Tom fell silent. According to his old logic, as long as one possessed enough power, they could rally other powerful and ruthless individuals, and from there, simply crush all resistance…

But now, things didn't seem as simple as Tom had originally thought.

Grindelwald's previous approach had been more or less what he'd envisioned—and yet, it met with overwhelming resistance and nearly ended in complete failure...

Maybe… what Grindelwald was doing now was actually the correct approach!

Hmm… valuable lesson learned…

Wait a minute—why am I even learning this? It's not like I want to rule the world!

Tch, must've been influenced by that bastard Wade!

I used to be such a pure person…

…

Ministry of Magic.

Inside the conference room, everyone wore grim expressions.

Faced with Grindelwald's proposal, the senior officials of the Ministry had no idea how to respond anymore.

The door opened and Dumbledore walked in, holding a copy of the Global Observer.

The moment they saw him, the officials looked as if they'd just seen their savior.

The Minister for Magic quickly stood up and went to greet him. "Albus… you've seen the situation. What do you think we should do?"

Dumbledore glanced around the room. Seeing the panic on everyone's faces, a flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes.

He nodded slightly to the Minister, then casually took a seat.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to ask—what do you think of his proposal?" Dumbledore asked.

The officials exchanged uneasy looks, unsure of how to respond.

To be honest, there wasn't really anything wrong with Grindelwald's proposal.

The only issue was that if it were actually adopted, the amount of work required to implement the reform would increase dramatically…

In fact, if the suggestion had come from an ordinary employee instead of Grindelwald, none of these high-ranking officials would have approved it, even if it was clearly beneficial to the public.

Since the current system still functioned, why bother with the trouble of reform?

However, because the proposal had come from Grindelwald, they felt compelled to hold an emergency meeting to discuss it.

"The public seems to believe it's a good reform…" the Minister for Magic said awkwardly, seeing no one else willing to speak.

"You all believe this is a good proposal, don't you?" Dumbledore asked again.

Everyone had no choice but to nod.

If a proper assessment system could be implemented during the process, then this suggestion would indeed benefit both the Ministry and the public.

The Ministry could gain access to more talented individuals, and the public would gain opportunities to change their life paths.

"If it's a good proposal, then adopt it," Dumbledore said calmly. "Even if it was Grindelwald who suggested it."

Once again, the room fell into silence…

The Minister hesitated. "What if he's trying to infiltrate us…"

Dumbledore sighed. "Haah.. Minister, at this point… how different are we really from the completely infiltrated Magical Congress of the United States?"

This time, even the Minister had nothing to say.

Right now, nearly no one in the Ministry dared to defy or offend Grindelwald. Whether he chose to infiltrate or not—was there even a difference anymore?

The Minister knew Dumbledore was blaming them for being so submissive…

But he also couldn't deny Dumbledore's words were true.

Grindelwald's presence was like a poisoned thorn, stuck firmly in the Ministry's palm.

Since the Ministry of Magic didn't dare to touch it, didn't dare to pull it out… then it wasn't much different from having already been assimilated.

"At this point, gentlemen… all we can do is set aside who Grindelwald is as a person, and judge his proposals on their own merit," Dumbledore said. "From now on, if his proposals are beneficial, we accept them. If they carry hidden dangers, we reject them—and explain the reasons clearly to the public. Starting now, everyone must get used to Grindelwald's presence… Whether you fear him or not, he's here now!"

Dumbledore had come to understand that it was no longer possible to stop Grindelwald as they had in the past—through force.

Because the man simply wasn't giving them the chance.

Grindelwald was now a "clean" man. Every action he took was proper, reasonable, and legal.

So, all they could do now was observe quietly and wait—wait for Grindelwald to make a mistake.

If he made a good suggestion, adopt it! If he made a bad one, reject it!

And if he ever stepped out of line—good. Dumbledore would be waiting for that misstep. All he needed was a single crack in Grindelwald's armor, and that would be the moment to strike.

As for the consequences of accepting his proposals?

If the suggestion was genuinely good, then why reject it?

The truth was, both the wizarding world and the Ministry of Magic had been stagnant for far too long.

Grindelwald's rise may have originally been a disaster, but now, perhaps he could be the catfish that stirs up these stagnant waters.

Even playing by the rules has its own way of being done.

Having finally sobered up under Grindelwald's flurry of punches, Dumbledore also decided to put away the Elder Wand for the time being and remain hidden in the shadows, quietly observing…

…

In the Safehouse.

Wade lay in bed, quietly waiting for the system shop to refresh.

It was something he looked forward to every night.

The quality of the system shop's items had indeed improved significantly, though not all of them were things Wade wanted.

Suddenly, Wade saw his Merit Points balance jump. Eh?

From just over forty-two thousand, it shot up past fifty thousand!

This sudden increase of more than ten thousand points immediately made Wade realize that the Ministry must have decided to adopt Grindelwald's proposal.

Of course, the increase was "only" about ten thousand points because even with reforms, positions in the Ministry were limited.

There weren't that many people whose fates could be changed.

And the changes those people could bring to the British wizarding world were also limited—so the Merit Points were limited too.

Only when Grindelwald's actions began to benefit the entire wizarding world—or even the entire world—would the Merit Points start increasing rapidly.

While Wade was thinking, the system shop's inventory suddenly updated.

Midnight had arrived.

[Item 1: 500ml of Polyjuice Potion (Unlocked) – 500 Merit Points]

[Item 2: One Unhatched Fire Dragon Egg (Unlocked) – 800 Merit Points]

[Item 3: Whomping Willow Seed (Unlocked) – 700 Merit Points]

[Item 4: Mutated Venomous Geranium Seeds (Unlocked) – 2,000 Merit Points]

[Next refresh in: 23 hours, 59 minutes, 39 seconds]

[Merit Points: 59,000]

[Dark Lord Achievement: Not yet achieved]

2000 Merit Points.. Wade's eyes landed on the fourth item: the mutated venomous geranium seeds.

He was a little confused, why was it so expensive for just one mutated plant seed...

________

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