Chapter 52: Defeating Galleons with Galleons

North Sea, Shetland Islands.

A wooden sailing ship that looked like it came from the 18th century slowly docked. Two Aurors grabbed a wizard's arm on each side and brought him down from the ship.

"Lucius Malfoy, your sentence is over, and you are now officially released from imprisonment." A black Auror took a wand out of the wooden box on the side and handed it over. "This is your wand."

Lucius looked like he had aged ten years. His originally oily light-gold long hair was now as withered as hay, and his whole person looked dull and numb. It took a beat for him to react and take his wand.

The Auror opposite was already used to this and patted him on the shoulder. "Be a good person in the future and don't come back. Oh, by the way, your family and friends are waiting for you over there, go see them."

Lucius looked in the direction the Auror indicated.

Narcissa, she was wearing a black suit, looking calm and sad. Her pale face still had no expression, but she was even thinner.

Draco stood beside her, holding his mother's hand tightly, looking at him with astonishment. He had probably never seen his father look so embarrassed.

Lucius tried hard to cheer up and used his hand to tidy up his hair and robe.

Cheer up! Lucius! You have already come out of that damn place, you can already think about those happy things!

However, it didn't work, as if those monsters had permanently taken away some things from his body.

Or perhaps, the influence of that terrible damage hadn't faded yet. He only felt bursts of weakness spreading from the depths of his heart. Just not collapsing into wailing and just standing with dignity had already exhausted all his strength.

"Narcissa, Draco..." He walked towards his family, just about to hug them, when suddenly, he froze and looked at the person standing beside his wife.

"You! How could you be here?!" Lucius shouted in shock and with some fear.

The man took off his hood, revealing a face that had often appeared in his nightmares over the past few months.

Murphy Darkholm.

The villain who burned his house!

The poisonous snake who framed him with despicable tricks!

He thought the so-called "friend" the Auror mentioned would be Goyle or Crabbe!

Damn blind man! What kind of friend is Murphy Darkholm!

"Lucius, it seems you haven't had a good time these days." Murphy said teasingly.

Lucius clenched his wand, and a burst of anger rose from his hollow chest, actually bringing some strength, making him feel that he was not so weak. "Don't think..."

"Alright, alright, forget about the harsh words, Lucius, I'm here to talk to you."

Lucius felt that the breath was stuck in his chest, feeling suffocated. He turned his head and grabbed Narcissa's hand. "Narcissa, let's go!"

However, Narcissa didn't move. "Lucius, maybe you should listen to what he has to say."

Lucius looked at his wife in shock, doubting for a moment whether she had been hit by the Imperius Curse.

But Narcissa's eyes were clear. If it was the influence of a spell, the caster's magic power must be unfathomable.

"Cissy, you?"

Narcissa patted her husband on the shoulder, dispelling his doubts. "Just listen to what he says."

Lucius was still a little suspicious. He pulled Draco to his side and looked at Murphy. "What do you want to say?"

"There are too many people here, why don't we walk over there?"

Little Draco grabbed his father's hem and glared at Murphy. "If you dare to hurt my dad, I will make you have bad luck!"

Murphy smiled. This little brat was over eight years old now and was actually a bit cute.

He reached out and rubbed Draco's head. "Don't worry, your dad is very safe, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid."

Draco wanted to knock Murphy's hand away, but the latter had already taken it away in advance.

Lucius hesitated for a moment, finally found a little courage from the bottom of his heart, supported himself to make a fearless appearance, and took the cane Narcissa handed over. "Okay, I want to hear what you have to say."

The two walked along the reef-strewn coast for a while and came to a hillside. A lighthouse stood higher up, which seemed to have been abandoned for a long time.

"Alright, let's do it here. What exactly do you want to do?" Lucius panted a few times, regained some strength, and asked.

"Lucius, do you like Galleons?"

"What?"

"I like them very much. One of the benefits of humans inventing currency is that it makes most things in the world measurable."

"Money can buy knowledge to make oneself wise, can buy luxurious clothing to enhance one's charm, and can even allow oneself to complete more things by purchasing the time and energy of others."

"True power is built on interests, and everything related to interests can be measured by money."

"Therefore, money is power. It is not directly equal to everything you want, but it can pave the way for your desires. So, I like money, I like Galleons."

"The world is bustling for profit, and the world is jostling for profit. Taking people's money is like killing their parents, so you had your people suddenly attack my factory, wanting to cut off my way of making money, so I will definitely treat you as an enemy and get rid of you quickly."

Murphy was telling a story again. This time, he told a version that Lucius could understand.

"You admitted it! Your factory, you put the potion..."

"Sold to Muggles? Yes, I admitted it." Murphy looked at him amusedly. "Still arguing about this now? Did you lose because of the evidence, Lucius? Haven't you figured out how you lost yet?"

"Do you know how much money I spent to win that lawsuit, Lucius? A full 100,000 Galleons! And that's not counting the annual donations to the Ministry of Magic!"

"100,000 Galleons! What about you, how much did you spend? One thousand? Ten thousand? You tell me, how can I lose? How can you win?"

Lucius froze.

He was a little dazed for a moment.

Using money to pave the way, this... isn't this the traditional skill of the Malfoy family?

Now, someone has actually defeated himself in this reserved project!

Using magic to defeat magic, using Galleons to defeat Galleons!

What a shift of unspoken rules!

This made him suddenly feel a sense of frustration from the bottom of his heart, even more intense than the moment he lost the lawsuit in the tribunal.

He suddenly realized that Murphy didn't win by some clever trick, nor did he happen to have some good luck, but used a technique far more skilled than his own, spent a greater price than his own, and defeated him squarely and uprightly (fog).

At this moment, Lucius realized dejectedly and only felt a deep powerlessness.

At first, he only thought about the evidence that was snatched back and the rhythm of the trial that was disrupted. He thought that if he were more careful and had better luck, he could win next time.

But Murphy told him the real reason for his failure: not spending enough money.

He could accept this reason too well!

Could he take out 100,000 Galleons for a trial?

He couldn't!

Even if he could, the other party could add more money.

And did he have more money than Murphy?

No!

So he couldn't win! He would never win!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 53 =====