Telling Stories

This line of reasoning could be called clear, rigorous, and airtight, with solid evidence supporting every step. Under the repeated bombardment of proof, even the people involved began to wonder if they really had drunk that cup of coffee.

Even better, Umbrella Corporation had not said a single word in its own defense the entire time, yet people had pieced together the "truth" bit by bit on their own. This "truth" had not been forced on them by anyone, but had formed spontaneously, which only made them believe it all the more.

As public opinion reached an unprecedented high, another reporter revealed that during the previous London Underground fire, Umbrella Corporation had donated a large batch of White Medicine free of charge, directly saving the lives of dozens of severe burn victims. Some people had not even been left with the slightest scar.

Those medicines were worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, yet not only had they donated them for free, they had not even done any proper publicity for it. There had not been a single news report, and the donated drugs had even been rushed straight from the factory without a single company logo on them.

Only on the blessing card that read "May the world be free of pain" was a simple Umbrella logo printed.

What kind of bloody British donkey was this?!

What kind of hidden-gem company was this?!

In the end, the whole incident reached its climax with an open letter personally signed by Nobel Prize winner Rita Levi-Montalcini.

In that open letter, Rita published her preliminary verification of Cloud White Medicine's miraculous efficacy and called on the industry to strengthen research into the drug's underlying mechanisms, believing that such research would help clarify the mechanism of human cell regeneration and greatly promote the advancement of human medicine.

With certification from the most authoritative scientist, Cloud White Medicine's effects received an epic-level endorsement.

People were practically ready to celebrate. This wave was not certification for Cloud White Medicine, but an enormous satisfaction of everyone's psychological expectations.

Everyone's emotions had been fully stirred up.

The hateful pharmaceutical groups!

The tragic bureaucratic system!

And that poor Umbrella Corporation!

What an honest, simple, earnest, straightforward, kind child it was, yet it had been beaten half to death by this pack of animals in human clothing. Not only was it almost gone, but the love of its life, obtained through who knew how much effort and investment—the White Medicine formula—was about to be stolen away too!

How the hell could anyone endure this?!

Men, women, young, and old across Britain were hit hard with empathy.

The pharmaceutical groups had to die!

The corrupt bureaucrats had to die!

Umbrella had to go viral!

Patrick held the newspapers from the past few days, his whole body almost dizzy with happiness.

"Public opinion has completely turned around. Everyone's supporting us now!" Patrick was beyond excited. "With a wave of public opinion this big, the committee can't possibly insist on having its own way!"

He just found it a little strange. How had this momentum suddenly risen?

Thinking of those few hairs Murphy had asked him to collect before, could there really have been some kind of curse involved?

Murphy, however, was very calm. He had long anticipated this scene he had created with his own hands.

Stories had always been the core of capturing people's attention.

A good story needed a plot full of twists, turns, and unpredictable developments. It needed suspense, and a process of peeling away the layers to approach the truth.

And because of the involvement of wizards, a factor outside Muggle understanding, all of these elements had suddenly been present.

Murphy only needed to give everyone a beginning that sparked associations. For the rest, he did not even need to guide them; naturally, someone would keep unraveling it.

At the same time, a good story also needed a protagonist people could empathize with.

Right now, Umbrella Corporation was that protagonist.

A newly born company that wholeheartedly wanted to change the world—how much it resembled oneself when first entering society, carrying simple, burning dreams and recklessly plunging headfirst into the bottomless depths of society, only to duly suffer life's brutal beating.

Yet unlike oneself, already bent under pressure, it had not given up.

It felt wronged. It felt angry. But it still stood tall and kept doing what it believed was right.

Seeing it was like seeing another possibility for oneself.

No one wanted to see the protagonist lose in this hot-blooded, righteous story of a young person's struggle.

Because no one wanted to see themselves lose.

When this story was uncovered bit by bit by everyone, Murphy knew he had already won.

"He woke up?"

In Knockturn Alley, after hearing Lisandro's news, Murphy sighed. "I thought he wouldn't wake up. This family's luck really is pretty good."

Lucius Malfoy had not died. Murphy had learned this from Lisandro that very day.

After the great fire broke out, the Aurors and the staff of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes had quickly arrived at the scene, dealt with the Fiendfyre, and successfully extinguished it.

Narcissa Malfoy and Draco Malfoy had also been rescued by Dobby. Neither of them was basically injured; they had only been frightened.

Narcissa Malfoy insisted that her home had been attacked by dark wizards, and that her husband might know the details. But Lucius Malfoy had suffered fairly serious injuries and had been receiving treatment at St Mungo's Hospital all along, unconscious for nearly ten days.

Murphy had very much hoped Lucius Malfoy would simply die in the hospital. If Narcissa Malfoy had not spent a large sum hiring several Aurors to protect Lucius Malfoy's safety, he really had considered sneaking into the hospital and giving him an Avada Kedavra or something.

Unfortunately, that guy had actually woken up.

But Murphy wasn't too surprised by this.

He had already prepared for the possibility that the man would wake up.

He also knew that after suffering such a huge loss, the guy would absolutely not let it go.

Murphy was alone, with no family ties, so he wasn't afraid Lucius would take revenge through force.

But the fact that the other party knew his true identity was more troublesome.

Once his true identity was linked to a violation of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, Lucius had effectively gained a means of killing him within wizarding society.

Though when it came to breaking the law, Murphy was pretty open-minded now.

Even if the Ministry of Magic really put out a warrant for him, the worst he had to do was change his name and live in the Muggle world.

But once things reached that point, his future plans for the Potion Research Institute and the like would face enormous difficulties.

In fact, difficulties had already appeared.

A few days ago, Gringotts had frozen the account he had opened under the alias "Stephen Cumberbatch," as well as the family vault belonging to "Murphy Darkholme." If he didn't resolve this problem, it would be very hard for him to obtain wizarding gold through normal channels in the future.

Without Galleons, there would be no dittany. Without dittany, there would be no White Medicine. Without White Medicine, Umbrella would starve to death, and his path of ascension through technology plus magic would be stillborn.

"What, you're that concerned about Lucius? Don't tell me you're the one who burned down his house?" Lisandro probed.

"What do you think?"

"I think it sounds like you," Lisandro said. "One look at you and I can tell you're no good sort. When you had me buy up all those potion ingredients before, that was aimed at Lucius's apothecary too, right? And this time you burned the man's whole place down. Impressive. Arrogant! I like it!"

"You can think it was me all you want. You can't convict me."

Murphy picked up a glass of beer from the table and drained it in one go.

"Talking to you here is a complete waste of breath."

It was still the same as before: if Lucius wanted to bring him down, he had to go through proper channels. He needed evidence, and there had to be a trial.

And in the wizarding world, there was only one institution that could decide whether a wizard was guilty.

He should go talk to those people and tell them a story.