I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

Wu Yuanqing raised an eyebrow: "Old friend, it's time for you to change your thinking at a time like this. Hasn't your company ever thought about expansion?"

Boer looked up at Wu Yuanqing, paused for a moment, and said, "You mean...?"

"In the ensuing storm, the slaughter of countless companies on Financial Street is foreseeable. As far as I know, Santa Monica Company, the number one company on Financial Street, has already staked all its assets in this seemingly high-stakes gamble..."

At this point, Wu Yuanqing smiled slightly.

"Old friend, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Our company can provide funding and leverage our superior information to help you strike first and acquire the company after the storm... How about it? Consider it?"

Upon hearing his old friend's words, Bor's eyes lit up. After standing there in contemplation for a moment, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"It seems I'll indeed be spending some time having fun in China over the next few days."

Wu Yuanqing also laughed and extended his hand to Boer: "In that case, I'll treat you. Trust me, my old friend, you'll love it here."

"Then I shall respectfully comply."

At this moment, the hands of the two longtime friends were clasped tightly once again.

Chapter 462 A Bird's-Eye View of the Global Markets of Blue Star

Time flies, and more than two months have passed since the Western bloc signed the relevant documents for comprehensive sanctions against China.

In the past two months, the overall market environment on Earth has undergone dramatic changes, so rapid that it has left countless people astonished.

First and foremost are new technology products.

After China released a series of new technologies, these products equipped with these technologies quickly swept the market like wildfire, just as everyone had predicted.

With the support of new technologies, these new products are like tigers among sheep in the market, completely overwhelming the old products and slaughtering them as if they were in an empty field.

In the domestic market of China, Chinese companies are experiencing a full-scale boom.

Taking the smartphone industry as an example, the Honghu M10 phone, equipped with the Lightyear Technology's Zijing chip, was a smash hit, with demand far exceeding supply in China. Seeing this, other Chinese smartphone manufacturers quickly signed chip orders with Lightyear Technology, and subsequently, more and more Chinese-made smartphones equipped with Lightyear Technology's Zijing chip appeared on the market. Within two months, the market share of Chinese-made smartphones skyrocketed to 97%.

The remaining foreign brands of mobile phones fared much worse, with their market share dropping from 40% to 3%, and their overseas markets being rapidly eroded by Chinese smartphone manufacturers.

Two months have passed, and the powerful performance of the Zijing chip has been proven in numerous ways. Foreign consumers' enthusiasm for Chinese-made smartphones equipped with Zijing chips continues to rise over time. Although all products using Zijing chips are prohibited from sale in Western countries due to the ban, this has not dampened consumer enthusiasm.

As the saying goes, "where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure." Since mobile phones made in China cannot be sold, and buying them directly from China incurs high tariffs, why not just buy them from places where there are no tariffs and no sales restrictions?

As a result, a strange phenomenon has emerged in Western countries: the sales of major Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have continued to surge in many developing countries that have not participated in the sanctions against China, simply because consumers from Western countries have all gone to these places to buy them.

Western mobile phone manufacturers, seeing their Chinese competitors steadily eroding their market share and reaping huge profits, naturally couldn't sit still. However, the problem was that they couldn't win back the market with just words; they had to catch up with their Chinese competitors in terms of product strength.

Then another problem arises. Currently, only Lightyear Technology can produce Zijing chips. Due to the ban, it is not only very troublesome for major Western smartphone manufacturers to obtain Zijing chips, but they also have to pay a huge financial price. To break even, they can only raise the price of their products, but then they will be even less competitive with the high-quality and low-priced products of their Chinese counterparts. They can't just sell at a loss, can they?

These restrictions left major Western mobile phone manufacturers feeling utterly helpless.

Therefore, in the past two months, major terminal technology companies in the United States have frequently appeared in the headlines of major news media to launch joint letters to pressure the President's Office and Congress to lift the ban on related products. This has put great pressure on the President's Office and the Congressional Court.

However, for Western countries, the ban has already been signed, and going back on it now would be tantamount to slapping themselves in the face. Moreover, facing a large number of new technologies from China, companies and capital in other industries are also complaining bitterly. If this door is opened in the mobile phone industry, other industries will very likely follow the example of major terminal technology companies, which will put even more pressure on the Presidential Office and the House of Representatives.

In the consumer market, Western countries not only felt immense pressure from China, but a storm also swept across the West in the financial market.

The storm began on the financial street of the United States. Due to incomplete information and misjudgment, a large amount of investment funds invested in China by investment companies that wanted to take advantage of the sanctions to "fish" for losses in China were all lost. After going around in the Chinese market, they all evaporated.

Countless analysts on Financial Street racked their brains trying to understand why this seemingly sure-fire operation had almost completely failed.

Because before the operation was launched, it was defined as almost impossible to fail, with the higher the bet, the higher the profit, so many companies staked their entire fortunes on this "unbeatable" gamble. Of course, the result they are facing now is a complete collapse.

