Chapter 673: 673: Chaos, Stability

This was a war of attrition.

"Insignificant, huh."

John looked at the newspaper reporting the explosion.

The mystery surrounding wizards had been stripped away, while the supposedly weak Muggles had suddenly revealed themselves as terrifying monsters.

Grindelwald wanted to rebuild the world.

Wizards had been forced aboard his ship, one that could only move forward.

The Muggle governments were taking the missing weapons extremely seriously, yet Grindelwald had Muggle collaborators in countries all over the world.

"It wasn't the Imperius Curse."

John remembered the general whose memories he had examined.

The man had not been under the Imperius Curse.

Just as he himself had said, it had been cooperation.

Grindelwald had begun laying his plans long ago.

That meant that within the governments of various countries, besides the ***, there were others who knew about wizards.

"We need to root these people out before there can be another weapons strike."

John already had a plan in mind.

He needed wizards skilled in Legilimency to help.

Of course, John himself could do it, but he could not leave. No one knew whether Grindelwald would launch another attack somewhere else.

"Legilimency..."

John narrowed his eyes.

An idea came to him.

He took out a piece of parchment and began writing a letter.

Basil landed beside Riddle and stared directly at John.

"All right, you can deliver it this time."

John stroked the snowy owl's head and warned, "But don't beat up any owls."

Basil narrowed its eyes contentedly, set down a dried fish, took the letter, and flew away.

John stared at the dried fish.

What was that supposed to mean?

He looked at Riddle.

Riddle tilted its head.

John soon got his answer to Basil's baffling behaviour.

Because when Basil returned, it brought a reply with it.

"You beat up every owl again?"

John stared at Astoria's reply, speechless.

Basil confidently looked toward the dried fish.

"That's not a get-out-of-jail-free card," John said helplessly, rubbing his forehead. "And you can't bribe me."

Whether Basil understood or not, in the end, it simply took the dried fish away.

John settled down at Silverhand Manor.

He had many matters to deal with.

For example, Poland.

Tommy returned to John's side and handed him a casualty list from the Polish branch of Silverhand Johnny Specialty Store, along with an inventory of losses.

"Compensate the families of the dead." John glanced over the list of losses. "The property isn't what matters."

Tommy said gravely, "Some Polish wizards were away from the settlement and survived. How should we resettle them?"

"I'll discuss it with Percy."

John glanced at the documents sent by the Second Dynasty and the Ministry of Magic.

The chaos across various regions had not stopped, and some extreme anti-Muggle wizards had begun to emerge.

"Have the Ministries of Magic in each country issue warrants for the Acolytes and expel them. If any family is found to have produced an Acolyte," a cold light flashed through John's eyes, "they'll be treated as accomplices."

In troubled times, harsh laws were necessary.

If morality could not restrain people, then the law would.

John showed no mercy. After his orders were issued, everyone who had impulsively joined the Acolytes was sent to prison.

Some families, unwilling to be implicated, turned over the Acolytes among them.

Others chose to shelter them, and John directly ordered their assets seized.

As for where the Acolytes were active, it became very easy to tell.

Any place without a John Wick flag was assumed to have Acolyte activity.

And the result was that those places were gradually isolated.

The enormous machinery of the Second Dynasty became John's greatest support.

The impact of the two explosions had been enormous, but at the same time, they had also strengthened the reputation of the Second Dynasty.

As John Wick's dynasty, it drew attention when people discovered that one building in Poland had survived the explosion.

The Silverhand Johnny Specialty Store.

It had been equipped with a large number of defensive charms and many protective amulets.

When the attack came, the magic that activated around it had allowed the building to survive.

It could be said that this restored some of magic's lost dignity in the face of technology.

John gave the public a great deal of confidence.

Just as Percy had said, the Ministry of Magic needed John, not the other way around.

With Barty Crouch Sr. and Pierce dead, Percy should not technically have become Minister for Magic.

There was still the Department of Magical Law Enforcement ahead of him in the hierarchy.

But within the Ministry, no one was more suitable than Percy.

It was not only because of his ability, but also his connections.

The Weasley name represented the Ancient Alliance, while the influence brought by the Second Dynasty made Percy the most suitable candidate.

