Chapter 286: The Storm Is Coming

Time passed quietly, but Xiao Ran showed no sign of slowing down; he kept his mind active. This time, there were many issues to address. First was the gang problem pointed out by his superiors. Xiao Ran had already thought this through thoroughly—whether the Brits wanted to take action or stage some scheme, they would need strength.

As for ordinary citizens, the police could easily control the situation, and it was unlikely any of them would be foolish enough to cause trouble. The key lay with the underworld. Initially, Xiao Ran planned to gather all the gang leaders in one place, giving his subordinates enough time to create chaos. Then he could use that as an excuse to eliminate the key figures before letting the gang leaders back in to regain control.

Now, it seemed this plan might not work. If the Brits intended to cause trouble, they would surely get involved, and it might be impossible to keep things under control. The key was still control—Xiao Ran realized he needed a more clever approach.

Next was dealing with the six major Hollywood companies. This actually posed no real problem. Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling had already discussed it, with Wei Dongling going there in person to handle things. Then there was Murdoch—the old fox. Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling had set a trap for him over two years, waiting for him to step into it.

The most critical issue was the financial crisis. Even dealing with Soros alone might not be enough to contain it. After all, there were still capable people around, and with flaws in the current financial system, trouble was inevitable sooner or later. It might be better to take this opportunity to deal with those guys all at once.

At Wei Dongling’s home, Xiao Ran’s family visited. He and Wei Dongling discussed the issue of the six major Hollywood companies in the garden. Just as they were talking, their mobile phones rang—it was Fang Xiaoqiang: “Soros has taken action!”

These few words made Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling jump up immediately. Soros had taken action? Fang Xiaoqiang quickly informed them that Soros had officially attacked Thailand, and that country, which thought it could replace Hong Kong as Asia’s financial hub, was now in trouble.

Meanwhile, at the stock exchanges in Bangkok, no—actually across all of Thailand—people noticed that everything had changed overnight. The Thai government was living in a dream, believing that after Hong Kong’s return, Bangkok could become Asia’s financial center.

High-ranking officials were overjoyed, eager to ensure a smooth replacement. The Thai government announced deregulations of the financial sector it had previously controlled, and the Thai baht closely followed the U.S. dollar. Thais began to feel proud, thinking Bangkok was about to become the center of the world…

But at that moment, overnight, it seemed their gods no longer blessed them; the whole world abandoned them. Foreign capital flooded in, especially at exchanges across Thailand, with Bangkok being the worst hit. There, people only saw and heard news of the Thai baht being sold off relentlessly.

Before long, foreign foreign exchange funds launched another attack, collectively shorting Thai stocks. A few days later, the Thai baht plummeted against the U.S. dollar, with the stock market index falling from 1,200 to just over 500 points. With the cooperation and interference of foreign banks, the situation was finally stabilized.

Yet the world was still shocked by Thailand’s financial crisis, as everyone realized there must be unseen forces driving things in an increasingly unfavorable direction.

However, as the return of Hong Kong approached, Thailand was unwilling to give up such a great opportunity. With the pain of the crisis still unresolved and various domestic issues at hand, Thailand finally announced in June the implementation of a managed floating exchange rate system for its stocks.

In the offices of the Quantum Fund in the United States, Soros pondered like a philosopher. Finally, his trusted assistants, Marcus and Rafael, watched intently this financial “killer” who seemed like a god. They knew that every word he spoke would determine the financial landscape of the Far East.

Soros was confused—why hadn’t Xiao Ran intervened? Why hadn’t Fang Xiaoqiang taken action? Even when Thailand sought foreign financing, they didn’t seize the opportunity to act. This left him puzzled and even angered by what felt like neglect or disregard.

What was Xiao Ran playing at? If he had sent such a letter, he surely wouldn’t just sit back and watch! Soros was absolutely certain of this, and in fact, he was completely right.

