Chapter 79

Passing through three layers of steel doors as thick as a bank vault, Murphy brought Boris to the Underground Research Institute.

He briefly introduced the basic situation of the Underground Research Institute to Boris, then brought him to the Twelfth Floor, the Magical Creature Laboratory.

This place is divided into four areas, one of which is currently occupied by the Transformation Project Group; Murphy brought Boris here and found Andrew Tuck.

"Andrew, this is the Muggle-converted vampire I told you about earlier." Murphy briefly introduced Boris to the two of them, "His name is Boris; from now on he will cooperate with you on some examinations and experiments; the specific plan you can discuss."

"All right, Director!" After Andrew began leading the Transformation Project Group, he became less socially awkward; he sized up Boris and said, "This is my first time seeing a real vampire—awesome! Thank you for your participation, Mr. Boris; please guide me in the future."

Having arranged for Boris, Murphy found another infectious disease specialist.

He placed several of Sai Li Ka's paper cranes into a sterile box and handed them over, briefly describing Sai Li Ka's mission and condition: "She said there is a plague in that village; could these paper cranes possibly retain traces of that pathogen?"

The Japanese-descendant scholar was named Harada Toshisuke, slim and handsome, wearing frameless glasses: "It's possible. I'll examine these samples; if quick, we could have results in three or four hours."

Please.

Next, Murphy went to find Alex.

Alex Wood, after being sent by Murphy to Germany for a trip following the previous incident and immediately returning, has been ordered not to leave the Research Institute; recently, like the other researchers, he also eats and lives there.

When Murphy saw him, he was surprised to find that the latter's dark circles were even worse.

"What's going on?" Murphy didn't quite understand, "You were just supposed to teach a few students—how do you look even more tired than before?"

Alex rushed over and grabbed Murphy's leg, "Boss, spare me. Let me handle the medicinal ingredients; I don't want to teach anymore—I never want to teach again!"

"Why? Can those Muggles even bully you?" Murphy was bewildered.

"They're all devils!" Alex's face showed utter despair, "At first, for the first two weeks, I was relatively idle; they were seriously studying, few people asked questions, and those they did ask were very simple."

"But, less than a month later, they went crazy, each person coming to me with a notebook full of problems— a dozen! Several hundred questions! None repeated!"

"It's terrifying! Really terrifying! And their questions are all over the map! Why would Muggles think of so many strange questions! Is a centaur's heart located on the human side or the horse side? Is their spine connected? Is mandrake a plant or an animal? Why don't humans and goblins have reproductive isolation... Good heavens!"

"Later, Miss Laura saw that I was really suffering, so she let them discuss among themselves first, organize a unified set of questions, and then come ask me."

"But, their questions became fewer, yet even stranger! If you add a dead person's hair to Polyjuice Potion, would drinking it turn you into a corpse? Can an Animagus have offspring with an animal? Is the water produced by Aguamenti drinkable? Can the venomous snake summoned by Serpensortia be eaten..."

Murphy: "..."

He could understand the feelings of those Muggle researchers; when he first crossed over, he was the same.

Later, they stopped asking me questions. Because when they asked me, I couldn't answer. But they started demanding that I demonstrate spells, using all kinds of weird ways to have me show spells—for example, having me use the Four-Point Spell on a wooden board, a sheet of paper, a piece of cloth, a slice of meat, and several other things; they also had me blindfolded and use the Reducio spell on various objects, creating many obstacles, and then had me use the DirectionSpell...

I don't know what they're up to, but usually I have to chant a spell hundreds of times before they're satisfied.

I never studied this hard when I was a student! Clearly I'm the teacher, so why am I working harder than them... Muggle students are terrifying!

I'm exhausted, I don't want to teach anymore, boss, let me go.

Murphy patted Alex on the shoulder, "You've worked hard."

He truly hadn't anticipated this situation; originally, in his understanding, Alex should just occasionally demonstrate a spell, but now it seems he still underestimated the Muggle researchers' thirst for knowledge—they directly treated Alex as an experimental assistant.

Just hold on a bit longer, I'll recruit a few more people as soon as possible.

Murphy could only promise an empty check whose fulfillment time was unknown.

But to recruit people into the research institute, one must first solve the loyalty issue.

Against a group of Muggles, he could still use the Thorn Oath to temporarily keep them secret, but it was utterly ineffective against wizards.

How could he restrict the movements of a wizard capable of invisibility, phantom shift, and shapeshifting?

Confiscate their wands? Then what use would they have?

Therefore, to thoroughly resolve the loyalty issue, one needs the Soul Seed.

Thinking of this, Murphy sighed, "Alex, there is something I must tell you."

"Huh?" Alex looked at Murphy, puzzled.

"Your sister, Selica Wood, is currently trapped in Joachim's village and has contracted a dangerous disease. She may not have much time left, and rescuing her would be extremely difficult..."

Alex didn't catch it at first, "My sister? She's sick?"

"Yes, she went to look for a spell for me and ventured into a dangerous place. Selica wrote that entering that village would curse one, making it impossible to leave. Moreover, there is a plague there, so rescuing her would be extremely perilous."

"You... aren't planning to go rescue her?" Alex stared at Murphy in shock.

Murphy was actually hesitating as well.

From Selica's letter, the risk of going to rescue her was great, and he didn't want to take the risk.

But the other party indeed went to that village for his work; if he just ignored it, that would really be inexcusable.

Moreover, he really did need the Soul Seed.

In the wizarding world, he is currently a rootless upstart; don't be fooled by the fact that he can use Gold Coins to open doors and seems to get along well.

But in fact, he does not wield any real power.

When he persuaded Lucius, he said money equals power, which is correct.

But the conversion of that power takes time.

Before the conversion is complete, those more direct forces could at any moment turn against him.

Malfoy and his friends could never genuinely stand on Murphy's side, willingly paving the way for him.

They have not even a shred of loyalty to their former master, let alone to him.

Once they discover Murphy's true nature and find that he really only has money, what awaits him is only being torn apart and devoured.

"If you don't go rescue her, please let me leave; I myself..."

"Bullshit, who says I'm not going to rescue her?!"

(End of chapter)