After getting out of the cart, Ethan couldn't help but grumble.
"Mr. Adrian, you're not the first to bring up this issue. In fact, wizards suggested this to us over a hundred years ago."
"But you know, if we were to switch to elevators, considering the scale of Gringotts vaults, how much would that cost?"
"And then, many defensive measures would need to be altered, which might leave loopholes in Gringotts' otherwise impregnable defenses."
Listening to the goblin's articulate explanation, it all boiled down to one thing: they didn't want to spend money, especially a lot of it.
Anyway, they were the only financial institution in the wizarding world, with no competitive pressure. As long as there weren't any fundamental problems, nothing really mattered.
"Indeed, security is paramount."
To get more information, Ethan could only say things against his will.
"It's wonderful that you understand!"
The goblin showed a slight smile upon hearing Ethan's words.
"However, I know that house-elves can bypass the Anti-Apparition Charm wizards use."
"Hogwarts has this charm, but the Malfoy family's house-elves can freely come and go within Hogwarts. Does Gringotts have a way to prevent house-elves from Apparating?"
From what Ethan knew, wizards couldn't Apparate or use Portkeys inside Gringotts.
But he wasn't so sure about other aspects, and probably no one had tried it, or if they had, they wouldn't dare to announce it.
"No, we have a specific charm here that targets house-elf Apparition to ensure the safety of Gringotts. Otherwise, so many wizards wouldn't trust us and believe that our vaults are safer than their own."
The goblin looked proud as he said this.
"What about animal Apparition?"
"For example, Dumbledore took me Apparating with a phoenix, which can also ignore the Anti-Apparition Charm, and it's different from house-elves."
"Although phoenixes are rare, there are also Zouwu and Diricawls, and Diricawls are considered relatively common magical creatures."
Ethan pretended to be puzzled as he continued to probe for information.
This concerned what methods Ethan should use later to make a fortune.
"They can't either. When we built this vault, we took everything into account."
"And don't worry, even if something unexpected happens, Gringotts will be responsible for the losses of Level One vault customers."
The goblin led the way while explaining to Ethan, not suspecting anything about Ethan's questions.
After all, Ethan had a deposit of five million Galleons in Gringotts. What was wrong with being a little worried?
If it were him, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep without lying on a small mountain made of Galleons every day.
Soon, the goblin led Ethan to a stop. The two goblins who had pushed the mine cart down were waiting there.
Even here, Ethan could hear the dragon's miserable wails and the sound of dragging chains.
The goblin leading Ethan took out a gadget made of several small pieces of iron from his pocket and held it in his hand, walking in front.
They arrived at a relatively open area with several stone pillars. There was a dragon here, which Gringotts had set up as a guardian for the vault.
But the dragon's appearance was too miserable. Thick chains were tightly wrapped around its neck and legs, firmly restraining it on the ground.
And perhaps because it hadn't seen sunlight for years, this Ukrainian Ironbelly wasn't the usual silver-gray but a dull white, with many new and old scars on its body.
Undoubtedly, these were left during the taming of this Ukrainian Ironbelly.
Yet even so, it hadn't been completely tamed.
As Ethan and the others passed by, the Ukrainian Ironbelly opened its bloody mouth and pounced, a ball of fiery flames appearing in its ferocious dragon jaws.
Although he didn't activate his aura, he still had the animal affinity passive, but the Ukrainian Ironbelly still looked like it wanted to kill everyone, especially humanoids.
After all, wizards and goblins often passed by here, and the goblins would torture it every time they led the way, whether going in or out. It would be strange if it didn't hate them.
Just as the Ukrainian Ironbelly was about to spit fire, the goblin finally acted.
He vigorously shook the gadget he had been holding, and with a special sound, the originally ferocious Ukrainian Ironbelly showed a painful expression, constantly retreating, pulling the chains and making a呜呜 sound, with painful wails coming from its mouth.
The flames that were about to be spewed out also exploded in its mouth, blasting the dragon's head into darkness.
The other two goblins pushing the cart didn't even glance at it, obviously used to this scene.
Ethan also glanced at it before paying much attention.
After passing through this area, there was a rock wall behind. Following the path to the front of the rock wall, there was a long corridor along the edge of the rock wall.
All that could be seen here were Level One vaults.
Opening the vault didn't involve Ethan's wand; instead, the goblin did it himself, using a unique goblin spell.
The key was just a token to prove identity. In addition, if the wand was registered, it could also be used as proof.
Only the vaults above used keys to open, and they didn't need to go through the Thief's Downfall. The level of protection was completely different from here.
Similarly, if the Galleons inside were taken out due to the loss of the key, Gringotts wouldn't be responsible unless it was Gringotts' mistake, in which case they would take responsibility.
After all, their standard was: what kind of price, what kind of service.
With a series of gear-turning "咔咔" sounds, the vault door in front of Ethan was opened.
Inside was a golden, glittering sight, a mountain of Galleons, and nothing else.
The two goblins beside him now pushed the cart into it, directly tilting the Galleons inside.
"Mr. Adrian, you can count them."
After doing all this, the goblin leading the way said to Ethan.
Ethan naturally wouldn't refuse and began to count using magic. All one could see were Galleons flying through the air, a speed far surpassing that of the goblins.
After all, the amount of magic power determined the range of spells that could be cast.
In a short while, Ethan finished counting.
"No problem."