If Xiao Ran really stayed idle, he could simply take on one country after another before turning his attention to Hong Kong. Soros knew he could no longer hesitate. Today was the day the Thai government would risk $15 billion all at once. If they wanted to defeat Thailand outright, it had to be now.

In his eyes, the Thai government was nothing but a paper puppet—easily manipulated at any time. What worried him now were Xiao Ran and Fang Xiaoqiang, who, together with funds like Tiger Fund, controlled hundreds of millions in capital. Moving against Thailand would be a piece of cake for them. But that money wasn’t meant for fighting Thailand—it was meant for fighting Xiao Ran.

“Rafael, what tactics do you think Xiao Ran will use?” Soros finally spoke, as expected by the two, but not the instructions they hoped for. “You know I’m very confused. Perhaps I need an outsider to clear the fog for me!”

Rafael and Marcus were stunned. They never expected Soros to be stumped by something so trivial. After some thought, Rafael said hesitantly, “I’ve researched this. Xiao Ran is very skilled at plotting, and Fang Xiaoqiang’s methods are also strange—perhaps he’s good at hiding too! So, I think they might be waiting for an opportunity.”

“An opportunity…” Soros glanced at his assistant and fell deep into thought again. He wondered what opportunities were left for Xiao Ran. The best opportunity was today—if Xiao Ran entered the market today, he could combine forces with the Thai government’s $15 billion to create a massive force.

Soros closed his eyes and quickly opened them again, looking at his two trusted assistants. “Since they’re against us, we must force them into the market and drain their financial resources. Order an attack on Thai stocks immediately—achieve our goal within ten hours!” Watching his assistants walk away, Soros scratched his head in disbelief. It was hard to believe that this man, once hailed as the god of finance, would resort to such tactics. He hadn’t launched the attack without a plan—he had only deployed $10 billion, while those following suit brought in another $20 billion. Yet he was well aware that the funds under his control were around $100 billion, and the speculators behind him totaled roughly another $100 billion. $200 billion was enough to shake Hong Kong’s financial market. That’s why he was testing the waters in the Thai market, hoping to lure Xiao Ran’s funds in. By dispersing their strength, he could then launch a surprise attack. His position was strategic—able to advance or retreat. It wouldn’t be easy for Xiao Ran to do anything to him. But would Xiao Ran enter the market? That was his doubt. For Xiao Ran, this might also be a problem. This time, Wei Dongling wasn’t involved; only Xiao Ran and Fang Xiaoqiang were discussing it. Fang Xiaoqiang was firmly against entering the market. With a resolute expression, he said, “Thai stocks can’t hold on. Based on my analysis, Soros will win this battle today—cleanly and decisively. I predict Thai stocks will drop by more than 20%, maybe even more! Entering the market now is suicide!” Xiao Ran sighed. He knew entering the market now was risky. But he had to protect Hong Kong’s interests—at least give Soros a taste of defeat. Standing on the spacious balcony, he stepped to the edge, hands behind his back, gazing into the distance. “If we don’t stop him, Soros will plunder Southeast Asia as you predicted before coming to Hong Kong. By then, it will be too late to do anything!” Fang Xiaoqiang fell silent. He was also uneasy about the situation. If the battle took place in Hong Kong, he was confident he could defeat Soros. But Soros might not dare to come here—after all, it wasn’t a sure thing. “Actually, he will definitely come…” A mysterious smile appeared on Xiao Ran’s face. He knew Soros would come. Just for the combined $100 billion at stake, it would be hard for Soros not to come and deal with them. “He must be eager for us to act. So why not go along with them?” “Brother Ran, you…” Fang Xiaoqiang was confused. “What do you mean?” “You’re still not strong enough at the strategic level!” Xiao Ran sighed lightly. Perhaps Fang Xiaoqiang was indeed not as good as Soros. But this battle was already inevitable. “Soros must be hoping we enter the market in Thailand. On one hand, it can drain our funds, and on the other, it can keep other people’s funds tied up, allowing him to launch a surprise attack. If I’m not wrong, he’s probably preparing to spread rumors that the yen will depreciate!”