The source of the collapse was the top ten investment companies on Financial Street. The bankruptcy of these large companies led to stock market turmoil, which then affected mid-level investment companies and individual investors, followed by lower-level companies and a large number of retail investors. Ultimately, the collapse spilled over Financial Street and spread to the entire market.

Of course, not everyone suffered heavy losses in this storm. Some companies that did not fully commit to the operation were able to survive the storm, but they still had to pay the compensation they were owed; it was just a matter of how much they lost.

However, one company, Boer Investment, stood out and attracted attention amidst this turmoil. Not only did it not lose money, it even went against the tide and completed the largest reverse merger in the history of Financial Street.

Bol Investment Company, with Smith Bol as its legal representative, was originally just a small to medium-sized investment company on Financial Street, inconspicuous among the countless investment companies on Financial Street. However, in this storm, Bol Investment became the protagonist of the entire Financial Street and even the entire Western financial market.

Not only was Boer Investment one of the few companies that did not target China during this storm, but it also made a bold move after the storm began, taking out huge sums of money to carry out the most astonishing reverse takeover in the history of Financial Street, including Santa Monica, the number one investment company on Financial Street, and becoming the largest giant on Financial Street.

Following the merger, related news and reports dominated headlines for a week.

The M country's national financial television station even called this merger "the most amazing comeback in history".

This acquisition has sparked curiosity and suspicion among many. Many wondered where a small to medium-sized investment company like Bol Investment got so much cash. However, information about the acquisition was not transparent, and very little information was available. Even those in the financial district with the greatest curiosity found it difficult to uncover the financial backer of Bol Investment. Only a small number of people knew that the majority of Bol Investment's funds came from a Chinese company called Qingniao International Trade. Even fewer people knew that Qingniao International Trade was actually backed by China Investment Bank.

Of course, the chaos in the consumer and financial markets is also a microcosm of the current confusion in the policies of the top leaders of Western countries.

Two months have passed, and the top leaders of Western countries have gradually realized that something is amiss. Just like every emergency in the past, another emergency meeting was held in Huacheng, M country...

Chapter 463 Lifting the Blockade?

“My name is Bayer Chop. You may have heard my name and witnessed my deeds, but you certainly don’t know anything about my life.”

"My life was like a pile of loose sand, only on this day, at the age of fifty-eight, did it reassemble into a mountain. And on this day, standing on the lawn in front of the Presidential Palace, with my hand on the Covenant, I made my most sincere promise to hundreds of millions of people: I want to make the future of this country better. That was the most meaningful day of my life..."

Inside the presidential office, President Bayer Jop of Country M stopped reading aloud, placed the "Presidential Autobiography" on his desk, and then rubbed his temples wearily.

The above words were written at the beginning of his autobiography. Now, looking back at this autobiography he wrote two years ago, has he really fulfilled his initial promise? Has he really made this country a better place?

Jop was somewhat confused.

For two years, he believed he had done nothing wrong. With the support of his party, he made great strides in parliament and in world politics, doing what he thought the country should do. But two years later, the lives of the people had not changed at all; in fact, they had declined, and the people were suffering greatly.

This gave him a huge sense of frustration, and this frustration came from a country across the ocean—China.

When he first took office as president, restricting China was written into the grand strategy of the United States' future development plan, and the entire United States did just that, restricting all of China's most powerful high-tech industries, such as Lightyear Technology, which leads communication technology, and now energy exports to China, and so on.

These iron fists did indeed have some impact on China, but for the most part, it was like hitting cotton – there was no feedback whatsoever. This was unprecedented in the history of the United States. What's worse, this cotton has now become an indestructible iron plate. The iron fist of US sanctions struck the iron plate, but it was themselves who were hurt.

Since the Western countries announced sanctions against China two months ago, prices in Western countries have skyrocketed after losing China as a supplier with full-fledged manufacturing capabilities. Although prices have since stabilized and other goods restricted from import from China have found alternatives, these alternatives from developing countries such as the ASEAN are more expensive and of questionable quality due to cost considerations, which has led to public discontent and complaints.

The original purpose of the sanctions was to force China to hand over access to the other world. However, China is now thriving under the heavy pressure of the sanctions, as if it has been unaffected. This is completely contrary to the predictions of the Presidential Office's strategic planners. On the contrary, within the West, the financial market is experiencing a financial storm, and the consumer market is also suffering setbacks and being eroded by the new technologies that China has introduced one after another.

In addition, seeing that China remained vibrant despite the sanctions while the Western world was in chaos, the centrist countries, led by the Southeast Asian Union, all began to lean towards China. Even some countries within the Western international bloc have subtly expressed dissatisfaction with the sanctions and a desire to resume cooperation with China.

It seems that nothing has gone smoothly since they launched a full-scale attack on China.

