Chapter 102: The Watchers (Edited)

"Name? Let me think..."

It was true that he hadn't yet named the security shop he was planning to open. While simply calling it "Wizard's Security Shop" might work, it lacked a memorable touch.

Aiming to rival the Aurors, the name needed to be loud and intimidating.

Murph pondered, "The Avengers?"

That didn't sit right...

Wizards unfamiliar with Marvel might even mistake them for villains.

Justice League?

Better not... It felt a bit ironic.

"Let's go with... The Watchers."

As the future alternative to the Aurors, watching over the peace of the wizarding world, the name was fitting.

...

"I've had the costs calculated. To start an eight-inch, 1.5-micron process chip factory, we're looking at an investment of between thirty million to one hundred million pounds, depending on the number of lithography machines and chip capacity. Producing just one or two types of chips should be feasible with fifty million pounds."

"However, according to your plan, we need to produce memory chips as well, so we're looking at at least four or five types of chips, with an investment of at least one hundred and thirty million pounds."

"If you also plan to design the IP core and chip architecture from scratch, costs could increase at least fivefold, potentially becoming a bottomless pit."

"Besides, there's the development of accompanying systems and basic applications, which we'll conservatively estimate at one hundred million pounds. If the process drags on too long, it too becomes a bottomless pit."

"And this is just the cost for research and production phases. The money needed for marketing, promotion, and more isn't insignificant."

"In summary, to realize your plan, without a baseline of ten billion pounds, don't even think about it. Twenty billion might allow us to dream, and thirty billion might just cover it."

"But even if everything goes smoothly, it's unlikely we'll break even. Do you know the global semiconductor industry's revenue is only around twenty-seven billion pounds this year? If our investment takes up more than a tenth of the industry's global earnings, unless our products achieve a monopolistic status, forget about breaking even."

Patrick bombarded Murph with a series of figures upon seeing him at the lakeside villa.

Murph's expression remained unchanged as he sipped his now-cold tea.

"Patrick, if our products can't even dominate the industry, what's the point of talking about changing the world?"

"..."

"Alright then."

Patrick calmed himself down. Since partnering with Murph, their products, which Murph seemed to magically conjure, always dominated the market immediately. He hadn't really worried about "research failures."

"I consulted with several financial experts. Isis Pharmaceuticals and Camelot's market valuations are quite good, around four and six billion pounds respectively. If we go public, we could raise at least two billion pounds. But the IPO process is complicated, and at best, we might complete fundraising by the second half of the year."

Murph nodded, "Start the process, but we won't wait. We'll invest whatever we have, and if necessary, we'll borrow. With our strong cash flow, borrowing shouldn't be hard."

"Also, I plan to leverage Camelot to launch a luxury brand, starting with a few types of perfume and then hiring some designers for some extravagant clothing and accessory designs. It should work."

Luxury brands, much like tech companies in the fashion industry, sell concepts and creativity. A bag costing a hundred to produce can skyrocket in value with a brand logo and some design concepts inaccessible to the average person.

It was all about storytelling, and Murph was quite skilled at it.

...

Time flew by as Murph juggled between the research institute and the Muggle world, quickly advancing to 1989.

The outside world thawed from winter's grip, but the underground magical research institute, with its constant temperature and humidity, remained unaffected.

One day in February, in the Mind Magic Research Group.

Murph was there because Phineas and Omid told him that Celica had gone on strike.

"What's going on?" Murph asked.

Phineas looked somewhat embarrassed, "Sorry, boss. Perhaps our method of using the Mind Seed on some animals caused Miss Celica to misunderstand. She thinks we're animal-abusing maniacs and refuses to use the Mind Seed on animals anymore."

Murph glanced at Celica, who was visibly upset, then asked, "What experiments did you conduct?"

"Mostly, we just used a short-term effective Mind Seed on small animals to study the changes in their brains during the process. Sometimes, we issued a Mind Seed without a cancellation condition, which often led to some animals going mad or dying."

"For example?"

"For example, they had me cast a Mind Seed on a crow, making it believe water was poisonous and refusing to drink, ultimately dying of thirst," Celica interjected.

"This magic is too oppressive and evil. Continuing to study such dark magic is not good," Celica said. "It can warp a person's mind. If someone believes they can control others' fates and thoughts at will, they will try to do so and become accustomed to it, eventually becoming a dark lord who enslaves others with magic, like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

Murph looked at Celica, understanding she was advising him.

He pondered and said, "You're right, but it's not the magic that influences people's minds. It's the feedback from using magic that teaches and updates their behavioral habits."

Celica appeared confused, "What's the difference?"

"Wizards are accustomed to blaming the corruption of dark wizards on their interest in dark magic, believing dark magic tainted their souls. But in truth, even the most ordinary curses have this power."

"Every action in this world brings feedback. When you use the Tarantallegra curse to make someone dance uncontrollably, you also enjoy the pleasure of forcing others to obey. When you use petrification or stunning spells, you're using a way to 'disconnect' the other person temporarily, bypassing the obstacle."

"If you're used to using Tarantallegra to prank someone, accustomed to using stunning spells instead of persuasion or other means to avoid obstacles, as your mind becomes more accustomed to solving problems in simpler, more brutal ways, you're essentially no different from those dark wizards who only use the Unforgivable Curses to achieve their goals, trapped in a self-enclosed circle."

"It's as if you've been tainted by Tarantallegra or the stunning spell. It's just that the Unforgivable Curses are stronger, hence having a wider range of uses, and these two spells are weaker, making them less likely to cause dependency."

"Of course, I'm not saying the Unforgivable Curses are safe. They might have some ability to negatively affect the caster's mind, but we haven't started such research yet. There's no need to worry about dark magic corrupting the soul from the start; that would only hinder our understanding."

"But the Mind Seed is too powerful," Celica said. "It's the most terrifying spell I know of, second only to the Killing Curse. It can't even be normally canceled. The Dementor's Kiss is similar, but far less frightening than it."

"If you get used to using this magic to make others obey, won't you become dependent on it?"

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