Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 106 Sophon Technology

These two truly deserve to be called mad scientists; when they get ruthless, they don't even spare themselves, actually willing to use such a dangerous spell on themselves...

Murphy was somewhat impressed by this.

However, he wasn't very supportive.

Murphy's attitude toward human experimentation is similar to that toward the three unforgivable curses: they can be used, but if not necessary, they should be avoided as much as possible.

While these methods or tools may be the simplest solutions to current problems, they cannot be used as conventional means. If one becomes accustomed to dealing with things in a simple and crude manner, the subtle obstacles that are overlooked at the time may accumulate into huge troubles over time.

This is a truth he has only recently come to understand.

Whether it's Malfoy and Kingsley's defeat in their struggle against themselves, Joachim's madness, or Voldemort and Grindelwald's failure, the underlying principle is the same: relying on only one or two tools or methodologies makes it difficult to adapt to the ever-changing future.

The so-called "any means necessary" approach should bring more choices, rather than becoming a stubborn adherence to a single, dead-end path.

Therefore, he was wary of overly simplistic approaches, such as the three Unforgivable Curses, methods of winning over through threats and intimidation, and the money offensive he had previously used against wizards.

He maintained the same caution regarding the Seed of the Mind, but the spell was simply too powerful, practically a cheat code, and he really couldn't give it up.

Whether you need it or not is one thing, whether you have it or not is another.

"It's best not to experiment on yourself with such a dangerous spell for now," Murphy said.

Changing human thought is unethical no matter what, and it's clear that apart from these two madmen willing to sacrifice themselves for science, it's unlikely that many others would volunteer to participate.

However, research on mental spells is difficult to make progress without manipulating consciousness.

He thought for a moment, "There are quite a few creatures in the wizarding world who possess simple intelligence..."

In the wizarding world, it is not uncommon to find sentient beings capable of speaking human language.

Leaving aside intelligent beings such as fairies, house-elves, and centaurs, even creatures like the eight-eyed giant spider possess their own consciousness and can even communicate with humans.

While there are ethical risks in experimenting on fairies, centaurs, and the like, there are some creatures for which no one cares whether they live or die.

For example, goblins, these little creatures can speak human language and their behavior patterns have certain intelligent characteristics, but they are pests in the wizarding world. Murphy has helped wizards deal with this kind of trouble many times before.

Other creatures include fairies, goblins, wicked sprites, and devils, as well as Cornish elves who appeared as teaching aids in the original story. They are all creatures with simple intelligence, though their intelligence is not as high as that of humans, their behavior patterns are far more complex than those of ordinary animals.

Even creatures like foxes, which are treated like rats and cockroaches, possess simple intelligence.

Or perhaps a mermaid?

They even have their own social structure, are capable of taming creatures, and are not much less intelligent than ordinary humans, but they have no human rights in the wizarding world.

In fact, the concept of human rights is not widespread among wizards, and they even sell people with blood curses as performing animals.

If you use these creatures for experiments, no one should say you're abusing magical creatures, right?

Oh, isn't there a law that prohibits breeding animals for experimental purposes?

Leave it alone.

I can't break the law by helping you control pests.

……

Various magical research projects are progressing steadily, and Murphy is also making intensive preparations in Muggle society to manufacture chips.

In March, Camelot launched the luxury brand Medici in France. The first product they launched was a perfume series called Eros, which consisted of eight lines and 79 individual items. Murphy gave each of them a different name and had GG write seventy-nine seemingly disparate copywritings.

In reality, they are simply ordinary perfumes of various scents mixed with a very small amount of aphrodisiac.

The price is determined by the concentration of the aphrodisiac. A concentration of 1% is considered a low-end product, priced at around £2 per milliliter. A concentration of around 1% is a mid-range product, priced at £8 per milliliter. A concentration of 1% is a high-end product, priced at £15 per milliliter.

In other words, Murphy sold one milliliter of love potion for £30,000!

In Murphy's view, this wasn't just robbery; it was outright ransacking.

But the aphrodisiac was indeed powerful.

Even just one drop added to a bottle of perfume can bring a wonderful olfactory experience to the user, allowing one to vaguely perceive a wonderful, ethereal sense of anticipation in the fragrance.

Users of high-end perfumes have found that their charm seems to be enhanced by the perfume, and they receive more favor and praise.

The mysterious effects of the aphrodisiac made Eros perfume an instant favorite in France, and it subsequently spread throughout Europe via Paris, the fashion capital, eventually becoming a global phenomenon in European and American cultural circles.

Next, Murphy changed the packaging of the Venus series, changed some unimportant plant fragrances, and gave it a makeover, transforming it into Medea's high-end cosmetics Helen series. The cost remained almost unchanged, but the price increased more than tenfold.

The continuous flow of cash greatly relieved the financial pressure on Umbrella Corporation, and the chip factory began to be built in full swing.

In May, Umbrella Corporation established "Zhizi Technology," officially entering the electronics field.

Zhizi Technology is divided into four departments, which are responsible for chip manufacturing and R&D, electronic product terminal design and manufacturing, computer system and basic application software R&D, and Internet technology expansion, directly laying out the development of the electronics field for the next thirty years.

Of these, Murphy is most concerned about chip manufacturing.

This is the core of the electronics field, and also its biggest bottleneck.

In June, Zhizi Technology began spending lavishly, acquiring Fantasy Technologies, a company specializing in IP core design, and ARM, a company that had recently been established in Cambridge Industrial Park.

Murphy acquired this future top player in the chip industry for only £20 million, less than even Inkley, another company in the personal computer industry that would have died out long ago.

In July, Zhizi Technology acquired three chip manufacturing plants from Inmos for £200 million, plus an IC design subsidiary.

In August, ISIS completed its IPO ahead of schedule. With cash in hand, Zhizi Technology directly invested £1.5 million in ASML, the future lithography machine giant, while it was still unable to turn a profit. This helped ASML repay Philips' loan and also solved ASML's funding shortage problem after ASM withdrew its investment last year.

This investment allowed Zhizi Technology to acquire 85% of ASML's shares, becoming its largest shareholder.

In September, after the basic cards were almost in place, chip development officially got on track, and half of ASML's employees were transferred to a mysterious department to develop an unprecedented lithography machine.

Meanwhile, Arm Technology and Fantasy Technology, under the license of Mo Fei, began to design new IP cores, instruction sets, and processor architectures, which required adapting to a new chip with an extremely high integration rate and a manufacturing process of 0.3 micrometers.

While Murphy wielded immense power in Muggle society, his infiltration of the magical world continued unabated.

One day in September, Murphy returned to Malfoy Estate.

(End of this chapter)