Chapter 410: The fire has already been lit, so let it burn even brighter!

The German Industrial Credit Bank (IKB) announced a massive loss, like a deep‑water bomb detonating in the apartment.

"YES! YES! YES!"

David Cohen pounded his chest with his fists like a bull locked in a cage too long, his face flushed bright red from over‑circulation.

He screamed incoherently, charging back and forth in the room, sometimes hugging Lu Qingjun, sometimes trying to embrace Ye Ning, only to be coldly sidestepped by Ye Ning.

"I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes! The wheels of history have started turning! And we, we are in the driver's seat!"

He rushed to Lu Qingshan's side, waving his arms excitedly, spitting saliva everywhere.

"Boss! You're a prophet! No, you're the messenger God sent to judge Wall Street!"

Lu Qingjun caught the atmosphere too, grinning with his mouth wide open, laughing like a two‑hundred‑pound child.

"Brother! It's done! Damn, it's really done! Those German bastards peed first!"

Only Li Junjie kept a sliver of a technician's calm, but his violently heaving chest and slightly trembling fingertips revealed the raging tempest inside him.

His fingers danced across the keyboard, pulling up IKB's stock price and related bond indices; the cliff‑like falling curve on the screen intoxicated him more than any celebratory drink.

"The chain reaction has already begun."

Li Junjie adjusted his glasses, trying to make his voice sound steadier.

"IKB's collapse will instantly trigger panic in the market for all European banks holding similar assets. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Barclays… none of them can escape! An avalanche is coming!"

The whole team was immersed in a massive, world‑shaking sense of achievement.

They had lit the fuse themselves, and heard the first explosion echo from afar.

"Quiet."

Lu Qingshan's voice was low, yet like a bucket of ice water it instantly doused the scorching revelry in the room.

Everyone stopped and looked at the man who had been calmly watching the window the whole time.

"Do you think this is a win?"

Lu Qingshan turned around, scanning the crowd.

No joy showed on his face, only a bottomless calm.

"A loss at a German bank—what does that mean to Wall Street?"

He asked himself and answered.

"It's a trivial news item, a cut‑and‑dry overseas investment mistake, even an excuse to hammer European peers."

He walked to the floor‑to‑ceiling window, where a relationship web drawn with a marker now resembled a spider‑web poised to strike.

"They'll hold a press conference, find a few scapegoats, tell the world this is an isolated case, that the U. S. financial market is rock‑solid."

"A big fire just ignited a dry stalk, and you're already celebrating?"

Lu Qingshan's voice carried a hint of severity.

"Our enemy isn't a single German bank; it's the entire arrogance of Wall Street."

"Now they'll only think those German guys are fools, while they still see themselves as masters of the universe."

The flush on David's face gradually faded as he lowered his head in shame.

Li Junjie also clenched his fists, understanding Lu Qingshan's meaning.

The first explosion was still far from enough.

There must be a massive blast in the heart of Wall Street that no one can ignore, to turn this fire into a raging inferno.

"So… brother, what's our next move?" Lu Qingjun asked cautiously.

Lu Qingshan gave no answer; he simply picked up the black marker, found a name on the huge web, and pressed the tip down heavily.

Lehman Brothers.

"Li Junjie, David."

"Here!"

"Refocus all our 'ammunition.' I don't care how you do it; within the next 48 hours I want the name 'Lehman Brothers' equated with 'toxic assets,' 'financial fraud,' and 'on the brink of bankruptcy!'"

Lu Qingshan's tone was devoid of any feeling.

"I want every investor holding Lehman Brothers stock, every fund doing business with them, to start wondering whether their money has fallen into a bottomless pit!"

"Ye Ning!"

"Boss!"

"Notify Wilson, have him deploy all forces to Short‑sell Lehman Brothers' stock in the London market! I want Europe's fear to be precisely channeled onto this company!"

"I'll make Lehman Brothers the first fallen tombstone on Wall Street!"

……

Meanwhile, at Morgan Stanley headquarters.

The top‑floor office was a mess.

An expensive crystal glass lay shattered on the floor, its deep‑red wine spilling like dried blood, staining the priceless carpet.

John Parker slumped in his chair, his tie askew, hair disheveled; the face that always wore Confidence now bore rage and… a hint of fear he wouldn't even admit.

Huaxia's total crackdown.

Goldman Sachs was stabbed in the back.

The sudden explosion of Germany's IKB Bank.

One after another, seemingly unrelated events unfolded within twenty‑four hours.

If at first he thought it was coincidence, that the Eastern kid got lucky,

now he's a fool and should finally see the truth.

This is not coincidence.

This is a meticulously planned, multidimensional, cross‑border total war!

The young man named Lu Qingshan is absolutely not just some hot-headed gambler.

He is a demon wearing human skin!

He not only stirred up a bloody storm in the financial markets, but also employed state-level power on the geopolitical stage!

Even using media smearing tactics comes easily to him!

A chill rose from the soles of his feet up his spine, making John Parker shiver all over.

For the first time, he felt that the Wall Street rules he prided himself on were so pale and powerless before his opponent.

His opponent simply doesn't play by the rules!

You talk law to him, he talks public opinion to you.

You talk business to him, he talks politics to you.

You think this is a boxing match, but he pulls out an AK47 and sprays you with gunfire!

"Damn it… damn it!"

John Parker cursed under his breath, grabbed another cup from the table, and smashed it hard against the wall.

"Bang!"

Crystal shards flew everywhere.

But the anger in his chest only burned hotter.

Lose?

He, John Parker, a helmsperson of Morgan Stanley and one of Wall Street's kings, how could he lose to some yellow-skinned kid who came out of nowhere?

Never!

Since you won't play by the rules, don't blame me for overturning the table!

His eyes bloodshot, he pulled out a black satellite phone with no markings from the deepest part of the drawer.

He dialed a number he knew by heart and waited.

After a few seconds, the call connected, and an electronically processed, gender‑unidentifiable synthetic voice came from the other end.

"Mr. Parker, you haven't contacted us in three years. It seems you've run into serious trouble."

"Shut up!" John Parker roared, "I need you to get things done."

"We'll be happy to serve you, as long as the price is right."

"Saint Remo Apartment, top floor. There's an entire team from the East inside." John Parker's voice sounded as if squeezed from between his teeth, every word laced with venom.

"I know their leader is called Lu Qingshan, but I'm not sure if he's inside right now."

"What do you want us to do? Kidnap them? Or…"

"I don't care what methods you use!" Parker interrupted, his voice turning shrill from extreme fury.

"I want them—every single one of them—to vanish completely from this world!"