Chapter 321

After some maneuvering by the investigators, Murphy removed the British Ministry of Magic from the International Confederation of Wizards.

From this point on, international wizards would no longer have any justification for cross-border law enforcement against Murphy.

In the future, any wizard from another country who wanted to deal with him could be guided by Murphy to be seen as a provocation against the British Ministry of Magic.

This move also eliminated the possibility of Dumbledore using his status as "Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards" to stir up any trouble.

Besides, there was no loss in quitting the group—after all, for wizards, international affairs were roughly equivalent to the Quidditch World Cup, and for Murphy, it really didn't matter at all.

One trouble in the wizarding world had been resolved; meanwhile, in Muggle society, another of Murphy's fishing plans was unfolding.

On the outskirts of London, a banquet was being held in a private villa.

The banquet brought together celebrities from all walks of life, but compared to the lively main hall, a tea room on the other side of the villa was much quieter.

There were only six people here, but the net worth of each one of them was more than everyone in the banquet hall combined.

The seventh chair in the room was empty, and the gentlemen said nothing, silently either smoking, sipping tea, or closing their eyes to rest.

Before long, the door was pushed open.

A familiar face walked in, and everyone stood up and shook hands with the other party.

"Michael," an old man sighed, "we shouldn't be meeting. If people outside see us, it will bring a lot of trouble."

"But I had to come in person for this matter," said the current British Prime Minister, Michael Hurd.

"What are you planning to do?" another person asked.

"Last time, Major's hearing let them bluff their way through. It won't be easy to make them show their tails this time," someone said.

"I don't know what got into Major, why would he offend the Americans for Umbrella? Didn't he usually love kissing American boots?"

"It doesn't matter. I will have Parliament pass an antitrust bill to launch an investigation into Umbrella," Michael said, half-reclining on the sofa. "They won't be able to run this time."

"How can you be sure your bill will pass? Won't the Labour Party oppose it?" someone asked. "Quite a few of the lower classes are fans of Umbrella."

"If you ask me, this company is simply unreasonable!" someone said excitedly. "They might be truly powerful in technological research, but in sales, they are a piece of shit!"

"White Potion, which can save lives during surgery, is only sold for a few pounds!"

"Anti-cancer agents, three thousand pounds a dose!"

"It's fucking crazy! Sometimes I suspect they are Communists! What kind of egalitarianism are they playing at!"

At the mention of this, the others nodded as well. "Has anyone here tried the anti-aging agent they launched recently?"

"They found elderly volunteers from nursing homes, randomly selected, but I bribed a few of the test subjects, and the effect is indeed good. Umbrella really has a knack for technological research."

"It is said that they are preparing to divide it into several tiers, with the cheapest tier costing only five thousand pounds."

"That's outdated news," Michael said. "In fact, they are applying for a national strategy, intending to set prices based on personal income. According to them, the price of life is different for different people, so naturally, it shouldn't be sold at the same price. In other words, gentlemen, you will have to spend thousands or tens of thousands of times more than those poor wretches to buy the same thing."

"Absurd!" someone shouted.

"Now it can be confirmed, that Morpheus must be a Communist!"

"Such a ridiculous application could never pass!"

"Of course it can't, but once they make this application public, it might gain a lot of support," Michael said.

"Just take them down before that happens," another person said.

"It seems we have reached a consensus. Now, let's discuss the specific plan."

About an hour later, the meeting ended, but less than ten minutes later, the recording of their conversation was placed on Murphy's desk.

Even though it seemed he had the protection of a statue of the Virgin Mary, Michael Hurd would not be affected by mind-type magic, but he did not have the ability to detect magic around him at all times.

This gave Murphy the space to track and locate them through Lightning Crows; discovering such secret gatherings and finding an opportunity to slip in something like a Goblin gold coin was easy.

Even if he couldn't get real data from the secret meeting, he could fabricate one.

The trick he used to destroy those pharmaceutical companies before could be used now, but real evidence was naturally better than fake.

"Should these things be exposed now?" Boris stood beside Murphy, having finished listening to the recordings. "We have already acquired Sky Broadcasting and London Weekend through several shell companies. With this data, it's enough to smear them and make it impossible for them to take action against Umbrella again."

"No rush," Murphy said. "It's not the time yet. Striking now has no explosive point, and people won't empathize. We must make them feel uncomfortable first."

A month later, the British House of Commons passed the "New Antitrust Bill."

At the same time, an antitrust investigation into the Umbrella Company was officially launched.

At first, Umbrella tried to resist the investigation using the excuse of affecting normal operations, but after MI5 intervened, most of Umbrella's business activities were forced to stop.

And in order to cooperate with the re-examination of various safety standards, all kinds of medicines produced by Umbrella were taken off the shelves and recalled, and sales were suspended.

Umbrella was also fighting back desperately, but their self-defense appeared extremely pale under the powerful pressure of state power.

Subsidiary after subsidiary was forced to hand over various financial and business data for review. Although Umbrella's core—several major laboratories—had not yet been caught with fatal evidence due to strict confidentiality policies and advance countermeasures, in everyone's eyes, its fall was only a matter of time.

Spring arrived again, and the investigation into Umbrella finally reached its final stage.

The investigation team submitted a proposal to Parliament, suggesting that Umbrella be split into seven companies and that a department be established by Parliament to supervise them.

At this moment, due to the suspension of Umbrella's operations, global White Potion and anti-cancer agents had been out of stock for five or six months.

The timing was ripe.

"I beg you, doctor." A black man grabbed the attending physician's arm. "My sister is still a child. If she loses her legs, her life will be ruined. Please, perform the recovery surgery on her."

"I'm sorry, I can understand your feelings," the attending physician was a white woman, and she sighed. "Your sister's situation is very sympathetic, but the injuries are too severe. She has been bleeding, and the blood vessels and nerves are extensively damaged. There is no way to repair them... at least, not now. Only amputation can save her life."

"Isn't there White Potion? My uncle also had an accident, and his injuries were very serious, but he was fine..."

"I'm sorry, there is no White Potion now. Two months ago, the hospital's White Potion was already exhausted," the doctor sighed. "We even collected low-concentration White Potion used for treating bruises in pharmacies to replace it, and we have been using it cautiously, but it ran out a month ago."

"Perhaps there is still some on the black market, but the price has been hyped to a sky-high price..." The doctor looked at him. "To get enough for the surgery will require a lot, a lot of money..."

"Why?" The black man didn't understand. "Weren't they everywhere in the pharmacies in the past?"

"I also want to know why," the doctor sighed. "Perhaps we should ask our government what exactly they want to do."

"The Congressional spokesperson said in an interview with reporters that the split plan for Umbrella will be passed by Parliament at the end of this month, but the process of splitting Umbrella may continue until next September..."

"Bang!" A bottle smashed next to the bar's television.

"Fuck the Congress! Fuck the capitalists!" a man suddenly cursed, and was then dragged out by security.

"I heard his mother died of cancer yesterday. The doctor said that if there had been Umbrella's anti-cancer agent, it was very likely she would have survived."

"Sigh, I heard a bottle of White Potion spray has been hyped to thousands of pounds, and you still can't buy it," someone sighed. "If I had known, I should have hoarded some."

"Who says not? White Potion is more valuable than gold now!"

Just then, the host on the TV received a press release. "Breaking news, oh my god, an insider reveals that Prime Minister Michael Hurd secretly authorized the Umbrella split plan, and his family business will acquire business segments worth tens of billions of pounds."

(End of chapter)