A month later, in the waters near the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, an ordinary-looking ship floated on the ocean.
Matthew stood on the deck, gazing out at the sea, where countless shards of gold flickered amid the rolling waves.
The ship belonged to Base 7 of the Magical Countermeasures Bureau and had been requisitioned by Matthew.
The ship had been magically modified, and the space inside was far larger than it appeared from the outside.
It was also protected by Muggle-Repelling and Notice-Me-Not charms, ensuring that Muggles ignored it and that no camera could capture it.
After seeing the ship, Matthew had a new idea. He decided to turn it into an offshore research base.
Matthew had practically emptied out all of Base 7. Even the employees originally assigned to Base 7 had been brought aboard with him.
"Master, the ship has been set up with Anti-Apparition wards," the red-haired witch reported respectfully.
The red-haired witch was the head of Base 7's administrative department.
Matthew had preserved Base 7's original structure. Just as with the Magical Countermeasures Bureau, he only needed to issue orders to the five senior officials to control the operations of the offshore base.
These employees had already signed magical confidentiality contracts and were not allowed to return home during their terms of service.
They would not notice anything unusual for the time being.
Later, he would recruit Hogwarts graduates as research assistants and gradually absorb their expertise.
Matthew nodded. "Well done. Starting now, have the technical department completely halt all experiments involving Obscurus implantation."
"The Squib adjustment surgeries will continue as usual."
"Experiments related to Magic Creatures will also continue as usual."
Aside from humans, Base 7's experimental subjects included a small number of Magic Creatures, including both Magical Creatures and humanoid beings.