Bruno floated in mid-air, carefully looking at the basilisk's head. Especially when he saw the basilisk looking at him with its eyes, its snake tongue flickering as if it was testing how he might taste, coupled with the hissing sound, his hair stood on end. He felt most of his strength drain away, and he quickly looked elsewhere.
But Bruno was stunned. What did he see? The gray trees, the gray streets, the gray houses—everything was gray and white, with no one in sight. It seemed like hell. Only his alchemy hut, along with the basilisk and the wizard in front of him, retained their realistic colors. Seeing this, after a moment's thought, Bruno looked at Lockhart with even more fear. He had heard that powerful wizards could create temporary spaces for fighting. Although he didn't know what a temporary space was, he thought it must be similar to what he saw. No wonder the portkey didn't work.
Then, he heard Lockhart's command. Seeing this, Bruno, who always valued his life, accepted the magic contract very obediently. Lockhart nodded with satisfaction. He couldn't keep casting the Imperius Curse, and for a goblin, being under the Imperius Curse was more trouble than it was worth. Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Lockhart said in a cold voice, "Bruno, after signing the magic contract, you will be my subordinate. You just have to remember one thing: What I say, you do. Understand?"
"Understood, sir," Bruno nodded very firmly, indicating that he understood everything. Then, like a submissive dog, he said in a flattering tone, "Sir, why don't you come back to my alchemy hut first? I have collected a lot of magic items. Take a look and see if any are useful."
Seeing Bruno's sincere expression, Lockhart nodded slightly. He looked at the nearly half-collapsed alchemy hut below and waved his wand. "Repario!" As the spell was recited, powerful magic power surged from the wand, enveloping the entire alchemy hut. Soon, under Bruno's gaze, the fragments of the house, mostly ruins, seemed to flow backward in time, re-floating and assembling into their original form. Even the magical lines and runes on the house returned to their original state, as if it hadn't been broken at all.
Seeing this, Bruno became even more attentive, his eyebrows lowered, acting like a servant at Lockhart's call. He had seen restoration spells before and had used them himself, but this was the first time he had seen a restoration spell that could restore magical lines and runes to their original state. It was enough to show how strong this wizard was. Lockhart saw the alchemy hut restored to its original appearance, nodded slightly, and called the basilisk, which shrank in size and slowly landed on the ground.
Seeing this, Bruno also began to land. After Lockhart landed, he looked at the basilisk, which had returned to the size of an ordinary snake, and stretched out his hand. The basilisk climbed up skillfully until it reached Lockhart's shoulder and rubbed his cheek intimately. Lockhart kissed the basilisk's head, then stepped into the alchemy hut, releasing the Mirror Dimension.
Bruno followed. In an instant, he found that the original black and white color quietly disappeared. The sound of rustling leaves in the wind and the calls of birds and animals reached his ears again, making Bruno feel relaxed. God knows how much of a psychological impact it had on him to see the world turn gray. Looking at Lockhart walking in front, Bruno quickly increased his speed, ran ahead, and opened the door for his future master. He was afraid that some of his actions might offend this powerful dark wizard. Although he felt that his master's face was somewhat familiar, he didn't think much about it. After all, who else but a dark wizard could raise such a large basilisk?
"Bruno, there's no need to take these out. They're of no use to me," Lockhart said, seeing the scattered magic items in front of him and ordering Bruno to stand aside. As an alchemist himself, and as he absorbed the essence of both worlds, his level wasn't bad. Plus, he had just ransacked Bella's vault, which contained many top-notch magic items. Bruno's items, though they looked good, were of no help to him.
After hearing Lockhart's instructions, Bruno's eyes flashed with surprise, and he quickly packed up the items, putting them into a space extension bag. If he could reduce losses, he naturally would. He had worked hard to refine these magic items, and if it weren't for seeking good treatment in the future, he wouldn't have been willing to take them out.
Then Bruno heard, "Bruno, you're a master goblin alchemist, right?" Lockhart asked.
"Sir, if you mean a certified alchemist master, then I'm not," Bruno quickly replied. However, seeing Lockhart's confused expression, he continued to explain, "My lord, the thing is, alchemy masters recognized in the wizarding world have published papers in 'The Philosopher's Stone' or made breakthrough research results. As for me, because I have no tangible results, I can't be called a master of alchemy."
Seeing Lockhart frown after hearing this, Bruno immediately added, "However, sir, my personal alchemy level is definitely not lower than those of the alchemy masters. I'm even sure I'm higher than the average alchemist master. Besides, I'm very experienced in imitating certain magic items or making fake ones."
In the end, Bruno felt uneasy, fearing that the dark wizard would give up on him because he wasn't valuable enough. Lockhart was a little disappointed to hear that Bruno wasn't a certified alchemy master. However, when he heard Bruno talk about his alchemy level, especially his expertise, his eyes lit up. After thinking for a while, Lockhart asked, "In that case, tell me, how much do you know about Gold Galleons? What effect can you achieve if you imitate them?"
"Ah, Gold Galleons?" Bruno was surprised, then thought about it and said with a wry smile, "My lord, let me tell you. I've thought about imitating Gold Galleons before. The problem is, although I know the ingredients and formulas, the refining techniques, and can even imitate the anti-counterfeiting technology well, there's a catch."
Speaking of this, Bruno said helplessly, "If the materials are substituted, the refined Galleons will look similar, but ordinary wizards can detect clues through the touch of magic if they're careful. As for the goblins of Gringotts, they're more familiar with this and can easily identify problems. If you want to avoid this, you need to use the original materials to refine Gold Galleons."
At this point, Bruno's eyes flashed with pity as he said, "The goblins at Gringotts not only monopolize the raw materials, but also with the large amount of goblin labor and the refining factory, their costs are greatly reduced. If I were to do it, I would need at least three Gold Galleons' worth of materials to make one. It's such a shame. Moreover, Gringotts' Gold Galleons anti-counterfeiting technology is quite good too. So, I gave up."
Hearing this, Lockhart was thoughtful and said calmly, "Bruno, if I can provide raw materials at a very low cost, can you refine Gold Galleons in large quantities?"
As he spoke, Lockhart emphasized, "What I'm asking for are Galleons that can fool the goblins of Gringotts."
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