151: Chapter 149 The Boulder Falls to the Ground

A convoy of over a dozen camouflaged military jeeps sped along the straight asphalt road cutting across the prairie.

Toby sat in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, reporting the situation via phone to the Director stationed at the office.

"Yes, Rowling is the granddaughter of the Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"I've reported it multiple times, it was you... fine, I understand."

Hanging up, Toby turned his head to warn Ryan, who was casting glances at the Owl on his shoulder from time to time: "Keep your eyes on the road. Do you want to cause an accident?"

"Sorry." Withdrawing his gaze, Ryan asked, "What are the Director's orders?"

"Use every means possible to bring Ms. Rowling back to our new base. If the other side insists on not releasing her, we must at least ensure her personal safety."

As he spoke, his brow furrowed: "If anything happens to Ms. Rowling, I'm worried..."

"Worried that the wizards will take extreme measures?"

Nodding, Toby's tone was filled with concern: "I've had one contact with that Mr. Dumbledore."

"Contrary to the isolation you imagine, he is very familiar with our world."

"Combined with mysterious Invisibility Magic, he might have been standing right there brazenly watching while our superiors held secret meetings."

"Invisibility Magic?" Ryan shuddered. "Then wouldn't that mean..."

"What are you thinking?"

"Uh, just thinking."

"As a Royal Agent, even thinking about it is forbidden!"

"Mr. Toby." Seeing the two drifting off topic, Leon in the back seat couldn't help but speak up to pull them back. "We're currently discussing how to rescue Ms. Rowling."

"And what the consequences would be if the wizard gets angry."

"Yes, right, that's it." Realizing he had strayed, Toby steadied his wandering thoughts. "In short..."

"As I just said, do everything possible to take Ms. Rowling away."

"If the other side refuses, we must ensure her safety."

"They have the guts to defy the orders of the Royal Guards?" Klaisi turned his head and looked through the rear window at the fully armed Soldiers in the vehicle behind them.

"Little guy, power isn't as simple as you imagine," Ryan explained with a smile. "They have a powerful figure backing them."

"They wouldn't dare oppose Her Majesty the Queen openly, but they can manage to find some bureaucratic excuses to stall the orders for a while."

Clearly, Leon and Klaisi couldn't understand what he meant.

After pondering for a long time without figuring it out, they put it aside and silently prayed that the wizards of Hogwarts wouldn't break with all of humanity because of the foolish actions of a few.

That would turn their Interview Letters into scrap paper, and magic would leave them forever.

Magic?

Leon suddenly remembered Toby saying he had witnessed magic with his own eyes: "Mr. Toby, you've seen a wizard perform magic, haven't you?"

"Yes." Toby's gaze ahead became vacant, as if he were lost in that memory.

"He lightly raised his wand, and it was as if an invisible hand covered my mouth; no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open it."

"Then he raised his right hand, and a ball of scorching bright fire circled around me."

"Toby," Ryan interrupted him, "if magic can only throw fireballs, it won't be able to rescue... Is it getting dark?"

Ryan, who had been speaking with his head turned, felt the surrounding light suddenly dim.

He subconsciously thought that it was only past 10 o'clock when the convoy left London, and they were about to arrive at the Military Base, so it should be noon at most.

Why was it dark?

Limited by the viewing angle of the jeep, he couldn't see what was happening in the sky: "Toby, is there a total solar eclipse today?"

"No..." Toby, who had stuck his head out of the window, his lips trembling, "It's... it's magic!"

"Magic?!"

Ryan was exceptionally surprised and delighted; he hadn't expected to witness magic so soon.

He slammed on the brakes to stop the jeep, hurriedly pushed the door open to get out, and looked up. Then, the smile on his face froze.

What Ryan had imagined was the mystery, romance, magnificence, and novelty of magic.

He had instinctively speculated about the destructive power of magic, but based on life experience and the influence of movies and literature, he didn't give it much weight.

Although he knew those were human fictions and he had never witnessed real magic.

But the subconscious isn't so easily overturned, even if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning from an Owl.

Or rather, aside from getting a free afro hairstyle and a face full of soot, finding himself unharmed actually reinforced his subconscious bias.

Therefore, deep down, he never expected Dumbledore to be able to rescue Rowling by relying on magic.

After all, people usually believe firmly in what they already believe; words can hardly interfere with that.

There is only one way to change it: tear it apart, crush it, and then reshape it.

Now, the thing that would shatter his worldview had arrived.

Their convoy had reached the edge of the forest; not far ahead and to the right was the road to the Military Base.

And a giant stone, about two hundred meters above the ground, hung between the two, slightly ahead.

The sun was behind the giant stone; its massive size and perfect positioning blocked the light cast by the sun.

"Oh my God..."

Ryan, along with Toby, Klaisi, and Leon, who got out of the car with terrified faces, as well as dozens of Royal Guards.

Looking up at the giant stone that seemed capable of destroying everything, they naturally didn't think that the wizard, whose whereabouts were unknown, could only manifest stones at an altitude of two hundred meters.

They knew better than anyone what the consequences would be if that sky-blotting giant stone in the air were to fall straight down from ten thousand meters.

That would be the end of London, and even the entire Great Britain.

But in reality, this was impossible.

It might be possible in the future, but at this moment, Zhang Mu had exhausted all his strength just to manifest the giant stone, even requiring the boost from a potion.

Falling from ten thousand meters would cause magical instability due to insufficient Mental Energy, and the giant stone would dissolve into Magical Elements on the way down.

However, Ryan and his party didn't know that.

And Zhang Mu knew they didn't know.

The information gap was Zhang Mu's trump card.

In the distant sky, the giant stone slowly descended.

Of course, it was a visual illusion caused by the stone's sheer size.

Its speed was not slow.

In about ten seconds, the giant stone made contact with the ground.

"BOOM—"

A violent vibration traveled along the ground. Ryan and the others snapped out of their daze and hurriedly held onto the jeep to steady their swaying bodies.

Looking ahead again, a thick cloud of grey-yellow dust spread frantically in all directions, like a sandstorm being kicked up.

After a long while, when the tremors had weakened significantly, they finally realized what had happened.

Awakening from the world-ending scene, the invisible hand gripping Toby's heart let go, and he gasped for breath.

"Magic..."

"Ryan..." His pupils were trembling as he looked at Ryan beside him. "Just how arrogant and conceited is humanity..."

"...to firmly believe that they are the masters of the Blue Planet."

"I... I don't know, Toby..." Ryan panted, clutching his chest. "But I understand one thing."

"If Ms. Rowling is treated with malice, that stone will appear over London."

Regaining his composure, Toby turned and rushed into the car: "Quick! Let's go!"