American tax officials

Soon, more than an hour had quietly passed.

The once confident Sean and Thompson families, who were local bigwigs in various states, gradually grew heavy-hearted.

They originally thought that even if the three major groups intended to stir up trouble in the stock market, they would definitely do so gradually and depending on the situation.

Because if they sell off in large quantities, and it doesn't achieve the desired effect, but instead gets bought up by the other side, then they'll have lost both their money and their resources.

But to everyone's surprise, these guys didn't play by the rules at all.

They either don't act at all, or when they do, they sell off their shares like mad dogs, completely disregarding how low the market price is, as if their stocks would become worthless if they were even a little late.

This infuriated the traders from various families, who cursed him profusely.

Of course, despite the scolding, they still had to fulfill the tasks David assigned them.

To regroup, the major families could only go with the flow, frantically pouring money into the stock market in an attempt to stabilize the situation as soon as possible.

However, the stock market situation is beyond anyone's control, and the three major groups' frenzied selling has gradually triggered a new round of panic in the stock market.

Investors were also afraid of being trapped if they made the wrong move, so they followed suit and sold off their shares like mad dogs.

This did not improve the situation; in fact, it made it even more severe than when it started.

Fortunately, after a chaotic battle, it finally came to 4 p.m., the closing time of the American stock market, and Sean Thompson and his group finally breathed a sigh of relief.

……

Senado Island.

"Fuck, they managed to get away with all this!?"

"We sold so many stocks, yet we didn't trigger the maximum circuit breaker. We've really lost out this time..."

"Yes, it didn't even trigger a circuit breaker, let alone cause a stock market crash. This is still somewhat below our expectations..."

"I knew that bastard David must have prepared for this, and sure enough, he did. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have made it through today..."

The circuit breaker mechanism, also known as the automatic trading halt mechanism.

This refers to the trading suspension measure taken by the exchange to control risks when the stock index fluctuation reaches the prescribed circuit breaker point.

To date, the U.S. stock market has experienced five circuit breakers.

The first instance occurred during the 97 financial crisis. The remaining four occurred in 2020.

Every time the US stock market experiences a circuit breaker, it sends shockwaves around the world.

Therefore, the Freemasons present were very disappointed.

Because David is currently conducting a tax investigation on Wall Street, if the stock market experiences its sixth circuit breaker at this critical juncture, they can use that as an excuse to pin the blame on David, and he'll be in for a world of hurt.

Unfortunately, things did not go as they had envisioned.

Upon hearing these people's remarks, both Soros and Buffett, the two investment gurus present, inwardly cursed them as fools.

Although they sold off their stocks very quickly, David's ability to win over so many members of Congress meant that he had also won over the financial magnates behind them. Although these magnates were not as powerful as the three major conglomerates, they were still a force to be reckoned with.

This stock market battle has only been going on for a day, and they already want to crush them in one fell swoop? How is that possible!

Although they thought this in their hearts, neither Soros nor Buffett dared to say such offensive words out loud.

Soros said tactfully, "The Kennedy family and the indigenous families in the various states still have some strength. It's only been a day; it won't be easy to defeat them. Let's gradually increase our strength later!"

"Soros is right. The stock market situation can't be rushed. Our three major groups control the stock of so many companies in America, which means the initiative is always in our hands. We can play along with them slowly!"

Buffett echoed this sentiment.

After hearing the explanations from the two stock market tycoons, the previously agitated crowd quieted down.

At this moment, Henrietta looked at the two of them and said, "Do you think we need to do anything at this stage?"

Soros pondered for a moment and replied, "We need to use the media and social media we still have control over to spread negative news about the market to investors, making them even more panicked when the market opens tomorrow."

He used the same tactic when he was blocking those countries in Southeast Asia back then. By launching a massive pre-market campaign, he caused local people to lose confidence in their own currencies, thus shorting those countries' currencies.

Therefore, he believes that this tactic should also be effective in the current US stock market.

"Time is tight, and there's probably a lot of money that Kennedy and the local powerful families in various states haven't had time to transfer. I think we can use the SEC's oversight of funds to hinder their operations and thus delay their investment in the stock market!"

Buffett echoed his opinion.

"very good!"

Henrietta looked at everyone present and said, "You all heard that, right? Go do it!"

……

Manhattan Precinct, New York.

"Based on today's closing figures, the Nasdaq Composite Index is at 17127.66, down 9.63% from the previous trading day's 15423.03. It's still 10 percentage points away from triggering the circuit breaker, and this is only the first day. If the three major groups launch an even more aggressive offensive, then we..."

Inside the office, a woman with a ponytail was explaining something. Her name was Megan, and she was a clerical worker at the Manhattan branch who was knowledgeable about the stock market.

Since David didn't know much about the stock market, she was assigned to explain the situation to him when the market opened.

"The Nasdaq index fell by nearly ten percent today, which means that at this rate, the circuit breaker mechanism could be triggered at any time?"

Although he didn't understand the stock market very well, he knew what a circuit breaker meant: it meant that investors would suffer huge losses and that it would cause panic in the market, which would mean that a stock market crash was not far away.

"Our funds are still a bit weak right now. If more funds don't come in to take over, that's definitely going to happen."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work, Megan. You can go back and rest now."

"Okay, I'll come back tomorrow when the market opens."

After Megan left, David immediately picked up his phone, dialed a number, and said, "How's it going, Kepper? Have you gotten in touch with Masko?"

"As you instructed, I have been trying to contact him, and even got in touch with his assistant through an intermediary, but he seems to be avoiding us and doesn't want to talk to us..."

Upon hearing this, David's brows furrowed in a frown.

When he was cracking down on the CIA, he happened to meet with the newly crowned world's richest man and even reached a cooperation agreement with him.

