Chapter 50: Do You Aspire to Be a God?

"In summary, for the sake of facilitating collaboration and communication, everyone's papers will be made public and archived in the library, accessible to all. Publication of a paper will require the approval of at least ten researchers or myself," Murphy explained.

"Reviewers can assign an impact score to the papers based on their significance and innovation, and I will make the final decision on this score. This score, in addition to being proportionally rewarded materially, will also be counted towards your contribution points."

"These contribution points can be exchanged for more money, even company shares, and can also be used to obtain magical potions or other magical items that you can use, as well as any future magical entities, such as magical pets, and so on."

"I have a preliminary exchange list here, which will continue to be updated. In short, I hope everyone can experience the joy of magic while researching it."

A buzz of excitement spread among the people.

While the practical motivations like research achievements, material rewards, and historical recognition were significant drivers, it was their unending curiosity and restless pursuit of the unknown that truly fueled these young researchers to endure the tedium of research.

"Mom, we are researching magic! It's so cool!"

At this point, a female researcher stood up and asked, "Umbrella Corporation... no, what exactly are your requirements?"

"You have us researching magic, but I suppose it's not for completely altruistic purposes like revealing the truth of the world or benefiting humanity, right?"

"If we understand your requirements and goals, we can better conduct our research."

Murphy glanced at her, a tall, blonde woman with refined Germanic features, "Laura Kruger. You're right."

"My goal is simple and guessable. I possess almost omnipotent magic, so there's not much left that I yearn for."

"Firstly, it's immortality. Almost omnipotent magic isn't truly omnipotent, and aging and death are still the fates of most wizards, which I refuse to accept."

"Beyond that, I want to become stronger, know more, understand more, and achieve more. Simply put, I aspire to omniscience and omnipotence."

After a moment of silence, Laura asked, "Do you wish to become a god?"

"God?" Murphy shook his head and smiled. "No, I don't want to be a god, at least not the kind you know of. I'm not so interested in controlling people. I just want to expand my capabilities."

"I understand. What you seek is evolution," Laura concluded.

Murphy nodded, acknowledging her interpretation.

"Last question," Laura continued, "If possible in the future, would you mind sharing such power with others?"

"What do you mean?"

"If we find a way for ordinary people to become wizards or for ordinary wizards to become godlike, would you mind sharing this knowledge? Or would you prefer to stand alone at such a pinnacle?"

Murphy hadn't considered this question before.

After a moment of thought, he replied, "I'm not sure about my choice. If we really find such a method, ask me then."

"I understand," Laura said.

Murphy watched her sit down, unsure of what she had understood.

With no further questions, Murphy stood up. "If there are no more questions, please proceed to the adjacent room one by one to sign the agreement and make the magical vow."

...

While Murphy was signing agreements with the non-magical researchers,

In another underground location.

At the Ministry of Magic, two floors below ground, in the Aurochs Command Center, Director's office.

Scrimgeour, looking at a stack of complaint letters handed over by Delrix, rubbed his forehead with a headache. "All these are complaints against Murphy Darkholme?"

"Yes, Director. More and more evidence suggests that Murphy is indeed engaging in actions that violate the Wizarding Secrecy Act!"

"Who sent these complaints?"

"Simon Avery, Matthias Nott, Frederica Rosier..." Delrix read off a list of five or six names.

"Hmm, the Twenty-Eight Families, unsurprising."

"You mean, these are slander?"

"No, Murphy's misdeeds are likely true, but their complaints are not well-intentioned. They find this nouveau riche too obtrusive, and some of them might have business conflicts with Murphy, hoping to use us to eliminate their rival."

"So we continue to do nothing?"

Scrimgeour pondered for a while. "What have you found in your investigations?"

"Murphy recruited over thirty potion masters. Each of them has to brew at least five or six cauldrons of Beautification Potions daily. However, only a tiny amount of these potions are sold in his Supreme Potion shop. We suspect the rest are being sold to non-magicals."

"Without orders, we haven't investigated further."

Scrimgeour, deep in thought, finally said, "Murphy is very cunning. From the last trial, it's clear he's cautious and adept at influencing people."

"Without solid evidence, even if we catch him, we can't do much. To prove him guilty, we need concrete evidence!"

"Send someone undercover as a potion master into his shop with a non-magical camera. We must get definite evidence of him selling potions to non-magicals!"

...

It took a lot of effort for Murphy to have all the non-magical researchers sign agreements and cast the Thorn Oath on them.

The Thorn Oath required a fixed expenditure of magical energy to maintain. Murphy felt that casting it on over a hundred non-magicals locked away a significant portion of his magic.

It was hard to imagine how the ancient Witch Queen managed to rule a small country.

For now, the Thorn Oath seemed only suitable for emergencies. If he expanded the research team and applied it to everyone, his magic would be drained, making immortality a distant dream.

Even now, the institute's staff, who didn't have access to core secrets, hadn't been subjected to the Thorn Oath, posing a future risk. He urgently needed to find house-elves to replace them.

Thinking about this, Murphy's desire for the Thought Imprint grew stronger.

However, things had to be done one at a time, and he had an urgent task – finding a teacher for the non-magical researchers.

Murphy approached Alexis.

"Alexis, you have a new job."

Alexis was processing white potion ingredients. Hearing Murphy, he turned, his face showing signs of exhaustion. "Boss, I'm already overwhelmed. I have to crush these materials, inspect the Beautification Potions... I'm so tired..."

Murphy: "Hiss..."

Who is this guy looking so drained?