The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

The elevator arrived at the top floor.

Ding.

A crisp sound, like the ringing bell at the start of a boxing match.

The elevator doors slid open to both sides.

The smell in the air has changed.

No longer the coolness of the morning, but the smell of burnt electrical wires mixed with the bitterness of excessive caffeine.

The entire top-floor command center of the Weiguang Building was in complete chaos, like a pot of boiling asphalt.

The phone wasn't ringing; it was screaming. The sounds rose and fell, forming a deafening cacophony.

The dozen or so monitors hanging on the wall were all now glowing a scarlet blood color.

"President Lin!"

Fatty Wang practically sprang out of the crowd.

His face was covered in oil and sweat.

The buttons on his suit jacket, which he always couldn't button up whenever he was around, were now on the verge of flying off with his rapid breathing.

He was clutching several freshly printed A4 sheets of paper in his hand, the ink still wet, his hands covered in black stains.

Something's happened.

Fatty Wang shoved the paper into Lin Che's chest.

"The Muddy Waters website was updated five minutes ago."

Lin Che did not take the stack of papers.

He walked straight through the chaotic crowd toward the huge mahogany conference table.

Wherever it went, the traders who were previously anxious and shouting fell silent instantly, like ducks with their necks being choked.

No one was sitting in the main seat.

But on the screen to the left of the main seat, there is a video signal connected to the other end of Hangzhou.

That's Alibaba's Binjiang Campus.

In the video, Mr. Ma's face was ashen. Behind him, CFO Joseph Tsai was yelling into the phone in English at a machine-gun-like pace.

Lin Che pulled out a chair.

sit down.

"Screen the report."

He raised his hand and tapped his knuckles on the table.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The steady pace seemed out of place on this chaotic morning.

The big screen flickered.

An 80-page PDF file hung over everyone's heads like a guillotine blade.

The cover features Muddy Waters' signature black and white color scheme.

The title, printed in bold red font, featured several startling English words:

"The Lies of Alibaba: Micro-Group & Invisible Related Transactions"

(Alibaba's Lies: Group Buying and Hidden Related Transactions)

The subtitle is even more ruthless:

Why $BABA is worth $0.

(Why is Alibaba worthless?)

The entire command center was deathly silent.

All that could be heard was the deafening roar of the server fans.

Lin Che narrowed his eyes.

His gaze swept over the meticulously crafted accusations like a scanner.

It must be admitted that Carson Block is a genius.

As the founder of Muddy Waters, this Wall Street vulture has a nauseatingly keen sense of smell.

Page 12 of the report:

"Although Weiguang Group is nominally independent, 90% of its logistics orders come from Taobao, and it receives traffic support from Alibaba at no cost."

Page 35 of the report:

"Our on-site investigation in third-tier cities in China shows that the daily active user data claimed by WePintuan is a huge bubble. The average order value of 9.9 yuan is not even enough to cover logistics costs. This is not a business, it is a Ponzi scheme."

Page 78 of the report:

"Lin Che, a current P7 employee at Alibaba, holds off-balance-sheet assets worth one billion US dollars. This is a typical 'white glove' structure used to beautify financial statements and hide losses."

Every cut draws blood.

Each accusation precisely struck at the SEC's (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) most sensitive nerve.

If it were his previous life, Lin Che might have panicked.

Because all of these accusations are logically sound.

On the other end of the screen, Mr. Ma stopped pacing.

His highly recognizable face was almost pressed against the camera at that moment.

"Lin Che".

Mr. Ma's voice was hoarse, filled with suppressed anger.

"Goldman Sachs just called; 30% of institutional investors have withdrawn their subscription intentions. If this cannot be explained clearly within 24 hours, the listing will be postponed."

If it's delayed, it's like cutting it in half.

A valuation of tens of billions of dollars will melt like ice cream in the sun.

Joseph Tsai also put down the phone, his gaze sharp across the screen.

"The public relations department has drafted a statement to deny your connection with Alibaba. For the sake of the bigger picture, we need to sever ties."

This is the most rational business decision.

Sacrifice the pawn to save the king.

In the command center, Fatty Wang clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh.

All eyes were focused on that young man's back.

Waiting for him to break down or explode.

Lin Che made a move.

He reached out and touched the mineral water bottle on the corner of the table.

Unscrew it.

He tilted his head back and took a gulp.

The cold liquid slid down the esophagus into the stomach, causing a slight shiver.

"Well written."

Lin Che put down the bottle, a very slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

It's like a hunter watching his prey struggle before it dies.

"Even I'm starting to believe it."

On the other end of the video call, Mr. Ma was stunned for a moment.

"What did you say?"

Lin Che took a USB drive out of his pocket and slid it across the table to Fatty Wang.

The movement was light and graceful, like pushing a chip.

"Mr. Ma, don't panic."