Now, as president, Bayer Jop has to rethink this question – is the grand strategy of suppressing China really the right one?

"Your Excellency, the meeting is about to begin."

An assistant holding documents appeared at the office door at the opportune moment to remind the president.

"Okay, I understand. Tell them I'll be there soon."

With a sigh, Jop stood up, took his suit jacket from the hanger, and draped it over his shoulders. He was about to go to the presidential palace conference hall for an impassioned cabinet meeting. In the past two months, he had lost count of how many emergency cabinet meetings he had convened.

After leaving the presidential office, accompanied by his aides, Josh walked to the conference hall, where members of the presidential cabinet had already arrived.

Upon seeing the president arrive, everyone stood up from their seats.

"Your Excellency, President."

Jop nodded slightly.

"Good morning, everyone. I don't think there's any need for further words. This emergency meeting is still about strategic issues concerning China."

As he spoke, Jop sat down in a chair, his gaze sweeping over all the cabinet members present. He took a deep breath and spoke the words that had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

"I want to withdraw the sanctions against China."

These words immediately shocked everyone present. Someone couldn't help but ask, "Your Excellency, why do you say this? We are almost at the end of our original political goal. If we turn back now, all our previous efforts will be in vain."

Jop waved his hand and said, "This is no longer a political issue; it's a simple math problem... Since the sanctions against China began, our domestic economy has been deteriorating. The financial crisis on Financial Street recently only made things worse for the entire market. The lives of our people are already much more difficult than they were two months ago. With the losses to both sides completely disproportionate, continuing the sanctions is tantamount to self-destruction."

At this moment, someone stood up and said, "Your Excellency, you must calm down. This matter cannot be rushed. If we rashly withdraw the sanctions, it will be tantamount to announcing that we have bowed down to China. In that case, our credibility will not only collapse, but we will also become a laughing stock of the entire planet."

"Yes, Your Excellency, this matter needs to be calmed down."

"Please consider this carefully."

"Your Excellency, we cannot back down..."

"All right!"

Jop interrupted everyone's advice, his brow furrowed, and said, "My term will end next year. Judging from the current situation, my chances of being re-elected in next year's election are slim. I don't want to lead the United States down a downward path before I leave office, even if I have to bear the infamy and be ridiculed by the whole planet. This is the last bit of dignity I have in my heart as president."

At this point, all the cabinet members fell silent.

The group exchanged glances, their expressions varied.

Modern Earth is not like feudal society where the emperor held absolute power. As cabinet members, everyone is merely working for the president. Each of them represents a different political capital group. When interests clash, they will only support the interest groups behind them. Now, faced with the president's "self-sacrifice," perhaps it is time to go their separate ways.

The meeting continued, and later some cabinet members expressed their opinions on how to lift the sanctions. Among the crowd, only the Director of Intelligence, Spencer, sitting in the corner, remained silent, his gaze coldly fixed on President Jop sitting in the main seat, a hint of red flashing in his eyes.

Half an hour later, the emergency meeting ended, and all the cabinet members left the presidential palace with their own thoughts. Spencer, however, remained seated in the meeting room and went straight to the president's office after everyone had left.

Upon arriving at the presidential office, Spencer pushed the door open and entered.

Jop, who had just returned to his office and sat down, was startled when the door suddenly opened. He breathed a slight sigh of relief after seeing that it was Spencer, but couldn't help frowning and saying, "Spencer, what brings you here? Why didn't you knock? Why didn't your assistant and bodyguards outside make a sound?"

Spencer did not answer Jop's question, but instead asked coldly, "Mr. President, are you really going to stop the sanctions?"

Jop frowned and said, "Spencer, are you here to persuade me? I've already made myself very clear in the meeting just now. My mind is made up, you don't need to say anything more..."

After speaking, Jop was about to sit down when he found that his body suddenly became uncontrollable, and he stood stiffly in place, unable to move.

"What... happened...?"

Jop turned his gaze in horror, and then saw Spencer's eyes had turned blood red, with a ball of black and red energy surging in his palms. The other end of this energy was wrapped around Spencer's body, which was the root cause of his inability to move.

"Spencer...you..."

Spencer said grimly, "It seems that we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands now."

Sensing the terrifying aura emanating from Spencer, Jop tried to call out to the security personnel outside the door, but found that he could no longer make a sound.

Spencer saw through Jop's intentions and tilted his head, saying, "The security personnel outside have long been assimilated and controlled by me. Even if you can make a sound, it won't make any difference... Now, Mr. President, go and get some sleep."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jop's vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness...

Chapter 464 A Gradually Steady Large-Scale Market Cycle

"Help! Help!"

Inside the office, Ivan looked at Paimon, who suddenly popped out of the bracelet and started shouting, completely bewildered.

"Paimon, what's wrong?"

Still shaken, Paimon floated in the air and glanced around haphazardly before patting his chest in relief.