When I went home for Chinese New Year, I spent a million times more money on my foreign wife.

31.08.

30.41.

29.73.

The numbers jumped by rapidly, and Chen Yue's fingers never stopped on the keyboard.

"The Newcastle Futures contract fell below 30, and Lendor followed suit, with panic selling occurring in the Newport News trading."

Chen Yang stood in front of the display wall without saying a word.

The fall was too easy.

Madison and the three funds combined held over ten million long positions, which should have been enough to prop up the price at this level. However, instead of shrinking, the buy orders from the opposing side actually grew thicker.

"Brother, something's wrong."

Chen Yue noticed it too. She pulled up the real-time data stream of the panoramic image and swiped her finger across the screen twice.

"Madison placed over $40 billion in buy orders between $29.50 and $28. It wasn't a defensive move; it was an active buying spree."

"What about the other three?"

"We increased our position simultaneously. The leverage was increased from 15 times to 20 times."

Chen Yang did not answer immediately. Four hundred billion yuan in takeover, plus twenty times leverage—these people weren't defending; they were betting he wouldn't have enough ammunition.

They felt like they were giving away money.

Having figured this out, Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief. The more greedy the opponent is, the deeper the trap will be.

"Keep dumping. Add another 20 billion to the short positions on Newark, slow down the pace, and place them at a steady rate over an hour. Make them think we're running out of ammunition."

Chen Yue turned and glanced at him, then gave instructions to the trader.

The keyboard sounds became even, and the rhythm slowed down.

The numbers on the screen fluctuated around 28 yuan, dropping slightly only to be pushed back up by buy orders, then dropping slightly again only to be pushed back up.

Twenty minutes later, the price stabilized at 28.2 yuan.

Chen Yue frowned.

"The traders at Madison should be celebrating. Their average price was $28.30, and now they've bought it, meaning all the billions we dumped have gone into their pockets."

"Let them celebrate."

Chen Yang picked up the cell phone on the table next to him and dialed a number.

The call will be connected after three beeps.

"Ivan, it's your turn."

I could hear my father-in-law breathing heavily on the other end of the phone; he was clearly also watching the market.

"Are you sure you want to move now?"

"Now, let the Emperor issue a statement."

"it is good."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Yang put his phone back on the table and looked at the long positions marked in red on the display wall.

The people at Madison were probably popping champagne, laughing at this greenhorn from China who didn't understand the intricacies of the futures market. They held over ten million long positions and had just bought tens of billions of dollars worth of shares at low prices, waiting for gas prices to rebound so they could make a killing.

Twelve minutes later, the news arrived.

It wasn't from Chen Yuebao; it was an automatic push notification from a terminal in the corner of the basement that monitors global news.

Official statement from the Russian State Legislative Yuan—

The Emperor signed a presidential decree to immediately lift the moratorium on Polaris, the largest natural gas field in the Far East, and to fully resume extraction. He also announced that natural gas would be supplied to the European market through China's "Bingyang-1" pipeline at a price of twelve yuan per million thermal units, less than half the current price.

The moment the message was sent, the same scene unfolded on the natural gas futures trading platforms of the world's six major exchanges.

The bill disappeared.

All the buy orders placed at 28, 27, and 26 yuan were withdrawn within three seconds. In their place came a flood of sell orders, ranging from 28 yuan down to below 20 yuan.

Chen Yue stood up.

"Gas prices have collapsed."

The numbers on the display wall begin to fall freely.

28.20.

26.14.

24.07.

"The stop-loss line for the three funds was 24 to 25," Chen Yue's voice rose half an octave, "and it's fallen below that! The first one has been liquidated!"

A trader shouted, "Lendor Exchange, 'Grizzly Capital's' forced liquidation order has been triggered. The system is automatically selling off all positions!"

23.11.

22.40.

"The second one, the New Hong Kong Stock Exchange, saw a margin call on 'peak hedging'! Twenty times leverage, and it's been wiped out!"

21.88.

Chen Yue turned to look at Chen Yang.

"Madison's stop-loss line - 21."

Chen Yang stared at the screen. The numbers were still dropping.

21.30.

21.07.

20.84.

"Madison's main positions have completely collapsed." Chen Yue reported, word by word, "Six million seven hundred thousand long positions, plus the shares just bought in, at the current price, the total loss is—"

She paused and glanced at the data.

"71.4 billion US dollars."

There was a two-second silence in the basement. Then one of the traders slammed his pen on the table, pushed his chair back, and leaned against the back of the chair with his hands behind his head.

There was no cheering. Everyone was stunned by the number.

Chen Yang didn't move.

Seven hundred billion dollars evaporated in fourteen minutes. Madison built a gold mine for himself with the blood of war, and now that mountain has collapsed.

"Chen Yue".

"exist."

"Phase Two"

Chen Yue snapped out of her daze and quickly typed a series of commands on the keyboard.

"The panoramic view focuses on Madison's related assets in the European region, totaling four core assets: a 63% stake in Lukang Deep-Water Port, a 41% stake in the North Sea Crude Oil Pipeline, a 55% stake in the Baltic LNG Receiving Terminal, and land ownership of three oil storage facilities along the Mediterranean coast."

"What's the price now?"

"After the margin call, Madison's liquidity dried up, and creditors are lining up to collect. The combined market value of these four assets is currently around $90 billion, but if we make an offer now—"

She glanced at the fluctuating bond prices on the screen.

"We can acquire them all within 30 billion."

Chen Yang took out his phone from his pocket and showed Chen Yue the message he had just received on the screen.

The message from Director Li consisted of four words: "Well done."

Below that is a smaller line of text: "The sovereign wealth fund's money can be added at any time."

Chen Yang put his phone away.

"Use Snow Palace's own funds, 28 billion, to buy all four items. The ownership will be directly transferred to Katyusha's name."

Chen Yue's fingers were already drafting the acquisition offer.

"Lukang, that deep-water port, ranks among the top five in Europe in terms of annual throughput. Not to mention the North Sea pipeline, which carries 30% of Europe's crude oil. Bro, if we get our hands on these things, we'll completely turn the tide in Europe's energy discourse."

"I know. That's why I bought it using Katyusha's name."

Chen Yue paused for a moment while typing, then smiled.

If my sister-in-law's name is added, the system will crash again.

Footsteps echoed down the stairs. Katyusha came down carrying a cup of hot tea and glanced at the densely packed green numbers on the display wall.

"Finished?"

"It's over."

"You won?"

"We won. I also bought you a few ports."

Katyusha placed the teacup next to Chen Yang.

What does "several ports" mean?

"In the future, 30% of the gas and oil that Europeans burn will have to pass through your doorstep."

Katyusha paused for two seconds.

Chen Yang picked up his teacup and took a sip. On the display wall, the price of global natural gas futures had fallen to $18.60 and was still dropping.

Chen Yue's phone lit up. She glanced at it and looked up at Chen Yang.

"Brother, Madison's CEO just sent a message through an intermediary, saying he wants to talk to you."

Chen Yang put down his teacup.

"Tell him the acquisition documents for the port and pipeline must be signed by 8 a.m. tomorrow. If it's after 8 a.m., the price will be cut by another 20%."