The first thing Rachel did upon reaching her room was to send a text message to her mother to update her.
In her report, she informed her mother that Steve planned to manipulate the cryptocurrency issued by the President’s family in the near future. The goal was to drive up the cryptocurrency’s value by at least two or three times, attract a massive influx of speculative capital, and then harvest huge profits. Rachel’s mother, eager to gain public recognition, naturally lost no time in reporting all this information to the Office of the Left Army Commander.
Wu Yongzhen was overjoyed when he received the news.
The venture from his last windfall hadn’t even entered production yet, and now a new opportunity had already arisen. If he managed it well, he could potentially make hundreds of millions—or even billions—more.
He immediately informed Rachel’s mother and made a highly tempting offer: if Rachel could help him seize this opportunity, he would give her family two more dragon-patterned bronze tokens and a six-month supply of the antidote for two people. This way, her mother and other relatives could enjoy a life of freedom unlike anything they had ever known before.
Rachel’s mother was also extremely overjoyed upon receiving this promise.
Her life had been far more wretched than Rachel’s. For years, she had never had the chance to obtain the Dragon-Patterned Bronze Talisman or the opportunity to take the antidote that offered six months of relief. She had never even experienced ten days—or even half a month—of true freedom in her entire life.
Her husband had always complained that her life was dull and that she was too tied to the home. He would rarely agree to an intercontinental trip lasting more than a week, let alone a life where she could travel the world. She had no way to voice her suffering; she yearned for freedom more than anyone, yet she knew she possessed absolutely no real freedom.
Now, that opportunity had finally arrived.
With the dragon-patterned bronze token, she could travel freely around the world without needing to report in or wait for approval; with the six-month antidote, she could finally realize her dream of traveling the globe.
Overjoyed, she immediately shared the news with Rachel, who was equally delighted.
Upon receiving those items, she had felt like a colorblind person finally able to see color.
Now, her mother and sister would also have the chance to experience that same feeling.
They had achieved this through their own efforts. She did not expect her mother and sister to thank her; instead, she felt proud and fortunate to have the ability to fight for their freedom.
Two days later, Charlie and Maria decided to return to Antarctica.
They had been away for quite some time, and Yun Rugo and Song Ruyu were still there, mending their chains. Although Charlie wasn’t worried about them, he thought it best to return and check on their situation. If they continued to lay low while refining their strategy and making good progress, he and Maria could rest for a few days before heading out again.
Consequently, he entrusted the task of setting a trap for Wu Yongzhen to Rachel and Steve.
Steve also invested real money, preparing to drive up the price of the cryptocurrency associated with the Grand President’s family.
On the first day of the market rally, Wu Yongzhen invested 500 million US dollars.
The simultaneous price surge caused by the actions of Steve and Wu Yongzhen sent the cryptocurrency skyrocketing, resulting in a gain of over 50% on the very first day.
However, Wu Yongzhen also emphasized that the 50% figure merely reflected the current price, not actual profit.
Once you begin selling your holdings, the price inevitably drops as more shares are offloaded.
You might sell 1% of your stake, only to see the price fall by 10%. By the time you finish selling, the price could well be lower than your initial purchase price, making it impossible to lock in that 50% gain.
The safest approach is to wait for a steady influx of buyers for the cryptocurrency. As long as there is a constant flow of money entering the market and the major players refrain from dumping their holdings, the price is likely to keep rising.
At this stage, both major players and retail investors need to hold onto their shares if they want to make money. They are creating a situation where buying shares on the open market is impossible. With no one willing to sell, the price will inevitably keep climbing until someone decides to sell, at which point the price will stabilize. Therefore, the ideal scenario is to drive the price up by at least 500% before gradually selling off the remaining shares.
By that point, the market would be on the rise, attracting a large number of unsuspecting retail investors. The major players would then gradually sell their holdings to these retail investors, stabilizing the price as much as possible in the process. Once the major players had sold off their assets, retail investors would realize something was amiss, triggering a panic. Everyone would scramble to sell, but with no buyers, prices would naturally plummet—potentially even dropping to zero.
Just as Wu Yongzhen was poised to reap a net profit of one billion US dollars on his five-hundred-million-dollar investment, Charlie and Maria returned to Antarctica via the teleportation array.
Antarctica was still in the grip of the polar night, with sub-zero winds whipping up ice and snow like sand. Yet for the two of them—fresh from the clamor of the outside world—this place was nothing less than the last sanctuary on Earth.