The next morning, the last batch of Beauxbatons students was escorted away.
The merchants who had originally built up the supporting commercial district around Beauxbatons had also been expelled.
The scale of their businesses wasn't very large, but it wasn't small either. They were at the stage of growing from small merchants into big ones.
In normal times, they would have been the backbone of commerce in a region or even a country.
But in chaotic times, their position became extremely awkward.
They couldn't flee overseas like the truly wealthy merchants, nor could they abandon their goods and shops like small merchants and take up the "work of rioters," which was actually more profitable for small merchants.
So the moment the riots broke out in the French magical world, they fled Lionheart Street and other major wizard gathering places and came to Beauxbatons to seek refuge.
In their eyes, Beauxbatons Island should have been the only remaining pure land in the French magical world.
After all, no matter how insane the rioters were, the chances of them attacking a magical school like Beauxbatons, where so many underage young wizards still lived, were extremely small.
Because this place represented the future.
If Beauxbatons were destroyed, then the French magical world would truly be beyond saving.
Besides, thanks to Madame Maxime's earlier planning, Beauxbatons Island already had supporting businesses centered around Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.
By hiding here, these merchants could still carry on some limited business activities and recover at least part of the losses caused by the riots.
Unfortunately, they predicted that the rioters wouldn't dare attack Beauxbatons, but they never expected the British Ministry of Magic to invade the French magical world.
The merchants certainly didn't think Link and his army were good people.
Thanks to the relentless propaganda from the French Ministry of Magic, Link Flamel and every single person in the British magical world had already been portrayed as bandits.
In the minds of French merchants, titles like murderous maniacs, barbarians, and even cannibals had become firmly tied to British wizards.
The British Ministry of Magic was a nation of barbarians, and Link Flamel was undoubtedly the Demon King sitting upon a throne of bones!
So when the army led by Link officially broke through Beauxbatons, these merchants fell into complete despair.
As far as they were concerned, death was inevitable, and with their deaths, all of their property would be taken away.
But when they lined up on their knees before the hunters of the British Ministry of Magic, begging for a quick death and asking to at least leave them with an intact corpse, something happened that completely surprised them.
Those fierce and greedy hunters not only spared their lives, they even allowed them to keep most of their property, collecting only nearly one-third of each family's wealth as tax.
This kind of taxation was obviously improper.
The British Ministry of Magic hadn't even completely taken control of the French magical world yet.
Strictly speaking, it was still outright robbery, only given the name of taxation.
Yet that difference in name alone filled the merchants with joy.
From the way the Hunter Corps treated them, they reached a conclusion they could hardly believe.
Link Flamel, the young Supreme Councilor of the British Ministry of Magic, genuinely intended to govern the French magical world for the long term!
In other words, Link Flamel and the British Ministry of Magic weren't barbarians who planned to loot the place and leave. They wanted to become the true rulers of this land!
If Link Flamel really intended to do that, then he was unlikely to actually harm merchants like them.
Because at this point, they themselves had become a signboard.
If Link executed all of them or squeezed every last drop of wealth out of them, then merchants throughout the international magical world would regard Link Flamel and the British Ministry of Magic as true barbarians. Naturally, no foreign merchants would dare enter the French magical world to do business anytime soon.
After all, this place couldn't even provide the most basic level of safety.
So when the Auror Corps drove these merchants off Beauxbatons Island today, a scene unfolded that surprised everyone.
These merchants, who had just been thoroughly stripped of their wealth by Link under the name of taxation, all dropped to their knees one after another, crying and refusing to leave.
Some even openly declared that they were willing to donate all of their family wealth to assist Supreme Councilor Link Flamel in governing the French magical world.
This made Link sigh that there really were many smart people in the world, especially among merchants.
He really did intend to govern the French magical world for the long term, to merge the British and French magical worlds into one, or simply turn the French magical world into a colony of the British Ministry of Magic.
To achieve that goal, the first thing Link had to do was invest in the French magical world so it could recover from the shadows of riots and war as quickly as possible and resume production.
What these expelled French magical merchants valued was the profit to be made from that process.
The only thing Link couldn't understand was how highly these French magical merchants thought of themselves to believe he would hand those business opportunities to them instead of merchants from the British magical world.
Had they really convinced themselves that British wizards were barbarians and believed they were inferior to them in business?
Besides, even if the commercial scale of the British magical world wasn't enough to swallow the entire cake, Link still had the Beckman International Trade Group.
With those two combined, every single bite of the development of the French magical world would end up in Link's stomach.
As for these French magical merchants before him, Link had already arranged their future.
They would honestly return to their low-end businesses.
The two-thirds of their property that had been left to them was meant to serve as the foundation for reopening.
Once they truly resumed business in the future, their existence would allow the French magical world's market to quickly recover its prosperity.
At that point, Link would continue squeezing their profits through strict taxation and market pricing policies, completely locking them into their current scale and turning them into crops growing in his own fields.
He wanted every bit of profit!
With such a plan in place, there was naturally no way these French magical merchants could pledge their loyalty to Link.
So in the span of a single morning, they were expelled from Beauxbatons under Auror escort together with the last group of Beauxbatons students.
After the personnel transfer was completed and Beauxbatons had been completely transformed into a military city, everyone except for a few Auror squads specially assigned to garrison Beauxbatons, including Link and Dumbledore, all returned to the teleportation hall of the British Ministry of Magic to rest and replenish their equipment.
At the same time, an elite Auror squad led by Newland and Scrimgeour teleported into the busy streets of Jerusalem carrying an entire crate of Space Locks.
Because they were wearing concealment devices enchanted with Muggle-Repelling Charms, their sudden appearance attracted no attention from the surrounding people.
