to feel a little uneasy.

"Damn it, how dare they touch our money!"

Little Red Dragon got angry. "If we don't tear off the hypocritical masks of you old Deng, how will we get along in the future?"
"Hey guys, I've found something juicy. There's this writer in our city who can make a lot of money. He's using a fake identity right now, and he's most likely a wanted fugitive!"

The group chat suddenly became lively.

The bounty for the dirt that Loren had prepared suddenly seemed less appealing; how did opening a box turn out to yield a surprise hidden item?
(End of this chapter)