"Please answer my question, Committee Member Link Flamel.", Old Harris urged again.
His hands were clasped together beneath his chin, his expression serious.
Meanwhile, the smile on Link's face grew wider.
He couldn't help laughing as he said, "Hahaha, I want to ask you all a question. If Muggles swallowed up wizards and fully absorbed all the magical technology currently controlled by wizards, what would this world become?"
The entire room fell silent.
No one answered Link's question at all.
Instead, the looks directed at Link became more and more hostile.
Although wizards and Muggles were currently living peacefully on the surface, overall, they were in an antagonistic relationship.
So the question Link had just asked was an absolutely taboo topic among the upper ranks of wizard society.
Many people had probably already imagined scenes in their minds where wizards were defeated and completely assimilated or enslaved by Muggles.
But not a single wizard dared to openly bring up this topic in a setting like this.
This was rebellion.
Fear before battle.
But Link didn't care at all. Seeing that no one answered, he continued, "Muggles who fully absorb magical technology will enter a brand-new era."
"Within a hundred years, magic will merge into every corner of Muggle life. For example, spatial magic can be used for more efficient and lower-cost logistics, reducing product costs, or applied to tourism and various other industries."
"The existence of potions will greatly increase the average lifespan of Muggles. Alchemy will merge with existing Muggle technology, and a new explosion of technological development will begin."
"All kinds of unbelievable and unimaginable technologies will be frequently developed, changing the original appearance of this world."
"This may directly push Muggle society into an age of high welfare, relying on the productivity brought by magic to achieve the ideal nations imagined by many Muggles."
"Of course, it may also create even more conflicts."
"It might even start a Third World War."
"No one can say for sure."
"But the one thing I can predict is that if the 'Noah's Ark' technology currently controlled by Sky City were obtained by Muggles, then with their current technological level, which already allows them to enter space and even land on the moon, they would quickly absorb experience and techniques from the 'Noah's Ark' technology and make up many shortcomings in their aerospace technology."
"If that happens, then within a hundred years, they may achieve the dream everyone here has in their hearts."
"To head toward the stars and the sea, right?"
"Are you finished?"
Almost the moment Link stopped speaking, Old Harris's gloomy voice rang out.
At this moment, Old Harris's expression was twisted. His eyes were filled with blood-red veins, and his body was trembling slightly.
It looked like anger, but also like he had been frightened by the scene Link described.
The French Ministry of Magic representatives seated to his right looked much the same.
Even though Link hadn't described in detail the miserable future wizards might face, that was exactly what made it cruelest.
Because according to Link's description, wizard civilization would disappear, completely assimilated by Muggles.
Even the word "wizard" itself would lose all mysterious meaning and become as ordinary and lowly as bricklayers or carpenters, making further description unnecessary.
"You're spreading alarmist nonsense!"
The French Minister of Magic roared hysterically, "You deserve to die!"
"That's right! Link Flamel, go die!"
"Mr. Harris, sentence this traitor to death!"
"He's a Muggle spy!"
"Kill him!"
———
The entire restaurant descended into chaos.
The wizards who had once held high positions and behaved elegantly now looked insane, roaring with red faces.
If Old Harris hadn't remained silent, they probably would have already rushed forward together.
However, as Link raised his finger once more, all the noise suddenly stopped again.
Under the pressure field, the officials collapsed one after another, clutching their chests and struggling desperately like fish thrown onto land.
"How foolish."
Link sighed and turned to look at Old Harris.
"Mr. Harris, Muggles obtaining wizard magic technology is naturally terrifying. But what if you think about it the other way around?"
"If wizards mastered Muggle technology instead, wouldn't all the things I just described happen with wizards as the main characters?"
The French Minister of Magic, who had been struggling hard, suddenly froze when he heard that.
He stared at Link in disbelief, his eyes filled with shock.
Even Old Harris at the head seat fell briefly into a daze.
That's right. What if wizards absorbed Muggle technology instead?
How much improvement would that bring to wizard society?
Most importantly, could the Sky City, which they had spent centuries developing to its current level, experience a huge technological breakthrough in just a few decades, perhaps even allowing them to fulfill their ancestors' dreams within their own lifetimes?
Just thinking of that scene made Old Harris's breathing grow rapid, despite not being suppressed by the pressure field.
Suppressing the longing in his heart for that imagined future, he tried to speak calmly, "Link Flamel, are you trying to encourage us to wage war against Muggles? Do you know how disastrous that would be?"
