429: Chapter 415 The Wonderful Uses of Faith

Wino ran to the edge of the gap and peeked inside against the wall.

It was a vast, empty hall with neatly laid stone slabs and braziers placed in the corners. By the bright firelight, he saw the Three-headed Dog confronting a mysterious person wearing a robe with their head hidden in a hood.

His gaze moved past them and landed on a stone platform.

A Magic Array was laid out on the floor of the stone platform, its patterns outlined in blood, emitting an eerie crimson glow. The woman lying in the center was Madam Louisa, who had been missing for several days.

Wino didn't dare to startle the monster and the mysterious person; he quietly took out his Mobile Phone, and after confirming the flash and shutter sound effects were turned off, he captured the 'two of them' and the Magic Array in the camera's view and took a photo.

With the evidence safely in hand, his mission would be successfully completed as long as he handed the photo over to the professor.

He gripped his Mobile Phone tightly and prepared to retreat. However, just as he took a step, the 'two of them' who had been confronting each other seemed to sense someone peeking from the shadows; they turned their heads together and looked at the terrified Wino.

"Run!" He bolted decisively, not forgetting to look back mid-run. If the enemy drew near, the Mobile Phone would have to be thrown to Ryan, who was second in line.

It was very strange; the Three-headed Dog and the mysterious person, who were just warily watching each other on the verge of a death match, had now reached an agreement and were pursuing the five of them together.

The mysterious person flew out from the gap, pursuing while floating in mid-air, while the Three-headed Dog charged on foot. Their methods differed, but one thing was the same: they were both very fast.

Wino felt that only five seconds had passed before the wind from the Three-headed Dog's running slapped against his face, whipping his hair up.

It was too late. His expression tightened as he turned his head back forward. Looking at Ryan, who was watching him, he suddenly threw the Mobile Phone: "Catch it!"

Ryan raised both hands and slightly adjusted his position; the Mobile Phone successfully landed in one of his palms.

He gripped the Mobile Phone and breathed a sigh of relief, but his nerves tightened again when he saw the Three-headed Dog leap with all its strength to pounce on Wino: "Watch out!"

Idiot, how am I supposed to 'watch out' and dodge a fatal blow from a Three-headed Dog?

Wino didn't turn back at all, just laughed and cursed before shouting: "Run fas—"

Halfway through his sentence, he felt a heatwave rise behind him, followed by an impact traveling through the air that sent him flying.

It happened so suddenly that he had no time to adjust his landing posture. He slammed face-first onto the floor, his head spinning and his consciousness blurring.

After a while, he shook his head and gradually regained clarity: "What, what happened?"

"Headmaster Grandpa!" Misha's joyful cry reached his ears. Wino's mind, which hadn't fully resumed working, understood that the crisis was over.

Ryan returned the way he came and helped Wino up. Together with the other three, they walked to stand before Dumbledore, who was standing beside the corpse of the Three-headed Dog.

"Headmaster, it..."

"I already know." The little old man turned around, his eyes looking at the five of them through his round lenses. After a long moment, he smiled and said, "Well done."

Misha hopped up and down: "Headmaster Grandpa, is Madam Louisa safe?"

"She's fine. Some of her blood was drawn, but she'll recover after taking a potion."

Wino rubbed his swollen forehead: "Mr. Headmaster, you always arrive so timely. Uh, is this our final exam?"

"I went on a long trip. After I returned, a teacher found me and said five first-year students were missing. I used detection magic to find you and then rushed here. As for the final exam, hasn't the academy already announced it? It has nothing to do with this Evil Sorcerer."

""

Ryan was somewhat skeptical: "It wasn't arranged by you?"

"If I had arrived a second later, you all would have been dead."

Wino shrugged: "Headmaster, we didn't mean to take risks or try to show off. It's just... the teachers and professors didn't believe us. Of course, since the evidence had vanished, their skepticism was normal."

"The high heels and bloodstains in the oil painting were cleared by the Evil Sorcerer," Dumbledore said.

"No wonder. I was wondering why the traces had vanished so inexplicably."

Dumbledore looked at the Evil Sorcerer lying against the base of the wall: "Louisa was very clever. After being kidnapped, she dropped her hair accessories and high heels along the way as clues. After she had dropped everything she could, she cut the skin on her ankles to let blood drip along the path. Unfortunately, the Evil Sorcerer eventually discovered Louisa's wounds."

""

"So that's how it was."

"I have already notified the teachers, so don't worry about being punished. Hurry back to the dormitory to rest and focus on preparing for your tests. I will handle things here."

