"Alright, I don't want to waste time here either." Thunderbird nodded slightly at Fwooper, then looked at the dozen or so other wizards. "Fwooper must have explained the mission you need to complete for this operation. You must ensure the safety of our cargo. During this time, you may encounter difficulties from the Ministry of Magic and the Pure Land Society. So, even if the enemies are them, you must not hesitate in the slightest. Can you do it?"
At this moment, Thunderbird's voice was deep and magnetic, forming a stark contrast to his previous arrogance. If not for the consistent timbre, these wizards might not have believed that this person could behave so normally.
"Fwooper has told us these words more than once. To put it bluntly, what we used to do were all illegal activities, and we've dealt with those Aurors quite a bit. You should know why we're meeting this time, right?" Otis knew Fenrir was unwilling to talk much with Thunderbird, so he took the initiative to speak.
"Heh, indeed a bunch of money-grubbing fellows." Thunderbird sneered, "Since that's the case, I won't waste any more words with you. Everyone participating in this operation will receive 200 Galleons. This is the compensation we agreed upon beforehand." After saying that, Thunderbird took out two leather pouches, one large and one small, from his person and slammed them heavily onto the dining table. "Before the mission begins, we will pay half as a deposit. Of this, 1,600 Galleons belong to the Death Eaters, and 600 Galleons belong to the werewolves. You all can count it."
Seeing Thunderbird being so straightforward and having the deposit ready, Otis and Fenrir couldn't help but exchange glances. Both could see the joy in each other's eyes. Taking the pushed-over money bags and confirming the amount was correct, Otis nodded with satisfaction, "Good, you Silver Spears do business straightforwardly. Don't worry, we will do our best in this operation!"
"Since you've taken the money, you must do a good job. Now, you all stay here honestly and don't go out causing trouble. Fwooper will arrange everything else for you." Thunderbird's main purpose this time was to deliver the money. To hire this group of people, they had truly gone all out.
"Since we've taken the money, we will naturally cooperate fully." Otis now felt that Thunderbird wasn't so annoying after all. For the sake of these Galleons, he wouldn't say anything in opposition at this time. And although Fenrir on the side still had a gloomy face, his expression clearly softened quite a bit after receiving the Galleons.
"Fwooper, the subsequent arrangements are up to you. All actions will be your responsibility. Although I will escort you, I will not openly follow you constantly. Contact me if anything urgent happens." Thunderbird turned his head and instructed Fwooper, then Apparated directly and disappeared from the spot.
Fwooper nodded reassuringly after hearing Thunderbird's words. She understood that this was Thunderbird showing her trust. One should know that the leaders in the club rarely appear in one place for a long time, in order to hide their molting period. And since Thunderbird told her that he would escort her for a period after the transport, it was equivalent to telling Fwooper that the next few days were not Thunderbird's molting period, which was a great sign of trust for her.
At the same time, Fwooper didn't expect Thunderbird to follow the entire journey from the beginning. This transport route was not short, and spending time along the way was extremely dangerous for a leader who needed to continue hiding their molting period. Therefore, normally, very few leaders would choose to personally escort smuggled goods. Only Fwooper, who still had time to use the Elixir of Life, could do such a thing.
…
Two days quickly passed.
Alan, who had once again transformed into Thunderbird, quickly arrived at the agreed location with Fwooper. It was on an uninhabited coast outside Trondheim, Norway, the northernmost ice-free coastline. But even now, the surrounding temperature was still frighteningly low, and fine snowflakes were slowly falling from the sky.
At this time, over a dozen people were quietly waiting on the shore. Most of these wizards and werewolves were scattered, performing vigilance, while Fwooper, Otis, and Fenrir waited silently on the dark coastline. Thunderbird's sudden Apparition immediately attracted everyone's attention, but after everyone recognized his identity, they returned to their respective vigilance posts, acting very professionally.
However, in Alan's eyes, all of this was full of loopholes. These vigilant wizards were simply standing guard out in the open, not even knowing the most basic concealment. They should at least find some cover to hide behind. Alan, who had a bit of obsessive-compulsive tendency, complained inwardly for a couple of sentences, then ignored it. The more lax these people were, the more beneficial it would be for his subsequent plans.
"Sir, it's almost time." Fwooper instinctively opened her mouth to call him teacher, but quickly realized there were others around.
"I know. Black Dragon has already replied to me. They will arrive on time, but the environment here is too harsh, so a slight delay is normal." Thunderbird could see that Fwooper was a bit nervous, so he comforted her softly.
