Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 415 Setting off a Big Firework

"Since 1967, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have acceded to the Outer Space Treaty. We have cooperated and agreed to develop the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. Each contracting party guarantees that it will not place any entity carrying nuclear weapons or any other type of weapon of mass destruction in orbit around the Earth, will not deploy such weapons on celestial bodies, and will not deploy such weapons in outer space in any other way."

All contracting parties must use the Moon and other celestial bodies exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, facilities, and fortifications on celestial bodies is prohibited; the testing of any type of weapon and the conduct of military exercises on celestial bodies are also prohibited.

"However, we now regret to find that the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have repeatedly and seriously violated the treaty. Last year, the Soviet Union released a nuclear bomb in low Earth orbit, destroying satellites of multiple countries, and the electromagnetic pulse affected many cities in Europe. Subsequently, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have carried out tests of weapons of mass destruction on satellites in orbit and conducted strike tests in areas such as the high seas, threatening global security."

"We urge the Soviet Union to immediately correct its mistakes, destroy the lethal weapons on its orbiting satellites, and refrain from launching satellites into outer space until it has been reviewed. Otherwise, we will impose further sanctions on the Soviet Union."

"Click." Patrick turned off the TV. "William has become very tough lately, but that's not surprising. Polls show that half of his supporters are believers, and they are furious about your atheistic propaganda in the Soviet Union and Britain."

"What are you planning to do?" Patrick asked.

"Don't worry about it for now," Murphy said.

In any case, the sanctions were already underway. Britain and the Soviet Union had basically broken with the Western camp, but due to their business dealings with a certain Eastern country, the two countries did not actually suffer much loss. On the contrary, they took this opportunity to vigorously develop their own manufacturing industries.

"There's something else more important," Murphy said. "It's time to prepare for battle."

Patrick frowned. "Is it time?"

Murphy nodded and glanced at Lucas beside him.

The latter handed Patrick a chart: "The previous exposure incident has increased the rate of increase in magic concentration by another order of magnitude. According to calculations, in two or three months at most, the level of magic concentration will be sufficient to support the existence of a 'god' like Tyr, and his magic consumption and recovery capabilities will reach a balance. In other words, in three months, the environment on Earth will be sufficient for gods to survive."

"Therefore," Murphy continued, "we must prepare for battle before that happens. After all, the Countermeasures Bureau only deals with ordinary magical disasters, which is insufficient to deal with god-level catastrophes. We should start mobilizing the army, at least to make the soldiers understand what we are dealing with and why we are dealing with them."

Patrick looked troubled. "The previous exposure made most people aware of the existence of magic, thus saving us the trouble of explaining it from scratch. But the problem is, if people know that what we're dealing with is a 'god,' we might become very passive."

"Those ancient gods are alright; hardly anyone believes in them anymore. But what about those gods who still have a large following? Will they ever return?"

Murphy nodded. "Give up your illusions. There's no reason to believe that 'God' won't appear."

Patrick frowned. "To be honest, I used to be a believer too. Although I wasn't a very devout believer, I've met those who are truly devout and I know just how much influence His existence has on believers."

"I even suspect that if He were to actually reveal His presence, the vast majority of our soldiers would immediately defect!"

Lucas frowned, puzzled. "Even if that god wants to enslave them?"

Patrick sighed. "You wizards are atheists, so you may not be able to understand those feelings."

"Most children who grow up under the influence of Christian, Catholic and other religious groups live from childhood in a world ruled by 'God'. Even if their parents and relatives are not devout believers, they usually do not prevent their children from coming into contact with faith in such an environment."

"They—we—all grew up in God's 'love,' and we are constantly exposed to the idea that all the good things we have are a gift from 'God.' He not only gave us life, but also gave that life meaning."

"Before completely abandoning rationalism, the church spent more than a thousand years perfecting its doctrines. During those thousand years, countless of the world's most brilliant minds devoted their lives to better explaining and proclaiming them. If you have studied theology, you will find that it actually contains the essence of almost all philosophical speculation from ancient times to the present."

"Perhaps it is difficult to figure out the truth of the world, but if you want to seek solace, turning to faith is the easiest path."

"Being enslaved by men is intolerable, but being enslaved by gods, by God, is a rightful glory in the hearts of believers."

Murphy's expression also turned serious. He knew that Patrick was right. For most people in the world, especially the vast majority of people in the Western world, belief in God was almost a basic common sense. Although few people in modern society preach doctrine anymore, they have been immersed in such an environment full of faith since childhood.

This seed of faith, like a seed of the soul, cannot be eradicated without decades of ideological transformation.

"Then we can't just wait passively," Murphy suddenly said. "I've always had some reservations about that plan, but now it seems that taking a risk might not be so bad."

"What do you want to do?"

"Strike first," Murphy said.

"You mean..." Patrick understood, "but weren't you worried before that this would allow the gods to break free of their constraints sooner?"

"Even if we do nothing, it won't be long before the gods are completely free," Lucas explained to Murphy. "We've been continuously tracking the magical signals on the far side of the moon. We've discovered that whatever is trapping the gods is losing power. Every full moon, its ability to bind the gods reaches its lowest point, and usually at this time, some severe magical disasters occur on Earth."

"Almost all the magical disasters that approach the level of gods occur at this time."

"Based on the current fluctuations, after a while, its ability to restrain the gods may no longer be enough to stop them. This is also the judgment I made before regarding the three months."

"And once the gods are free, we might face a situation where everything is in disarray," Murphy said. "Before that, we have to give them a good beating, give them a big fireworks display!"

Patrick pondered for a moment, then said, "If the Seamless Extension Charm is used to carry nuclear bombs, a Saturn V-class rocket could easily carry seven or eight Tsar Bombas. The power should be sufficient, but the Earth and the Moon are too far apart. You could launch it here and they might already have it detected. How can you guarantee it won't be shot down?"

"The laser-like objects that the previous landers encountered were very troublesome. The lunar surface is close to a vacuum, so unless it explodes at extremely close range, the destructive power may be relatively limited."

Patrick had also read Murphy's previous records related to the moon landing and knew what they had encountered.

"So I plan to add magic to chemical propulsion. I'll use Philosopher's Stone and magic metal to create an apparition device that will allow for long-distance spatial jumps," Murphy said.

"As for dodging attacks, we now have magic chips and image AI, which can make some intelligent reactions."

The distance between the Earth and the Moon is still too far. Even light takes 1.28 seconds to travel that distance. Therefore, even without considering reaction time, it would take at least 2.56 seconds from when the spacecraft reaches the vicinity of the Moon to when the signal is transmitted back to Earth and the control signal is sent back to the spacecraft.

Such a huge delay is simply insufficient for precise remote control; dodging attacks can only rely on the rocket's AI.

"Or..." But then Lucas spoke again, "Let me take control of the rocket."

(End of this chapter)