However, after his tax avoidance bill was passed and he was about to start working on the midterm elections, he was unable to contact the other party.

That's not all. Now, Keppert says that the other party is actually avoiding him. What's going on?

Could it be that the three major groups did something to Masco?

Or perhaps Masco has sided with the opposing side?

That seems rather unlikely!

David immediately rejected the idea as soon as it came up.

According to the information he obtained, Masco had no connection with Freemasonry or the Onsa Group. On the contrary, after seeing his rise to power, these major groups, fearing that they would be threatened, had taken action to suppress Masco on several occasions.

Therefore, in theory, these two should not be able to stand together.

Then there must be another reason that forced Masko to avoid him!

"Chief Inspector General, are you still listening?"

The voice on the other end of the phone brought David back to his senses. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Okay, immediately notify Sean, Thompson, and... these people, and tell them to meet me at the Times Square Hotel in New York before 9 p.m. tonight!"

Sean and Thompson are currently in Washington, D.C., and it's only been a little over an hour to get here. It's only 4 p.m. now, so they have plenty of time.

The offensive from the three major groups will definitely be even more intense tomorrow.

Therefore, his purpose in gathering these people was naturally to discuss and arrange the tasks for tomorrow's market opening.

At the same time, in Washington, D.C., at the Thompson International Hotel.

"Father, something's not right. If this continues, let alone the 500-800 billion US dollars we've projected, I think even 1000 billion won't be enough to stabilize the market."

Based on Ivanka and Thompson's previous predictions, given the scale of the three major groups' stock market sell-off, if they were to invest 500-800 billion yuan into the market, they could at least stabilize the situation for at least a week, if not completely cover the bottom.

Judging from today's situation, let alone a week, it would be lucky if we could even make it through tomorrow.

"The decisiveness of the three major groups was indeed somewhat unexpected, but without a doubt, this tactic was orchestrated by those two old bastards, Soros and Buffett!"

Freemasons are a group of people who are only interested in profit.

Although they did indeed pour out the milk, they didn't pour it all out at once.

Back then, that group of people were observing the economic market from all sides, and once the economic market recovered, they would immediately cut their losses.

And this time, Thompson felt the same way.

He felt that this was just the beginning, and the three major groups would not possibly dump all the milk they had in their hands.

But I didn't expect them to actually take such a decisive action.

Looking back now, he felt that such decisive measures must be inextricably linked to Thoros and Buffett.

Only under the leadership of these two individuals, who are hailed as the world's stock market gurus, could others be so united in accomplishing such a feat.

"It must be. Such decisive and ruthless methods are typical of Thoros's style!"

"Never mind him, what did Masko say?"

Thompson knew very well that he could not afford to lose this war, so after some thought, he decided to find an outside help.

The only person who has a good relationship with their family and the financial means to do so is Masco, the newly crowned world's richest man.

"His secretary has already replied, saying he will come to see you, Father, at 6 p.m. tonight..."

"Giggle giggle..."

As the two were talking, there was a knock on the office door, and Thompson had no choice but to patiently call out, "Come in!"

"Mr. Thompson, Chief Inspector David's assistant, Keppel, called and asked you to come to the Times Square Hotel in New York before nine o'clock tonight. He wants to see you."

"Nine o'clock... Okay, I understand. You can leave now!"

Given the volatile state of the stock market today, it's clear that David sensed something was amiss and convened a meeting to plan the next steps, which is quite normal.

Thinking of this, Thompson looked at his daughter and said, "You just said that Masco would come to see me at 6 o'clock?"

"Yes, it's only a little over an hour from here to New York. After meeting him, we can fly to New York again. There's enough time!"

"Alright, let's do it this way!"

At 6 p.m. sharp, a Tesla arrived at the entrance of the Thompson International Hotel.

The car door opened, and a man who was about 1.9 meters tall and had a somewhat peaceful appearance stepped out.

He is none other than J.R. Masco, the current richest man in America, a tech visionary, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX, and hailed as the modern Iron Man.

"Mr. Masco, welcome, welcome!"

Thompson and his daughter, who had been waiting there, immediately came to greet them.

Throughout Tomp's business empire, Masco has always been his business partner.

Moreover, when he took office as president, he immediately appointed Masco as a member of his advisory council.

However, for some other reasons, Masco resigned from the position in 17.

Regardless, the two maintained a good relationship in private.

This is why Masco could avoid meeting David for personal reasons, but couldn't refuse to meet Thompson.

"Hello, Mr. Thompson and Ms. Ivanka!"

"Let's come in and talk!"

Thompson and his daughter led Maske through the hotel lobby and up to a private room on a high floor.

After they were seated, Thompson asked impatiently, "Mr. Masco, I believe you already know that I have joined David's camp, and I heard that David also invited you before, so I am here today for the same reason."

"Excuse my bluntness, Mr. Thompson, but I did reach a verbal agreement with David before, but as the situation developed, I felt it was best for me not to get involved."

"Don't let everyone's calling me the modern-day Iron Man fool you. At heart, I'm just a businessman. In America, no matter what, you can't bypass the three major corporations. And you've seen what they've done to me before. I don't want my situation to become even more difficult. I hope you can understand!"

Masco said these words with a hint of struggle.

Deep down, he actually wanted to collaborate with David.

Putting aside the fact that David has now taken control of Congress and become a rising star in the United States, any man would want to avenge the repeated suppression he suffered at the hands of several major corporations in his early years.

The main reason he ultimately broke the contract was that he had received a tip that when the tax avoidance bill was in the Senate, the three major corporations were targeting the families of those senators.

His family is his Achilles' heel.

This is why, even after seeing the bill pass, he was still hesitant to bet heavily on David, fearing the consequences. (End of Chapter)