71: Chapter 71 The Butterfly Effect

The gears of fate...

...often shift slightly in an instant, unleashing a tempest that overturns an entire era.

Just tens of minutes ago,

due to Zhou Wennan's distress call, which was laced with anxiety and desperation,

Shen Du had only just summoned the system's "Geomantic Map" and, before he could examine it closely, hurriedly closed it.

He then drove off to the meeting point.

It was this accidental near-miss that caused Shen Du to miss a bombshell of a message capable of shaking the entire domestic business world.

What he didn't know was that on the Geomantic Map he had casually closed,

the capital fortune of the entire north was currently displaying a bizarre and violent crimson-red!

The root of all this lay in Shen Du's earlier series of defensive maneuvers and counterattacks, which could only be described as strokes of genius.

According to the original course of history, at this juncture in 2011,

the top capital circles led by Beijing should have already used their deep foundations to successfully penetrate Shanghai.

And Shen Du's second uncle, Secretary Shen Hai,

originally would have been forced to retreat to second-tier cities during this brutal capital onslaught.

The Shen Family's influence in Shanghai would have also plummeted to its historic lowest point.

But Shen Du's rebirth and powerful breakthrough had forcefully shattered this timeline!

Not only did he use thunderous means to protect Meituan, a future cash cow,

but he also saved Fu Enterprises, turning Shanghai's entire business landscape into an impenetrable, iron-clad fortress.

The aloof, established families of the Beijing Circle suffered a crushing defeat in Shanghai, and their penetration plans were declared completely bankrupt.

Pushed to the edge of the cliff, the families of the Beijing Circle grew completely desperate.

Since they could no longer break Shanghai's defensive ring under normal domestic business rules,

these red-eyed capital tycoons made a crazy, and arguably 'inviting wolves into the house', decision.

They keenly capitalized on the highly favorable policies introduced for overseas enterprises following China's entry into the WTO,

such as the 'three-year tax exemption' designed to aggressively attract foreign investment.

Directly bypassing the domestic capital pool, they secretly allied with Wall Street and various top-tier overseas capital giants!

Countless shady offshore accounts were activated, and cross-border capital channels were opened at full capacity.

Within just a few days,

a terrifying overseas capital pool worth hundreds of billions was, under the guise of 'foreign investment attraction' by the Beijing Circle families,

frenziedly injected into major domestic internet and physical industries!

This was no longer business competition in the conventional sense.

The goal of these northern families, who had been blocked by Shen Du, was brutal to the extreme:

'If I can't penetrate, then we shall all be destroyed together!

I will use absolute capital to completely crash the entire domestic market!'

Because of the frantic flapping of the wings of Shen Du, this reborn butterfly,

the historical timeline that was supposed to proceed step-by-step completely collapsed and went wild at this moment!

Not only did he change the fate of Meituan, but he also forcefully kicked Tencent halfway down from its throne as the absolute hegemon of social media.

This act of forcibly defying destiny, coupled with the frantic catalysis of the hundred-billion-yuan overseas capital pool detonated by the Beijing Circle,

triggered a terrifying 'butterfly effect' that caught Shen Du completely off guard.

Those business monsters that should not have appeared at all at this point in time in 2011

were forcibly ripened by this violent torrent of capital, descending upon this Asura arena ahead of schedule!

The first to strike was the Alibaba Group, far away in Hangzhou.

After secretly receiving a massive infusion of overseas capital,

the Alibaba Group, like an awakened behemoth, directly unleashed the ultimate weapon that should have only appeared years later:

the "Billion Yuan Subsidy Plan"!

With a completely unreasonable cash-burning posture, they boldly charged into the same-city express delivery industry,

attempting to shatter Meituan's moat with a sea-of-money tactic.

Immediately after, an even more shocking thunderbolt exploded in the e-commerce sector.

A small e-commerce platform named "Pinduoduo" received a terrifying blood transfusion of a hundred billion yuan overnight,

bursting onto the scene without any warning!

Wielding the viral fission model of "Slash a Price" that struck terror into traditional e-commerce,

they tore like a gale through the sinking market, which was originally split between Taobao and JD.com.

And in this gluttonous feast of capital,

Tencent, which had just suffered a massive loss at the hands of Spark, also found a breathing space.

After receiving a huge injection of external capital, the Penguin Empire quickly adjusted its strategy.

Since their social media base was damaged,

they turned their guns around, brandishing cash as they advanced triumphantly, charging wildly into the Short Video and live streaming tracks,

attempting to set fire to Spark's backyard.

But none of this was the most terrifying part.

In this midsummer of 2011, which should have belonged to the late 3G era where graphics and text reigned supreme,

a Short Video platform named "Douyin" emerged like a ghost that had broken through the barriers of time and space.

It abruptly and high-profilely announced its first round of financing, launching an overwhelming and frenzied promotional campaign!

It was complete chaos.

The entire domestic internet market suddenly surged with winds and clouds at this moment, turning into a boiling pot of chaos!

Surrounded by powerful enemies, with demons dancing wildly,

a capital world war that should have only broken out around 2018 was forcefully dragged forward by a full seven years!

Shanghai, the top-tier private club, Yonglu.

A pure black Mercedes-Benz G55, like a manic iron beast, tore through Shanghai's muggy night breeze.

With a deep and powerful engine roar, it slammed to a halt in the club's exclusive garage.

Shen Du pushed open the car door, his expression cold and stern, as he strode directly toward the most secretive, top-tier underground private suite:

"Tingquan Water Pavilion."

Pushing open the heavy, carved wooden door, there was no sound of decadent revelry inside the suite.

Instead, there was an extremely oppressive feeling of suffocation, as if the very air could be wrung out like water.

The Three Young Masters of Shanghai—Young Master Jie, Zhou Wennan, and Zhu Shuyan—had already been waiting for a long time.

On the mahogany coffee table, a bottle of top-tier red wine, opened long ago and perfectly decanted, exhaled an alluring aroma.

But the three top young masters, who usually loved wine like life itself, hadn't even touched their goblets, pacing around like ants on a hot pan.

Hearing the door open, the three of them raised their heads in unison.

They stared intently at Shen Du as he stepped into the suite, their eyes bloodshot with fatigue and filled with unconcealable anxiety.

"Young Master Shen, you're finally here!"

As the 'money bag' and core strategist of the three, Zhou Wennan stood up abruptly, skipping all the usual superficial pleasantries, and went straight to the point in an urgent voice:

"You've been so busy building Spark's moat lately that you probably haven't had time to look at the current market trends, have you?

The world outside has completely changed!"

Shen Du took off his suit jacket, tossed it onto the sofa, and sat down with an imposing posture, his gaze sweeping over the three of them like a blade:

"Calm down. Be specific."