Chapter 680: 680: From Going to Work to Working in the Factory

When had Lannis ever been treated like this before?

Furious, he shouted, “How dare you treat a Gringotts manager this way!”

“Oh?” John asked with amusement. “Then how should I treat you?”

Lannis shoved Griphook aside and raised his voice. “You should show me proper respect instead of making me stand under the sun for three hours!”

John said nothing.

He simply looked at Lannis in silence.

Lannis went from furious at first, to gradually calming down.

Then, little by little, fear began to gnaw at his mind.

His legs started trembling, and he nearly lost his balance.

“Griphook. I remember that’s your name.”

John’s light voice broke the silence.

Griphook froze, then hurriedly nodded and bowed. “Yes, Lord Wick.”

“You look smarter than Lannis. So tell him, who exactly is standing before this Gringotts manager?”

John gave Griphook a look.

Griphook stiffened and said, “Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, founder of Silverhand Johnny, and the great Second King.”

“You missed one.”

John’s words made Griphook’s heart tighten.

John said calmly, “The one who will bring down Gringotts.”

“Jo…”

“Lord Wick!” Griphook shoved Lannis aside and hurriedly said, “Gringotts has no intention of opposing you. We hope you will spare us.”

Griphook could tell that if he failed to show John an attitude that satisfied him today, the end of Gringotts would be right in front of them.

Lannis was an idiot.

The man before them was the highest decision-maker in the wizarding world, yet Lannis still dared to bring up his insignificant status as a Gringotts manager.

But Griphook was different.

He did not want to lose his job. There was no need to explain how important a respectable position was to a goblin.

And with those lunatic Acolytes killing goblins all over the world, he certainly did not want to be driven from his home and become another sacrifice beneath their sacred flames.

Griphook’s mind raced under the pressure of survival.

“No intention of opposing me?” John glanced at Griphook.

Come to think of it, he had dealt with Griphook before. It had been Griphook who led him into the Lestrange vault.

“Tell me, then. What are you offering?”

John wanted to hear what the goblin had to say.

Griphook said, “We hope Lord Wick will show us mercy. Gringotts will be deeply grateful and will fully support you.”

Griphook lowered himself as much as possible.

“Full support? Not enough.”

John shook his head.

Griphook’s expression changed. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Gringotts is willing to follow Lord Wick’s orders.”

“Still not enough.”

John rested his cheek against one hand, crossed his legs, and said lazily, “None of that is enough.”

Griphook forced an ugly smile and asked through clenched teeth, “Then what does Lord Wick want?”

“Me?”

John chuckled.

“I want Gringotts to disappear.”

“Don’t go too far, Lord Wick.” Griphook’s expression twisted. “Without goblins, wizarding currency will disappear as well.”

John laughed softly.

“That is true.”

“So what I want is for Gringotts to disappear, not the goblins.”

The casual sentence immediately made Lannis, who had been about to speak, clamp his mouth shut.

Griphook did not understand.

He asked cautiously, “What does Lord Wick mean?”

“Goblins will continue minting currency, but…”

John deliberately drew out the final word, making both goblins unconsciously lean forward.

“The ownership and issuance of currency will be placed under the Ministry of Magic,” John said with a smile.

Both goblins froze.

Lannis in particular began trembling.

With rage.

This was practically a death sentence for Gringotts!

Gringotts did not merely mint currency. It also managed and exchanged it.

John had just stripped away almost all of its authority and reduced it to a single function.

How could Lannis not be furious?

“Impossible!” Lannis roared without thinking. “You’re trying to force every goblin into rebellion!”

“Oh.”

John said calmly, “Then rebel.”

The goblins stared at him in disbelief.

John revealed a row of cold white teeth.

“Let’s see whether I can kill every last one of you.”

A chill surged through them from their toes.

A suffocating aura of death descended over the goblins.

What had they just done?

Had they really threatened the highest decision-maker in the wizarding world, the Second King, publicly recognised as one of the three most powerful wizards alive?

That was John Wick.

He had exterminated five wizarding families without showing the slightest mercy.

And they were only goblins.

John’s calm voice rang out, freezing their blood.

“As long as they keep dying one by one, the goblins who remain will eventually compromise.”

Under the refracted sunlight, John’s shadow seemed to transform into a vast, pitch-black dragon of destruction.

