blogombal Page 28
Page 28
The towering flames, having lost their final resistance, roared and pounced on the deadly liquid chlorine storage tank area like a wild beast unleashed!
High in the air, Hawke could clearly see the desperate fleeing and terrified screams of the crowd below.
The liquid chlorine storage tank area has begun to heat up, and wisps of the distinctive yellow-green fumes of chlorine gas have started to seep out from the safety valves...
Hawke didn't linger; his figure transformed into a blurry streak of light and vanished instantly into the northern night sky, flying towards New York.
Time: 00:59.
Within minutes of his departure, a massive fireball, mixed with highly toxic yellow-green chlorine gas, shot into the sky, forming a terrifying mushroom-shaped column of smoke!
The piercingly loud disaster alarm at the chemical plant resounded throughout the entire area!
The piercing sirens of fire trucks came from all directions, but faced with the dual hell of the core area and the high-risk chemical zone, the rescue seemed so pale and powerless!
The devastating explosion, fire, and possible leak of highly hazardous chemicals at TCRI's Binzhou plant, captured on countless mobile phones, along with images of chaos and flames shooting into the sky from the factory's direction, instantly went viral on local social media and news websites, even late at night.
The next morning, Wall Street opened.
TCRI stock, which had risen slightly the day before due to "positive clinical data," plummeted 30% at the opening bell!
The news of the destruction of the Binzhou factory exploded in the market like a bombshell.
This is not an unknown, illegal secret laboratory; it is TCRI's publicly known, important, and multi-million dollar production facility!
The loss cannot be concealed!
News headlines were filled with pictures and videos of the factory's destruction:
"TCRI's flagship factory suffers devastating attack!", "Unknown terrorist attack severely damages biotech company!", "TCRI's stock price crashes!"
Investors frantically sold off their shares, creating a massive sell-off.
As Emilia watched the green candlestick chart plummet on the screen—a green line representing a decline in US stocks—her anxiety was replaced by ecstasy.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she continuously added to her short positions amidst the market crash, greedily absorbing the market's panic.
"Drop! Drop even faster!" she roared, and the losses in her account were instantly reversed, accumulating astronomical profits at an astonishing speed.
"Hawk...you're a madman! A perfect madman!"
TCRI's public relations team hastily issued a statement attempting to characterize the attack as a "serious security incident," using vague language and denying that it was a terrorist attack.
However, the scene of destruction and eyewitness accounts of "inhuman forces" made the statement seem incredibly weak, instead exacerbating market speculation and panic.
After a brief struggle, the stock price continued to decline.
Location: Lane Group Safe House
Hawke stared blankly at the images of the factory ruins playing on the financial news channel, and at the dismal stock price chart of TCRI on the screen next to him.
Emilia sent a concise, encrypted message: "Harvesting. Continue?"
Hawke replied with an "Mm".
They then set their sights on another target—TCRI’s large precision instrument manufacturing plant in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, a plant known as a “precision furnace” among its peers.
51. Enduring it for a moment only makes you feel more cheated; backing down only makes you angrier. [Seeking flowers]
Just then, the internal communication line in the safe house rang urgently.
When the call connected, Andy's voice was almost jerked out, trembling with obvious fear: "Hawk! What are you doing?! This time you've gone way too far!"
In the background noise, you can hear the serious voice of a news anchor; she's clearly watching the same "disaster livestream" too.
Hawke could even picture Andy on the other side of the screen, his hands trembling so much he couldn't hold the coffee cup, his eyes wide with disbelief.
He spoke casually, as if discussing a weekend picnic: "Oh? You mean that one in Binzhou? See it? The visual effects are alright, right?"
“Visual effects?!” Andy’s voice rose eight octaves. “Is this a problem with the visual effects? The whole factory exploded! There were police, fire trucks, FBI agents, and Department of Homeland Security vehicles everywhere! And those experts were analyzing something like ‘suspected meteorite impact’ or ‘industrial safety accident.’ It was terrifying to watch!”
She took a deep breath, her voice filled with worry: "The most crucial thing is, Hawke! Are you...are you sure you didn't leave any trace? What if, I mean, what if they find some clue..."
Andy was one of the few people who knew Hawk's abilities, so as soon as the news broke, he realized that Hawk was behind it!
Who would have thought?
In order to profit from TCRI in the financial markets, Hawke has resorted to physical means.
“Andy,” Hawke interrupted her softly, “Relax. What traces do you think could remain in a place thoroughly ravaged by a Mach 3 shockwave, thousands of degrees Celsius of radiation, and a chain reaction of chemical explosions? Especially in that core area?”
He paused, then added in an almost joking tone, "Besides, even if some high-definition satellite or drone captured something... well... a blurry light and shadow, who would believe it was a person? They'd just categorize it as an optical phenomenon from an explosion or a sensor malfunction. Don't worry."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, as Andy seemed to be processing this "absolute confidence".
Hawke could even hear the sound of her chewing potato chips on her end.
"Really...we won't be discovered?" Andy's voice finally calmed down a bit, but it still carried doubt.
