Chapter 240 - 221: Comprehensive AI Monitoring

Chapter 240: Chapter 221: Comprehensive AI Monitoring

The Xuanfeng Alliance.

Outside the new bank, the streets were completely gridlocked. Cars couldn’t get through at all.

The crushing flow of people was like a vast ocean.

If Dali hadn’t already deployed troops to secure the perimeter, chaos would have likely erupted.

There were even international reporters nearby, filming the scene.

After all, the Xuanfeng Alliance had been a hot topic lately, and now a financial predator like Osborne was targeting it.

This kind of news always drew the most attention.

So, naturally, many reporters had traveled thousands of miles to be here.

After all, reporters would go to actual warzones; this was nothing in comparison.

Under these circumstances, Red Lizard could only call in helicopters to transport the gold to the bank’s rooftop, from where it was moved inside.

The crowd waiting outside naturally saw this, and a stir went through the dense mass of people, like the sound of a wave crashing on the shore.

An unknown amount of time passed.

The doors of the new bank opened, and a group of people in police uniforms poured out, setting up a security cordon around the bank.

Chen Bo walked out as well, accompanying Hadona, who was holding a megaphone.

He was now Liping’s police chief, and the team leaders among the surrounding officers were the few men he had brought with him from his home country.

To be honest, the change in their status felt like a dream. Their next thought was that President Lu was just too incredible.

However, their new roles also filled them with immense passion. They burst with an endless zeal for their work, more diligent than the other officers—more like police than the police themselves.

"Everyone, please remain calm! We have enough gold! Do not push! Wait and form a line to be processed by our staff," Hadona shouted into the megaphone once he was outside. "Anyone who cuts in line or disrupts the order will be arrested for disturbing the public peace. We will show no mercy!"

This display of authority managed to intimidate the crowd.

They began to line up at the entrance one by one, waiting for bank staff to verify their assets. Only those who passed the verification and had legitimate assets were allowed through.

When they exchanged for gold, their corresponding assets would be transferred into the new bank’s accounts.

In this way, the funds of the Xuanfeng Alliance’s populace would all converge in this new bank.

Naturally, once the economy stabilized, these people would need cash again and would have to exchange their gold back into currency.

By then, they would be exchanging for the new currency, marked with the Xuanfeng dragon flag emblem. And, of course, there would be a transaction fee.

The gold would return to the bank’s vaults, and the new currency would be twice as valuable as the old, effectively doubling every citizen’s assets.

The bank would also collect a terrifying amount in transaction fees, which could be used to develop the Xuanfeng Alliance.

Naturally, the ones who would suffer would be capitalists like Osborne. Some of them might even be driven to jump off a building.

Soon, the first group of people finished the verification process and entered the bank. When they came back out, they were all holding gold.

This kind of gold exchange was actually quite troublesome. Because everyone’s assets were different, the bank had to use methods like melting and cutting to divide the large gold bars.

But no matter what, the gold had been exchanged and given to these people.

So, when the first group of successful exchangers emerged, the crowd outside erupted with even greater excitement.

They could really exchange for gold.

Then, an even more shocking piece of news spread from the mouths of this first group:

Their assets weren’t just exchanged for gold at face value—they could be exchanged for gold worth double their original value.

At this, everyone was stunned.

They would have been satisfied just getting the original value in gold. But now they could get double?

These people naturally didn’t understand the significance of this move; they only knew they could get more gold, which made them even more anxious to exchange.

The second group rushed forward, pulling out all their bank cards and proof-of-asset documents for the staff to review and evaluate.

It was a tedious job, especially since many people had very few assets, yet the verification process took a long time.

But it couldn’t be helped. In a poor region, the people had only a few assets to their names, so naturally, they cherished them all the more.

The staff understood this well, as they too were part of this impoverished populace, so they conducted their reviews with great care.

The second group, the third, the fourth... the tenth...

Group after group of people exchanged for gold, all of them receiving double the value of their original assets.

By now, some of the more clever people in the crowd had started to figure something out.

Didn’t that mean that 10 dollars from before could now buy 20 dollars’ worth of goods?

Assuming prices didn’t increase, that is.

This news spread like wildfire.

Linda also contacted Osborne at the first opportunity.

As soon as the video call connected, he said, "Mr. Osborne, something’s different. The new bank has begun exchanging for gold, but their ratio is 1:2. For every dollar of assets, they’re giving out two dollars’ worth of gold."

"What?" Osborne was in a conference room, surrounded by computers manned by his financial traders.

He was stunned by the news.

They all knew the Xuanfeng Alliance couldn’t possibly have that much gold. They wouldn’t even be able to sustain an exchange at face value for long. And now they were implementing a 1:2 exchange?

Was this some kind of joke?

Then, it dawned on him. "It seems there’s a ruthless operator in the Xuanfeng Alliance. They’re trying to use this tactic to intimidate us. Or perhaps they did manage to borrow some gold. But I’m sure it can’t be a large amount."

Osborne considered many possibilities, but the final outcome remained unchanged in his mind: the Xuanfeng Alliance could not withstand their capital.

With that thought, he continued to instruct his traders, "Keep shorting!"

