A cheerful symphony began to play, giving the Zog Film Studio opening sequence background music for the first time.

It was the kind of classic tune that so many people would recognize on a primal level.

It was also the only piece of the Tom and Jerry score that Zog himself had suggested.

He felt that an opening sequence without this music would be like a sundae without the cherry on top—the sense of ceremony would be greatly diminished.

All the rest of the music was provided by Kaelan.

The performance was handled by the Zor Orchestra, brought all the way from the Dark Nether Realm. Aside from the one personally conducted by the Spider-Elf Queen, they were the most skilled orchestra around.

When it came to performance, not composition, the Zor Orchestra was a cut above the orchestras of Twin Tower City.

Zog swayed excitedly to the melody.

’I’m about to watch Tom and Jerry. So exciting.’

On the screen projected by the Magic Crystal Stone, the opening sequence ended and the logo for Tom and Jerry appeared.

Xiaomo had never named the cat and mouse he was raising, always just calling them ’cat’ and ’mouse.’ So Zog gave their animated counterparts a pair of simple yet legendary names.

The Tom and Jerry logo was the only part that had been colored in so far, since it could be reused for every episode. The rest of the scenes were still in the line-art stage.

It had been produced as a short film to check the synchronization with the musical score.

The opening sequence ended, and the episode’s title appeared: The Flying Cat.

The production company was listed as Zog Art Film Studio—the new department formed by the 500 Painters.

He hadn’t called it Zog Animation, choosing Zog Art Film Studio instead as a tribute to an art film studio that had filled his childhood with countless wonderful memories, only to fall into decline by the time he grew up.

"You’re this excited just to show me this thing?" Furin asked, a little confused.

"Huh? What else would it be?" Zog replied as if it were obvious.

’Watching animation is all about sharing the fun with someone.’

’Even for the kind of animation you can’t watch with other people, you can still share the fun with strangers online.’

His reply made Furin’s anger flare up. She was so furious she felt like she was breathing sparks.

’Such a turn-off!’

’What a clueless Dragon!’

Just moments ago, Zog had found her, mysteriously telling her he had something ’really interesting’ to show her before pulling her into this room with the curtains drawn tight.

She had even felt a little thrill of anticipation. Though she’d feigned shyness, saying, "But it’s the middle of the day...," she was actually ready to revert to her true form.

And what was it for? To watch something called Tom and Jerry.

What’s so great about a cat and a mouse? As if she didn’t see enough of them back in the wild.

When she was just a small, three-meter-long Dragon, a panicked mouse had scrambled into her ear, leaving her deeply traumatized by the experience.

After learning to take human form, she was shocked to discover that some Humans actually kept mice as pets and even called them cute.

"Just watch," Zog said, full of confidence. "I guarantee you’ll be rolling on the floor laughing."

Even though it wasn’t in color yet, he was confident that seventy or eighty percent of the duo’s charm would still shine through in black and white.

No one can resist this cat and mouse.

Not even an Ancient Golden Dragon with a mind full of lewd thoughts!

Furin watched the screen, where a cat with human-like movements was trying to steal a bird.

The only difference from the Shadows of Evil of the past was that all the images were drawings.

As a Dragon who had spent a thousand years honing her painting skills, the artistry on display was mildly interesting to her, but not by much.

The only thing she found novel was the way expressions and movements were depicted.

She’d lived for ages. What kind of farce hadn’t she seen? What joke hadn’t she heard?

A mere cat trying to steal a bird? How could that possibly make her laugh? Her years of practicing a perfect deadpan in front of others hadn’t been for nothing.

"Really? I doubt it."

Furin said with utter conviction.

「Six minutes later.」

"HAHAHA!"

Furin was roaring with laughter, her left hand slapping Zog’s thigh like a fan. Laughing wasn’t enough to express her joy; she had to hit something to get it all out.

"Hey, hey, go slap your own thigh," Zog said, dodging away in mock disgust. "And you said, ’Really? I doubt it.’"

He theatrically mimicked the confident tone Furin had used just moments before.

Furin, however, wasn’t offended at all and just kept on laughing hysterically.

"The bird gave it a hunk of iron, and the dumb Cat actually took it! HAHAHA..."

Furin was gasping for air.

"And-and it just hung there in the air for a second before it fell!"

She was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. She carefully dabbed them away with the tip of her nail, afraid of smudging her eyeliner.

As an exquisite Golden Dragon, Furin always wore a full face of makeup outside of work. When she was on the clock? Whoever wanted to bother with makeup could go right ahead.

"Why aren’t you laughing?" Furin asked, having finally caught her breath. She looked curiously at the deadpan Zog.

He might have designed the whole thing, but it was still weird that he didn’t even crack a smile while watching it.

’What a strange sense of humor he has.’

’Sometimes, when she looked at her own paintings, she’d still think to herself how good they were.’

"Something’s not right," Zog said.

"’Not right’?" Furin couldn’t imagine what high standards Zog must have for this cartoon.

She couldn’t see a single thing that could be improved in Tom and Jerry. If they released it now, it would instantly become the most popular Shadow of Evil since Zog Film Studio was founded.

The previous Shadows of Evil all had limited audiences; Holy Mountain Journey and Hunting weren’t for kids.

And for older audiences, the two Magic Shadow Dramas that were basically toy commercials and the travel promo felt a bit shallow.

Only this new one was just right. As long as a viewer’s tastes weren’t too eccentric, they would find it entertaining.

If she had to find a flaw, it was that it was too short.

An episode was only seven minutes long, which wasn’t nearly enough. Furin felt that if there were more, she could sit there and watch them all day.

"It’s not a problem with the content," Zog explained. "It’s that being uncolored, it loses a lot of its expressive power."

’The viewing experience is already pretty good,’ Zog thought. ’While it can’t completely compare to the original, capturing eighty to ninety percent of its spirit is a passing grade.’

’The animation is excellent. After the torturous process of constant revisions, the expressions, movements, and the impact of the line work are all top-notch.’

’Kaelan’s score is also a perfect fit. Zog’s own musical taste wasn’t professional, but he had a blueprint to copy from.’

’The resulting score, while very different from the original, is just as packed with comedic effect.’

’There are some minor sync issues between the action and the rhythm—like the pace of a run being slightly off from the music’s tempo—but those are all easy fixes.’

’They wouldn’t even need to re-record. A magic model for audio adjustment had already been developed. While it wasn’t advanced enough to autotune a disastrous live performance into something listenable, as could be done on Earth, it could certainly alter the playback speed.’

"Then just wait until it’s colored," Furin said. She didn’t see what there was to agonize over.

"The problem is that the primary platform for this cartoon is the Magic Vision Device, not the Magic Cinema."

The original was first released as a theatrical short and was very successful, but it reached its widest audience with the spread of television.

However, the problem he faced now was this: the Magic Vision Devices produced by Zog Factory were becoming widespread. Maybe not every household had one, but every neighborhood had at least one family that did.

But they were only black and white. They couldn’t display color at all.

Zog didn’t want the debut of Tom and Jerry in Feilin to have its impact diminished just because it was in black and white.

"I’ve made my decision! Notify Dr. Fabric. He’s to suspend his current research projects. This is a top-priority order: get me a color Magic Vision Device, now!"