Chapter 423: The Most Expensive Glass of Champagne, My Treat

New York's dawn squeezed out little by little through the gaps between skyscrapers, carrying a metallic cold gray hue.

The top floor of Saint Remo Apartment was lit brightly all night.

The air was filled with the bitter aroma of coffee and the scent of adrenaline secreted after the body's sustained excitement.

David Cohen's eyes were bloodshot; he kept rubbing his hands, muttering under his breath, as if praying and as if cursing.

"Lehman Brothers' debt ratio is thirty to one, thirty to one! God, we're actually supposed to Long Buying this pile of crap... Boss, are you sure this isn't a meticulously planned collective suicide?"

No one paid attention to his muttering.

In front of Li Junjie were three computers, the data streams on the screens refreshing at a speed the naked eye could barely catch, his fingers hovering over the keyboard, ready to issue commands at any moment.

Lu Qingjun stared intently at one of the screens, which displayed the opening countdown for the New York Stock Exchange.

The bright red numbers pulsed like a timed bomb, ticking second by second.

"Brother, five minutes left," his throat was a bit dry.

Lu Qingshan leaned against the sofa, eyes closed, as if dozing.

He hadn't slept all night, yet his spirit was better than anyone else in the room.

He was simply waiting, waiting for a signal.

The phone rang; it was Ye Ning's internal line.

"Boss, Minister Wang called back."

Lu Qingshan opened his eyes; there was no trace of fatigue in them, only a bottomless calm.

"Put it through."

Wang Shanghong's voice, transmitted via speakerphone, rang through the whole room, brief and forceful.

"Proceed as you said. The news was released synchronously after the Asian Session closed."

"Thank you, Minister Wang."

"Comrade Qingshan, remember your promise. This is only a... Stress Test."

"Understood."

The call ended.

David Cohen's whole body went limp; he felt as if he had just taken a free fall from the stratosphere to the ground.

National Team, it really met its end.

To cooperate with this lunatic's plan, Huaxia's Sovereign Fund truly wagered its own reputation on the table.

"One minute left," Lu Qingjun's voice trembled.

Lu Qingshan stood up and walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window.

The sky had brightened; the morning light gilded the Steel Jungle with an illusory golden sheen.

"Ye Ning, inform Wilson."

"Over in London, the second wave of capital can be pushed in. Our traders can also use all capital accounts, including the Victoria Opportunity Fund's account."

"David."

"Here! Boss!"

"The Merger and Acquisition news you prepared can now be fed to the Wall Street Journal reporter."

"Li Junjie."

"Received!"

"Keep a close eye on the market; if short positions increase by more than five percent, tell me immediately."

The command was issued.

Countdown, zeroed.

"When—"

A long bell rang, as if from deep within Wall Street, announcing the start of a new day's slaughter.

Lehman Brothers' stock price, at the opening moment, plunged sharply downward due to a massive backlog of sell orders accumulated overnight!

The green K line on the screen fell like a waterfall, plunging straight down.

"It fell! It fell! Opening down three points!" Lu Qingjun shouted hoarsely.

In a suite of the Waldorf Hotel, Li Zexun and Zoe Shason looked at the pleasing green on the screen and burst into victorious laughter.

"Hahaha, I told you! Whatever National Team, whatever Wilson, they're all paper tigers!" Li Zexun raised his glass, smugly.

"Just an Appetizer," Zoe Shason swirled the wine in her glass, "Watch, by the end of today this stock will be smashed into hell by us."

Their trader team, in the first second of the opening, executed their orders, slamming billions of short positions hard into the market.

However, before their laughter faded, a sudden anomaly erupted on the market!

Just after the price hit a low, an unimaginably huge buy order surged from the market bottom without any warning!

Like an invisible giant hand, it forcibly held up the falling price!

On the screen, the green waterfall abruptly stopped, and immediately a glaring Red K Line shot up from the ground!

"What's happening?!" Li Zexun's smile froze on his face.

"It's Wilson's capital! London is starting to push!" his trading supervisor shouted hoarsely.

In Saint Remo Apartment, the atmosphere was equally tense to the extreme.

"Hold! Brother! Hold!" Lu Qingjun exclaimed excitedly, raising his fist.

Lu Qingshan's expression did not change at all.

"Not enough."

He spat out two words.

"This little fluctuation isn't enough to make those two greedy sharks feel fear."

He looked at Ye Ning.

"Our own funds, enter."

"Yes!"

With Ye Ning's order issued, an equally massive sum of capital, through nearly a hundred New York financial accounts, through the Victoria Opportunity Fund's account, from Hong Kong Island and Singapore, silently flowed into the New York market, joining the long side.

The stock price began to climb upward at an even steeper angle!

One percent, two percent, three percent…

The opening decline was fully recovered within just twenty minutes, turning from green to red!

All of Wall Street noticed this stock's anomaly.

