Chapter 297: The Ultimate Duel

Everyone else put down their glasses, giving up the chance to celebrate on this day of universal joy, and gathered around Xiao Ran, waiting for his instructions. Fang Xiaoqiang and the others were extremely excited—they knew that once Xiao Ran took such a stance, victory was just around the corner.

Guan Xin, who had been doing nothing nearby, stared at Xiao Ran’s imposing presence and couldn’t help but feel a sense of reluctance to defy him. He was deeply moved—when he first met Xiao Ran, he was just a lively young man, but now he had become a profoundly serious and highly charismatic leader! Time and environment truly could change everything!

Xiao Ran was unaware of Guan Xin’s thoughts. He was fully focused on what he was about to do, even ignoring his wife. His gaze settled on Fang Xiaoqiang’s excited face. “Xiao Fang, are you sure you can defeat Soros?”

“Yes, Brother Ran! With equal conditions, I’m 50% confident!” Fang Xiaoqiang no longer had his usual playful demeanor. Having followed Xiao Ran for so long, he knew when to relax and when to be serious.

Xiao Ran nodded in satisfaction and pointed in the direction of the exchange. “Go back and rest immediately. Tomorrow, you’ll be given at least 100 billion dollars to operate—make sure to drag Soros and all the speculators behind him down with him! The conditions I give you are the best possible. Remember, victory is non-negotiable. I want to end this as quickly as possible!”

“No problem, Brother Ran! I’ll definitely defeat Soros!” Fang Xiaoqiang clenched his fist. He knew more and more about Soros’s tactics. The chance to confront such a top-tier expert without suppressing his own abilities filled him with excitement—so intense that it felt like his body might explode!

Turning to the assistant sent by Bai Pengfei, Xiao Ran smiled calmly. “I’ll deliver a televised speech to all citizens of Hong Kong at 11 a.m. tomorrow. I want everyone in Hong Kong to be in front of the TV tomorrow! Can you do that?”

“No problem, President Xiao!” Bai Pengfei’s assistant replied straightforwardly. Although it was somewhat difficult, it wasn’t the hardest task.

“Tomorrow, Murdoch will attempt to acquire Shuxiang or one of its subsidiaries. I want to keep him occupied with this for at least three days.” Without hesitation, Xiao Ran issued orders like a soldier: “Tell Bai Pengfei to handle this personally. Allow Murdoch to get 25% of the shares tomorrow, but no more than 37%! Use the shares as a bait to keep him stuck over Shuxiang’s ‘fat meat’.”

“Also, there will definitely be other companies trying to spy on the company, Qin Bai. You need to keep them occupied for at least three days.” Xiao Ran focused his gaze on Qin Bai, the young assistant left by Wei Dongling. He was a good young man—talented and passionate. “Take care of the additional shares issuance by companies like Hutchison and Nokia. Issue them tomorrow!”

