Chapter 263

Empress's bedroom.

Sophia looked at the row of open boxes in front of Murphy and was a little stunned.

Ivan, Ras, Sophie, Felipe, Azir...

Now they were all left with only a bloody head.

"You really did it," the Empress seemed still a little unbelievable. "When I learned of Azir's betrayal, I almost thought I was going to lose you."

Murphy also smiled. "My luck is not bad."

The Empress stood in front of those heads for a long time before letting people take them away. "According to the agreement, you can continue to promote your plan on the Muggle government side, and Arkaim will not interfere with any of your actions."

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty," Murphy said. "However, I have one more request."

The Empress stared at him for a while, and a blush rose on her snow-white cheeks. "You say."

Now that the other suitors had either been persuaded by Ivan to withdraw or had been killed, only Murphy himself was left. If he really proposed to her, should I agree or not?

"Before I came, the British Ministry of Magic also entrusted me to bring you a state letter, hoping to establish diplomatic relations with Arkaim. If possible, the Ministry of Magic hopes to develop trade and various interactions and cooperation with Arkaim." Murphy said.

Talking about feelings is too distant, let's talk about business.

"British Ministry of Magic?" The Empress was stunned for a while. "Is this also your intention?"

Murphy nodded. "Your Majesty, you know what I want to do."

"In the future, under the guidance of the Muggle government, Su will comprehensively carry out research on magic technology. This matter will profoundly affect the global wizarding world. It is foreseeable that Su will face huge international pressure in the future. And most of the magic power I can borrow comes from Britain."

"Therefore, in order to resist external pressure in the future, magic cooperation between Su and Britain is necessary and urgent."

"I hope Your Majesty can agree to this request."

Sophia frowned. "Su is Su, Arkaim and the Su Muggle government are two different things. Arkaim has been isolated from the Muggle society for nearly a hundred years and has no intersection with other magical societies. We don't want to participate in international affairs."

"But, Your Majesty, Arkaim is on the land of Su and is the only magical government within Su. No one will look at Su and Arkaim separately. For wizards in other countries, Su is Arkaim, and Arkaim is Su."

Sophia then realized that she seemed to have fallen into Murphy's trap.

Before, she was focused on regaining power and didn't think carefully about what Murphy wanted to do in Su, but now thinking about it, if he wanted to use the Su Muggle government to carry out magic technology research on the land of Su, it would definitely violate the Statute of Secrecy.

When wizards from other countries pursue it, will they let Arkaim go?

"Cough, cough, Mr. Murphy, are you threatening us?" Lady Yaga, who had been standing behind the Empress since just now, finally spoke.

Before, after Murphy freed his hands from the Duke's mansion, he went to the ancestral mausoleum to help Lady Yaga kill Felipe Carlos together.

Murphy waited for a long time before making a move, until Lady Yaga and Felipe were almost done fighting before appearing, and as soon as he made a move, he used various Muggle bombs for comprehensive bombing, hoping to "accidentally" solve Lady Yaga as well.

But unfortunately, although this old lady looked like her time was up, she stubbornly survived Murphy's several rounds of AOE indiscriminate attacks and lived well.

With this old lady around, Murphy maintained considerable restraint and politeness in front of the Empress.

"Of course not, Lady Yaga," Murphy said, looking innocent. "This is a suggestion that is better for both sides in the future."

"What if we don't agree?" Sophia was a little angry.

At that time, Murphy did say something about the destruction of the Statute of Secrecy, but because Arkaim had always been isolated from the outside world, she didn't carefully consider the impact this would have on her.

She was responsible for insufficient consideration, but the bigger problem was probably Murphy saying half of what he said. He didn't mention this at all before. Until now, after she had agreed not to interfere with Murphy's actions, he said this.

This made the words Azir had said to her immediately appear in Sophia's mind—cooperating with such a person is no different from putting yourself on the dining table.

"Sorry, Your Majesty, it was I who didn't clarify the pros and cons to you before," Murphy said. "However, just as I told you, the destruction of the Statute of Secrecy is inevitable. And my actions in Su will accelerate this process. These are all foreseeable events. On this basis, cooperation is really more beneficial to both sides."

"Of course I can't force you to agree to any conditions, but the future wizarding world probably won't be so peaceful anymore. I still extremely hope to have an ally like Arkaim."

"In the end, you still want to pull Arkaim onto your chariot," Lady Yaga said. "A British Ministry of Magic is not enough to fight the entire wizarding world, so you want to pull us in too."

This was indeed Murphy's idea.

The reason he participated in the Empress's power struggle also had this consideration.

The British Ministry of Magic was already under his control to a certain extent, but what he wanted to do in Su was to completely destroy the Statute of Secrecy. No matter how closed Su was, such a huge move could not be hidden. By then, the pressure he would face would be unimaginable.

A single British Ministry of Magic that had just been infiltrated by him would be hard to withstand such pressure. He needed Arkaim. This pure wizard city would be his important reliance to withstand the International Confederation of Wizards.

"Change is not what Arkaim wants," the Empress said. "We just want to live in isolation."

"But, change has already come and will surely sweep everything," Murphy said. "No one can live without an environment, and no wizard can truly be isolated from the world."

"Opposing the tide will only be washed away, but if you follow it, you can ride the wind and waves and be one step ahead. Your Majesty, don't you want to make Arkaim more powerful in your hands?"

The Empress wavered for a moment. She looked at Lady Yaga, asking for the other party's opinion.

The latter hesitated for a moment. She looked at the Empress, then at Murphy, and suddenly said: "We can agree to your request. But we also have one condition."

Murphy had a bad premonition. "You say."

Lady Yaga stepped forward. "Arkaim has been isolated from the outside world for nearly a hundred years. Stepping into the outside world rashly carries great risks for us. Moreover, the Empress is still young and has just eradicated a traitor like Ivan. It is time to organize state affairs and recuperate."

"At this time, taking risks for a foreigner is really inadvisable."

"But, if the other party becomes one of our own, things will be different."

Lady Yaga said, staring at Murphy. "If you want the two countries to form an alliance, you can."

"But you need to marry Her Majesty the Empress."

(End of chapter)