Countless traders and analysts turned their eyes to this tiny battlefield.

"What's up with Lehman Brothers? Have they gone mad?"

"Did you hear? The Wall Street Journal just broke the story that a Middle East consortium is contacting Lehman to discuss a Merger and Acquisition!"

"Not only that! I also heard that Huaxia's Sovereign Fund has added it to a potential acquisition list!"

The rumor spread by David Cohen, catalyzed by market panic and greed, began to spread virally.

Some keen‑sensed retail investors and hot money began to follow the trend and buy.

They didn't care about the truth of the news; they only cared that the stock was rising!

The buy orders kept increasing!

The stock's rise began to accelerate!

In the Waldorf Hotel, Li Zexun's complexion had turned ashen.

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! It's all fake news!" he roared into the phone, "Keep short selling! Increase the leverage! Smash the stock price down! I don't believe they have that much money!"

Zoe Shason's expression also grew solemn; they watched the continuously climbing stock price, and for the first time felt a hint of unease.

Yet they were equally blinded by greed.

In their view, this must be Lu Qingshan's final struggle.

As long as they ride out this wave, the opponent will be exhausted, and they can reap hundred‑fold profits!

"Add to position!" he also issued the same order.

Two massive short‑selling forces once again slammed the market hard.

The upward momentum of the stock price was indeed curbed.

After rising five percentage points, the long and short sides fell into a fierce tug‑of‑war.

The volume on the screen exploded to a historic daily amount.

Countless funds on this line were ground into powder.

"Boss! They've added to their position! According to the message transmitted by Wilson, their capital has reached this level, and the leverage is at least fifteen times!" Li Junjie's voice carried a hint of tension.

"They can't hold on!" David Cohen's face showed a morbid excitement, "If the stock rises another two points, they'll receive the first margin call!"

Everyone looked at Lu Qingshan.

All their bullets had already been fired.

Now, it's a matter of who gives out first.

Lu Qingshan looked out the window at New York's sky, clear and bright.

He picked up the red encrypted phone and dialed the Rockefeller Office number.

The call was answered almost instantly.

"Charles."

"It's me, Mr. Lu."

"Tell Mr. Rockefeller."

Lu Qingshan's voice was low but clear, reaching the whole room and the other end of the line.

"The referee should blow the whistle."

The other end was silent for three seconds.

"... I understand."

He hung up and looked back at the screen.

Time seemed infinitely long at that moment.

One minute.

Two minutes.

The tug‑of‑war continued, the stock price, as if nailed down, moved up and down no more than 0.1 percent.

Li Zexun and Zoe even showed a faint grimace.

They thought they had won.

The opponent's offensive ended here.

However, at the third minute, a moment worthy of being recorded in the Financial History Book arrived.

All global Financial Information Terminals—Bloomberg, Reuters... all illuminated screens simultaneously popped up a bold red breaking news.

【Federal Reserve emergency statement: We will take all necessary measures to maintain financial market stability, and provide ample liquidity support to certain systemically important financial institutions.】

The wording was vague, official, yet full of limitless imagination.

At this moment, it represented a divine decree.

All of Wall Street exploded.

Every trader who saw the message's first reaction was to buy!

Buy those financial stocks that are being tossed in the storm!

And Lehman Brothers, the stock that performed the most "sturdy" and also the most "abnormal" today, instantly became the focus of all capital chasing!

Boom—!

It was as if a nuclear bomb detonated at the trading price of Lehman Brothers.

The stock price broke free from gravity.

Six percent!

Eight percent!

Ten percent!

Twelve percent!

That red K line, at an almost ninety-degree vertical angle, shot up into the sky!

In a suite of the Waldorf Hotel, Li Zexun and Zoe Shason stared blankly at the screen.

Their trading supervisor let out a wail that was not human.

"Margin call! We're margin called! All short positions, two hundred billion US Dollars, have been forcibly liquidated!"

The forced liquidation buy orders further propelled the stock's frantic rise.

It was a perfect, self‑ignited short‑squeeze storm aimed at themselves…

Li Zexun's body swayed, and he collapsed onto the carpet, his eyes vacant, muttering to himself.

"It's over... completely over..."

In Saint Remo Apartment, however, it was a different scene.

"Sell! Disregard cost, sell everything!"

Lu Qingshan issued the final order.

At the peak where the stock surged into the clouds, when everyone was in a frenzy, they quietly exited.

Ye Ning looked up and reported a figure.

"Boss, after deducting all costs, this operation's total profit is 13.76 billion US Dollars."

Lu Qingshan's face still showed no expression.

He simply turned, looking at Zhang Qianru, who already had the documents prepared.

"Send the indictment to their lawyers."

Then, he looked at Li Junjie and David.

"Alright, everyone."

"The fireworks display is over."

"Now, let's discuss how to short Lehman Brothers."