196: Chapter 197 A Trial Battle Worth Tens of Billions of Dollars! The Shadow of Wall Street's Trillion-Dollar Tycoons

Facing Wu Tianheng's incisive probing, Shen Du did not answer immediately.

The room was so quiet that even the faint "hissing" sound of a cigar burning was clearly audible.

Everyone's gaze was locked firmly on the young man at the head of the table, waiting for what he would say next.

Shen Du's slender fingers gently stroked the warm white porcelain teacup. His eyes lowered slightly, and a glimmer of light, imperceptible to ordinary people, flashed in his deep pupils.

The old fox was indeed shrewd to see that the extra forty billion was a "hot potato." But they would never guess.

The true ambition behind the earth-shattering grand scheme Shen Du had laid out was never about this mere hundreds of billions in cash flow from the beginning.

Deep in his mind, on a virtual panel that only he could see, a line of main quest text was quietly floating, glowing with a dark golden light:

[ Main Quest (Conquer the Four Seas): Complete the overall listing preparations for Jiyuan Technology, strike the bell at the NASDAQ in the United States, and the total market value must reach ten billion US dollars! ]

An initial market value of ten billion US dollars!

In this era, for a foreign tech company with no foundation, wanting to secure a ten-billion-dollar valuation at the NASDAQ, the home base of Wall Street, was no different from snatching food from a tiger's mouth.

Shen Du knew better than anyone that the primitive accumulation of capital was always bloody.

He had indeed considered taking Jiyuan Technology directly across the ocean to ring the listing bell on the other side. But reason eventually overcame the impulse for blind risk-taking.

At this volatile and treacherous juncture, a company from the East that possessed cutting-edge technology and immense potential would absolutely become a fat sheep in the eyes of those top predators if it were to suddenly drop into the United States.

This was like a child holding a gold brick, swaggering into a dark forest full of hungry wolves.

"The water is too deep..." Shen Du sneered inwardly.

Therefore, he had to test the waters first in the relatively controllable home court of Hong Kong. He would use a real, bare-knuckle battle to figure out the short-selling methods and bloodthirstiness of these overseas capitals.

Facts proved that this move of his was incredibly correct. Just by conducting a tentative defensive battle in the Hong Kong Stock Market, these Wall Street institutions and overseas hot money, having smelled blood, had already demonstrated a crazy, even maniacal, counterattack.

If he hadn't been holding the trump card of forty billion US dollars to force the table to turn, it really wouldn't have been certain who would win or lose this time.

If the battlefield were truly moved directly to the United States...

Shen Du narrowed his eyes slightly. He lifted the teacup and took a sip, perfectly concealing the soul-stirring cold light deep in his eyes.

If the battlefield were truly moved directly to the United States, it would definitely not be as simple as facing just a few greedy hedge funds and hot money institutions like today.

In the bottomless financial ocean of Wall Street, what lay lurking were true prehistoric beasts.

In Shen Du's mind, those terrifying names that were thunderous in his previous life, and even capable of secretly manipulating the economic lifelines of certain countries, emerged.

The behemoth controlling over ten trillion US dollars in vast assets: BlackRock! The capital oligarch infiltrating the global market like a ghost: Vanguard!

Not to mention those old-fashioned financial empires with deep roots and unimaginable foundations: the Morgan Consortium, the Rockefeller family...

In front of these true capital giants, a cash flow of tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars might really just be a fraction of a percent on their massive balance sheets.

Once they caught the scent of Jiyuan Technology, a "foreign piece of fat" that possessed cross-era cutting-edge technology but lacked sufficient political and capital barriers for protection.

What they would launch would definitely not be the tentative short-selling with a lot of thunder but little rain like today. It would be a dimension-reduction strike without any bottom line, using all their power!

These trillion-dollar tycoons would mobilize the top resources of Wall Street. They would even lobby Congress, use the media to spread rumors, file class-action lawsuits, and conduct antitrust investigations. They might even directly freeze offshore accounts, among a series of combination punches that would be impossible to guard against. They would swallow Jiyuan Technology whole from the root, not even spitting out a single bone shard.

"Without an absolutely solid domestic base, and without a 'nuclear deterrence-level' cash flow that can force the table to turn at critical moments. Running to the NASDAQ to ring the bell without any preparation is just going to one's death." Shen Du made this judgment coldly in his heart.

Therefore, he had gone to great lengths. He would rather bear huge risks to first set up this earth-shattering game in the Hong Kong home court.

This test battle not only allowed him to see the bloodthirsty nature of overseas capital clearly, but also allowed him to take the opportunity to reap this staggering war trophy of over seven hundred billion.

With this massive cash flow comparable to a national treasury, Jiyuan Technology's foundation in the country could be considered truly solidified. Only by standing firmly on an unshakable foundation could he have the confidence to go to the other side of the ocean and truly wrestle with those trillion-dollar tycoons!

The silence in the secret room lasted for a full half minute. Shen Du finally pulled his drifting thoughts back from that bottomless ocean of capital on the other side of the ocean.

He placed the white porcelain teacup in his hand gently on the rosewood tabletop, making a crisp "ding" sound. This broke the heavy atmosphere in the room.

He cleared his throat and raised his eyes. His gaze, without any avoidance, looked directly into Wu Tianheng's sharp old eyes, which were full of probing and doubt.

"Uncle Wu, and all the uncles present." Shen Du's voice was not loud, but it exuded a sense of control that made people want to believe in him involuntarily:

"Have you forgotten what the ultimate goal we set was when I first pulled you onto this warship?" The magnates were slightly stunned.

Shen Du's gaze slowly swept across the room, taking in the expressions of these big shots who controlled the vast physical industrial chains in the country. His tone also deepened a few degrees:

"Our ultimate goal is to tear open the technological blockade of Western capital. It is to break into that overseas chip market monopolized by the great powers, and to enter that vast sea of stars in the semiconductor industry!"

Shen Du leaned forward slightly, and an aura of a superior that far exceeded his age erupted.

"Instead of being complacent and even stagnating in this small pond of the Hong Kong Stock Market for a mere tens of billions in petty profits. How can a swallow know the ambition of a swan?"

These words, like a great bell, made the eardrums of these magnates, who were accustomed to seeing money figures, buzz.

"And..." Watching the slightly shaken expressions of the crowd, a frank smile appeared on the corner of Shen Du's mouth:

"Since Uncle Wu mentioned 'talking business as business,' let's speak plainly today. Actually, the one who truly made a fortune, and can even be said to be the biggest winner in this Hong Kong Stock Market war, is not any of you present, but still me, Shen Du."