Seeing his subordinates leave one after another after receiving their orders, Xiao Ran smiled in satisfaction, thinking that it was thanks to the excellent systems established by Wei Dongling that everything could be so efficient. He took out his phone and dialed a number, a faint smile appearing on his face. “A Dong, where are you now?”
“I? Isn’t that obvious? Of course I’m in the United States!” Wei Dongling cursed. Xiao Ran was deliberately asking such questions to tease him. “You’ve already started it over there, right? It’s a shame I missed such an exciting moment!”
“It’s started. Now it’s up to you over there. With those six major companies meeting together, I suspect they have some scheme. Be careful. Keep an eye on the theaters to prevent them from playing any underhanded tricks. Contact the other theaters—if those five major ones dare to cheat us, immediately find other theaters to replace them!”
“By the way, the money will arrive at the scheduled time. Be very careful how you spend it!” Wei Dongling was extremely frustrated. He hadn’t even been away from Hong Kong for a few days, yet Xiao Ran had already spent tens of billions—what a wasteful spender!
Xiao Ran nodded and hung up the phone. He went over to Guan Xin and sat down, then said to Lin Qingxia in fatigue, “Qingxia, I’m so tired!”
“After going through this busy period, everything will be fine!” Lin Qingxia quickly held Xiao Ran’s hand. After all, Xiao Ran was just a human being too. Planning everything with such effort must have exhausted his mind. Still, she didn’t understand how Xiao Ran could anticipate everything and know where to get the money. “Did you arrange everything?”
Guan Xin also stared at this nominal disciple. He didn’t understand business, but he could see that the current situation was absolutely unfavorable for Xiao Ran. Xiao Ran waved at Yang Guang, who quickly brought him a wet towel.
Xiao Ran placed the wet towel on his face, trying to clear his mind. He had done this countless times over the past two years, working hard to create the right environment. His mental energy was constantly drained, leaving him easily fatigued, so he used the towel to help.
After a while, as his clarity gradually returned, Xiao Ran removed the towel and nodded firmly at Lin Qingxia and Guan Xin. “This is all my plan. You know that Shadow is powerful, but there are still many companies spying on Shadow, trying to gain some advantage from it. That’s why all this happened!”
Lin Qingxia and Guan Xin nodded half-understandingly. Of course, they didn’t get it. Xiao Ran had spent two years preparing for all this. Two years ago, on a yacht, he and Wei Dongling realized that Shadow’s foundation wasn’t solid. After all, it was a new company with insufficient experience, and it might face serious problems if hit by a crisis.
After Xiao Ran told Wei Dongling that if powerful international speculators intervened, Hong Kong’s and even Southeast Asia’s financial systems could collapse, he decided that rather than suppressing these problems, it was better to trigger them early and address them sooner. After all, with a huge group like Shadow in place, overcoming an economic downturn might not be that difficult.

Moreover, Xiao Ran certainly did not want, after he retired, Hong Kong’s already fragile financial system to be disrupted one day, leading to an economic downturn that would wither the film industry. So he thought that the only way to solve this problem was to trigger it in advance.

Later, Xiao Ran gradually became convinced that since he needed to secretly foster a financial crisis to attract attacks from speculators like Soros, why not use this opportunity to eliminate all potential enemies? To be honest, there were very few who were qualified to be enemies of the Shadow, and even fewer who dared to oppose them. After careful consideration, Xiao Ran realized he could resolve many issues through the financial storm. This suited his personality—he only acted when it brought him other benefits. Looking at his past achievements, it had always been the case.

Over the past two years, Wei Dongling had been busy orchestrating this situation skillfully through various business activities and investments to bring about a financial storm and lure in people like Soros. Otherwise, why would he constantly complain to Xiao Ran that he was exhausted? After two years of meticulous planning and design, his goal was finally achieved—Soros arrived as scheduled.

As for putting himself in this desperate situation, it was his own doing. It was only after he earned praise from global Chinese businessmen and people after his atrocities in Indonesia that he took such risks, thereby drawing out most of the companies that posed a threat to the Shadow.

The most typical example was Murdoch’s News Group. This old man had always been eyeing Asia, trying to enter the market, but had been blocked by Shuxiang. A few years ago, he pretended to make a full-scale push into the North American market, but in reality, it was to focus on reorganizing his operations there. However, Xiao Ran didn’t think Murdoch would give up such a huge market as Asia. He knew Murdoch would eventually come, as long as News Group remained under his control. So he thought, why not take the initiative himself?

Now everything had achieved its goal, and even the plan had produced the expected results. It was time for him to counterattack—no, not exactly counterattack; rather, it was time to close in.

The next day, when the market opened in the morning, Soros showed no mercy, wreaking havoc in the financial and stock markets. Calmly, under the protection of Sunlight and others, Xiao Ran went to ATV. The strength of ATV far exceeded its name, with operations stretching as far as Europe and North America.

Many people couldn’t understand why Xiao Ran wanted to get involved in the financial storm. This storm didn’t cause much damage to the Shadow or him—at most, it reduced the market value of companies like Mingxuan and Hutchison by a bit. But there were things Xiao Ran knew himself—he owed it to the people of Hong Kong. As the saying goes, “One must repay what one owes; those who engage in worldly affairs must eventually pay back their debts.” He remembered this saying clearly.

