Chapter 629

Chapter 629: Turmoil

Year 6040 in the Xia calendar, September

"According to our report today, in the first thirty minutes of trading, the stock market plummeted by twenty percent, triggering a halt in trading. This is the tenth consecutive day of steep declines since the hacker incident…"

"This is the morning news from Huaxia. It has been ten days since the hacker incident, but Qingyun has yet to respond positively. Especially concerning the involvement of Qingyun’s Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs in subversion…"

"Reported by Huaxia Daily, according to experts, the hacker incident has caused a major impact on Qingyun, with direct economic losses of about 80 billion Qingyun coins. Qingyun once again condemns the hackers’ actions and appeals to relevant parties…"

"Reported by Huaxia Finance, due to the scandal caused by the hacker incident, 132 companies in Huaxia jointly issued a statement, due to the humanitarian disaster caused by Qingyun, they have decided to suspend cooperation with Qingyun, involving military, energy…"

"Reported by Huaxia News, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Huaxia issued a news announcement today, urging Qingyun to provide a prompt and positive response…"

In Haigang City, Lin Jiang lay back in his boss chair, listening to the news reports. The retaliatory action had actually started the moment Lin Jiang escaped from the space debris. But with careful planning, now was the time for the explosion.

First, let’s talk about the stock market. Qingyun’s stock market has been plummeting for ten consecutive days, with no end in sight. Despite trying countless methods, Qingyun couldn’t reverse the trend.

Of course, Lin Jiang played a role in this. He didn’t even need to raise funds to target Qingyun’s stock market. He simply released a lot of information, like Huaxia urging Qingyun to address the scandal of the hacker incident officially, along with some uncooperative statements from the financial groups under Lin Jiang’s control.

In fact, the uncooperative statements from these financial groups did more damage to Qingyun. The stock market is like a "leek pond," no matter how much it falls, it will bounce back. But the cooperation between these financial groups and Qingyun is essential for the country.

For example, in the military industry sector, Lin Jiang controls a military-industrial complex including high-precision machine tools, chips, engines, etc. Also, in computer technology, thanks to Lin Jiang’s intervention, Huaxia’s computers have been leading globally. The world’s largest computer control system was invented by a company under Lin Jiang, rivaling Microsoft.

Additionally, there are actions from Huaxia. The collaboration between Huaxia and Qingyun goes deeper. Just the Sky Net system alone threatens their existence. The Sky Net system is the world’s only global positioning system. Though Qingyun also participated in its construction, Huaxia was the leading force.

Of course, Huaxia couldn’t instantly push them away, but releasing some information was enough to scare them to death.

Under these various measures, the ruling party of Qingyun ended up in a mess, with Lin Jiang investing in their opposition party. Things are quite lively now.

"Sir, there is a message from the officials that the ambassador from Qingyun stationed in Huaxia wants to see you."

"What does he want to see me for? Beg for mercy?"

"It’s almost that time, sir. We can’t defeat Qingyun in one go, we can only make them feel some pain. Let’s accept their offer when things look good. This is also the suggestion from our think tank. If we continue like this, it will do us more harm than good."

"Alright, ignore him a few times. When the time comes, you can go meet him, I won’t go. I’m afraid I might end up killing him in anger."

"Okay, sir."

"When will the operation against Zhou Liao start?"

Lin Jiang said that all his firepower is targeted at Qingyun now, as they are the ones in trouble. But Zhou Liao won’t be spared either. There is evidence indicating that Zhou Liao is the mastermind this time, and they influenced Qingyun to act.

"We have several options, sir. Do you want to actually harm them, or just embarrass them like we did with Qingyun?"

"Of course it means getting hurt for real, what’s the point of looking all dirty and messy?"

"Then let’s go with this plan, it’s a long-term strategy that will cause Zhou Liao heavy losses, and eventually help the master control Zhou Liao."

The secretary brought a document, Lin Jiang carefully read it, constantly praising it. It seems that there are talented people under him. It was not in vain for Lin Jiang to spend so much money training him.

"Now I’ve become a big villain."

Lin Jiang couldn’t help but shake his head again. His vengeful actions actually harm many people. Who knows how many people will lose everything. Looking at it from a sense of justice, he truly became a big villain.