Lin Che stared at the PDF on the screen, his eyes devoid of fear, only displaying an almost cold-blooded greed.

"They overlooked one crucial piece of data."

He stood up.

Walk to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

In the western part of Hangzhou, countless delivery tricycles shuttle through the morning mist like worker ants.

Those muddy-headed elites don't understand.

They sat in an air-conditioned room in Manhattan, using Excel spreadsheets to analyze the world.

They don't understand what the lower-tier market is.

They don't understand what "China Speed" means.

"9.9 yuan with free shipping is a fake if it's within the Fifth Ring Road."

Lin Che turned around, his back to the light, his face hidden in the shadows.

"But outside the Fifth Ring Road, that's life."

He walked back to the table, placed his hands on the surface, and leaned forward like a leopard ready to pounce.

"This is not a crisis."

"This is a gift they gave us."

On the other side of the screen, Joseph Tsai pushed up his glasses, the glare from the lenses flashing by.

"What do you want to do?"

Lin Che did not answer directly.

He snatched the ink-stained papers from Fatty Wang's hand, crumpled them into a ball, and tossed them precisely into the corner trash can.

thump.

The wad of paper hit the bottom of the bucket with a dull thud.

"If you want to kill someone."

Lin Che's voice was deep, yet it clearly reached everyone's eardrums.

"You'd better be sure that one stab will kill him."

He raised his wrist and glanced at the stainless steel dial.

21:25 Beijing time.

Five minutes until the start of pre-market trading for US stocks.

"otherwise."

Lin Che's gaze pierced through the screen, seemingly meeting Carson Block's eyes directly across the ocean.

"You'll be the one bleeding."

at this time.

Across the ocean.

new York.

The lights of Wall Street stayed on all night.

As the Muddy Waters report unfolded, panic spread like a virus.

Alibaba's shadow stock (Yahoo) plummeted in pre-market trading.

-5%.

-8%.

-12%.

-15%.

Red numbers cascaded across the screen like a waterfall.

The cries of traders filled the trading floors of major investment banks.

The top floor of the Weiguang Building.

Lin Che sat back down in his chair.

He opened his laptop.

Fingerprint unlock.

Log in to your offshore account.

On the screen, the $90 million in cash balance looked like a sleeping behemoth.

This is all the chips he has.

It is also the foundation upon which he establishes himself in this world.

"Attention all units"

Lin Che's voice wasn't loud, but it boomed throughout the entire war room through the microphone.

Everyone return to their positions immediately.

The sound of keyboards clattering suddenly erupted, like dense raindrops pounding on a tin roof.

"In pre-market trading on the US stock market, Alibaba-related assets plummeted."

A trader stared at the screen, his voice trembling.

"Mr. Lin, should we sell some of our positions to cut our losses? The risk control model has already triggered an alarm."

Stop loss?

Lin Che smiled.

That smile carried a bloodthirsty madness.

He doesn't need to cut his losses.

What he wanted were the enemy's corpses.

Lin Che's finger hovered above the Enter key.

Feel the cold, plastic texture of the keycaps with your fingertips.

At this moment, time seemed to stretch out.

He could hear the buzzing sound of electricity flowing through the motherboard.

You can see dust particles floating in the air.

You can feel the adrenaline surging in your blood vessels.

All the doubts, ridicule, and attacks became background noise at this moment.

Only that button was crystal clear.

That was the trigger to a new world.

Click.

Lin Che pressed the Enter key heavily.

The crisp sound of the mechanical shaft was like the ringing of a gun.

"Buy with all your funds."

He issued the order without a trace of emotion.

"No hedging."

"Leave no way out."

"Buy all call options with a strike price of $90 or higher."

Fatty Wang gasped, his fat face trembling.

"Bro... that's just worthless paper! Its current valuation can't even hold onto 60!"

If Alibaba's IPO price is below 90, these options will be worthless.

Hundreds of millions of RMB will evaporate in an instant.

Lin Che ignored him.

He just stared intently at the candlestick chart on the screen, which was still trending downwards.

That is an abyss.

It is also a ladder.

"implement."

Two words.

There is no room for maneuver.

The traders gritted their teeth, their fingers flying across the keyboard.

The huge buy orders, carried by undersea fiber optic cables, slipped into the trading pool of Wall Street like ghosts.

While everyone was frantically selling off their shares and trying to escape.

There was a madman.

They were going against the flow of people, rushing towards the fire.

Lin Che leaned back in his chair.

Close your eyes.

Carson Block's smug face flashed into my mind.

Laugh all you want.

The deeper the drop now, the stronger the rebound will be later.

This is called a "short squeeze".

The moment the truth is revealed.

Those short-selling chips will become the fuel that burns the short sellers to death in this market.

outside the window.

The first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on Lin Che's face.

Golden.

It's like a deluge of US dollars.