"That's good. I'll close the vault door now!"
"By the way, Mr. Adrien, you have five million Galleons stored here. I wonder, do you need any magical protection? We can provide that service."
Having said that, the goblin looked at Ethan with anticipation.
Many pure-blood nobles would choose this service, after all, their vaults contained not only Galleons but also many collectibles, some of which were rare treasures that were hard to measure in Galleons.
"No need, I trust Gringotts' security!"
Seeing Ethan say this, the goblin, although full of regret, didn't say much else.
"How many vaults are there here?"
"I'm sorry, esteemed guest, this is a secret of Gringotts, and I cannot reveal it."
The goblin said softly, making an internationally recognized gesture with his hand.
Ethan naturally understood and took out a handful of Galleons, tossing them over without counting.
After receiving the Galleons, the goblin quickly stuffed them into his pocket.
"Sixty-two are in use. There are a total of ninety-eight level one vaults, but the rest are still empty."
The goblin immediately whispered this forbidden information.
As expected, as long as there was profit to be made, these goblins had no bottom line.
In the original story, for the sake of Gryffindor's sword, they brought Harry and the others in, even though Harry and his friends obtained Hufflepuff's cup.
But because of this goblin's greed, the British branch of Gringotts was directly erased by the furious Voldemort, and all the goblins peacefully ate '啃大瓜'.
"Many pure-blood families have died out, such as the once prominent Gaunt family. I heard they were extremely poor later on, unable to even produce a single Galleon. They should also have a vault here, are there many like them now?"
As he spoke, Ethan stuffed another handful of Galleons over.
The goblin accepted them without hesitation.
"There are seventeen such vaults, which haven't been used for many years, and there's nothing valuable left inside."
"The doors of these vaults have been painted black. If the remaining vault doors are all put into use, and there are no empty level one vaults left, these will be used."
The goblin didn't hold back on revealing anything.
As for the transfer of empty vaults, the goblins wouldn't acknowledge that. Anyway, when your family is gone, the vault will still return to our goblin hands.
This was another good piece of news, obtained with only a small amount of Galleons. These goblins were indeed surprisingly easy to deal with to some extent.
Next, Ethan didn't ask much else, after all, a lot of information was available outside, and he could find out with a little inquiry.
The return trip was also on the small mine cart. Due to magic, the speed was quite fast even when going against the slope.
[Thanks to大佬 tk for the monthly ticket, thank you大佬!]
Chapter 219: Elixir of Life
After leaving Gringotts, Ethan turned around and headed to Knockturn Alley.
When he arrived at the Wuxin Association's stronghold, Little Tom was already waiting there.
Yesterday, after obtaining the Slytherin locket Horcrux, Ethan contacted him through the wizarding mailbox and informed him of the news.
Thinking that he had to come to Gringotts today, Ethan didn't make a special trip yesterday.
Instead, he chose to come along the way today, which made Little Tom wait here early.
After greeting a few members of the organization, Ethan directly took Little Tom to a laboratory.
Ethan didn't waste any more words and directly took out Slytherin's locket.
When Little Tom saw this Horcrux, his eyes were immediately drawn to it.
Ethan didn't make any other movements and directly used the banishing charm to pull out the soul inside. This step was already familiar.
Before long, he pulled out that ugly, deformed infant, completing the purification of Slytherin's locket.
Ethan also noticed Little Tom's eager gaze and immediately handed him the ugly, deformed infant.
Each time he devoured the residual souls in other Horcruxes, it could bring a lot of improvement to Little Tom.
However, Ethan was thinking about one thing. Now, he alone had destroyed most of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
The diary, Ravenclaw's diadem, the Resurrection Stone, and Slytherin's locket had all been destroyed by Ethan. Wasn't this stealing Harry's savior mission?
Now, besides Hufflepuff's cup, the only one left outside was Harry himself, who Voldemort himself didn't even know about.
Ethan also planned to get Hufflepuff's cup during this summer vacation, leaving only Harry as a Horcrux by then.
If Harry was gone, would Voldemort, who only had a remnant soul left, directly dissipate?
After all, the seventh Horcrux was only made after Voldemort's resurrection.
The current Voldemort, even if he sensed his Horcruxes being destroyed one after another, was powerless.
He didn't have the ability to temporarily create a Horcrux to save his life.
After all, with only a remnant soul left, he could do nothing but hide and linger in the Albanian forest.
"Pick twenty people and train them well. When the time comes to rob Gringotts, we'll need them."
"Hufflepuff's cup is inside."
"They don't need to fight when the time comes. We only hope that they can quickly pack up and take away all the wealth inside."
After Little Tom finished absorbing the memories in the Horcrux's remnant soul, Ethan immediately ordered.
Twenty people were enough. Anyway, Ethan was only eyeing the wealth in Gringotts' level one vaults. As for the ones above, the time and space were still a bit difficult to arrange.
Moreover, no matter which world it was, wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few people. Ethan believed that even if he only emptied the old nests of those pure-blood nobles in the level one vaults, the income would probably not be much less than the sum of the four levels of vaults above.
"Okay, I'll go arrange it now."
Little Tom immediately responded and prepared to take action.
Little Tom wasn't very interested in the Galleons inside Gringotts. After all, what he believed in was strength, and Galleons were only enough to spend.
But Hufflepuff's cup was definitely something he had to get his hands on.