········

Zhou Liao, Jingdu City

Zhou Bang drove back home, and a seven or eight-year-old boy rushed over, chattering non-stop, asking Zhou Bang to play with him.

Zhou Bang played with him for a while until Li He brought the food, and then they stopped to eat.

After eating, Zhou Bang played with his son until he fell asleep. Then Zhou Bang and Li He lay on the bed and talked about some things.

"My appointment has come, as the deputy director of the research institute, second only to Professor Yang, the researcher."

"Congratulations, senior brother."

"There’s nothing to congratulate, my ability now surpasses Professor Yang’s, it’s just that my connections are not good enough."

Zhou Bang shook his head. After more than ten years of study, he had surpassed Professor Yang academically, but his foundation was still weak.

Because Zhou Liao had trusted him for only a few years, Zhou Liao’s real trust in him came after his son was born. This was because only then, in the eyes of the senior management of Zhou Liao, he was stable, as he had a vulnerability.

"Did the plan you mentioned last time fail?"

"Yes, it failed. You must have seen the news, you know how tough things are for Qingyun now."

"It’s pretty sad, but I made a lot of money, hehe."

Li He smiled and said that she now had a normal life. She was interacting with a group of wealthy ladies in Jingdu City, and had met a few who were good at trading stocks. She followed their lead and made a profit from shorting Qingyun stocks.

"Just play around with it, don’t put all your wealth into it. The stock market is very complicated."

"I’m not stupid. I’m just playing along with them. These wealthy ladies are very good at scheming, but they don’t really have any real skills. They don’t understand the importance of self-improvement."

"Thank you for your hard work. In a few years, maybe ten years, you will be the most respected lady in Zhou Liao."

"Senior brother, do we really have to play this big?"

"Of course. Do you think I would be satisfied with just being rich? I can’t let those ordinary people walk all over me. I also want to secure a future for my son, even if I may not live to see it. My son might, and by the time Grand Elder wakes up, hehe…"

Zhou Bang coldly laughed. Over the years, he had not lived in vain. He first developed several potions, gained shares, and now had a fortune of billions.

He didn’t mismanage this money. Besides living expenses, he invested it all in himself – either to make connections or to improve himself.

He learned a lot about the world’s history through many channels. He found out that the history of Qingyun was full of traces of cultivators, including Huaxia. Surprisingly, Zhou Liao had the least interference from cultivators.

By following these clues, Zhou Bang deduced many things. For example, during the time of cultivation, some people already knew that the Great Dao would disappear. They planned ahead and let many cultivators sleep, simply benefiting from someone else’s success.

Since the Great Dao could disappear, it would also revive. He didn’t know when it would happen, but he could plan ahead. For example, by gradually gaining control of Zhou Liao and manipulating the power of ordinary people. When the time comes for the Great Dao to revive and spiritual energy to recover, the other sleeping members of the Wangxian Sect could directly control the world.

"Senior Brother, have they found the Grand Elder?"

"They haven’t found the Grand Elder yet, but they have found a few other senior brothers. However, I suggested letting them continue to sleep. Sacrificing the futures of both you and me for immortality is already enough."

"Men like you always think about achieving great things."

"Junior Sister, life is a struggle. Cultivators are in a struggle, as well as ordinary people. If one lives a mediocre life, then what’s the point of living at all?"

Zhou Bang shook his head. He knew that Li He’s ambitions had diminished since giving birth, and he didn’t expect much help from her. Taking care of the family was all he asked for.

But for himself, he needed to strive. It was his mission in his hundreds of years of life experience. The ancestors of the Zhou family had sacrificed greatly for their clan, and he was willing to do the same. He couldn’t practice cultivation anymore, but he had to secure a future for his descendants. Throughout the era of cultivation, the family had been passed down from generation to generation.

"Forget it, I won’t argue with you anymore, let’s go to sleep."

"It’s still early."

"What do you want to do?"

"Of course, we should have children. It would be a waste not to pass down our great genes."

"Oh, please don’t."

"Hehe."

Zhou Bang didn’t care about that much, women just want what they want. When the light goes out, the whole world becomes more interesting.