49: Chapter 49 Global Turmoil and Stock Market Crash
The declaration by the Dragon Country was like dropping a hydrogen bomb into a calm lake. The shockwave swept across the globe at the speed of light, and wherever it passed, it triggered not ripples, but a devastating tsunami!
Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange.
The opening bell sounded like a funeral knell. On the massive electronic display screens, behind the stock tickers representing traditional energy giants, the numbers were not just sliding; they were plummeting off a cliff!
"Damn it! ExxonMobil is down 60%!"
"Shell! Shell has hit the circuit breaker!"
"Coal stocks are done for! Totally done for!"
The roars and desperate cries of the traders were drowned out by even more piercing alarm sounds.
The shocking red numbers on the screens spread like blood. Panic spread like a plague—sell! Sell at any cost!
It wasn't just energy stocks; related transportation, chemical, and even some traditional manufacturing stocks were being sold off indiscriminately, with wails of despair everywhere.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted over 3000 points within just half an hour of opening, setting a record for the largest single-day drop in history, forcing trading to be suspended multiple times.
Europa, the City of London.
The same tragedy was unfolding here.
BP's stock price plummeted, and the Frankfurt DAX and Paris CAC40 indices followed the US market, falling off a cliff.
The European Central Bank's emergency market rescue statement was like a stone dropped into the ocean, completely unable to stem the panic stemming from this fundamental shift in the energy landscape.
Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
This resource-poor island nation was the most sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices.
The news of the Dragon Country's fusion success was nothing short of an economic earthquake for them.
The Nikkei index plummeted right at the opening, with the drop quickly expanding to over 10%, marking the largest single-day decline since the bursting of the economic bubble.
At the Chief Cabinet Secretary's emergency press conference, the reporters' questions were as sharp as knives: "Has the future energy strategy of Japan completely failed? Should we immediately pivot to seek cooperation with the Dragon Country?"
The Middle East, the oil kingdoms.
The luxurious scenes of bustling traffic and extravagant spending of the past seemed to have been hit with a pause button.
International oil prices were instantly cut in half in electronic trading and continued to bottom out.
The kingdoms that relied on petrodollars to maintain their prosperity were plunged into unprecedented panic; the crown princes' emergency meetings lasted from day to night, yet they could not come up with any effective countermeasures.
Overnight, their greatest wealth transformed from "black gold" into "tears of the era."
Academia and the media were also experiencing a magnitude 12 earthquake.
The websites of top journals like Nature and Science crashed due to the massive surge in traffic, with their homepages urgently replaced by reports and preliminary analyses of the Dragon Country's "Golden Crow" achievement, filled with disbelief and awe between the lines.
The front-page headline of The New York Times was shocking: "The End of the Old Era: The Dragon Country Has Lit the Sun for Us."
When the BBC host connected with an expert, their voice still trembled: "What does this mean? It means the economic and geopolitical systems we have built over the past hundred years have had their foundations collapse!"
CIA headquarters, James Craig's office.
Telephone rings and alerts for emergency communication requests went off one after another, like a funeral dirge played for him.
He sat in his chair, ashen-faced, with a dozen split screens in front of him displaying real-time footage of the collapse of major global financial markets, as well as inquiries marked "Top Emergency" constantly arriving from the White House and The Pentagon.
"They... they really did it..." he muttered to himself, his voice hoarse, "It's not a reservoir... it's the sun... they created a sun..."
A subordinate rushed in, panic-stricken: "Sir! The White House Chief of Staff is on the line, demanding you immediately explain the serious intelligence failure! Capitol Hill is also holding an emergency hearing..."
Craig waved his hand powerlessly, signaling for the subordinate to leave. He was done for, completely done for.
His misjudgment had caused Pretty Country to lose all its initiative and room for maneuver at the most critical strategic turning point.
He was not only a sinner against the CIA but also a sinner against the entire strategic community of Pretty Country.
Global financial markets were a scene of misery, and the guardians of the old order were in a panic.
In the Dragon Country, although it was late at night, the atmosphere was festive everywhere; people took to the streets, spontaneously celebrating this historic victory.
Inside his rental apartment, Lin Mo closed the news page on his screen displaying the miserable state of the global stock markets, his expression calm.
The system's notification had already sounded, with generous rewards. But this was only the beginning.
The collapse of energy hegemony would inevitably anger the vested interests of the old order, and even crazier retaliation might be just around the corner.
He looked out the window at the festive night scene of the Dragon Country, his gaze deep.
"The old throne has collapsed; the new order will be written by us."