“Ten thousand percent,” Hawke said with absolute certainty.
"Phew..." Andy let out a long sigh, chewing potato chips even louder. "But... seriously, Hawke, that was a bit too much! TCRI's stock price plummeted like it was in freefall! Did Emilia make a killing over there?"
In the background, a financial news anchor is excitedly reporting the news of TCRI's sharp drop at the opening bell and the instant evaporation of its market value.
“The harvest is in progress.” Hawke looked at the real-time profit data sent by Emilia on the screen; a string of numbers was jumping wildly. “This is just the beginning.”
"Tsk tsk, poor TCRI. By the way, what grudge do you have against them? I've never heard you mention it." Andy's tone had completely turned into one of enjoying the drama.
What grudge do you hold against me?
Hawke recalled the night before last when he was chased by a group of henchmen and a bunch of cyborgs.
As the saying goes, if you endure it for a moment, you'll feel more and more cheated; if you back down, you'll feel angrier and angrier.
Hawke had never suffered such a loss before. He was so angry that he immediately stood up and cursed, "Damn it!"
"Pfft—" Andy chuckled on the other end of the phone and asked, "So... which factory does our esteemed CEO plan to visit next?"
Hawke glanced at the "Houston" mark on the map and said casually, "Hmm... Texas barbecue is supposedly good. I heard there's a 'furnace' over there, but the temperature might not be high enough. I'll go add some firewood to it."
Andy couldn't help but warn, "Hawk Lane! Be careful not to burn yourself too!"
“Don’t worry,” Hawke stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window of the safe house, looking down at the gradually awakening city. “Remember, we know nothing; we’re just happy bystanders.”
“Yes, sir, mysterious big boss!” Andy drawled.
After the communication was disconnected, silence returned to the safe house.
Late that night, at the "Precision Furnace" factory on the outskirts of Houston.
The same script is playing out again.
The factory interior was as if it had been thrown into an invisible shredder... The sophisticated production line equipment was twisted into scrap metal;
The core laser etching center was completely melted away;
The server array storing critical manufacturing process data and molds was physically crushed into dust;
Even the giant vehicles used for transportation were blasted into a pile of twisted metal.
This time, even the news helicopter cameras were trembling. In the shaky footage, the fortress that symbolized TCRI's cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities was coming to an end in the most tragic way.
The fig leaf of "safety incident," along with TCRI's last shred of market credibility, was completely burned to ashes.
Panic, like the deadliest virus, completely shattered investors' psychological defenses in the darkness before dawn.
The following day, the opening bell on Wall Street sounded like a death knell for TCRI.
Collapse!
The market crashed immediately upon opening!
There was no resistance, no hesitation, only a hysterical escape.
On the screen, the curve representing TCRI's stock price was a completely out-of-control free fall, its precipitous descent breathtaking.
"Drop! Drop again! Faster!" In the trading room of Ryan Capital, Emilia and a dozen other traders' fingers danced across multiple keyboards, moving so fast that only afterimages remained.
On the account management interface, the number representing profits was changing wildly at a dizzying speed, jumping up significantly with each refresh, the glaring green almost overflowing the screen.
Today's earnings easily surpassed nine figures again, and are still relentlessly climbing higher!
"Panic sell-off! It's all panic sell-off! Eat it all up!"
"A rebound? Smash it down!"
"Block trading channel! Get it in! Buy up as many shares as there are in circulation! Premium? No, floor price! Buy them up at the floor price!"
Clear, ruthless, and millisecond-precise instructions poured from her mouth, transforming into an invisible financial noose that tightened around TCRI's neck, accelerating its suffocation.
Ryan Capital's massive influx of funds is like a deep-sea shark that has smelled blood.
Taking advantage of the market's complete collapse and the resulting liquidity crunch, they swept away all available TCRI shares in the market with astonishing speed, both silently and domineeringly.
The price per share was as cheap as picking up scraps of paper from a trash can.
This lightning-fast capital hunt was incredibly efficient.
While Wall Street's "elites" were still reeling from the series of disastrous events at TCRI and analyzing the true nature of the so-called "unknown hostile forces," Lane Capital had already completed the most crucial disentanglement amidst the chaos.
The dust has settled.
text
52 Be my little princess, only eat meat, never suffer hardship [Seeking flowers]
In the afternoon, Hawke walked into the trading room of Lane Capital.
Emilia was beaming with excitement. When she saw Hawke, she quickly pulled him over and excitedly looked at the numbers on the screen in front of them.
"$8 million..."
Emilia counted the digits of the numbers over and over again, and finally confirmed that the total profit for the past two days was $12.27 billion.
At the same time, a brand new interface appeared on the huge main screen—TCRI's latest shareholder list.
No scrolling required.
The first name listed is none other than: Lane Capital, followed by a shareholding percentage that could stop anyone's heart: absolute majority control.
Seeing the almost drooling look in Emilia's eyes as she stared at him, he gently ruffled her soft, dark hair.
"Welcome to my world, my precious little princess. Be my little princess '490', only eat babes and never suffer."