At noon, Tom woke up a bit earlier than Hermione. He opened his drowsy eyes and felt the soft sunlight streaming in through the window. Egypt had this advantage; even in December, the average temperature was over ten degrees, pleasant weather, neither too cold nor too hot. As he looked at the bright sky outside the window, Tom gradually lost his sleepiness. His sensations slowly settled in his mind. He felt something brushing against his ear, making it itch. As he touched it with his hand, he grabbed a tuft of brown hair.
Tom turned over and saw Hermione lying next to him, sleeping soundly. At the moment, she was holding a feather pillow, with her arm resting on Tom's chest and her legs on top of his. She was cuddled up to him like a feline claiming her territory.
Seeing Hermione, resembling a large white cat, Tom felt warmth in his heart, and a faint smile formed on his lips.
He tried to move gently to get out of Hermione's embrace, but his movements woke her up, causing her to stir from her sweet slumber.
When Hermione woke up and saw Tom trying to escape, she held him tightly, refusing to let go.
Tom wanted to say something, but he saw the young girl's rosy lips pouting, and he understood their meaning.
After a series of passionate kisses, Hermione finally let go of Tom with some reluctance and got out of the messy bed.
"Maybe we have to pay for the hotel sheets," Tom said a little embarrassed, looking at the disheveled sheets.
Remembering what happened the night before, Hermione blushed and muttered, "It doesn't matter; it's just a small expense."
In her mind, she thought, That place didn't disappoint me! This roasted pigeon has a special effect. I wonder if Hogwarts' kitchen will provide such Oriental delicacies...
As she daydreamed, Hermione went into the bathroom to clean the dirt off her body. They had stayed up very late the night before, both exhausted and too tired to shower. They had simply fallen asleep without even bathing, which made them feel a bit dirty upon waking up at noon.
After about an hour or two of cleaning up, Hermione and Tom returned to their refreshed appearances.
While Hermione dried her hair, she remembered something and suddenly grabbed Tom's ear, asking him seriously, "Did you do it inside last night...?"
Tom was taken aback and tried to remember carefully. He responded somewhat uncertainly, "I think... I didn't, right?"
"Think again!" Hermione tapped her foot, a bit frustrated. "I really hope Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey give me that kind of potion!"
Tom just imagined a scene where he took Hermione to see Snape or Pomfrey and shuddered.
Even Snape wouldn't agree to that request, even if Harry asked for it! As for Dumbledore, he might see it as a fruit of love and be delighted with it. So maybe he would even view it as a positive thing!
Tom thought long and hard and finally confirmed that he hadn't done anything like that, at least he hoped not.
"I'm impressed..." Hermione said, covering her forehead.
"Well, well, let's think about other things, shall we? How about having some lunch?" Tom suggested.
"Don't tease me!" Hermione playfully tapped him on the head with her index finger.
By now, it was a bit late, so they both quickly had something to eat, some roasted meat rolls, and then returned to the hotel.
Since they didn't have much else to do, Tom took out Menes's Emerald Tablet and used it to refine the raw Philosopher's Stone.
First, he dropped a drop of Menes's blood onto the stone, then added some fragments of the Philosopher's Stone. The two elements merged into the stone and were absorbed by it.
It didn't take long before a grayish stone appeared on the Emerald Tablet.
"Is this the Philosopher's Stone?" Hermione asked curiously, looking at the stone.
"It's just the prototype. We need to find a slaughterhouse to place it in."
After that, things naturally progressed. Tom wrote a letter to his friend Yuri, who had quite some influence in England, informing him of his need to open a slaughterhouse. Although the request was somewhat vague, it was much more ordinary than his previous request to open a prison.
But Tom didn't ask favors from Yuri without reason. During the preceding days, acting as an intermediary, he had introduced Yuri to some high-ranking British officials, earning Yuri an additional white-glove identity and significantly boosting his business, while also providing him with extra protection.
The rewards were substantial.
Faced with Tom's request, Yuri naturally worked diligently. A few days later, while Tom was in Egypt enjoying pigeons, he received Yuri's response.
"What does the letter say?" Hermione asked as she lay on the bed, lazy. Her white feet lifted and trembled in the air.
Tom sat next to Hermione with the letter in hand and recounted the general content.
"Couldn't we build it in the UK?" Hermione wanted the slaughterhouse in England.
Tom shook his head. "The production capacity wouldn't be sufficient. The market here is already saturated."
The vast plains of the United States would be a good place for cattle farming. Yuri suggested setting up the slaughterhouse in Texas, where there was a facility for sale.
"But can the British build a slaughterhouse in the United States?" Hermione frowned.
Tom seemed indifferent. "Yuri will handle those procedures. We only need to go and sign some documents, and then place the stone in the factory."
Although Hermione felt something was amiss, she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
It wasn't until the two of them boarded the flight with Yuri to the United States that she realized the problem: why would ranchers go to Tom's slaughterhouse to slaughter their cattle? And where would the initial capital come from? The slaughterhouse Tom wanted would surely be a massive factory that slaughtered thousands of head of cattle per day. Her father's credit card couldn't handle such an expense.
Although Mr. Granger lived comfortably, and the dental clinic made enough profits, it couldn't cover such a cost.
After hearing Hermione's doubts, Tom smiled.
"Miss Granger, the money issue is easy to solve. Don't forget I have a prison in my name." Tom's eyes narrowed slightly. "And if that doesn't work, we can always consider Gringotts."
Tom's prison, the White Dolphin Prison, was like a golden goose, regularly providing a generous source of income. The biggest expense for other prisons, security costs, practically didn't exist for him, resulting in an incredible profit margin.
And, on the other hand, in the Lestrange family's vault, there was quite a bit of gold. After getting rid of Voldemort and dealing with the Death Eaters, that money could be used to reward those who had done a good job.
"As for the competition," Tom smiled again, "We are wizards, after all!"