Mysterious Journey

Chapter 715 War...Begins

Initially, no one paid attention to this disaster.

It was merely a period of poor harvest, the collapse of an unbreakable alliance, a series of fluctuating securities figures, the business contraction of a multinational food company, and an unexpected riot—until the disaster swept across the entire world.

It was the last day of August, and the sun shone as usual on the gray streets of St. Petersburg.

John Dow Jones, a business executive from Citibank in the United States, woke up early in the morning. The clear air and cloudless sky outside the window gave no indication of the terrible things that were about to happen in this place. John leisurely enjoyed the breakfast prepared by the pretty Russian maid, a full day's service for only ten dollars, which was unimaginable in the United States.

He didn't notice that the sparse clouds in the sky outside the window were fragmented.

At 8:40, Mr. John picked up his briefcase and skillfully pinched the maid's full body.

"Wait for me to come back tonight, I'm going to make another big deal today!"

Accompanied by the Russian woman's frightened scream, John chuckled as he walked out the door and got into his beloved Ford car—those old Russian guys in the southeast corner of the city finally relented. If nothing unexpected happened, he would reach another high-value loan order. Perhaps there was no easier deal in the world than this.

Although no one knew which side would strike first, everyone knew that the day of harvest was not far away.

The ruble, which had maintained its exchange rate for more than half a year, finally began to decline, which meant that this wave of false economic tide had finally reached its peak, and those greedy and foolish former Soviets who yearned for freedom and hope would soon wake up from their dreams.

As he drove past the street corner, John saw a group of dilapidated people hurrying along.

Judging from the direction they were walking and running, they were probably planning to go to the potato shop located on the edge of the city, a stupid Austrian group that sold nothing but potatoes, and accepted rubles.

"Poor fellows..."

John muttered, shaking his head with a hint of irony.

Obviously, even under such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, there were still many stupid things that didn't understand the infinite charm hidden in financial capital, and still used the ancient trading methods of a dozen centuries ago to make money through retail goods.

Unfortunately, all of this was vulnerable in the face of advanced American financial theory.

As an outstanding banker, John Dow Jones had ten thousand ways to squeeze the value out of these honest and simple businessmen through carefully designed financial products, securities fluctuations, and loan package combinations.

John composed himself and temporarily swept these thoughts out of his mind.

Before the US headquarters sounded the attack horn, perhaps in the eyes of those former Soviets, they were not equally generous and kind international friends, intimately and detailedly providing high returns for everyone, and absorbing free deposits at high interest rates.

Only...

Even among predators, there is a very strict food chain hierarchy...

Facing these herbivorous and pitiful private enterprises, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and other venture capital institutions would not have the slightest pity or hesitation. When the avalanche came, these basic industries that maintained the surface peace would be worthless.

A few minutes later, when John arrived at the spacious Citibank parking lot, everything began to become abnormal.

The St. Petersburg branch of Citibank was built on the most central commercial street in the city. Most of the people who usually traveled here were professional managers in suits and ties. Even if occasionally one or two Russians came to mortgage their properties, they would try to tidy up their shabby appearance, at least not look like a beggar who came to beg.

Just as John Dow Jones got out of the car and was about to walk into the bank, he suddenly saw a large group of people in strange costumes walking by the street not far away—most of them were wearing cloaks, and everyone looked particularly nervous, talking in low voices with serious expressions, as if something terrible had happened.

As a bank manager, John's keen ears intermittently heard some fragmented pieces.

"—bank, explosion—attack—"

"Large-scale riot, gold—their civil war—revenge—"

John suddenly stopped and turned his head in terror.

This was a very terrible land, he had known this for a long time. According to legend, the former Soviet Union had a large-scale, ruthless internal purge organization, and all Americans dispatched to this country were worried about this all the time.

Could it be that these devil-like proletarians were plotting to rush into the bank and hang them all?!

However, when John turned around and observed carefully, the group of people suddenly disappeared.

An illusion?

John took a deep breath and walked into the bank gate uneasily. He planned to emphasize the bank's security work later to ensure that no one would rush into the bank to rob it. Their vault was now piled with mountains of rubles.

These were all their most valuable weapons to use in the upcoming financial harvest.

Loans, bonds, exchange rates, as long as the ruble could still be used to buy things, they would have enough time to gradually snowball, and then the bank's magical balance sheet would turn this debt into a tempting cake in an instant.

…………

At the same time, thousands of meters above the sky.

Hyperion Bridge.

"Your Majesty, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus... a total of eleven Gringotts bank branches have all sent requests for help to the local Ministry of Magic. The 'Death Eater' Destiny Group combat team disguised as such has completed its evacuation..."

Douglas the goblin reached out and took a note like a flying bird from the air, glanced at it and said.

"In half an hour, the Gringotts Wizarding Bank headquarters in London will urgently hold a press conference to fully declare war on those traitors in the Americas, and temporarily freeze all their assets in Europe on the grounds of suspected collusion with dark wizards. Before the financial order of the magical world returns to normal, those officials will not have time to pay attention to what happens in the non-magical world."

"Very good..."

Aylin nodded lightly, her eyes casually sweeping over the miniature towns below.

In countless tiny corners that she couldn't see, the Destiny Group potato shops from Austria opened their doors on time as usual, welcoming those hard-working former Soviet people who were waiting outside the door to snap up potatoes.

However, they don't know yet that from today onwards—the rules have changed.

In the financial battlefield, the so-called zero-sum game and positive-sum game are just beautiful fairy tales. The greed and cruelty of capital are no less than any cruel battlefield faced by mankind. There is no victory or defeat here, only life and death.

The negative-sum game is the most terrifying battle.

Using its own continuous output of capital to make all profits look easy, thereby inducing batches of investors to continuously inject funds into the market, creating the illusion that the market can continue and prosper.

And when a large number of market illusions cause investors to enter the market incorrectly, the survivors are the winners after the destruction.

"Open all warehouses, release all the rubles we own, repay loans... Starting with the Destiny Group—completely refuse to redeem and use this currency—within a week, completely destroy the existence value of the ruble as a benchmark currency."

Aylin waved her hand indifferently, revealing a cruel smile.

"From now on, use potatoes as rewards, let them spread these waste papers, tons and tons, all over every street, every residence and shop in these cities, and at the door of those American banks—then, apply for bankruptcy protection—"

"As for us..."

Aylin glanced at the window one last time, turned around without nostalgia, and sat back in her seat.

"Hyperion, prepare for warp!"

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Wuwuwu~ This may be a bit complicated, it doesn't matter if you don't understand it~~ No big deal~~