"That's good. If there were a better choice, we wouldn't have to receive the cargo in this freezing cold place," Fwooper sighed helplessly.
"Whoosh!"
As the two chatted, a splash suddenly surged on the distant sea surface, and then eight Hippogriffs emerged, their heads poking out. Behind them, two strangely shaped square boats were being dragged, similar to what Alan had once seen on the island of Ireland, but this time there were actually two.
"They're here!" Fwooper shouted excitedly to Thunderbird when she saw this scene.
"Hmm, send them the signal. From the looks of it, there should be quite a few escorts this time." Thunderbird knew very well that last time, when transporting in Britain, there was only one ship, and over twenty wizards were arranged to accompany it.
Fwooper nodded quickly upon hearing this, then drew her wand and pointed it forward. Immediately, a faint dark blue light, not very noticeable in the dark night, slowly extended from the wand tip, reaching toward the distant Hippogriffs. Following this, the Hippogriffs, guided by the pull, swam directly toward the shore where Thunderbird and the others were waiting.
When the two boats slowly docked, a square opening was pushed open on the top of the hull with a bang, and then wizards were seen poking their heads out of it one by one.
"Good heavens, the pickup location you chose is really cold!" A masked man, also dressed in Silver Spear attire, was the first to leap from the ship's cabin, then he involuntarily rubbed his body repeatedly, as if he were about to freeze to death the next second.
"Jobberknoll, I didn't expect you to come with the ship as well." Thunderbird pointed at the other party, cast a waterproofing and damp-proofing spell on Jobberknoll, and then said with some surprise.
"Long time no see, Thunderbird." Jobberknoll finally relaxed a lot after receiving the protection of the spell, then quickly came to Thunderbird's side. "No choice, really. Who knew there would be so much cargo to transfer this time? It's practically emptied out all the American branch's inventory from the past two years. Just letting these collaborators handle the escort isn't reassuring. Black Dragon told me to come along and help escort, to avoid any accidents. But are you serious? Why choose such a dreadful place to transport goods? On the way here, we almost hit icebergs several times underwater. The weather here is simply too harsh, and honestly, I'm afraid those magical creatures won't be able to handle it." As soon as Jobberknoll approached, he began to grumble to the two, clearly having suffered quite a bit on the journey.
"Don't just complain. Hurry up and have them unload the cargo. I've prepared warm clothing and potions for you, and there are also many diluted potions that you can give to the magical creatures." As Fwooper spoke, she pulled out two large boxes from her person. One was densely packed with potions, and the other was full of thick clothing. These were what she had prepared for this transfer to help the American wizards and magical creatures withstand the severe cold, as this journey was not short, and it was impossible to constantly use spells to ward off the cold.
Jobberknoll, as a Short Spear directly under Black Dragon, was unaware of what had happened at the Silver Spears headquarters. He thought the only difference in this smuggling operation compared to previous ones was the exceptionally large volume of cargo. Therefore, he appeared much more relaxed than Fwooper, but also had quite a few complaints because of it.
"So many potions? Are we going to be constantly popping pills to rush on our way? You guys are too inconsiderate!" Jobberknoll sighed helplessly, "Alright, alright, who asked me to just be a Short Spear? Why do I always get stuck with these thankless tasks?" Jobberknoll drew his wand, controlled the two large boxes to loosen onto the ship, then patted his head and pulled out a parchment, handing it to Thunderbird, "Look at my brain, it's frozen stiff. This is the handover checklist for this transport. See if there are any problems."
After Thunderbird took the parchment, Jobberknoll no longer paid attention to him, immediately turned back and began shouting at the others on the ship, directing everyone to take the potions and load and unload the cargo.
Alan examined the parchment carefully after taking it and found that the number of magical creatures being transferred this time was indeed quite large: 4 Horned Serpents, 3 Cat-Leopards, 1 Manticore, 4 Peruvian Vipertooths, 7 Swooping Evil, 2 Graphorns, 1 Bird-Headed Man-Eater, 5 Thestrals, 9 Tebo Warthogs, 6 Hippogriffs, 13 Grindylows, 3 Murtlaps, 6 Billywigs, and 4 Mooncalfs.
And when he saw the end, Alan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, "You actually got a Phoenix?"
"Hehe!" Jobberknoll, busy giving orders, couldn't help but turn back and laugh upon hearing Thunderbird's exclamation, " Didn't expect that, did you? This Phoenix was personally acquired by Black Dragon himself. Don't let this magical creature's small size fool you; it has a special Apparition magic that even ordinary cages with anti-Apparition charms can't hold it. You can't imagine how troublesome it was."
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