Unlike Tony Stark, who was shocked, Lockhart's eyes flashed with joy when he saw the gold galleon machine that had been cast with a duplication spell.
Fortunately, there wasn't much magic metal mixed into this machine; otherwise, it might not have been completely copied.
Even so, copying such a sophisticated machine consumed a lot of magic power, and the spell would only last about 10 days.
If he didn't replenish its magic power by then, the machine would easily disappear.
After thinking about it, he stepped forward and looked at Tony, who was carefully inspecting the machine, and said, "Tony, try making a gold galleon to see if this machine works properly."
Hearing what Lockhart said, Tony nodded and then called out: "Jarvis, bring all the materials and conduct a comprehensive test at the same time."
Afterward, Tony skillfully plugged in the power supply and pressed a series of buttons.
As the machine started up, a projection appeared in front of him, displaying a lot of data and charts.
Tony glanced at Lockhart and teasingly asked, "Lockhart, do you wizards understand this kind of data?"
Sure, magic was amazing, he had to admit, but technology was so sophisticated, complex, and rigorous that he doubted a wizard could fully grasp it.
Without a certain level of scientific knowledge and extensive experience with machines, someone could easily get dizzy just looking at such complicated data.
Lockhart walked up to the projection, looked at the data in front of him, and nodded slightly.
Then he moved his hands, opening various parts of the machine. He seemed a little unfamiliar at first, as it was his first time touching the device.
But soon, under Tony's incredulous gaze, Lockhart skillfully checked every working process of the machine and the corresponding data.
A moment later, as Jarvis brought the gold galleon production materials, Lockhart looked at Tony and said, "Tony, the machine is perfect. It seems you put a lot of effort into it."
Tony's mouth twitched slightly upon hearing this.
He still remembered how Lockhart had once told him that it was difficult for a scientist to master magic.
Practicing magic could be challenging due to cognitive conflicts.
Tony had understood that—scientists and magicians view things from completely different perspectives, after all.
But now, after witnessing this scene, Tony began to wonder if Lockhart had been deceiving him all along.
Tony didn't say anything, though. He walked forward silently, called for Jarvis, loaded the materials into the machine, and pressed the button.
The next moment, a glass cover rose, enclosing the material. At the same time, tiny robotic arms emerged above it, beginning to cut, melt, cast, and carve.
It was as if a doctor were performing surgery on a patient—precise, powerful, and complex.
As time passed, under Lockhart's gaze, a simple gold galleon appeared.
At the same time, Tony said, "This is the basic gold galleon. The goblins' magic hasn't been added yet. It will later be subjected to magic radiation and fine-tuned."
With that, the gold galleon entered a closed space. Through the glass, Lockhart could only see a continuous stream of purple light.
Meanwhile, Lockhart was monitoring the changes in the machine's magic power consumption after duplication.
As expected, there were certain differences between technology and magic.
With the help of the Ark Reactor, a large amount of energy was consumed, and the magic power was also drained faster.
Initially, he estimated the machine would last 10 days, but at this rate, it would only last about 3 to 4 days.
But that didn't matter. Lockhart had accumulated plenty of magic power through magical cards before. As long as he performed a bit of fine-tuning, he could use it to replenish the lost magic power.
After a moment, the mechanical arm picked up the gold galleon and placed it in front of Tony and Lockhart.
"See? It's the same as before," Tony said to Lockhart, though his tone was a bit unhappy.
The casting machine he had spent so much effort creating had been copied by Lockhart using magic.
To Tony, this felt like a mockery.
"Tony, this is an excellent machine. Give me 10 of them, and I'll pick them up in 2 to 3 months. I'll pay you then," Lockhart said casually.
While the duplication spell was feasible, it consumed a lot of magic power, and over time, mistakes could easily occur.
After all, it was just a spell, not a magical artifact.
It would work for a short period, but in the long run, a real gold galleon machine would be better.
Besides, wasn't Hydra's money essentially his money now?
Two or three months would be enough time for him to gain control over certain Hydra assets and access billions of dollars. He believed he could pull it off if he squeezed them hard enough.
Even if that didn't work, Nick Fury had embezzled plenty of funds over the years. It was time for some of that to contribute to the peace of the wizarding world.
S.H.I.E.L.D. always claimed to maintain world peace, after all. If given the chance, they should be reminded of their responsibilities.
Yes, that seemed like a perfect plan.
"By the way, Tony, I assume you have some Ark Reactor units in stock. I'll need those as well. I'll transfer the money when the time comes."
Hearing Lockhart's request, Tony looked at him suspiciously.
Could he really come up with that much money?
Seeing Tony's suspicious gaze, Lockhart immediately understood what the other man was thinking. After a brief pause, Lockhart took a few steps back, putting some distance between them.
Then, with a wave of his wand, a pyramid made of gold nuggets appeared in front of Tony.
Lockhart smirked and said, "Don't worry. I have plenty of money. What's a few billion dollars?"
"Give me some time. I have plenty of antique calligraphy, paintings, gold, and other valuables. I have more than a dozen pyramids like this one. What's a mere few billion?"
As if sensing Lockhart's indifference, and seeing the golden pyramid before him, Tony walked up to it in disbelief.
He casually pulled out a gold nugget and asked Jarvis to test it.
Then he fell silent.
He had originally thought Lockhart might only have magical abilities and wouldn't be as rich as him.
Yet, here he was, seemingly proven wrong again.
Seeing Tony's expression, Lockhart's lips curled up in amusement.
Of course, he didn't actually have that many gold nuggets. Most of them had been pre-duplicated using the duplication spell.
The nugget Tony had picked up was, in fact, the one Lockhart had guided him to select.
It was a real gold nugget he had purchased earlier, so it was impossible to detect any problems with it.
Well, this was a white lie. It wasn't meant to boast, but to put Tony at ease.
Lockhart then put away the gold pyramid and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Tony. Money doesn't hold much value for us wizards."
Tony could only nod helplessly, remembering how he had once said something similar to others.
Then, Lockhart's next words caught his attention.
"Tony, have you ever developed miniature positioning and monitoring instruments? I could use some."
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