At 10:55, at least two million people across Hong Kong sat in front of their TVs, waiting for Xiao Ran to appear. Over the previous night, Shuxiang had spread the news through its radio stations, newspapers, and magazines, announcing that Xiao Ran would deliver a speech to the whole of Hong Kong at 11 a.m. that day.

Xiao Ran waited quietly accompanied by his secretary Han Yun. This time was undoubtedly a huge risk, but he thought it was worth it. At 10:59, Xiao Ran took his position, with cameras and lights all in place. He took the phone from Han Yun and made the only call before the live broadcast: “Lao Li, you can get ready over there!”
This idol and most respected figure in Hong Kong finally appeared on the same channel across the city through satellite transmission. Looking at the camera, Xiao Ran said slowly with a solemn expression, “Hong Kong citizens, before announcing the following news, I would like to first congratulate Hong Kong on its return—a matter that should bring joy to everyone. But now, I have to announce some unfortunate news!”
“Since mid-June, international financial speculators have been attacking our local financial and stock markets for over half a month!” Xiao Ran’s tone carried an indescribable sadness. “At that moment, the Shadow Group stepped forward and engaged in a fierce and brutal struggle against those international speculators!”
At this point, Xiao Ran’s tone became extremely solemn. “Regrettably, due to being outnumbered, the Shadow Group finally ran out of funds yesterday, causing the exchange rate and Hang Seng Index futures to plummet. The Shadow Group and I have done everything we could, but still couldn’t reverse the situation. I’m sorry!”
In front of countless televisions across Hong Kong, people having lunch in their homes felt a sense of sorrow at Xiao Ran’s words. It made sense—without the Shadow Group’s support, the exchange rate might have already collapsed.
“Now, I want to tell everyone that if we can’t stop what these international speculators are doing this time, then…” Xiao Ran’s tone gradually turned sad as he lowered his head slightly, further enhancing the somber atmosphere. “Then, Hong Kong will become their ATM, their target to be plucked at will!”
After saying this, sobbing sounds gradually arose throughout Hong Kong—from men and women, the old and the young. It wasn’t a highly polished speech, but it was direct, effective, and truly sincere. People remembered how their wealth had gradually vanished over these days and how Xiao Ran had fought against the international speculators, unknowingly being led into a state of emotional engagement by him.
“Are we supposed to just watch as those speculators plunder our wealth? Are we supposed to let them treat Hong Kong as a giant ATM?” Xiao Ran took a deep breath. For a moment, it seemed he was moved too. Raising his arms, he declared, “No, of course not!”
“Hong Kong never belongs to one person—it belongs to you all!” With emotion in his voice, Xiao Ran looked at the camera, though it might have seemed silly to those present. “Do you remember what I said last time? As long as we all unite, nothing is invincible.”

I have to admit, Xiao Ran is extremely cunning. In such a fierce and inflammatory speech, he still managed to adapt on the spot and guide people to associate everything with what happened a few years ago. He even indirectly pointed out the flaws of the Hong Kong government, thereby stirring up anger among the people.

Xiao Ran stared straight at the camera, his voice deep, powerful, and full of passion: “The financial and securities markets need your funds. As long as all of Hong Kong unites, we are invincible. Today, I, along with two directors from the Phantom Group, will invest all our wealth in the market. Now, the safety of entire Hong Kong depends on each one of you!”

“Reach out your hand—let’s work together to maintain Hong Kong’s economic prosperity! Your funds could play a decisive role at any moment!” In his enthusiasm, Xiao Ran unconsciously stepped forward, fixed his gaze on the camera, and raised his fist with passion and confidence, shouting, “Let’s all participate in this battle to defend our homeland, to defend Hong Kong!”

In that moment, entire Hong Kong was in an uproar, like boiling water. But behind all this, an even greater storm was brewing. Of course, no one was aware of this—perhaps only Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling knew.

“President Xiao, this time we’ll definitely get the whole of Hong Kong moving!” Han Yun’s eyes were reddened. Xiao Ran’s speech might not mean much to people in other regions, but for those in Hong Kong who were in dire straits, it was like a guiding light. His speech was like a lamp in the darkness, calming their panic and fear and showing them the way!

“Not necessarily!” Xiao Ran smiled faintly. It would be foolish of him to bet everything on this…