Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 58 The Lingering Ghost

"The medical experts in the lab have developed an immune-enhancing therapy using dictamnus extract." Patrick led Murphy down the stairs to a showroom.

Several science popularization infographics were hung on the wall, and there were some models on display nearby.

"They culture human T cells in vitro, separate and activate them using antigen magnetic beads, and then infuse them back into the patient's body, which can give patients with weak immunity strong immunity, thereby achieving the purpose of treatment."

"In the past, this technology was limited by the rate of T cell proliferation, and the treatment course was very long, making it difficult to apply to acute infections. But now, with dictamnus extract, T cells extracted from patients can quickly proliferate to a sufficient dosage."

"This therapy has a wide range of applications, not only for the treatment of some bacteria and viruses, but also with the potential to treat AIDS and cancer in the future."

"In addition, we have accumulated more than 30 patents related to Dictamnus dasycarpus growth promoters, and more than 20 patents are currently in the application stage."

Patrick said, showing Murphy the patent certificates hanging on the wall, "One or two of these patents could bring us profits no less than Yunnan Baiyao in the future."

Murphy nodded. "Any progress on the research into the mutated white licorice?"

The so-called mutated white cinnamon is actually magical white cinnamon.

Murphy was more curious about the reason for the creation of the magical white flower than its effects.

This might be one way to magically modify plants.

"Not yet. Researchers are trying to compare the genomes of the two. We have purchased several ABI 370A machines, which can perform automated sequencing using the Sanger method. However, the white pea genome contains approximately 20,000 to 30,000 genes, and it will take time to complete the sequencing and comparison of the entire genome."

"All right."

Progress was a bit slow, but Murphy wasn't disappointed.

That's how scientific research is. It's normal not to produce results; it's rare to produce results, and often it's just a lucky accident.

Besides, the current level of technology is far inferior to that of the time he traveled through time. In fact, the Human Genome Project has not even started yet, and the methods for determining genes are still very inefficient. There's no use in being anxious.

"By the way, I'm planning to expand Umbrella into the electronics and software industries. You can look for promising technology companies and acquire them. I have some ideas that I need them to implement."

In his previous life, Murphy was a programmer. If he were to say which Muggle industry he was most familiar with, it would be computers and the Internet. Moreover, he was already somewhat dissatisfied with the current level of technology and decided to accelerate it.

The technologies that will drive the world's technological progress in the next thirty years will undoubtedly be computers and the Internet.

Currently, Microsoft's Windows 2 has just been launched. Although it is already very advanced for today's world, its rudimentary interface and terrible interactive experience still make Murphy feel uncomfortable.

Apple's Next computer was just released a few days ago, but sales have been dismal. At this point, Apple is not yet the trendsetter that will dominate the world.

At that time, Nvidia hadn't even been born yet, and Intel had just taken off the previous year.

The computer industry is still in its infancy.

Murphy decided to use the max-level skills he learned from the pros to go and wreak havoc.

The two were discussing company planning when they arrived on the first floor. Suddenly, there was a "thump" and a woman in business attire fell to the ground.

"Oh no, Jennifer has fainted!"

"What happened?" As the company's general manager, Patrick naturally had to go and check on his employees when he saw that something was wrong.

Murphy followed.

"She, she's been so forgetful these past few days, and she seems so confused. I only said a couple of things to her..." Next to the person who had fainted, a man who appeared to be a supervisor stood nearby, explaining in a flustered manner, "I, I don't know what's wrong with her..."

A graduate of Patrick's Medical School, he knew some first aid. He knelt down, checked Jennifer's breathing, and felt her pulse. "Breathing and heartbeat are normal." He took a flashlight and shone it into her eyes. "Pupil reflex is fine too. She looks like she's asleep. Call an ambulance."

After saying that, he asked the supervisor, "What symptoms did you say she had before she fainted?"

"She's a former, cough, receptionist, but she's been acting strangely these past two days. Not only did she forget all the work I assigned her yesterday, but she also can't even remember what day of the week it is. I only said a couple of things to her, and she's like this... Is she sick?"

"It could be a stroke," Patrick said.

"Can the initial symptoms of a stroke last for as long as two days?" Murphy asked.

"No, generally not. Judging from the description, it might be a sudden head injury causing some memory confusion? But I didn't see any wounds on her head."

Murphy looked at the woman named Jennifer with a slight sense of doubt. This behavior seemed more like the feeling of being under a powerful forgetting spell.

"When did she become like this?" Murphy asked the supervisor.

"Yesterday... in the afternoon, around 2 o'clock, I arranged an important meeting for her and asked her to prepare some forms, but she forgot about it as soon as she turned around. She seemed confused and disoriented. I even suspect she was on drugs."

"Where was she at two o'clock?"

"It should be in the lobby."

Murphy glanced at the few surveillance cameras in the corner of the lobby, told Patrick to continue taking care of Jennifer, and went to the monitoring room to have the staff retrieve yesterday's footage.

After watching for a while, he suddenly stopped the playback.

In the scene, a slightly outdated-looking man speaks a few words to Jennifer, who is printing a form. Then, Murphy sees him seemingly take something out of his waist. A flash of light appears between the two, followed immediately by a green flash.

Jennifer spilled the forms she was holding onto the floor. The man picked up one of them, looked at it, stuffed it into his pocket, and left.

Jennifer, however, seemed to have forgotten what she was supposed to do, standing there blankly.

Spell.

That man is probably another Auror!

They're like a persistent ghost!

He found the supervisor again. "What tasks did you assign Jennifer yesterday? What forms did she print?"

"That was a meeting of upstream suppliers for 'Camelot.' All the suppliers of the various materials, packaging, and other things we need to produce the Venus series were there. I had Jennifer print out a list of contacts for all the major suppliers."

Murphy asked him for a list, and after glancing at it, he saw that there were more than thirty supplier companies on it.

The supplier... is that Auror trying to investigate each of his upstream suppliers to find evidence that he used the Beauty Potion to make Venus series cosmetics?

It has to be said that this is actually quite feasible.

Because among these thirty-plus suppliers, two are shell companies registered by Murphy. The only material they supply is called plant essential oil, but in fact it is those beauty potions.

If the Aurors follow this lead, they might actually find the warehouse where they stored their potions.

Although the warehouse and the shell company changed hands several times through logistics, a chain can still be pieced together by using witness statements and logistics lists.

Of course, it's difficult to convict oneself through such an indirect chain of evidence, but it's still a hassle.

Murphy thought for a moment and then called the security team at the Chemical Risk Group. "There's an important facility that might be compromised. I need you guys to set up some traps."

(End of this chapter)