Chapter 239: War Begins!

"Forget about phased sales, forget about crashing the order book, dump all our holdings at once!"
This was Su Hao's first order.
The traders responsible for VIX felt a jolt, but muscle memory made them instantly act, frantically typing on their keyboards.
That was a super bomb worth billions of dollars!
According to industry practice, a sell-off of this size must be broken down into countless small orders, sold carefully and in stages to avoid impacting the market.
But Chairman Su's order seemed to completely ignore this "unwritten rule," ordering them to detonate this nuclear bomb all at once!
Even more astonishingly, this giant bomb, upon hitting the market, didn't create a massive wave; instead, it was like a drop of water merging into the ocean, instantly swallowed up by the thirsty buying!
"Holy crap...it's all gone so quickly?"
"With this in-and-out...how much have we actually made?!"
However, there was no time for them to marvel.
[Buy again.]
The voice in the earpiece sounded again, calm and devoid of any emotion.
[This time, don't buy all at once. Spread out the price range, build positions in layers, and buy back what you just sold.]
"Huh? No, we just sold everything? Did I hear that right?" a newcomer exclaimed instinctively.
Unfortunately, Su Hao couldn't hear him.
To ensure absolute clarity and one-way transmission of instructions, their communication equipment had earpieces but no microphones.
"What are you staring at! Do you want to die! Didn't you hear Chairman Su's instructions?!" Liang Haiyuan roared.
"Didn't you hear Chairman Su's orders? Do as he says! Even a second's delay is a sin! Execute now!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
The frenzy wasn't limited to VIX.
Dozens of traders in other stock positions also received a flurry of buy and sell orders at the same time.
This was a completely different dimension from the previous drill!
If Liang Haiyuan's simulation training was the peaceful mode of the beginner's village, then what they were experiencing now was the final boss battle on hellish difficulty!
This was an extreme operation measured in seconds, not based on algorithms, nor on their own judgment, but entirely on following another person's voice to press the button that determined the life or death of billions of dollars!
This feeling was so difficult, so…exciting!
With each operation, they felt like they had just crawled out of the gates of hell, terrified that pressing the wrong button would cause billions of dollars to vanish into thin air at their fingertips.
But! When they saw the astronomical profits in their accounts, jumping wildly at an unbelievable speed:
A chemical called "dopamine" erupted within them like a volcanic eruption!
'But…how…how does Chairman Su…multitask so effortlessly without making a mistake?'
A thought surfaced in everyone's mind.
These "tools" who only needed to mindlessly execute commands were already on the verge of their limits.
Su Hao, the sole "brain," needs to simultaneously observe dozens of rapidly changing battlefields and issue precise buying and selling orders.
Yet, from beginning to end, his voice remained perfectly steady, without a single slip of the tongue.
It was as if he had rehearsed this devastating operation a thousand times over; his movements were fluid and natural, sending chills down the spines of the traders.
Compared to the ever-increasing, terrifying returns, Su Hao's unwavering, indifferent calmness sent a shiver down the spines of these traders.
***
Meanwhile, across the ocean.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC for short.
As the highest regulatory body in the American financial world, their duty is to monitor the entire market like an eagle eye, protecting investors and upholding market "fairness."
Any suspicious force attempting to disrupt the market will be placed under their highest-powered microscope.
But recently, the SEC staff have been practically growing weeds.
The market is too calm; the VIX index is ridiculously low, leaving even the most ruthless financial giants with no opportunity to stir up trouble.
One by one, everyone fell silent, and the market was peaceful.
“Director, we noticed that a month ago, a mysterious account established a substantial position in a specific sector.”
“Oh?”
“But a week ago, another huge sum of money poured in, simultaneously going long on VIX-related products and shorting a large number of blue-chip stocks.”
“Which company?”
“The one that entered the market a month ago, using Goldman Sachs’s channels.”
Hearing the name “Goldman Sachs,” SEC Commissioner Alexis frowned.
If you were to ask who was riding high on Wall Street right now, it would undoubtedly be Goldman Sachs.