This was now a battle of attrition, a test of patience.

If he backed down after one scare, then his opponent’s gambit would have succeeded.

But he was Osborne. He wouldn’t be frightened so easily.

...

In Liping City, at the Xuanfeng Alliance’s new bank, the gold exchange continued at the 1:2 ratio of currency to gold. In just half a day, the bank had dispensed 50 tons of gold.

And because of this, the people who witnessed it grew more confident, and the economy began to show signs of recovery.

Such is the power of gold.

On the international stage, anywhere with a sufficient supply of gold is guaranteed to have a stable economy, free from chaos.

But just as the economy began to recover, the market was thrown into chaos once again.

"Damn it! Bastard!" Baguda smashed a cup in front of Lu Feng.

He wasn’t targeting Lu Feng. After smashing the cup, he continued his tirade, "We’ve given out over 50 tons of gold! The economy was clearly starting to recover, but they’re still shorting us like crazy! Does that Osborne think we’re a pushover? He wants us dead!"

"What’s the rush? It’s only 50 tons," Lu Feng said calmly to Baguda.

This made Baguda stop his outburst and quiet down.

"Believe it or not, if I wanted to solve this problem, I could do it instantly. But I want to swallow all of their capital whole." As Lu Feng spoke, a report from Xiaozhi came through his Bluetooth earpiece: ’Master, I’ve confirmed their exact location. In total, they have 43 computers running, with 43 people trading simultaneously.’

’If you need me to, I can cut off their operations at any time, forcing all their capital into the short positions!’

’And don’t worry, the total capital they’ve amassed is roughly equal to the gold you’ve prepared. They haven’t committed all of it yet.’

’If necessary, I can lock all their accounts. They won’t be able to withdraw a single cent in the end.’

Hearing Xiaozhi’s words through his earpiece, Lu Feng smiled. This was the source of his confidence.

A true artificial intelligence was a terrifying thing in the real world.

He could just sit here, do nothing, and still know the state of Osborne’s capital and his location. At the critical moment, with a single command to Xiaozhi, he could make his opponent lose his pants.

When the other side realized something was wrong, they would definitely try to cut their losses and withdraw their funds.

What would they do when they discovered they couldn’t access their accounts?

Still, 700 tons of gold, capital approaching 300 billion... it was enough to prove that a financial predator like Osborne truly had power.

After all, the richest man in the country only had assets of a little over 300 billion, and that was total assets. If you asked them to produce liquid capital, they couldn’t come up with much.

But Osborne’s was all liquid capital. Who knew how many companies were backing him to amass such a large amount of fluid cash.

But on second thought, something was off.

Because Osborne was shorting the currency, while he had increased the value of the new currency with the 1:2 exchange.

This meant Osborne was facing a potential loss of at least 600 billion—provided he wasn’t given a chance to withdraw or cut his losses.

In other words, Osborne was on track to lose the equivalent of two of the country’s richest men’s fortunes. As for the investment firms backing him, they deserved their coming misfortune.

’Actually, I could be more direct and just have Xiaozhi make their funds disappear. But that would be too flashy. Xiaozhi is a trump card, to be used only when absolutely necessary and kept secret if possible.’

’The key thing is, even if it were chalked up to a hacking incident, such an act would violate established international rules and would create a lot of unnecessary trouble down the line.’

’Isn’t that laughable?’

’So that’s forbidden?’

’Indeed it is. After all, Osborne is from the United States.’

’They always have ways to stir up this much trouble.’

’I don’t have the strength to confront that yet. Better to lie low for now.’

As Lu Feng thought this, he gave an order: "Continue the exchange. Red Lizard, transport more gold this time."

"Understood!" Red Lizard immediately went to make the arrangements.

The exchange at the Xuanfeng Alliance’s new bank continued. For three consecutive days, a total of 200 tons of gold was dispensed.

It wasn’t just in Liping; banks in other cities were also gradually converted into branches of the Xuanfeng Alliance’s new bank and began their own gold exchanges over these three days.

The Liping branch served as the main headquarters.

Exchanging gold for three days straight was absolutely incredible for a small power like the Xuanfeng Alliance.

Therefore, even though Osborne was continuously shorting their currency, the Xuanfeng Alliance’s economy had stabilized.

This made even Osborne nervous. ’Where could a poor place like the Xuanfeng Alliance get so much gold? And if another country is backing them, why can’t I find a single shred of intelligence about it?’

This time, Osborne couldn’t resist calling Linda himself. "Linda, I need you to do something for me. I need you to find out exactly how much gold the Xuanfeng Alliance has."

"They still haven’t discovered that you’re secretly working with us. With your authority, you should be able to pull some strings and find out the truth."

He was starting to lose his composure.

His confidence was shaken.

’If the Xuanfeng Alliance really has a plentiful supply of gold, then I’m in trouble.’ He, of all people, knew what that 2x gold exchange rate signified.

He firmly believed it was impossible.

’They absolutely cannot have this much gold.’

But he had to prepare for the worst. ’If that scenario is real, I have to pull out in time, then find a way to turn the tables and make a comeback!’