Future Plans

"So, you approached the Void Gate and got pulled in at the same time, and then you ended up here?"

Josh rubbed his head with a bitter expression. He had never expected that the little girl before him, who looked both angry and aggrieved, had come to say goodbye to him only to be dragged into this world. He truly did not know how to judge the situation.

Scold her? Josh did not even know whether he could bring himself to do it. After all, she had only come to bid him farewell out of kindness. Still, it reminded him that he had to make sure no one was nearby before opening the Void Gate in the future. Once he was done crossing over, unless someone sensed it, he would immediately withdraw the energy to prevent such accidents from happening again.

It was not as though Josh did not want to throw Hermione straight back, but he had already begun withdrawing the energy when Hermione happened to arrive. The Void Gate had closed, which meant the girl would likely have to stay here with Josh for a while.

"Once the Void Gate is stabilized, if it closes, we have to wait seven days in Muya Continent time before reopening it. Fortunately, since I’ve returned here, the time reference is still calculated with me as the core. It will take some time to reopen the gate to that world, and the time ratio between this world and the Wizard World is one to seven."

"So seven days here means forty-nine days have passed in the Wizard World."

Josh calculated silently, but he found it strange. Why was it always seven? Could that man’s will have affected this place too? Come to think of it, if he changed his name to Eight, would this world start operating on an eight-day cycle as well?

"Thank goodness the all-powerful internet users registered everything from Eight to X. Otherwise, things might have gotten troublesome."

After casually explaining Hermione’s situation to her, Josh was surprised to see that she seemed relieved rather than distraught. It puzzled him. Logically speaking, should she not have looked pitiful and cried about being unable to see her parents?

"Hah? My parents are dentists, all right? You might not know what dentists are, but never mind. We’re a fairly well-off family, anyway. I’ve gone to plenty of summer camps before. It’s not like I can’t go back, so why should I make such a fuss? Besides, I’m very interested in your world."

Hermione’s retort left Josh unsure how to respond. Although she looked almost exactly like the actress from the films, her personality seemed a little worse than the movie version’s. Still, Josh could not be bothered to say anything. Since Dumbledore was already here, one more Hermione made little difference.

Moreover, since Hermione had always lived in the Muggle world, some of her advice might be better than Dumbledore’s in certain areas. This was a mythological world, but Josh could not stand a life without either the internet or electricity. Whenever he thought about how he had endured sixteen years of it, he admired his own perseverance.

"I’m not expecting science to become all that advanced. At the very least, wouldn’t combining magical alchemy with science make life more convenient? Hmm, if I ever get the chance to visit the Marvel Universe, I should find a way to recruit Mr. Stark. That man is a genuine genius."

"Oh, and Black Widow. She’s a professional spy. I really could use someone like that. At the very least, gathering intelligence would become much easier. With someone like her around, we wouldn’t have to run around every world like headless flies."

There was nothing wrong with Josh’s thinking. At present, Garen was his only permanent teammate; the other two were merely visiting. Once they returned to the Wizard World, Josh might not continue taking them everywhere with him. Thus, he was considering how to build his team in the future.

"Black Widow isn’t the only choice. Maybe the Elf prince from Middle-earth or Ada Wong, the agent from the Bio-tech World, would work too? Forget it, I’ll think about it later. They’re all scout-type characters anyway. I’ll meet them sooner or later."

Josh knew there was no point in overthinking it now, so he decisively stopped dwelling on the matter. He clapped his hands and summoned the maids. Since he and Garen had left in the morning, it was still morning in Muya Continent, and the maids quickly entered.

"These two are my friends. Arrange suitable accommodations for them, understood?"

The maids looked curiously at Dumbledore and Hermione behind Josh. They especially glanced at Hermione several more times. They could not understand how the two had appeared in the room, though judging from their clothes, the maids knew they were probably wizards.

"Could it be that the lord likes young girls?"

The two maids respectfully bowed to Josh and left. Josh had no idea what nonsense was running through their minds. If he did, he would definitely have dragged them back and thoroughly informed them that he did not like girls that young.

"What language were you speaking just now? Your language really is different from ours, isn’t it? And are you really a lord? Even if you are a lord, you can’t just order your subordinates around however you want!"

Hermione spoke at an incredible pace. She had always been intensely curious, especially now that she had arrived in an unfamiliar world. Moreover, she was a girl overflowing with sympathy. Josh seemed to remember that Hermione had once formed some association to protect House-elves. To be honest, Josh had scoffed at it.

