After the Watchers were dispatched, the frequency of werewolf attacks decreased significantly.
And when, during a certain attack, a werewolf wizard was overwhelmed and captured by the numerous Watchers, their morale soared. The fear of werewolves dissipated, leading to a series of crushing defeats for the attacking werewolves.
A week after the Watchers were deployed, werewolf attacks ceased entirely.
Naturally, such outstanding performance deserved high praise. Murphy had Rita write a daily follow-up report, on one hand, highlighting how brave and strong the Watchers were in their deadly struggle with the werewolves, ensuring the safety of the wizarding civilians.
On the other hand, she heavily mocked the Aurors, ridiculing them as cowards who trembled at the sight of werewolves. Barty Crouch was even dubbed with the title of "Werewolf Phobia," and Rita maliciously commissioned a caricature of Barty Crouch crying like a baby due to fear of werewolves.
This unscrupulous journalist always had a knack for belittling others.
As for the few werewolves unfortunate enough to be captured during the battles, since the Aurors were uninterested, Murphy gladly took them in, sending them directly to the Transformation Research Group, which was in dire need of real werewolf specimens.
With the Watchers' morale high and the Security Shop basking in the joy of victory, Murphy, however, did not let his guard down.
He suspected the werewolves wouldn't give up so easily, and the mastermind behind them might take further actions.
One day in June, Murphy visited Patrick's home.
"I'm planning to assign you a few security guards." After mooching a meal and playing with Patrick's son, little Ares, for a while, Murphy mentioned casually.
"Security guards?" Patrick chuckled, "What, have you taken out a high-interest loan or something?"
"No loans, but there are plenty who envy us." Murphy said, "I don't make public appearances much. If someone targets the umbrella, you'd be the primary target."
It took Patrick a moment to realize Murphy was serious.
"This is London," Patrick was somewhat incredulous, "Who would harm me? Has something happened?"
"Hope I'm just being overly cautious, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right? You're a billionaire now, after all. It's unseemly not to have a few bodyguards around."
"…Alright." Patrick didn't refuse. After all, having a few more people around the house was a small price to pay for his family's safety.
"How's the development of the computer system going?" Murphy inquired.
Since part of the chip development required magic, most of it was conducted in the magical research institute, while the muggle company was responsible for the computer system and the overall design. Sinclair Research Company was tasked with coordinating with various manufacturers based on the chip research team's specifications to design components that could maximize the new chip's performance. Murphy had also invested in manufacturers of motherboards, RAM, hard drives, and more.
For the computer system, although a lot of research and high-level architecture had been done, including writing some system functions in high-level languages, it wasn't until the instruction set research was completed and their own compiler designed that the actual system integration began.
"I talked with Bob from the project team; the system is less than 40% complete. He estimates it will take at least another year to finish." Patrick said, noting Murphy's displeased expression, "He suggested we could launch some server devices with a DOS-like system first…"
Since servers are mostly used in the commercial sector and perform more specific tasks, customers prioritize computing power over ease of use, making this suggestion viable.
But that path was not feasible.
First, the server market was not as large as the personal computer market.
Second, it was challenging to establish technical barriers in the server domain. Even Intel's x86 architecture took decades to dominate the market, and without a monopoly, it was impossible to command high premiums. Without high premiums, Murphy's initial R&D costs would make any sales unprofitable.
"Continue hiring," Murphy said, "We can't wait. Once the chip fabrication is successful, we must immediately start producing our own personal computer terminals. We have at most six months; our own desktop system must go online."
"But…" Patrick looked worried, hesitant to continue.
Murphy knew what he meant; their finances couldn't sustain such aggressive spending for long.
"It's okay; our first movie will be released next month."
The Lion King was already in its promotional phase and would premiere within a month.
Moreover, Pickett's next movie, Aladdin, was already in progress.
Taking advantage of Disney was a necessity, as the highest-grossing animated movies were all Disney's.
This approach carried risks. The Lion King was one thing, but Aladdin was directly copied from Disney's animation blueprint; they might already have preliminary plans for it.
Therefore, Murphy planned to copy Frozen at most before directing Pickett towards original creations.
...
Leaving Patrick's house, Murphy met with the security chief of the manor, Radwan Perry, a burly man with a red beard.
"Radwan, I need a fully armed team to protect a few key personnel. Can you organize such a team for me?"
"You could directly contact the company; they surely have a suitable plan for you."
"No, you misunderstand," Murphy said, "I don't mean to work with a security company. I want to form our own security team for the umbrella company."
"Do you want to poach me from the company?" Radwan asked, puzzled.
"Not just you, but your team and your former comrades." Murphy looked at him, "I know you served in the British military, and you and your friends were part of the Royal Marines who participated in the Falklands War, right?"
Radwan eyed Murphy suspiciously. The Falklands War details were not public; these were supposed to be secrets, not even listed on his resume. How did Murphy know?
Still, he nodded slowly.
"Come to the umbrella. I'll pay off your penalty." Murphy said.
Talents like Radwan were highly valued in security companies. The ChemRisk Group had signed a five-year contract with him. If Radwan wanted to leave, he'd need to pay twice his annual salary as a penalty, amounting to a million pounds.
But to Murphy, who was burning money at an alarming rate, a mere million pounds was nothing.
"Bring your friends. I'll offer double your current salary, and during combat missions, it'll double again."
"But I need you to form a team with enough combat power within half a month, with members of the same caliber as your former teammates."
Radwan nodded, "Besides the ordinary security tasks, is there anything else I need to know?"
Murphy glanced at the burly man.
Sharp guy.
But that was part of why Murphy valued him.
He hesitated, "Hopefully, I'm just being paranoid, but if the worst comes to pass, you might face some unusual enemies..."
Murphy paused, ultimately not revealing the full truth, merely stating, "Just make sure to be fully equipped."
Firearms are as lethal as wands, and werewolves who can only transform during the full moon won't last long against them. A few dozen professionally trained gunmen should be sufficient to handle most situations.
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