The young Minister for Magic did not disappoint anyone either. He barely left his office.

He reorganised personnel assignments and worked to make up for the shortage of Aurors.

With Azkaban serving as a massive source of magical power, the special equipment could quickly give an ordinary wizard the combat strength of an Auror.

The Silverhand Alchemy Workshop never stopped production.

Weapons and equipment were continuously transported to various countries.

And the money earned from the Ministries of Magic flowed back into the Second Dynasty, becoming funding for civilian supplies and efforts to stabilise public sentiment.

This caused the Second Dynasty to grow even stronger, while its reputation continued to improve.

Countries everywhere urgently invited the Second Dynasty to enter.

Whether it was the young wizard cards or the ability to calm the public, these were all things they needed.

More merchants joined the various enterprises under the Second Dynasty, which in turn expanded production lines. More production lines lowered costs.

It became a cycle.

On one side stood chaotic, disorderly idealism.

On the other stood a well-organised financial machine.

John intended to show everyone what life under order looked like.

Heinrich travelled to Germany, where a new Silverhand Johnny Specialty Store was opened.

Kim went to America. As the place most familiar with Muggle weaponry, Ledyslay's maternal family was able to provide considerable assistance.

Fleur had already risen to become the foremost goddess of France. It was said that the wizards pursuing her had nearly worn down the threshold of the Delacour home.

Percy complained through the badge that Bill had started learning French and had even shaved his beard.

Britain was the country least affected.

The wizards there showed almost no signs of becoming Acolytes.

Why become an Acolyte and end up displaced when they could simply enjoy their half-price discounts instead?

Percy still had to travel to other countries on official business.

"Percy, don't promote Penelope," John said when he met with Percy. "That position will become an important department within the Ministry in the future."

Percy was somewhat puzzled.

The Muggle Liaison Office was not an especially important department.

In fact, it could be considered almost useless.

The Muggle Liaison Office belonged to the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, alongside the Obliviator Headquarters and the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad.

Normally, when a problem occurred, such as a Muggle witnessing a wizard using magic, the Obliviator Headquarters would handle it with a Memory Charm.

For larger incidents, such as accidents caused by magic, the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad would step in.

The Muggle Liaison Office almost never had a chance to act.

Their responsibility was to communicate with Muggles and resolve problems.

But the question was, what problem would wizards ever need to solve through communication?

Because of that, Penelope had complained more than once that she should not be stuck there.

Still, if John said the position would become important, then it meant it would.

Percy agreed and said that he would persuade Penelope.

John and Percy parted ways.

"Given the current situation, the wizarding world will have to make contact with the Muggle world sooner or later," John said in his study as he looked through the list of people responsible for the stolen weapons, which he had obtained from his father. "This position is the Ministry's bridge for external communication, essentially a magical foreign affairs office. It has to remain in our hands."

The stolen weapons and the explosion in Poland had already stripped away almost everything separating the wizarding and Muggle worlds, leaving only a thin layer of paper between them.

Now it was simply a matter of whether wizards would pierce through it first, or Muggles would.

Even if the wizarding world was not completely exposed, Muggle governments would still come into contact with wizarding governments.

When that happened, whether they chose war or peace would become a major issue.

...

The Muggle world.

Governments around the world tacitly kept silent about the stolen weapons.

Public knowledge of the matter would cause widespread panic. If those weapons ended up in the hands of some ***, many officials would probably lose their positions.

But the explosion in Poland left them unable to remain still.

What had appeared there was not merely a field of ruins, but also a vast stretch of land that no one knew had existed within Warsaw.

Even Poland itself, the owner of the territory, was baffled.

The government sealed off the area.

Because the wizarding settlement and Ministry of Magic had acted as a buffer, the blast had been largely contained.

Even so, nearly a thousand people in Warsaw had been affected, and the explosion caused a significant tremor.

The military took control of the area, while various countries sent agents to investigate what had happened.

Scientists arrived to study the mysterious land that had suddenly appeared.

Large numbers of remains were excavated.

Their attention eventually focused on the only building that had survived.

An agent disguised as a researcher entered the structure and looked around the empty interior.

He searched carefully.

Suddenly, his hand brushed against something.

He picked it up and stared at the words written on it.

"Silverhand..."

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