The reason is simple: many members of the current president’s core advisory team are alumni of Goldman Sachs.
“These guys built their positions early…” A knowing glint flashed in Alexis’s eyes, “They’re trying to stir things up.”
This wasn’t some conspiracy theory; it was no secret on Wall Street.
“Regardless, keep a close eye on them. Especially that… force that entered the market a week ago, have you found out where they came from?”
“Preliminary assessment… the funds originated from Xia Country.”
“Xia Country?” Alex was somewhat surprised.
“The report shows the scale of the funds… exceeds six billion US dollars!”
“…What the hell?! How much did you say?!” Alex jumped up from his chair.
He had thought that funds from Xia Country were at most small-scale speculative capital.
But six billion US dollars?! That amount of money is enough to create a massive wave in the market!
Even in the massive US stock market, an invasion by “barbarians” exceeding one billion US dollars would be enough to cause serious market turmoil!
“Damn it, which lunatic is it in Xia Country…”
“Chief!” Before the words were finished, an agent rushed in, looking panicked. “You have to check the market immediately!”
“What’s wrong?”
“The VIX index has broken through 20 in just a few minutes!”
“What?!”
Alexster rushed to the monitor screen. Sure enough, the red line representing the VIX index had pierced through 20 and was hurtling towards 25!
“What on earth is going on?!”
“It’s the just-released employment and salary data, Chief!”
"The data far exceeded expectations, and the market feared an accelerated rate hike. This news ignited the market!"
The agent explained rapidly,
"Previously, too much capital was concentrated in inverse VIX products, betting on market stability.
Now that the VIX has risen, the automatic liquidation mechanism of these products has been triggered, forcing them to sell stocks and buy VIX futures to hedge, causing stock prices to fall and the VIX to surge further…
The dominoes have fallen!"
Rising employment and wage data mean that expectations for future rate hikes have greatly increased.
Frankly, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a huge deal.
The problem is that far too much money was betting on inverse VIX products.
A tiny variable triggered a chain reaction of automatic liquidation, ultimately turning things into a disaster.
"Those idiots! They knew this would happen, yet they still chose this exact moment to release the data..."
Alexander gritted his teeth. He instantly understood why those bastards at Goldman Sachs had been able to lay in wait.
At this rate, the tens of billions of dollars piled up in VIX derivatives would vanish in an instant!
And this was just the beginning!
The chain reaction of collapses it triggered would evaporate hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars in market capitalization from the entire US stock market within hours!
This was nothing short of a financial tsunami!
The beginning of the infamous:
"Volmageddon"!
“Wait,” Alex suddenly remembered something,
“Never mind Goldman Sachs for now… what about that force from China we were talking about? How are they doing?”
“Chief, they… they’re the most active trading account in the entire market right now!”
The agent pointed to a data screen, his voice trembling, “Look at this data… it’s unbelievable!”
Alex stared intently, his pupils suddenly contracting.
“This… this is… the trading records for the last minute?!”
“Yes, Chief. And they’re still trading, using all six billion dollars!”
“You mean… these lunatics are using six billion dollars to… play ultra-short-term trading in the US stock market?!”
Alex felt his worldview completely shattered!
What a joke! He’d never seen anything so insane in his life!
Even a behemoth like Goldman Sachs wouldn’t dare use such a massive amount of capital to play ultra-short-term trading in such a chaotic market!
This completely defies all investment logic!
But the problem is… these madmen who don't play by the rules aren't losing money; they… they're making a killing!
These Easterners, seemingly devoid of common sense, are taking advantage of the chaos on this blood-soaked battlefield to wildly wield their butcher's knives!
At that moment, Director Alex, the man wielding the reins of the world's most powerful financial regulatory agency, felt a chill run through him.
He suddenly awoke, a terrifying thought sweeping over him.
This wasn't some market fluctuation, much less a game of capital.
This is a mysterious behemoth from the East, launching a long-planned attack on Wall Street and the entire American financial market...
Financial war!!