Late at night, Tom walked out of Gringotts Headquarters with a pleasant smile on his face, escorted by several goblins whose smiles looked more painful than tears.
"That brat is far too shrewd!"
Only after the boy's figure had long disappeared into the night did one goblin finally spit the words out bitterly.
The profit split had been finalized, yet there were still countless details to negotiate. In the end, Tom had anticipated everything. Every handling fee that belonged to him would be recorded separately and accumulated under his own name. The goblins had no authority to alter those records, and they were required to settle accounts once a week, depositing the money directly into his vault at Gringotts.
With arrangements like that, any little schemes they had entertained were rendered completely useless.
"That's enough, Thorsen."
The oldest goblin director spoke in a deep, steady voice. "Put away your complaints. We did not lose unfairly this time. Riddle defeated us purely in the realm of business. What right do you have to resent that?"
"On the contrary, you should study him. Use Riddle's methods against those blasted officials at the Ministry of Magic. Wouldn't that earn us far more gold?"
Throughout history, goblins had launched countless rebellions. Yet Gringotts still controlled the economic lifeline of the wizarding world. Why?
First, because goblins were greedy. Those who worked at Gringotts represented the greediest of their kind. The mere sight of gold could make their blood race. The rebellions of the past had little to do with them. As long as profit was guaranteed, everything else was insignificant.
Second, they possessed genuine business acumen. They understood how to generate wealth.
The wizarding world had no formal taxation system. The Ministries of Magic in various countries relied on complex funding structures. But the largest portion of their revenue each year came from what Gringotts paid as so called protection fees.
The Ministry's appetite was satisfied first. Only what remained belonged to Gringotts.
Thus, the relationship between Gringotts and the Ministry was both cooperation and contest. Compared to the modest profit from a split, any gold they could avoid handing over to the Ministry could easily be earned back several times over.
After the director's reprimand, the anger among the other goblins gradually subsided.
One goblin proposed, "Muggles have achieved financial systems beyond our imagination. I suggest we secretly send talent to infiltrate the Muggle financial world and study it."
"Difficult," another goblin countered immediately. "You know how closely wizards monitor us. Without the cooperation of Confundus Charms, there's no way we could blend into Muggle society."
"Then we buy a few wizards. There are plenty of poor, down and out ones."
"But it wouldn't be safe. Most paupers are mediocre at magic. If they are exposed, we would be the ones to suffer."
"If you keep hesitating like this, how will we ever accomplish anything grand?"
Tom had no idea that his maneuvering tonight had strengthened the goblins' resolve to learn from Muggles. Even if he had known, he would not have cared.
If necessary, Aurors would descend upon Gringotts from the sky, conduct a friendly and enthusiastic exchange of practical magic, collect generous compensation, and leave in high spirits.
That was not only his idea. It was also the prevailing sentiment within much of the Ministry of Magic.
"You look so happy today. Did everything go smoothly?"
Fleur saw that Tom's lips simply could not stop curving upward and immediately guessed the outcome.
"Mm. Perfectly smooth."
Tom gently pulled the girl into his arms. "From now on, just wait to become a wealthy lady."
"You're awful. That's all saliva."
Fleur said so, yet not only did she fail to push him away, she leaned in and kissed his cheek in return. Lowering her voice, she whispered, "Shall we have some wine tonight to celebrate?"
Tom shook his head, stroking her cascading silver hair. "Tomorrow. I'm a bit tired today. I'll take a bath and go to bed early."
He had not forgotten that the system would finish upgrading later tonight. A full seven days. Seven whole days without access to the learning space. The itch to study was almost unbearable.
He had no idea what this upgrade contained that required so much time.
Fleur, considerate as ever, embraced him once more before returning to her own bedroom.
Deep into the night, Tom had already spent half an hour staring at the system panel's upgrade countdown, just in case it might reopen early.
It did not.
He had wasted half an hour of his life for nothing.
When the final second ticked away, the system interface suddenly went black, like a computer restarting. Two or three seconds later, it lit up again, startling him.
The interface itself appeared unchanged. Then a patch note popped up.
Tom's eyes sharpened as he began to read carefully.
[Thank you for your patience, Host. The Academic Overachiever System has completed its upgrade. Current version: 1.1. The update details are as follows:]
[1. In response to the Host's suggestion, the recruitment range for private tutors will now exclude contemporary figures. The Host's subconscious evaluation will partially influence recruitment results.]
[2. Learning Space upgraded. The initial version possessed a realism level of 98.9 percent, still slightly different from reality. After this update, realism will increase to 99.99 percent, providing a more authentic learning environment and preventing perceptual discrepancies.]
[3. Learning Space function expansion. To allow the Host greater freedom in allocating real world time, a time flow adjustment function has been added. Time is gold. For every onefold increase in time flow, one learning point will be consumed per minute. Detected that the Host possesses the talent "Power of Time." The current maximum time flow is 2 plus 1 times.]
[Note: Under time acceleration, neither the Host nor the teachers' souls will age or suffer additional consumption. Please use with confidence.]
[4. It has been detected that the Host has frequently used the "Transcendent" mode and provided positive feedback. After this update, Transcendent Mode will be upgraded. A new mode, "Cognitive Leap," is now officially launched.]
[Under this mode, the Host's logical reasoning and information integration abilities will be greatly enhanced. There is also a probability of triggering the effect "Flash of Genius," allowing intuition to transcend realistic interference and subconsciously choose the most optimal path of improvement.]
[Both the old and new modes will coexist. Transcendent Mode's cost remains unchanged. Cognitive Leap will consume 500 learning points per 1,000 minutes.]
[5. After this update, when any private tutor's approval rating reaches 100 percent, one salary settlement opportunity will be granted per tutor. Click to view compatibility. Future updates will unlock additional methods for obtaining settlement opportunities. Please look forward to it.]
As he read, Tom rapidly digested each change.
-------------------------
60+ Advanced chapters on patreon. com/hpdreamer