One, nine, nine, two, August thirty-first.

Above St. Petersburg, the cloudless sky was clear to the point of being somewhat unreal.

People walked out of their houses and strolled along the slightly chilly streets. Almost eight months had passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The scarlet hammer and sickle flag had long become history. Life, that enemy, left everyone with no time to pause and look back.

Fortunately, the devaluation of the ruble wasn't as rapid as people had imagined.

With the entry of the [Tianming Group] and some scattered foreign banks and enterprises, these kind international friends from abroad underwrote and acquired large amounts of rubles and light and heavy industries. Among them, the grain trade, located at the very bottom of the financial transaction chain, powerfully supported the faltering ruble system, allowing it to still be called currency.

On the other hand, the high interest rate promises of American banks and the incredibly generous financial returns allowed most former Soviet people to enjoy the "sweetness of free capital." Everything seemed to be getting better.

Only…

No one had ever considered why such a wonderful situation of everyone's assets increasing simultaneously would occur in a free trading market. Or, even if someone had worried, it was mostly covered up by the irrefutable reason of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Under the almost insane spending of Gringotts and the Tianming Group, almost all non-magical currencies from the past millennium in the magical world had now been turned into the leading wave of the economic bubbles in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other CIS countries. With continuous price increases in auctions and interest rate wars, American goblins and financial speculators led by the United States had to grit their teeth and follow suit.

Compared to the era of big data economics decades later, this was the last financial dark forest period.

Every capital force was a hunter with a gun, lurking in the forest like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that blocked the way, trying not to make a sound with their footsteps, even their breathing had to be careful: they had to be careful, because there were hunters lurking everywhere in the forest just like them - the only difference was that they didn't have too many worries about the future at this time.

Although you couldn't see its full figure, there was always a reckless and huge mysterious beast wandering and stirring in the dark forest, and the moment it couldn't help but pounce out to hunt would be the moment everyone pulled the trigger.

An exhausted beast simply couldn't protect its prey, and even had the possibility of becoming prey itself.

Unless—

At the same time, thousands of meters above the steeple of the central cathedral in St. Petersburg.

With the assistance of Arthur Weasley, the stratospheric optical stealth on the hull of the Hyperion was quite stable, and the Unplottable Charm perfectly made this metal behemoth disappear from any interface that could be plotted and displayed by radar.

"The time has come - are you all ready?"

Elaina stood with her hands behind her back by the window of the Hyperion's bridge, looking past the thin clouds to the city below.

Behind her, Kurt Meyer, Gilderoy Lockhart, Frank, Goblin Douglas, Goblin Leos... these core senior executives from Tianming Group, Saints, and Gringotts Wizarding Bank stood quietly aside.

"Your Majesty the Empress, everything has been arranged."

Goblin Douglas said respectfully, with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes, "Gringotts Russian branch, Belarusian branch, Ukrainian branch... all protections have been removed, demolition magic traps are ready..."

"Ms. Theresa, all members of the Tianming Group are ready for evacuation and combat operations."

Kurt Meyer hammered his right chest forcefully and said with a sneer.

"All weapons on the Hyperion are on standby, a total of twenty-one reactors have been fully opened. If anyone tries to attack this mothership at this time, even Albus Dumbledore will not be able to escape unscathed."

"The Men in Black team are all in position, and we can support any attacked Floo Network point at any time."

Gilderoy Lockhart wiggled his slender fingers nimbly with his wand, grinned confidently, revealing his hearty and sunny smile that helped him win the Most Charming Smile in the *Witch Weekly* eleven times in a row.

"As long as everything ends within half a day, even Professor Dumbledore will not notice anything amiss."

As the top war fortress of human civilization today, the mobilization of the Hyperion requires a reasonable excuse, and using the Hyperion's ability to leap and build Floo Networks to conduct "special recruitment of outstanding students" is obviously a logical reason.

You know, Dumbledore is never a rigid guardian of the law.

Especially when this matter comes from Newt Scamander's request, and involves dozens of wizarding families and several very promising underage wizards, Dumbledore will not back down because of a little legal deficiency.

Not to mention, the officially registered use of the Hyperion is originally a means of transportation for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Ms. Theresa, I still have a confusion..."

Frank looked at the wizards and goblins around him, bit his lower lip hard, and said courageously.

"Those other wizards who still live in this land, I mean those respectable wizarding families, why don't you consider trying to contact them and let them participate in the entire plan together - I'm worried..."

"Hmm? Mr. Frank, that's a good question. But not a smart one."

Elaina raised her head and glanced at the young wizard behind her, who was a bit of a blockhead, through the reflection of the window.

According to Frank's level, he wasn't originally qualified to directly join today's meeting, but because the reputation of Mr. Aleksey, whom he was responsible for maintaining, was more important in the subsequent actions, he was exceptionally allowed to board the bridge.

In fact, she wanted to see the appearance of this kind of blockhead.

On this point, Elaina and Grindelwald actually have a lot in common. She needs righteous partners who are willing to think actively and have the courage to express their own ideas, rather than unstable elements who are awed by authority and act against their will.

"I think you may have confused two questions, Mr. Frank... First of all, what is always worthy of respect is an individual, not their family, team, let alone their children. In my opinion, the descendants of those 'respectable people' who have suffered unjust treatment may be even more dangerous after experiencing the darkness and hardships of society."

"Secondly, no matter what you have seen, or what you have learned from your elders, I need to remind you of one thing..."

Elaina paused, glanced coldly at the town below, and said with a complex tone.

"The name of the city under our feet is now St. Petersburg, not Leningrad - most of the 'opponents' who had respectable beliefs back then are gone, and those who remain on this land today are either 'smart people' who chose to protect themselves during the great changes of that year, or 'cowards' who were marginalized but unable to change the reality."

"Only those who have the determination to step into darkness but yearn for light are qualified to board the Hyperion."

"Listen, I don't want to bet everyone's fate and future on the fragile beauty of human nature because of a little bit of pity and possibility - apart from that special guy, there are hundreds of non-magical scholars, dozens of wizards under house arrest, and thousands of tons of equipment waiting for our signal to escape this land where ideals have withered."

"Any more questions?"

Elaina glanced at Frank, who had returned to the line, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good…"

Grindelwald couldn't help her delay for too long. She needed to return to London as soon as possible as agreed, and then, like a competent and considerate senior or acting professor, help those little ones who hadn't yet enrolled to purchase supplies.

This was the only opportunity for such a large-scale smuggling of personnel and equipment.

Once Albus Dumbledore reacted, this large-scale transportation of manpower and combat power would definitely be included by the old man in the highest level of the boundary line. Elaina had no doubt about this.

"Then…

The girl casually raised her right hand, opened her five fingers as if clutching the land within sight, and slowly pressed down.

"Let's begin, everyone... rescue as many of those who deserve to be rescued as possible - as for the rest of those money-grubbing capitalists and selfish traitors - as agreed before, send them to hell!"

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Phew~ Finally reached the end of this plot~

If you don't remember the previous content, you can go and review [Chapter Six Hundred and Thirty-Nine - Six Hundred and Forty-Two].