"Goodbye, Headmaster." Although many questions were still swirling in the minds of the five, Dumbledore clearly had no intention of answering them, so they had to walk toward the exit.

As Wino walked, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the wretched corpse of the Three-headed Dog.

That Magic Array was very complex; a day or two wouldn't have been enough to complete it. The basement is a restricted area of the academy; an Evil Sorcerer couldn't possibly have the ability to hide from the Headmaster and stay in the basement for a long time to slowly set up a Magic Array.

Therefore... the Magic Array belongs to the academy.

Why wouldn't they destroy such a dangerous thing?

What was its effect?

Wino took one last look at the Evil Sorcerer's corpse and quickened his pace to catch up with Ryan and the other three.

...

Zhang Mu stood there with his hands behind his back. Once the five had gone far away, he reclaimed the Puppet and the monster that had played the Evil Sorcerer.

"The foreshadowing was left quite clearly. Hmm... those two blockheads Leon and Klaisi probably didn't notice, but Ryan and Wino should have sensed something. Misha, I'm not sure about her, but it doesn't matter. It's enough if one of the five knows."

A carefully arranged large-scale 'instance' naturally wouldn't be a one-time use item; that would be too extravagant.

Zhang Mu had planned a total of three 'plot points,' and finding the kidnapped Madam Louisa wasn't one of them; it was only responsible for starting the story.

"Such a fun thing can't just be played by the five of you. Luo Xiling... and those few from Russia..." Zhang Mu seemed to think of something and chuckled for a while before summoning the portal to return to the NH area of China on Blue Star.

Flying to the top of Mount Gushan in Shanghai, Zhang Mu sat cross-legged on a rock. Looking at the endless stream of worshippers, he pondered the supernatural plan over in America.

Neo had built the school. The interior decoration of the teaching buildings and other structures would be finished in a few days. The landscaping and road leveling on campus were also nearing completion; the start of school was not far off.

Following that would be recruiting students and organizing textbooks.

For those two tasks, the former didn't require Zhang Mu's attention as Neo would handle it. The latter had also been prepared originally.

Initially, Zhang Mu intended to prepare a brand-new teaching method. However, considering the various difficulties were too tedious to solve, he finally decided to imitate Hogwarts and the Mountain Gate in teaching students.

The setting of Blue Star having no magic was easy to solve. He could just place a giant magic crystal stones on the school playground in his identity as Mr. Gao and set up a barrier to envelop the school.

Although this operation lacked innovation, at least the 'Blue Star Magic Academy' could be successfully established.

It was just that after unexpectedly obtaining the statue of god, Zhang Mu felt the plan could be changed slightly.

Faith Power, a miraculous power that can bestow special abilities upon believers.

Erecting a statue of god in the America Magic School would not only allow him to collect Faith Power but also help the students succeed in 'practicing magic' through it.

Zhang Mu sat on the rock for three days, roughly outlining the plan.

"It'll be done once the details are refined a bit." He stood up and flew toward America.

...

The outskirts of New Moon City, America.

Sunlight shone on the wilderness, the spring breeze blew through the woods, and the small river by the forest rippled slightly.

One kilometer south of the river, a school was about to be completed.

As the actual controller of America, Neo wore a yellow hard hat. Completely ignoring his expensive suit being covered in dust, he ran among the busy construction machinery.

"Over there, trim the greenery in the flower bed again; the height must be consistent."

"And the guardrail here, the iron pillars in the middle are crooked by a few centimeters. Correct them quickly!"

Neo transformed into a construction foreman, ordering workers to rework things everywhere based on the principle of striving for perfection.

Although the standards he set were somewhat harsh, even seeming like he was making things difficult, the workers were still willing and followed the requirements without any complaints.

This was not only because of Neo's status but also because the compensation was more than sufficient.

Triple daily wages, with overtime pay calculated separately—please, where else could one find such a generous employer?

The workers thumped their chests, saying they could do this job for a lifetime.

"See that tree?" Neo grabbed the arm of the site manager passing by and pointed to a grove on the right intended for students to enjoy the shade in summer.

The manager was stunned and looked at the woods blankly: "Which one?"

"Count the third row from front to back, and the eighth tree from left to right."

Following the guidance, the manager successfully found the target and squinted to examine it carefully for a moment: "Uh, this tree, what's wrong with it, Mr. Neo?"

"Idiot, can't you see? Its trunk is three centimeters thicker than the surrounding trees!"

"Oh, so that's how it... huh?"

"What are you still doing in a daze? Go replace it. Fast, fast, fast, get moving!"

