"But you're absolutely sure these are Aurors, right?" Wade asked again.
Although Wade was not afraid of offending Aurors, he still needed to confirm things first.
"Absolutely certain. I even recognize some familiar faces here..." As Andrews spoke, he crouched down and pulled a red identification booklet from one of the unconscious wizards. "Look, a Soviet Ministry of Magic Auror..."
"Not a big problem." Wade casually woke one of the Aurors. The man was already wearing a collar, though it had now hidden itself around his neck and was no longer visible.
The moment the Auror woke up, he immediately began shouting curses loudly in Russian.
However, before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped.
It was as though he had seen the most horrifying thing imaginable. Fear gradually filled his eyes.
Five seconds later, he collapsed onto the ground again, panting heavily as though he had just run fifty kilometers carrying a heavy load...
"That fast? I remember it used to take at least several minutes," Slytherin said in surprise.
"Goblin Collar version 2.0. It only takes five seconds to teach him what true agony feels like... our time is valuable too." Wade smiled. "Besides, making it last several minutes would be far too cruel. I'm not some kind of devil. Five seconds is enough."
Slytherin did not believe a single word of the second half of Wade's sentence.
What did he mean by too cruel? He simply wanted to save time. God knew just how horrifying the mental torment would be when the entire "taming" process was compressed into five seconds.
Still... who told these people to provoke this little devil?
And besides, as Aurors, they had launched an attack without any attempt at negotiation whatsoever. Clearly, these people were no saints either!
"Would you like to try again?" Wade asked.
The Auror crawled over with tears and snot streaming down his face, trying to hug Wade's leg while rapidly saying something in Russian.
But after seeing Wade's expression, the Auror suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately shut his mouth, then obediently lay flat on the ground without daring to move again.
"What did he say?" Wade asked Andrews beside him.
Andrews was still staring blankly at the Auror's sudden change in attitude. Only after hearing Wade speak did he swallow hard and answer, "He said, please don't torture him anymore. He'll do whatever you say!"
"Good. Then keep translating for me," Wade said.
Andrews wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and repeatedly nodded.
Wade looked at the Auror again and said softly, "I ask, you answer. I trust you won't dare lie or hide anything from me, right?"
After Andrews translated as usual, the Auror frantically nodded.
"I assume attacking us wasn't your main mission, otherwise there would've been no need to mobilize so many people. So tell me, what's going on?" Wade asked.
After hearing the translation, the Auror explained the situation in a trembling voice.
The matter itself was not complicated. A pure-blood family had lost a child, and the Aurors had all been mobilized to help search for the missing child.
Then, while investigating outsiders in the area, they just happened to hear about Wade hiring Andrews as a guide... after all, Wade had deliberately spread that information himself.
After hearing about Andrews, Head Auror Yuriyev casually instructed his subordinates that if they happened to encounter him on the road, they should kill him while they were at it... as casually as swatting an annoying insect.
To be honest, if one really examined it carefully, although Yuriyev's order did carry the feeling of settling a personal grudge, it was technically quite legal and reasonable.
After all, Andrews had never exactly behaved himself after coming out here.
His illegal poaching and smuggling activities were not nearly as secretive as he imagined.
The Aurors simply had not bothered investigating before. But once they actually started looking into it, there was no way to hide it. Andrews immediately became a wanted criminal.
Under those circumstances, surrounding and attacking Andrews as a wanted fugitive was entirely legal and justified.
"Which family lost their child?" Wade asked.
The fact that the Auror Office had mobilized all of its Aurors proved that the family who lost the child was definitely no ordinary family.
After hearing the Auror's explanation, Andrews's expression became extremely complicated. He looked toward Wade and said, "It's... it's Yuriyev's child... and also... also her child."
Wade nodded. So it was the Head Auror's child that had gone missing. No wonder... wait a second...
Looking at Andrews's bitter and complicated expression, Wade suddenly felt he resembled a certain old acquaintance.
Her? Ah, understood. That child was both the child of his enemy and the child of the woman he once loved!
Professor Snape, did you get reincarnated too?
"Understood." Wade had already grasped the truth of the matter. "Andrews, tell him that only absolute loyalty toward me will prevent the collar from punishing him. Remember, even the slightest rebellious thought in his mind will result in severe punishment. Not just him, everyone here has been fitted with a collar... after they wake up, he'll be responsible for informing them. Finally, tell them to continue working peacefully in the Ministry of Magic. When I have orders, the collars will relay them."
Only after Andrews finished translating did Wade continue, "We should leave now as well. After all, they've mobilized so many Aurors..."
This entire incident had really been a disaster out of nowhere. Yuriyev losing his child had disrupted Wade's original plans.
Now they could only leave the Soviet Union. However, thanks to this unexpected twist of fate, he had also managed to plant his own people inside the Soviet Ministry of Magic ahead of schedule...
...
Five minutes later, Wade and the others boarded the Thestral carriage once more.
Only this time, Wade and Slytherin placed even more concealment magic on the carriage to ensure the Aurors would not easily discover it.
"The main issue is that I didn't exactly enter the Soviet Union through legal channels this time. Otherwise, there'd be no need to run in such a hurry," Wade said.
Slytherin glanced sideways at him. "You beat that big fool into submission and even promised to help him get revenge. Surely that wasn't because you're generous and kind-hearted, right?"
"No, I really am kind-hearted and generous. I don't hold grudges over him insulting me." Wade smiled.
"That big fool is driving the carriage, and I've placed a Soundproofing Charm on the cabin... so there's no need to worry about him overhearing the next conversation," Slytherin said.
Wade sighed. "And what have you figured out this time, old man?"
"Heh... after meeting that big fool and realizing he had some talent, you immediately started thinking about helping him get revenge while also pushing him into a higher position, right? By then, that big fool would naturally be deeply grateful to you, and then you could slowly use him to control this country's Ministry of Magic, correct?" Slytherin said with a smile.
"You really are getting sharper with age." Wade did not deny it. "It's just a pity that Yuriyev's family lost their child and disrupted my plans. Otherwise, I wouldn't have needed to use the Goblin Collars... Honestly, those Aurors hadn't committed any unforgivable crime. Things didn't originally need to go this far."
_______
o(*￣▽￣*)ブSupport and read 12 Chapters ahead of WN at-
Patreon/Captain69