Its claws, capable of tearing apart everything, lunged toward the small and helpless goblins.

Griphook could not move.

He could only watch as the dragon tore his shadow apart.

The crushing pain in his chest finally broke him.

He collapsed to the floor.

Lannis fell with him.

The terror on their faces refused to fade.

“I can give you time to consider it. Take this back to Gringotts, and you’ll understand why I don’t care.”

John casually tossed a Magic Card in front of Griphook.

Then he waved a hand, dismissing them.

The two goblins left Silverhand Manor with lingering fear coursing through their bodies.

Lannis could no longer summon even a trace of arrogance.

Outside, there were those lunatic Acolytes.

Inside, there was the even more terrifying lunatic known as John Wick.

They returned to Gringotts with the Magic Card.

“What exactly did he mean by giving us this?” Lannis still could not understand why John had handed them a Magic Card.

Griphook, however, said heavily, “This is a Magic Card. It’s what wizards are using now to store their money.”

In other words, if they could crack the card, they could gain access to unlimited currency.

Griphook understood what the Second King meant.

He was simply telling the goblins that unique and unforgeable currency no longer belonged exclusively to them.

After that, the goblins summoned every alchemist and curse-breaker they could find.

They intended to prove that the Magic Card was not impossible to crack.

But the result left everyone stunned.

Even Gringotts’ most powerful alchemist could not crack it.

“It automatically forms an internal domain structure. Unless you use a specific method, the structure inside cannot be altered.”

Lannis had brought in the greatest goblin alchemist in their entire race.

Yet even he could do nothing.

The magic contained within the card represented the very pinnacle of this world’s power.

The card itself could be destroyed, but the string of values was stored somewhere unknown and could not be altered at all.

Gringotts was completely helpless.

John had originally thought he would have to wait another ten days or half a month.

Unexpectedly, only a week later, the goblins who had visited before returned.

Griphook respectfully placed the Magic Card down and said, “Honoured Lord Wick, we were unable to crack it.”

The goblins were not fools.

An unbreakable Magic Card meant that currency was no longer a weapon that belonged exclusively to goblins.

John gave a casual hum in response.

Griphook and Lannis exchanged glances before Griphook said solemnly, “We hope Lord Wick can leave the goblins a way to survive.”

“I’ve always given you one,” John said calmly. “I’ve never intended to wipe out the goblins.”

“Wizards will continue using the existing currency. Gringotts will officially be renamed the Gringotts Mint.”

“I will retain the original goblin employees and continue paying them wages.”

John glanced at Griphook.

“You can become the first manager of the mint.”

“Me?” Griphook froze.

Lannis immediately shouted, “That’s unfair! What about me?”

“You? If your craftsmanship is good enough, you can become a mint worker.”

John looked at the goblins.

“Tell me your choice.”

“I’ve given you enough time. Now it’s time for you to give me an answer that satisfies me.”

Griphook looked at Lannis.

The other goblin’s expression was extremely ugly.

But the terms John had offered were very tempting to Griphook.

Originally, he had been nothing more than an ordinary Gringotts employee. It was only because he was clever enough that Lannis had brought him along.

Now he had the chance to rise in a single step and become the leader of countless goblins.

And after they had taken the Magic Card and summoned goblins from all over the world to try cracking it, the goblins had reached a common understanding.

In the future, goblins in other countries might very well choose to side with their own Ministries of Magic first.

“We agree.” Griphook took a deep breath. “Gringotts will become the Gringotts Mint.”

“Griphook, you!”

“Lannis, we need to survive. Unless you want to start another goblin rebellion.”

Griphook no longer showed his former superior any respect.

Besides, he was right. Unless they started another goblin rebellion, this was merely a question of how quickly it happened.

Lannis could not gamble the survival of the goblin race either.

John snapped his fingers, and a parchment contract appeared in front of Griphook.

John’s voice rang out.

“This contract must be signed by the goblins who control Gringotts. Of course…”

He added meaningfully, “They have to be living goblins.”

Griphook’s expression turned solemn.

He was a clever goblin, and a dangerous look fell upon Lannis.

If any goblin refused, then they could simply become a dead goblin.

This was a contract that would bind Gringotts completely.

Griphook naturally understood.

He knew that whether he rose to the top depended on this opportunity.

So after returning to Gringotts, he gathered everyone together and had them sign it.