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

Manhattan. Headquarters of Muddy Waters Capital.

The blinds were drawn tightly shut.

Carson Block sat with his legs crossed, his gleaming handmade leather shoes perched on his desk.

In my hand is a glass of single malt whisky with ice.

The ice cubes clinked against the glass, making a pleasant tinkling sound.

That was the accompaniment to victory.

"Boss, Alibaba's stock price is stable at $58."

The assistant pushed open the door and came in, his tone obsequious.

Is it still falling?

Carson swirled his glass, the amber liquid turning in the light.

"The price has bottomed out, and some retail investors are trying to buy the dip. However... if we sell off again when the market opens tomorrow, we can completely break through their psychological defenses."

Carson nodded in satisfaction.

He enjoys the feeling of being in control.

Just like God.

With just a few taps of the fingers and a few keystrokes, a behemoth thousands of miles away can be brought to a halt.

"bite."

A red pop-up window suddenly appeared on the Bloomberg terminal on the table.

That was a top-priority market news item.

【Alibaba Group releases "Letter to Investors": Unveiling the Truth of Micro-Group.】

(Alibaba releases a letter to investors: revealing the truth about Weiguang Group.)

Carson glanced at the screen.

A mocking sneer curled at the corner of his lips.

"sucker Punch."

He put down his wine glass, casually grabbed the mouse, and opened the document.

He expected to see lengthy explanations or incomprehensible legal jargon.

But he was wrong.

The first page of the document is blank.

There is only one picture.

It was a red curve.

It's so steep it's almost vertical, like an intercontinental missile taking off.

The title consists of only one line:

[WeChat Group Buying Q3 User Growth Rate: 312%]

Carson's pupils contracted sharply.

The ice cubes in the glass stopped sloshing.

He quickly slid the roller down.

Page 2.

A striking red stamp was affixed to a due diligence report.

The English words on the stamp were like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into his retina.

Sequoia Capital.

Below is the autograph of Neil Shen, a partner at Sequoia Capital China:

"WeChat group buying is the fastest-growing business miracle we've ever seen. Sequoia Capital has already led the angel round of investment."

Carson sat up abruptly.

In that instant, he felt a chill run down his spine, as if countless ants were crawling on him.

This is a trap.

This is not a Ponzi scheme at all.

This is the next unicorn backed by Sequoia Capital!

"quick!"

Carson gripped the phone tightly, his voice changing tone.

"Close the position! Close the position immediately!"

late.

At the very second he shouted those words.

The market reacted.

On the screen, the Alibaba stock price chart, which had been lying at the bottom, suddenly jumped upwards without warning, as if it had been electrocuted.

$58.50 → $62.00.

It opened 4% higher.

But this is only the beginning.

This is like throwing a match into a room filled with gas.

Those hedge funds that were originally on the sidelines went crazy when they saw the keywords "Sequoia backing" and "300% growth".

Greed overcame fear.

Countless buy orders flooded into the trading pool like a tsunami.

$65.00.

$68.00 (recovering the issue price).

$72.00.

The numbers were jumping around so fast it was dizzying.

The peaceful atmosphere in the trading room had just moments before turned into hell.

"Boss! We can't get tickets!"

The trader screamed at the screen, his fingers clattering on the keyboard.

"There are no listings available! Nobody's willing to sell!"

That's the most terrifying thing.

This is called a "short squeeze".

If short sellers want to close their positions, they must buy back the stocks and return them to the brokerage firm.

But if everyone knows the stock price is going to rise, and no one is willing to sell, then short sellers have no choice but to place orders at even higher prices to compete.

The more people rush to buy, the higher the stock price goes.

The higher the stock price, the greater the losses for short sellers, the less margin they have, and the more they are forced to compete for shares.

This is an unsolvable death spiral.

The green bullish line on the screen is like a sharp sword, piercing through the upper Bollinger Band.

$80.00.

This moment.

The risk level of the Muddy Waters account has reached the red line.

The brokerage's risk control system automatically took over the permissions.

That was a heartless, machine-driven massacre.

Regardless of the price, regardless of cost, force a purchase at market price.

Carson watched helplessly as his account balance rapidly dwindled to zero, like a countdown.

He was clutching an expensive Montblanc pen.

"Smack."

The penholder was broken off.

Black ink splattered out, staining his cuffs like a dried bloodstain.

He lost.

He lost everything, down to his last penny.

Hangzhou. Weiguang Building.

Lin Che stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

On the screen behind him, Alibaba's stock price had broken through the $85 mark.

His account has now surpassed $3 million in unrealized gains.

The cheers in the entire command center almost lifted the roof off.

Fatty Wang got so excited that he hugged the programmer next to him and started kissing him wildly, his face covered in tears and snot.

Mr. Ma and Mr. Cai raised champagne on the other end of the video call.

Lin Che did not turn around.

He continued to stare out the window.

At this time, it was broad daylight in Hangzhou.

In some corner of this city, there may still be people haggling over a few dollars for delivery fees.

But in that virtual world of capital, he had just completed a perfect harvest of Wall Street elites.

"President Lin."

Fatty Wang approached, panting heavily, his voice trembling.

"Muddy Waters has gone bankrupt. Someone just spread the word that Carson smashed up his office."

Lin Che lowered his head and lit a cigarette.

The lighter flame danced in the morning breeze.

"Fatty."

He took a deep breath and exhaled a bluish-white smoke.

The smoke swirled in the air, seemingly transforming into the shape of a giant dragon.

"Did you hear that?"

"What?"

Fatty Wang paused for a moment, then tilted his ear to listen.

"There's not much sound..."

Lin Che smiled.

The smile didn't reach his eyes; there was only a chilling kind of pleasure.

"That's the sound of hollow bones cracking."

He turned around and stubbed out his cigarette.

The movements were clean and swift, as if crushing an insect.

"Pass the word down."

"Clear out and exit the market."

"After this wave of gains is over, the remaining bones are left for those retail investors who chased the rally to gnaw on."

The phone rang again.

This time, it's an official notification from across the ocean.

Tsai Chung-hsin's voice trembled uncontrollably:

"Lin Che".

"The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) just sent a letter."

"The investigation has been terminated. The listing application has been approved."

"The time has been set."

"November 19th."

Lin Che raised his head.

My gaze passed through the towering buildings and looked toward the distant East.

The final feast.

The banquet is about to begin.