“I understand!” Fang Xiaoqiang finally grasped it—this way, Phantom would be forced to fight on two fronts. Soros could use the $6 billion in Vision Funds and other speculators’ money to tie up Phantom’s funds in Thailand. If Phantom wanted to cut its losses, it would have to suffer significant losses. Meanwhile, Soros would immediately launch an attack on Hong Kong, backed by hundreds of billions in funds—yet so far, he had only used less than $20 billion in Thailand, which was clearly suspicious. From Xiao Ran’s perspective, however, he understood that Xiao Ran had no choice but to enter the market, even at the cost of losses. Thailand was merely Soros’s first stop—he was there to make a quick move and test the waters. But when would Soros attack the Hong Kong dollar? Fang Xiaoqiang found it hard to tell. Based on his speculation, it should be before the handover. Xiao Ran stood facing the wind, eyes slightly narrowed, with an indescribable glow in them. He ordered Fang Xiaoqiang as if he were unshakable: “Xiao Fang, it’s the seventh day today. The battle in Thailand will basically be over by tomorrow. I expect them to need two days to wrap it up. If I’m not wrong, at the latest the day after tomorrow, they will definitely attack Hong Kong.” “Why so sure? I’m not even sure myself!” Fang Xiaoqiang scratched his head—definitely not the behavior of a billionaire. “You know very well the situation in Thailand now. Entering the market now means losing!” Xiao Ran closed his eyes, enjoying the peace of the moment. “And in such a situation, I still insist on entering the market. What do you think that means to them?” “It means I’ll keep defending Asia’s interests. They must knock me down and trample on my body before they can act recklessly in Asia!” Xiao Ran smiled faintly, then suddenly turned to stare at Fang Xiaoqiang. “So, you must stay in Hong Kong for this battle. Someone else will handle things in Thailand.” Having decided to take action, Xiao Ran knew how to seize opportunities—he exchanged views with the Thai government within two hours and quickly signed a series of “unequal contracts” using those $10 billion. At 3 p.m. that day, Tianxia Fund didn’t intervene but injected $10 billion into Thailand under Phantom’s name. In fact, Xiao Ran paid no attention to the changes in Thai stocks—those were already inevitable. His only hope was that the losses wouldn’t exceed $1 billion. Due to Phantom’s entry, Thai stocks rose significantly for the first time in days at 3:30 p.m. But at 5 p.m., Quantum Fund injected another $5 billion, completely crushing Thai stocks before the market closed. Thai stocks dropped by 25%, costing Xiao Ran $200 million from his $10 billion—worse still, he was trapped. The next day, rumors abounded in Hong Kong’s financial market, especially those about the weakening of the yen. On the third day, large amounts of foreign capital flowed into Hong Kong, and Fang Xiaoqiang, along with the $30 billion urgently raised by Phantom, fought back.

Foreign funds led by quantum funds flooded into the market, causing the Hong Kong interbank offer rate to soar to 50% within days, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index and futures index dropped by over 100 points. After this onslaught, Soros and his partners gradually stopped making large-scale trades and instead targeted the Hong Kong dollar on a smaller scale, exploiting the interrelationships between exchange rates, the stock market, and futures to engage in heavy speculation.

Although they faced attacks in the exchange rate market from Fang Xiaoqiang, as Fang had predicted, their real goal was not there but rather the stock market. By disrupting exchange rates, they caused the stock market to slump, which in turn led to an economic downturn, and the economic downturn further drove the stock market down, creating a vicious cycle.

Fang Xiaoqiang could stabilize the exchange rate market but lacked sufficient funds to support the stock market. Although Phantom could indeed provide an additional 40 billion dollars in the short term, it should not be forgotten that Soros had at his disposal, and backed by, 200 billion dollars in funds! Without money, how could Xiao Ran defeat Soros?