After briefly observing their surroundings, Newland and Scrimgeour raised their arms.
The watches developed by the Kennedy siblings on their wrists immediately projected a spherical holographic map. Judging from the image displayed on it, Sky City was flying toward them at an extremely fast yet steady speed.
"Everyone check your coordinates and timing. No mistakes, right?" Scrimgeour said seriously.
Hearing this, the surrounding Aurors all lowered their heads to glance at the holographic projections on their wrists. After confirming everything was correct, they silently nodded.
"I'll say this one more time. The army organized by His Majesty Link Flamel has already assembled in the teleportation hall of the British Ministry of Magic. As long as we confirm the coordinates after Sky City is locked on, they can be deployed here immediately! Our mission is to act as the advance force, confirm Sky City's location, and then use the Space Locks to lock it in place.
"This mission can only be completed by us!
"Even if His Majesty Link Flamel or Professor Dumbledore came personally, it wouldn't work!
"Because their arrival would immediately alert Sky City, causing it to relocate at once.
"But if it's us who come, then things are completely different!
"You all understand what I mean, don't you?"
Newland lifted the military case containing the Space Locks and said, "This mission carries an extremely high risk. Anyone who approaches Sky City will inevitably be detected by its warning system and attacked by its automated defense system. In other words, everyone here is very likely to die!"
After Newland finished speaking, everyone remained silent.
Only the atmosphere within the team became even heavier, like the oppressive air before a tropical storm.
Death had always been a heavy subject.
If given the choice, no one wanted to die.
"But before you came, the British Ministry of Magic had already officially given your families a reward of ten thousand Galleons as compensation for this operation. If you are killed during this mission, your families will receive another ten thousand Galleons in death benefits afterward, and all taxes will be waived! Your children will also receive priority recruitment into the Auror Corps!
"At the same time, everyone participating in this mission will receive a major merit award! You all know what that means, don't you?
"It means that as long as you survive, your future will be limitless!
"So wipe those funeral faces off! You all know exactly what you're supposed to do!
"If I find anyone shrinking back from battle, or deliberately throwing away their life and affecting the entire strategy...
"You all know the consequences!"
As Newland spoke viciously, he swept his cold gaze across every Auror present.
Wherever his eyes fell, the Aurors straightened their backs, their faces filled with determination and madness.
On the other side, Scrimgeour let out a sigh.
He felt Newland was doing all this for nothing. He simply didn't believe the Aurors who had come with them would do something like lose their fighting spirit or avoid battle.
Wizards were different from Muggles.
The proportion of desperadoes among wizards was far lower than among Muggles.
After all, wizards possessed magic. Although the Statute of Secrecy prevented them from stirring up trouble in the Muggle world with magic, most wizards had no problem earning a bit of Muggle money to improve their lives.
So wizards generally didn't face much pressure in life.
Especially elite Aurors like those before him. Whether in the Muggle world or the magical world, they could all live extremely well and enjoyed very high social status.
People like them could never be desperadoes. Even for the sake of their descendants' future, they wouldn't sell their own lives.
As long as they remained alive, that itself was the greatest guarantee for their children's future!
So these people couldn't be "bought with their lives."
The only reason they were standing here was because of faith, because of their selfless dedication to the British Ministry of Magic and Link's cause!
The financial compensation and future opportunities provided to their families by the Ministry of Magic were merely a small comfort for them.
In Scrimgeour's view, Newland using threats like this to warn them was nothing but an insult to heroes.
But when he saw Newland's bloodshot eyes, Scrimgeour ultimately couldn't bring himself to voice his dissatisfaction.
He merely let out a long sigh, clenched his right fist, struck it against the left side of his chest, and murmured softly,
"May the British Ministry of Magic stand eternal!"
The tense, solemn expressions on everyone's faces gradually relaxed as Scrimgeour murmured those words.
Following his example, they all recited the oath they had sworn when they first joined, "Night gathers, and from this night onward I shall become a glorious Auror, using my own light to drive away darkness and illuminate those struggling in suffering! From this night onward I shall become a guardian of wizards, upholding discipline, keeping secrets, obeying orders, and following command! From this night onward I shall become the executioner of magic, dedicating my life to the noble International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, protecting every part of the law, never retreating even in the face of death!"
Their devout oath drifted away on the wind through the ancient and sacred streets of Jerusalem, without causing the slightest ripple.
But that wasn't surprising.
This city had heard far too many sincere prayers. It had likely grown tired of them long ago, so how could it possibly respond?
Clearly, however, Newland and the others didn't need any response from the holy city of the Muggles.
After the brief prayer ended, everyone distributed the Space Locks, mounted their flying brooms, and scattered across the city.
The warning network woven from their magic almost covered the entire sky above Jerusalem.
Not long after the warning network was deployed, the watches on their wrists began sounding frantic alarms.
This only happened when the warning network had been directly triggered.
As the former headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards, Sky City wasn't protected only by Muggle-Repelling Charms. It also employed concealment spells specifically aimed at wizards.
So whether wizard or Muggle, unless someone possessed legendary-level strength like Link and Dumbledore and could freely control spatial power for detection,
then as long as Sky City didn't reveal itself, even if they were only a few meters away from it, they still wouldn't be able to discover it.
Scrimgeour and Newland each opened the holographic maps on their wrists.
After checking them over and over several times, they finally confirmed that Sky City had indeed arrived above them.
"All units, attention. The target is approaching!"
Newland spoke into the communicator with extreme seriousness while keeping his eyes fixed on the sky above.
He was hesitating.
Hesitating over whether he should personally make the first move.