Chapter 14

Holding the heavy brick phone, Murphy curled his lip.

He had thought Jim was a total hick for using this thing last time; he didn't expect to be carrying one himself now.

Forget it, whenever he has the energy, he'll tidy up the technology in the Muggle world too.

Although he doesn't understand many technological principles, he at least knows the development path of the next thirty years. Making certain technologies appear a little earlier shouldn't be too hard.

For the next few days, Murphy kept tinkering with potions in the basement. He had bought many other materials last time, all of which he turned into various potions.

He planned to launch the next magic potion product as soon as possible.

With only Essence of Dittany, making money was still too slow.

New candidate potions included Blood-Replenishing Potion, Skele-Gro, and Pepperup Potion. These all belonged to healing potions and went well with Dittany.

Moreover, their onset speed was far more powerful than existing Muggle medicines, so they should sell just as well.

However, after Murphy carefully screened them, he chose another potion.

Beauty Potion.

In short, this is a potion that can make people beautiful.

It makes the drinker approach their ideal physique and appearance in every aspect.

The effect is equivalent to a plug-and-play version of plastic surgery, physical Photoshop, and real-life beauty filters.

One can imagine how attractive this thing will be to Muggles anxious about their looks.

And compared to serious medical potions, the beauty industry is far more casual. It requires neither safety reviews nor long clinical trials, and product registration is much easier than for drugs.

It is truly very suitable for immediate monetization.

Even its flaw of not being permanent played right into Murphy's hands.

If a person became permanently beautiful after one bottle, how could he continue to harvest leeks? How could he make money?

At the same time, he felt he should absorb the successful experience of Essence of Dittany, reduce the effective dosage of the Beauty Potion, dilute it with various plant essences, and make it into things like Beauty Potion masks, foundation, moisturizer, essential oils, etc.

Sell the Beauty Potion, which has low output due to rare materials, by the drop.

Does doing this seem very black-hearted?

No, Murphy felt he had much more conscience than those big cosmetic companies that cheat people out of money by randomly making up terms like "repair essence."

At the very least, his magic potions are truly effective.

Having determined the next potion to promote, Murphy came out of the basement, preparing to go to the Muggle world to rest for a few days.

At this moment, an owl landed on the mailbox at the entrance of the old house, dropped a letter in, and then flew away.

Murphy came to the mailbox and reached in to fish around.

He pulled out a few pieces of mail. One or two were replies to his previous job applications, and another was an advertisement for a Quidditch boutique; he didn't know why it was sent here.

The last one, however, was from Yalishi Wood.

The owl just now must have delivered this letter.

Yalishi Wood?

Who?

Murphy was confused for a moment before remembering he had recruited some sort of alchemy sorcerer.

Uh, completely forgot about this.

He opened the letter.

"Dear Mr. Peter Parker:

My Potions in the basic wizard level exams got an A. I am skilled at brewing Soothing Solution, Strengthening Solution, and Fire-Protection Potion. If you can provide a salary of over 70 Galleons per month, I would be happy to work for you."

70 Galleons—this salary level is actually not high; it's not even as good as Murphy's job at the Ministry of Magic.

Look at what this terrible workplace has forced young wizards into.

They don't even dare to write their ideal salary higher.

Murphy replied immediately, "I'll give you 60 Galleons a month. Bring your potion equipment, and come to the address below at 10 AM tomorrow. Let me see your skills."

Hmph, asking me for 70 Galleons, you're spoiled.

The next morning, Murphy arrived at the address written in the reply to Wood.

This was a Muggle farm on the outskirts of London, which Murphy had bought two days ago.

At this time, Yalishi Wood was already waiting in front of the barn. His clothes were neither fitting nor matching; he wore leather boots on his feet and a top hat on his head, dressed like a crazy beggar.

But this is standard operating procedure for wizards, so Murphy wasn't surprised.

He opened the barn door and let Yalishi in.

"I need you to brew a Beauty Potion. Do you know what the materials are?"

"Beau, Beauty Potion?" Yalishi was a bit nervous. He thought the other party wanted him to brew weed killer, Doxy spray, or something similar; Beauty Potion was not his specialty.

But since he was already here, he tried hard to recall the potion techniques he had learned. "Lady's Mantle, Fairy wings, flower petals, ginger root powder... and... unicorn horn powder..."

"Unicorn hair, not horn powder, but the rest is about right," Murphy said. He didn't make things difficult for him and directly placed a paper with the formula and production steps written on it in front of Yalishi.

"Follow this. If you can make it, you pass."

He is recruiting a wizard assistant, not giving an exam. Since there is a formula, there is no need to force someone to memorize it. He even prepared the potion materials for him.

"Oh, oh, okay!" Yalishi let out a huge sigh of relief.

He set up a folding cauldron, skillfully used his wand to start a fire, made the cauldron float above the flames, and then carefully operated according to the steps.

Half an hour later, Murphy glanced at the purple solution in the pot and scooped out a test tube's worth.

"How do you think you did?"

"Should... be successful, right?" Yalishi said uncertainly.

Murphy handed over the test tube. "Drink it and try."

Yalishi hesitated for a while, reviewed his production steps repeatedly, and after confirming it was unlikely to be poison, gritted his teeth, took the test tube, and downed it in one gulp.

Soon, the potion took effect.

The freckles on Yalishi's face gradually faded, his round cheeks visibly thinned out, becoming angular. His flat, bulbous nose stood up, his puffy eyes were elongated, his eye sockets sank, and his brow bones protruded, as if a carving knife were rapidly cutting and sketching on Yalishi's face.

A moment later, a handsome man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and deep eyes stood in front of Murphy.

The appearance could not be said to be exactly the same as before; it could only be said to be completely unrelated.

Except for the overall layout of the facial features, almost no traces of the original Yalishi could be seen.

To transform a random passerby into a handsome man who could be on a magazine cover in under half a minute.

Beauty Potion, terrifying indeed!

Murphy lifted Yalishi's shirt to examine his well-proportioned figure, which had turned into an eight-pack, and couldn't help but nod. "I didn't expect you to have such talent for this potion."

Yalishi scratched the back of his head. "Hehe, I didn't expect the effect to be this good either."

Tsk.

This guy was in rags, looking like a beggar before; now, worn on his body, it actually had a bit of uninhibited style.

That shy smile could only be described as sleazy, greasy, humble, and pathetic before. But on this handsome face now, it became shy, cute, sunny, and handsome.

It really is damn "looks are justice"!

Unfortunately, this potion is of no use to him.

After all, there is nothing left to improve on his own face.

"You pass." Murphy patted Yalishi on the shoulder and said, taking a bag off his waist.

"Now let's talk about your work."

(End of chapter)