Old Harris's words also pulled the French Minister of Magic out of his fantasies.
But instead of calming him down, it made him even more terrified.
He had personally experienced that great war.
During that shocking war among Muggles, the power and cruelty they displayed left enormous psychological scars on the wizards who witnessed it.
Especially those two weapons they launched at Japan in the end.
If war truly broke out, both wizards and Muggles would probably perish together, right?
After all, this would be war. A fight to the death, where both sides destroyed each other.
Link waved his hand and removed the pressure field from everyone.
If he didn't, they would probably suffocate to death.
Facing the hateful looks from the recovered crowd, he shook his head helplessly and said,
"Why are your minds all so rigid? Why can't you ever think around a corner? Is it because you've lived too long in such a small circle that your thinking has become stiff?"
"If Muggles want to obtain magic, then yes, war is their only path, because magical talent is a natural fortress. If they want magic, they must rely on wizards."
"But Muggle technology doesn't have that kind of fundamental barrier that can only be broken through war!"
"What is Veritaserum for?"
"And what about Apparition, Legilimency, the Imperius Curse, and Polyjuice Potion? What are they used for?"
"You mean… you want us to steal…"
The French Minister of Magic slowly spoke, his voice trembling.
"How dare you tell us to steal from lowly Muggles? Where have you placed the nobility of wizards? You traitor!"
"Uh…"
Seeing the other party's expression, Newland, standing behind Link, opened his mouth in shock.
Like Link, he understood Muggle society quite deeply, so he also didn't worship the Sky City the wizards believed in.
He couldn't understand the French Minister of Magic's reaction at all.
No, not just the French Minister of Magic.
The representatives of the French Ministry of Magic, along with Old Harris on the main seat, all looked furious now.
Judging only by their anger, they seemed even more enraged than when they thought Link was suggesting war against Muggles.
'What kind of logic is this?'
'If you could get what you wanted at a lower cost, what was wrong with that?'
Newland looked toward Link.
It was instinctive.
Whenever he encountered something he couldn't understand, Link would always give him some kind of insight.
Sometimes it was a sentence. Sometimes it was an expression.
And this time, Link's face was filled with deep helplessness and mockery.
"Greed is the deepest original sin of Muggles," Link said softly.
"And for wizards, it is pride."
Newland's body trembled.
He felt that he understood now.
Why were these great wizards so angry?
Of course it was pride.
In ancient times, wizards had been worshipped like gods by Muggles.
That treatment was gone now.
But the pride of wizards as "gods" still remained.
So they felt that stealing, or even lowering themselves to learn from their former servants, was an enormous humiliation?
Newland suddenly didn't know how to judge these people anymore.
He shook his head, and the same mocking sneer as Link's appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"That's enough. Stop discussing this topic.", Old Harris suddenly said expressionlessly.
"The banquet is about over. Everyone, please return for your midday rest. There is still the formal negotiation meeting this afternoon."
After speaking, Old Harris stood up and left the restaurant directly with Ietta supporting him.
The French Ministry of Magic delegation also left immediately after seeing this.
As they passed by Link, many of them sneered at him.
Especially the French Minister of Magic.
The hatred and contempt in his eyes toward Link were almost undisguised.
In their view, there was no need for the so-called formal meeting anymore.
Link's arrogant speech had already completely enraged Old Harris, who was hosting the meeting.
Under such circumstances, their victory in the negotiations was practically guaranteed.
Yet facing all this hostility, both Link and Dumbledore maintained faint smiles without the slightest change.
Only after everyone had left and the entire restaurant became completely quiet, did Dumbledore helplessly look at Link and say, "Actually, Sky City isn't as terrible as you made it sound, right?"
"Of course. Especially the spatial technology. I'm very interested in it."
"Then it's over. Old Harris, and probably all the residents living in this Sky City, are going to suffer."
Dumbledore spoke with a complicated expression.
Old Harris and the French Ministry representatives might think Link's speech had been nonsense from a muddled mind.
But Dumbledore knew very clearly that those were Link's true thoughts.
Link had long since instructed those alchemist siblings under him to start doing exactly that.
And now Link had set his sights on Sky City's technology as well.
There was no need to say what kind of consequences that would bring.
As for the upcoming meeting, the outcome of the negotiations had indeed already been decided.
It was just that the result was completely different from what the French delegation imagined.
"Hehehe, foolish people."