Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 37 Biotechnology Research and Development Base

"Recently, Philip Dixon, chairman of the Medicines Safety Committee, has been placed under investigation by London police for allegedly accepting bribes..."

"Affected by the coffee scandal, the share prices of companies such as Wellcome, Jelicon, and GlaxoSmithKline have continued to fall, hitting the daily limit down for a week, resulting in a market value loss of approximately £300 million..."

"Due to the impact of the October stock market crash, the market reacted strongly to the limit-down of several companies' stocks. Experts interpret this sharp decline in medical stocks as not to cause a chain reaction and urge investors not to panic..."

Murphy curled his lip. "They're just unlucky."

Just this October, the world experienced a major stock market crash. On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 508.32 points in a single day, a drop of 22.6%. In just over six hours, the New York Stock Exchange lost $500 billion, equivalent to one-eighth of the US GDP at the time.

That day was known on Wall Street as Black Monday.

A terrifying sense of panic immediately swept the globe, with stock markets in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other places plummeting.

By the end of October, the UK stock market had fallen by 26%, leaving countless millionaires penniless overnight.

Even though a month or two has passed, the terrible memory of the stock market crash remains in people's minds, and countless people have become extremely fearful.

The stock price of these pharmaceutical companies was initially down because they were falsely accused by Murphy. In the past, if they had done a good job in public relations and distanced themselves from the situation, they might have recovered quickly.

This time, however, not only was the pressure from public opinion mounting, but it also coincided with the biggest stock market crash in history, which directly drove its stock price to the bottom and even had a huge impact on the entire medical sector.

In response, Murphy could only raise a glass with Patrick to express his condolences.

This wasn't just schadenfreude; the drop in their market value also brought tangible benefits to Murphy. For example, a research institute under Wellcome, which was originally valued at over five million pounds but wouldn't sell, is now asking Umbrella to buy it for just one million pounds.

They desperately need the understanding of their protectors; they're willing to agree to any conditions, otherwise their family is on the verge of collapse.

Murphy, of course, didn't hold back and acquired three research institutions in one go. If it weren't for the fact that it was already enough, Murphy would have also planned to take over their pharmaceutical factories as well.

At the same time, taking advantage of the Umbrella Corporation's soaring reputation, Murphy also launched several rounds of financing, splitting off 8% of the shares and selling them for nearly £100 million.

The only pity is that the stock market is really not doing well right now. Otherwise, if they went public now, it wouldn't be difficult for them to leap into the circle of billionaires with their soaring reputation.

However, Murphy wasn't greedy; this was enough. He didn't need to take big steps; steady progress was sufficient.

With the money, Murphy's research institute project could finally begin.

Thanks to the prior preparations, a series of issues such as approval, land acquisition, and design were quickly resolved, and in the spring of 1988, the Umbrella Group's biotechnology research and development base officially broke ground.

Hertfordshire.

Murphy met Patrick, who was wearing a helmet.

"How is the project progressing?"

"Come on, I'll take you up the mountain to have a look."

Patrick led Murphy up a hillside, where they saw a construction site in the middle of the wilderness below.

"The total area is 970 acres (about 5900 mu), divided into six zones. The first zone is currently under construction, with three main buildings. The largest one is the Baiyao plantation, which is seventeen stories high and has a building area of ​​about 19 acres (115 mu). The remaining two buildings are in accordance with our original plan: one is the Baiyao medicinal herb cultivation and optimization base, and the other is the Baiyao research and development center."

According to their previous plan, Zone 1 was mainly used for the cultivation and research and development of Yunnan Baiyao.

The plantation adopted the vertical farm design suggested by Patrick. One plantation has been built as a test, and if the results are proven, three more vertical farms will be built.

The purpose of the Yunnan Baiyao Research and Development Center is to isolate the core components of Yunnan Baiyao from Baiyao flavoring, elucidate its molecular biological mechanism, and study more efficient preparation methods.

This place is capable of producing Nobel Prize-level results. Even before construction has begun, a dozen famous scholars have already expressed their desire to join it.

The purpose of the medicinal herb cultivation and optimization base is to study Dictamnus dasycarpus from a botanical perspective, and to optimize its effective components and increase its yield by combining various breeding technologies such as gene editing, cell engineering, mutagenesis, and hybridization.

In addition to Zone 1, Murphy has also opened up research areas for potions such as Beauty Potion, Bone Regenerating Elixir, and Blood Replenishing Elixir. The biological mechanisms behind each of these extremely magical potions could be one or even several Nobel Prize-worthy discoveries.

These are all treasures, and Murphy would never waste them easily.

In his vision, he also plans to establish a magical plant cultivation base in the future to mass-produce various magical plants. He has already purchased a considerable number of seeds. Once the cultivation of White Dew is on track and the Umbrella Corporation has accumulated sufficient experience in magical plant cultivation, they can begin production.

At the same time, there should also be a magical creature breeding center. The wizarding world has so many magical creatures, not only can their body tissues be used as potion ingredients, but the magical abilities that some magical creatures themselves possess are also very worthy of study. This is another huge and incredibly rich treasure.

Of course, a spell research institute is also necessary. However, the Muggle technology available for this area is not as extensive as that for potions. Moreover, if Muggle researchers are to be involved, in-depth cooperation with wizards is necessary, which may involve considerable risks. Murphy plans to start with a small-scale trial to test the waters first.

Thinking about the countless exciting projects waiting for him to realize in the future, Murphy felt full of energy.

Isn't this more interesting than replying to those pointless emails at some damn pest control office?

"How long will it take to complete the entire Zone 1?" Murphy asked.

"The land leveling work is now basically completed. The foundation pouring will take about a month, the main structure will take three months, and the pipe decoration will take two months. If all goes well, it should be ready for use in six months."

Unlike ordinary simple factory buildings, both the R&D center and the vertical plantation are high-rise buildings with much more complex structures, and the amount of work involved even exceeds that of ordinary residential areas and office buildings.

Half a year is indeed very fast.

This is also the result of the protective umbrella sparing no expense.

Murphy still felt it was a bit slow. Although he wanted to use magic to speed things up, his magical power was only so-so in such a large-scale construction project, so he had to give up.

"Six months it is. Before that, let's rent a few places and set up the platform. For the research institutes we bought, we'll put aside the research that isn't making much progress and assign them tasks so they can all focus on Yunnan Baiyao research."

"Those scholars who wanted to do research before, as well as those on the list recommended by Rita, we'll assess them, communicate with them, and hire them if their abilities are sufficient."

"Yes, the company also needs to expand its administrative staff. Let's organize a large-scale recruitment drive," Patrick suggested.

"Go for it! Go for it without worry. We have plenty of money. As long as you're capable, we'll pay you whatever you want. Once we've built this 100 million, I can always sell some more stock."

Patrick chuckled. "You make it sound like our shares are dirt cheap."

"If you can't exchange it for money, it's just a blank piece of paper, not even worth as much as a cabbage." Murphy didn't care about that.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Since researchers are going to be involved in the research of Yunnan Baiyao, what are your considerations regarding confidentiality?"

Murphy frowned. "Indeed, this is a big problem."

It's not that I'm afraid the secret of the ingredients in White Dew Essence will be leaked to the Muggle world and be copied or something; I'm mainly worried about the wizards.

"First, sign a confidentiality agreement that will bankrupt them. I'll tell you when I find a better way."

Research on white cinnamon essence is unlikely to yield any major results in the short term, and this confidentiality agreement is sufficient. However, in the long run, it would be safer to develop a more secure form of magic.

I wonder if that Wood guy has found any clues yet?

(End of this chapter)