The House-elves of the Wizard World were not elemental elves or the elves of Muya Continent. They were an extremely inferior form of life, even if their magical power was quite decent. It was as if they had been born controlled by a slave mentality. Even Garen had only one comment about them—They’re beyond saving. Goodbye.

So Josh was not surprised at all that she would tell him not to order his subordinates around recklessly.

"Please, this is a feudal society. With a single word from me, I could have anyone in my territory killed, and they would have no right to resist. But I’ve experienced other civilizations, so I won’t do that. Besides, the maids’ primary purpose is to serve me. Don’t judge me by your own standards."

Josh replied bluntly. Seeing the unconvinced look on the little girl’s face made him laugh. He then walked to the desk, took out the Memory Magic Crystals he had prepared earlier, and handed them to Dumbledore and Hermione. "Take these. Use your magic to draw out the memories inside, and you’ll be able to understand this world’s language."

"Is this how you copied my memories before?" Hermione’s first reaction upon taking it was to wonder whether Josh had obtained the Wizard World’s language and knowledge from her this way.

"Yes." Josh nodded. "It’s a very convenient spell. It keeps me from becoming an idiot in other worlds."

Dumbledore examined the Magic Crystal in his hand, then followed Josh’s instructions and absorbed its energy into his mind. Soon, Muya Continent’s history and the language of this world appeared in his thoughts. He could not help but praise it. "What a marvelous spell. With something like this, who knows how much faster one could learn magic!"

"That’s only someone else’s experience, not your own." Josh shook his head, disagreeing with Dumbledore. Was another person’s method necessarily suitable for oneself? Josh had always believed that only the method suited to oneself was the best; other people’s experience could only serve as reference.

Dumbledore nodded as well. Having immersed himself in the magical world for more than a century, he fully agreed with Josh’s view. After familiarizing himself with the language, he spoke in Muya Continent’s tongue with some difficulty. "Josh, are you planning to renovate this place into a magic academy like Hogwarts?"

"A magic academy? Of course not!" Josh shook his head decisively. "I’ll establish a magic academy, but I want Hogwarts’ blueprints to renovate my castle. I like your style. And not only that—I also plan to find some scientists from the Muggle world and have them study magic, trying to combine magic and technology to create things suitable for everyday life."

"Will you return to Hogwarts in the future?"

"Of course I will, though I probably won’t stay for long. But don’t worry, I’ll place the portal in your office. If you find any particularly talented children or anything else, you can come here to train."

Josh rubbed his chin as he spoke and pondered. Since the world consciousness of Muya Continent had fallen asleep, after dealing with Voldemort, Josh naturally planned to turn the Wizard World into his rear base.

After all, the Wizard World could continuously recruit new young wizards, ensuring an adequate reserve of wizards. If any young wizards had exceptional talent, Josh could have Dumbledore send them here for training. The activity of Magic elements in this world was far greater than in the Wizard World.

"Oh, next semester we can organize an activity for the students. There are plenty of unpleasant things nearby, like bandits. They’re ordinary people, but exceptionally cruel. Have Snape lead some young wizards here to wipe them out. We’ll count it as an extra-credit option for practical combat class."

Josh quickly came up with another idea, but it made Dumbledore break out in a cold sweat. Even Hermione’s eyes widened—she had just finished absorbing the Magic Crystal when she heard Josh say something so cruel.

"Isn’t that… too cruel?"

Dumbledore said this somewhat reluctantly. Although their opponents were ordinary people, if Snape led a team to surround and eliminate them, then either the bandits would die or the students would. Josh was a lord. Since he said those bandits were cruel, they had surely done something that made him furious.

"Cruel? No, of course not. This is merely letting the young wizards experience this world’s way of survival in advance. You should know that only the powerful have the right to speak in this world. Though I treat my people well, that does not mean everyone who comes to this world will be useless."

"At worst, you can introduce a division at the academy: battle mages and life mages. Battle mages will naturally be taught all kinds of offensive spells and receive focused training. As for life mages, forget it—just teach them alchemy and enchanting."

Dumbledore’s lips twitched for quite a while before he agreed. He knew he could only do so. This place could practically be called a divine realm. Though it looked somewhat backward, in less than an hour here, he already felt his magic had increased considerably.

He was completely certain that once the teachers and students of his school learned about this world, they would come here regardless of everything else. And judging from Josh’s plans to renovate his territory, Josh would certainly need even more talented people. His students would not be able to resist such temptation.

"I understand, Josh. I’ll begin arranging this once I return to the school. But what about the academy here?"

"It’s simple. My castle is huge. At worst, I’ll expand it further to house the students who come here."