The manager ran off in a daze. Neo stood with one hand on his hip and the other straightening his tilted hard hat. His sharp gaze scanned the surroundings like an eagle's; as soon as he found a flaw, he would point it out mercilessly.

Time slowly passed, and the sun set in the west.

An assistant ran up behind Neo holding a file: "Mr. Neo, the information on the statue of god has been investigated."

Hearing this, Neo turned around abruptly: "Bring it here quickly!"

The file was on paper and wasn't very thick. He read it word for word, and it only took him five minutes to finish.

"In other words, currently statues of god have only appeared in China and Russia?"

"Yes."

"Can we be sure there are none in Ying Country?"

The assistant nodded firmly: "Absolutely."

After speaking, he added: "After Hogwarts made contact with Ying Country, they relied on Dumbledore to heavily damage our intelligence system in Ying Country. Fortunately, some of the more deeply hidden spies survived the interrogations and screenings.

This investigation mission was handled by them. We lost several excellent intelligence personnel for this."

Neo fell into deep thought.

Previously, any incident related to the supernatural was kept tightly under wraps, but this time China and Ying Country didn't hide the functions of the statue of god at all. Why?

Additionally, why didn't Ying Country have one?

The statue of god at the Mountain Gate was personally summoned by a supernatural being. Could it be that Hogwarts couldn't do the same?

After thinking for a long while, Neo was still completely baffled. He shook his head to cast aside his doubts and stuffed the file back into the assistant's arms: "Seal the intelligence; highest level of secrecy."

"Understood." The assistant nodded and quickly said a few words into his Mobile Phone.

A minute later, more than a dozen fully armed soldiers walked in from outside the school gate to protect him as he boarded a helicopter.

Neo threw himself back into work, still full of passion, and remained busy until late at night before getting into his private car to go home.

In the back seat, the manager was reporting the overall progress of the project to him.

"Mr. Neo, the decoration of the teaching building has been inspected and accepted. The remaining campus landscaping and internal roads will be finished in three days at most. In addition—"

Neo listened in silence, occasionally nodding in approval, but his thoughts were actually on other matters.

The school is almost built. I need to notify Mr. Gao as soon as possible, but I don't have Mr. Gao's contact information.

Hmm... next time we meet, it will be necessary to mention this to Mr. Gao.

While thinking, the car drove into the courtyard of a luxury villa. Neo instructed the driver to take the manager home and returned to the living room to call several heads of ally families to come for a discussion.

Neo didn't give details over the phone, only saying it was about some issues related to the school that needed everyone to deliberate.

Since it concerned Mr. Gao, they didn't dare to delay. They struggled to get out of their warm beds and took cars to Neo's villa.

The family heads arrived one after another. When the last one sat at the round table, Neo clapped his hands: "Everyone is here. The meeting begins."

A family head who had arrived early and asked him about the general topic spoke up: "The school will be completed in three days. Neo's plan is to carry out enrollment publicity first and then notify Mr. Gao. What are your opinions?"

"Agreed. Mr. Gao is usually very busy; it's best to save him time."

""

"I also agree, for the same reason."

"I agree as well, and I'll add one point. The number of students signing up will definitely not be small. Before Mr. Gao personally interviews the students, should we conduct a round of pre-selection?"

"That makes sense, but we don't know what kind of students Mr. Gao needs. How do we decide the screening criteria?"

"I believe that regardless of which traits are beneficial for magic cultivation, idiots certainly won't be among them."

"True. Then let's do this..."

They discussed animatedly and soon formulated a pre-selection plan, spending the entire night refining it.

The next morning, several family heads got into their cars to go home with fatigue, while Neo stood on the balcony in high spirits, watching several luxury business cars drive out of the courtyard gate and head in different directions.

"Mr. Gao will surely be satisfied with my efforts," he muttered to himself, his heart full of anticipation.

Besides anticipating Mr. Gao's praise, he was also thinking about the potion he had long coveted.

After the Queen regained her youth by taking the potion gifted by Dumbledore, she frequently held press conferences and attended royal council meetings in full regalia.

The purpose was self-evident: to strengthen the nation's confidence in the royal family and improve the cohesion among royal family members.

Neo didn't care if Ying Country became stronger because of it, but every time he saw the Queen's youthful appearance on the screen, the urgency in his heart increased by another notch.

"It's truly enviable." For the first time, Neo was jealous of the long history of Ying Country and China.

"Enviable of what?"

A familiar, calm tone came from behind. Neo turned around in surprise, and looking at the man standing in the middle of the living room, he greeted him excitedly: "Mr. Gao, I welcome your arrival."