Chapter 443: Threaten Me? Then I'll Short Your Country Too!

From the hands‑free speaker of the Red Telephone came a woman's voice, hoarse and aged, yet like steel tempered in fire, each word bearing a scorching heat and an undeniable authority.

"Mr. Lu, this is Margaret Thatcher."

"I give you five minutes to withdraw your foolish and arrogant demand."

"Otherwise, I guarantee that Xinghan Capital will never be able to leave New York."

These words, like a final ultimatum from Great Britain, bearing the last glow and arrogance of the empire on which the sun never sets, slammed heavily onto the top floor of Saint Remo Apartment.

The air in the apartment was instantly sucked out.

David Cohen had just gotten up from the floor; hearing those words, his eyes rolled, and he lay back down rigidly, this time without even the strength to twitch, silently muttering, "Game over… game over…"

Li Junjie and Zhang Qianru's faces were paler than the night outside the window.

They had faced the sharks of Wall Street, the threats of the US Treasury Department, and even sparred with the White House from a distance.

But they never imagined that one day they would confront the very Iron Lady herself, famed for her toughness and iron fist, who had just gained an edge in the Ma Island war, drawing the gaze of all Europe.

And moreover, in this relentless manner.

"Brother!" Lu Qingjun's voice trembled; he felt he wasn't hearing a phone call but a death sentence from the Queen.

Yet, amid this suffocating despair, Lu Qingshan suddenly laughed.

He laughed out loud.

The laugh was light, yet like a sharp blade that instantly sliced through the room's solidified fear.

"Oh, Prime Minister, good evening."

His tone was as relaxed as if greeting an old friend he hadn't seen in ages; the composure etched into his bones contrasted absurdly and harshly with the raging fury coming from the other end of the line.

On the other end, Thatcher's breathing visibly caught.

She had anticipated the other's panic, anger, even the veiled, hostile bargaining.

She had not expected this kind of reaction.

A reaction bordering on… contempt.

"Mr. Lu, you don't seem to have heard my words clearly," Thatcher's voice was as cold as Arctic ice. "This is not a negotiation; it's a warning."

"No, Prime Minister, I think you haven't grasped the situation."

Lu Qingshan walked over to David Cohen, gave him a light toe‑kick, and said, "Get up, don't play dead; the real show is just beginning."

Then, in a leisurely drawl, he spoke into the phone, "You think that blocking my account turns me into fish on a cutting board?"

He shook his head—a motion the person on the other end couldn't see—but the contempt rang clearly through his voice.

"Prime Minister, you may have forgotten that there is something in this world called allies."

"Ye Ning!" Lu Qingshan suddenly raised his voice.

"Boss, I'm here!" Ye Ning snapped upright.

"Call Pan Liu Xinyu immediately!"

"Tell him the British flipped the table and are trying to dodge the bill. Ask if he still wants to go ahead with the plan we discussed—to hit Wall Street and pick the wallets together."

"If he does, have him mobilize all Mitsubishi Bank resources in London—right now! Immediately! Send me to sweep the market. Target: Barclays Bank!"

"Yes!" A terrifying gleam flashed in Ye Ning's eyes; she snatched another phone, her fingers moving so fast they left after‑images.

On the other end, Thatcher's breathing suddenly became rapid.

"Li Junjie!" Lu Qingshan's voice rang again.

"Boss!"

"Call Wilson! Tell him his hometown has been raided! Ask the new head of the Shason Family whether he plans to watch London Financial City burn to ash, or join me to make a quick fortune!"

"Have him deploy the full power of the Victoria Opportunity Fund, with the same target: Barclays! I want the entire London market to see our resolve!"

"Received!" A sickly flush spread across Li Junjie's face; he felt he wasn't making a call but sounding the horn of a counter‑offensive!

"You… you dare!" For the first time, Thatcher's voice on the line showed shock and a hint of incredulous panic.

She had thought Lu Qingshan might resist, but she hadn't expected his resistance to involve directly turning her own backyard allies against her!

"Why wouldn't I be afraid?" Lu Qingshan laughed even more merrily.

"Prime Minister, have you forgotten that I now have over $300 billion in cash at my disposal? Using that money alone is a different concept from you and a united Europe trying to block me."

"But if I split that money among the Japanese, the Jews, and all the Europeans Wall Street has ever cut, which do you think they'd side with—your wobbling Iron Lady, or me, to tear down Wall Street and the disobedient United Kingdom together and split the loot?"

These words landed like a series of heavy blows, crushing Thatcher's heart.

She suddenly realized she had made a fatal mistake.

She framed this conflict as a showdown between the United Kingdom and Xinghan Capital.

But Lu Qingshan, from the outset, defined the war as a worldwide 'Avengers' campaign—a full‑scale counterattack against Anglo‑American financial hegemony!

He is not fighting alone!

"And also," Lu Qingshan walked to the window, eyeing the faint silhouettes of reporters and vehicles below, his tone turning playful, "you think that by blocking me I can't get the word out?"

He whistled softly into the phone.

"Guess what would be tomorrow's front‑page headlines in the Wall Street Journal and The Times if I now open the window and shout at those reporters below who look like sharks that have smelled blood, saying 'The British Prime Minister, to shirk Hong Kong Island's sovereignty, would spark a global financial tsunami'?"

"You!"

On the other end, a sharp crash of a teacup being smashed rang out!

Immediately after came Thatcher's hoarse roar, born of extreme anger: "Madman! You're a complete madman!"

"Thanks for the compliment," Lu Qingshan replied coolly.

"Prime Minister, my five minutes seem to have run out."

"Now it's my turn to give you five minutes."

"Either you have your regulator immediately withdraw those ridiculous 'restriction orders' for me, and then obediently prepare twenty percent of Barclays Bank's shares for me to take over."

"Or…"

Lu Qingshan paused briefly; his voice, at that moment, became colder than the Siberian wind.

"We'll expand the battlefield from Wall Street to the whole of Europe."

"I will not only Short Sell Barclays, I will also Short Sell the Royal Bank of Scotland, Short Sell German Bank, Short Sell every European bank that stands with you!"

"I will make the entire European capital market perish together for your foolish decision today!"

"You choose."

On the other end of the phone, it was dead silent.

All that could be heard was Satcher's breathing, ragged and heaving like an old bellows.

She felt she wasn't talking to a businessman.

But rather she was gambling with a devil who held a button capable of destroying the world, a wager about tickets to hell.

And she had no chips left.

At that moment, a red emergency news flash from Bloomberg popped up on Ye Ning's computer.

She glanced at it, then jerked her head up, her face full of disbelief.

"Boss…" her voice trembled with a hint of dreamlike quiver.

"London Stock Exchange just saw a massive abnormal buy order."

"Barclays Bank's stock price was forcibly driven up… ten percent in a minute!"

"The main buyer accounts came from… Tokyo and Geneva."

As soon as Ye Ning finished speaking, the Red Telephone that connects to Downing Street emitted a muffled "thump," as if something heavy had fallen to the floor.

Immediately after, Allen let out a panicked scream.

"Prime Minister! Prime Minister! What's wrong with you?!"

"Call a doctor quickly! Now!"