Tony the Borrower

Harry handed Tony several books—Essentials of Mystic Arts, What Exactly Are Dimensional Demons, Lending and Magic, and Introduction to Runes.

"These are all beginner-level spellbooks from Kamar-Taj. Even ordinary people who have never encountered magic can understand them. Oh, I almost forgot to give you a Sling Ring."

Taking the Sling Ring and several spellbooks, Tony looked excited.

"With a genius-level IQ, learning magic should be a piece of cake. Wait, what's this lending? Do you need to borrow something to learn magic?"

"Of course!" Harry explained to Tony. "Most magical power comes from powerful Dimensional Demons. For example, Kamar-Taj's magic mostly originates from the Vishanti. Using magic means using their power, so naturally, you have to pay a price.

"The price is usually a mage's life force, knowledge, or soul. In short, it's a very costly price. But I have a lender here with very low rates. Would you like to consider it?"

"Such as?"

"Borrow from me!"

Tony: "???"

Harry felt Tony would make an excellent borrower and enthusiastically explained, "For certain reasons, I possess part of a Dimensional Demon's authority. Lending is one of them.

"If you don't want to pay an exorbitant price, suffer sensory disorders and organ damage after prolonged use of magic, or even have your soul claimed by a Dimensional Demon after death, then you can borrow from me.

"Compared to other Dimensional Demons, my lending terms are very generous. You won't have to give up much—just some money and knowledge.

"Of course, most importantly, when Earth is in danger, you have to come help."

Tony found that Harry always exceeded his expectations. Though he had repeatedly raised his opinion of Harry, he ultimately realized he had still underestimated him.

He certainly did not think Harry, who possessed part of a Dimensional Demon's authority, was an ordinary mage.

Perhaps even the Supreme Mage could not accomplish such a thing.

Tony was a smart man. He immediately realized that terms this generous must come with some sort of drawback, so he asked, "What's the downside of borrowing from you?"

Adhering to the principle of honest dealings and mutual progress, Harry did not hide anything.

"Because I'm the source of your power, you won't be able to continue borrowing magic after I die.

"But don't worry. At that point, you can still borrow from other Dimensional Demons. Besides, I'm practically impossible to kill."

If Harry died, the Chaos Magic within him would most likely revive him, though the dimension he was in at the time would suffer terribly.

Tony was somewhat tempted. "That sounds pretty good. What are the specifics?"

"Casting a low-level spell costs ten thousand dollars, a mid-level spell costs one million, and a high-level spell costs ten million. If you want unlimited use, just pay a thousand times the original price.

"Of course, those are the prices for using magic without learning it.

"If you can construct spell arrays and merely borrow magical power to cast spells yourself, then you won't need to pay dollars. You only need to share the magical knowledge you research."

Harry casually named a price. Unlike in the Wizarding World, where he needed more trusted allies to change the world, he had no intention of developing too many borrowers.

After all, lending to ordinary people without collecting life force or souls was absolutely a losing business.

Only by lending to geniuses like Tony, or mages who already possessed magical power, and gaining the magical knowledge they researched, could he avoid losses.

He would not collect souls and life like evil Dimensional Demons did, not only because he did not want to, but also because he did not need to.

Simply by staying alive, his power would continuously grow. He did not need to rely on lending to increase his strength like most struggling Dimensional Demons.

The reason he was lending to Tony was merely to support a friend.

Thinking of this, Harry suddenly realized that after coming into contact with Tony, he had probably already entered the view of high-ranking government officials. This might bring danger to Aunt May and the others.

Harry decided that once he returned home, he would arrange Lending Contracts for Aunt May and the others as well. Of course, theirs would be free.

Just a portion of high-level magic would be enough for them to handle most dangers.

Noticing Tony staring at him with a somewhat strange look in his eyes, Harry asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Did I set the price too high?"

Tony shook his head. "It's too cheap. For only ten million dollars, you can mass-produce superhumans. If the military found out, they'd go insane."

Harry shook his head. "I don't want to lend to too many people. Without setting harsh contracts, lending is mostly a losing business.

"The reason I'm lending to you is because you're a good person and my friend. You're talented enough that I won't lose out either."

Tony smiled bitterly. "You actually think the world's largest arms dealer is a good person. If other people heard that, they'd laugh their heads off."

"Didn't you shut down the weapons manufacturing division?"

"You know about that? You saw the news?"

"No, I heard it from other people at the party. Why did you shut it down?"

Tony looked pained. "During those three months when the Ten Rings Gang held me captive, I saw with my own eyes a ten-year-old child being shot dead by terrorists using weapons I made.

"I wanted to use those weapons to protect them, but in reality, my weapons killed them.

"I want to make a greater contribution to this world, not just manufacture weapons that explode."

Harry comforted the pained Mr. Stark.

"See? Just like I said, you're a good person. After discovering the truth, you were able to decisively give up enormous profits and turn yourself around. That alone is something many people cannot do."

After a moment, Tony composed himself and smiled at Harry. "Let's forget those sad things for now. Today's protagonist isn't me—it's you!"

Tony snapped his fingers, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby officially announce that I will transfer five percent of Stark Industries' shares to Harry!

"From today onward, Harry Potter will become a new shareholder of Stark Industries!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire venue fell silent for a moment before erupting into deafening cheers.

Even Harry was somewhat surprised. It was only five percent of the shares, but for the behemoth that was Stark Industries, it represented a transfer worth hundreds of billions of dollars. It also meant Harry had instantly surpassed most wealthy people and become one of the richest people in the world!

As though they had rehearsed together, dozens of hot girls charged madly toward Harry, wanting to be the first to get close to this newly wealthy man.

The politicians, celebrities, and entrepreneurs Peter recognized also stepped forward, hoping to exchange a few words with Harry and leave a good impression.

By the pool, Peter, who had been shyly chatting with a hot girl in a sexy bikini, stared in stunned disbelief. He could not believe his brother had suddenly transformed into a rich man.

Did that mean he could buy that secondhand Ford now?

Tomorrow's follow-up reads are very important, so please don't forget to keep reading~ orz