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

Madison's CEO didn't get to see the baby by 8 a.m.

At 4:17 a.m., the electronic signature on the acquisition documents was sent back to Chen Yue's terminal.

Four core assets—Lukang Deep-Water Port, the North Sea Crude Oil Pipeline, the Baltic LNG Receiving Terminal, and three Mediterranean Oil Storage Depots—were all transferred to Katyusha's name.

Before Chen Yang could even take a sip of water, Lei Zi pushed the door open and came in.

"Boss, something's happened."

"explain."

"Just intercepted encrypted communications. The U.S. Treasury, together with the European Central Bank, signed a joint freeze order half an hour ago, targeting all offshore accounts under your name and the Snow Palace Group. Thirty-seven accounts have been frozen in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Newport News, and Rendor."

Chen Yang put down his cup.

Thirty-seven accounts, totaling over four hundred billion US dollars in liquid funds, were all frozen overnight.

—These people are serious.

Winning the financial war isn't the end of the story. The people behind Madison can't afford to lose, nor can they accept defeat. Freezing accounts is the most ruthless tactic; it cuts off your lifeline, preventing you from spending your money.

If it were any other merchant, that one strike would have brought down the empire.

Lei Zi was still waiting for him to speak.

Chen Yang picked up his phone and dialed Chen Yue's number.

"Did you see that?"

Chen Yue answered faster than he expected.

"I saw it. All thirty-seven accounts are frozen, including the Swiss account that just received the Madison asset transfer payment last night."

"How much usable capital is left in the account?"

"Offshore account? Zero. Not a single penny can be transferred out."

"What about domestically?"

"They can't access the domestic accounts. The funds held in custody by the four major banks, plus Snow Palace's reserve funds in Harbin, total 210 billion RMB. But, brother—"

"But what?"

"This money is all in Chinese Yuan. When you do business overseas, people only recognize US dollars and euros. Chinese Yuan accounts for less than three percent of settlements in the international market; it's difficult to even buy an ice pop with it."

Chen Yang did not respond.

He opened his phone's photo album and found a screenshot from three months ago.

That was the reward panel that popped up when the system unlocked the "Global Currency Clearing Agreement Template." He took a screenshot of it but never used it.

The cards I'd prepared three months ago.

It wasn't prophecy, it was logical deduction—the moment he defeated Madison, he had already planned this whole game in his mind. The rule-makers of the dollar system aren't Madison, but the US government. If you win money in someone else's casino, it's only a matter of time before the house turns on you and flips the table.

Therefore, that four hundred billion US dollars was never the final bargaining chip.

The real bargaining chip was the Chinese currency settlement agreement that the emperor signed three days ago.

"Chen Yue, do you currently have any direct channels with the four major banks?"

"Yes. After the Kremlin agreement was signed last time, Director Li arranged a dedicated line with the central bank, and I have contact information for the heads of overseas business of the four major banks."

"Okay. Call them. I need the four major banks to jointly launch a cross-border payment system in Mo City within 48 hours."

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Brother, you mean...?"

"The system is called 'Kunlun.' There is only one clearing currency—Chinese Yuan. From today onwards, any country that wants to buy even one cubic meter of natural gas or one barrel of crude oil from Russia must do so through the Kunlun system and settle in Chinese Yuan. US dollars? We don't accept them."

Chen Yue didn't say anything.

Chen Yang continued speaking.

"You think the US freezing my account is a punishment? No. They're telling the world that anyone who dares to challenge the dollar system shouldn't even think about surviving in the dollar world."

"Then let's—"

"They're right. That's why I'm not living in the dollar world anymore."

Chen Yue breathed a sigh of relief on the other end of the phone.

"I studied the technical architecture of the Kunlun system, specifically the template provided three months ago, and the underlying logic is fine. The clearing interfaces of the four major banks need to be re-adapted. Forty-eight hours is tight, but it can be done."

"It's not just that it can be done, it's that it must be done. Do you have any other questions?"

"There is one. Why would our European clients use it? They don't have Chinese currency in their accounts, and they have nowhere to exchange it if they want to."

"That's the second thing I want to talk about."

Chen Yang flipped through the documents Lei Zi had brought him on the table.

"We contacted the Central Bank's Overseas Business Department to apply for the establishment of an offshore Chinese currency clearing center in Moscow. Europeans who want to buy gas to tide them over the winter can first take US dollars or euros to Moscow to exchange for Chinese currency, and then make payments through the Kunlun system. The exchange fee is 0.5%, which is three times cheaper than SWIFT."

"...Brother, you're forcing all of Europe to exchange money with us."

"It wasn't me who forced them. It was the minus thirty-degree winter that forced them. Europe's natural gas reserves are enough to last forty days. After forty days, they'll either freeze to death or have to come to Mo City and wait in line. It's their choice."

Chen Yue chuckled.

"I'll make the call right now. I'll personally oversee things with the four major banks, and the Kunlun system will be online within 48 hours."

"Yes. There's one more thing."

"explain."

"Abandon all frozen US dollar positions in all of Snow Palace's offshore accounts."

"Give up? Over 400 billion?"

"It's not about giving up, it's about exchanging assets. Go and talk to Minister Li, and use these 400 billion yuan of frozen assets as collateral to borrow an equivalent amount of RMB and physical gold from the central bank. Let the US dollars stay frozen if they want; it's hard to say how much that stuff will be worth in the future."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Yang leaned back in his chair.

Four hundred billion US dollars—it's a lie to say I don't feel the pinch. But if it stays in the US's system of reckoning, it's like meat in someone else's mouth; when they take a bite out of you is entirely up to them.

Converting them into gold and Chinese currency is what you can truly hold in your own hands.

Lei Zi stood at the door and hesitated for a moment.

"Boss, the US has frozen our accounts, are we just going to let it go like this?"

"never mind?"

Chen Yang stood up and patted Lei Zi on the shoulder.

"What do you think the American people's expression would be when people all over Europe line up to exchange their currency for Chinese dollars to buy gas?"

Lei Zi didn't get a chance to speak.

"Go and call Ivan over. The pipeline supply contract with the Emperor needs to be amended. All newly signed energy export agreements must have their settlement terms changed to be cleared in Chinese currency through the Kunlun System. Not a single word can be wrong."

Lei Zi turned and left.

Forty-six hours later, the Kunlun cross-border payment system was officially launched in Mocheng.

The overseas branches of the four major banks have simultaneously opened windows for exchanging Chinese currency.

For the first hour after the news broke, nobody took it seriously. In the third hour, the Russian Ministry of Energy issued a statement announcing that all natural gas and crude oil export contracts would be settled only in Chinese yuan from that day forward.

By the seventh hour, Chen Yue's phone started ringing incessantly.

"Brother, the French Ministry of Energy Procurement called, saying they want to exchange 30 billion Chinese yuan. The German Industrial Federation is also here, offering 50 billion. And there's a joint purchasing delegation from the five Nordic countries..."

Chen Yang was having dinner with Katyusha.

Katyusha picked up a piece of steak and put it on his plate.

"They've all come to exchange money?"

"Um."

"What about the US dollars?"

"Their problems are not mine."

Katyusha was cutting her steak when she casually asked a question.

Will the US dollar fall?

Chen Yang picked up the steak.

"It's already falling."

Chen Yue's eighteenth call came in. Her voice was higher than the previous seventeen.

"Brother, the U.S. Treasury Department just issued an emergency statement demanding that all allies boycott the Kunlun system."

"Is anyone listening?"

"The German finance minister made a public statement an hour ago—the cold winter waits for no one, survival takes precedence over stance. They have already transferred the first sum of 12 billion Chinese yuan into the Kunlun clearing account."

Chen Yang hung up the phone and put the steak in his mouth.

Across the table, Katyusha's phone screen displayed a breaking news alert: in the global foreign exchange market, the US dollar index plummeted 4.7%, marking its largest single-day drop in eleven years.