Chapter 366: A Deliberate Scheme

Meanwhile, at Robin's headquarters.
"How did it go?"
"The market closed, a final gain of 134%."
Robin's CEO, Tynes, had become emaciated in just a few days, his eyes sunken, looking as if he had aged ten years.
Not only him, but all the executives in the conference room were ashen-faced, as if they had just crawled out of a grave.
"What about the margin?"
"We pleaded and begged with the clearinghouse, and only managed to get a little time to postpone the payment.
But what if tomorrow… the stock price surges like today…"
The rest was unnecessary.
Unable to pay the margin meant default.
Once a default occurred, all of Robin's transactions would be immediately frozen.
In other words, all of Robin's clients' accounts would be frozen simultaneously.
"How… did things turn out like this?"
Tynes muttered to himself, filled with resentment and humiliation.
If it weren't for Game Station, this meteorite from outer space, how could they have been forced into this predicament?
"Ultimately, the 'zero commission' model that was touted the loudest back then has now become the tightest noose around our necks! If it weren't for this..."
"Are you blaming me now?" Tynes slammed his fist on the table, roaring,
"It was precisely because of the full implementation of zero commission that Robin Hood achieved its explosive growth today!"
However, what brought them success also brought them failure.
Prospering on zero commission, they were ultimately driven to the brink of default by this very flawed model.
“Our model is fine!” an executive said through gritted teeth.
“The problem is, we’ve exposed our weaknesses far too clearly to the enemy!”
“The enemy?”
“Fanghuan Investment! That demon from the East!” The executive’s voice was filled with hatred.
“They used Musk, social media, and community forums to incite everyone to rush into Game Station, driving up the stock price!
They knew from the beginning! They knew that by making the stock price surge so wildly in a short period of time, they could deliver a fatal blow to Robin Hood!”
Such a series of illogical events piling up together could not be a coincidence.
It must have been a meticulously planned scheme!
This was a thoroughly malicious and utterly ruthless conspiracy!
Their goal wasn’t to destroy those short-selling hedge funds at all.
Their true prey, from beginning to end, had only one target.
That was—Robin Hood!
“These heartless lunatics…! How could they be so vicious!” Tynes trembled with rage.
"On Wall Street, Fang Huan Investment's reputation is legendary.
It's said that anyone who doesn't comply with their will or hinders their interests, no matter who they are, will be ruthlessly crushed!"
Tains had long heard of Fang Huan's infamous reputation.
But what he'd heard and what he'd experienced firsthand were two different things.
Only after experiencing it for himself did he realize that the rumors were incredibly lenient compared to reality.
These dragons from the East were a hundred times more terrifying than the rumors described!
"What exactly do these lunatics want from us? Why are they going to such lengths to destroy us?"
“They might… just want Robin Hood to disappear from this world.”
Another executive said desperately, “After all, we’ve genuinely threatened their territory.”
Frustration!
Taines felt an unprecedented sense of frustration, a frustration so intense it drove him mad!
But there was nowhere to voice this frustration.
In the jungle of survival of the fittest, exposing weakness is itself a cardinal sin!
The most pressing issue now wasn't finding out who was behind it all, but the exorbitant margin payment due tomorrow—a sum that could cripple the company!
What should they do?!
“The liquidation house knows our predicament, so they gave us a grace period.
But they also said that if the stock price continues to rise like this, they can’t help us…”
“Then what do they want us to do? Just suspend trading?!” Taines roared.
“…”
In an instant, the entire conference room fell into a deathly silence, a strange, insane thought quietly spreading through the air.
"Wait...wait! What...what are you all thinking?"
Taines felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the shifty eyes of the crowd.
"Mr. Taines, perhaps...this is our only way out."
"You...you really want me to unplug the internet?!"
"No, suspending trading won't be very effective. Even if it's suspended, it'll reopen sooner or later, and then they'll retaliate by buying even more aggressively."
"Then..."
"Let's just stop them from buying!
Let's just remove the 'buy' button!
Leave only the 'sell' option!
That way, everyone will panic and frantically sell, won't they?"
Taines blinked, almost unable to believe his ears.
Are these guys serious?
"Are you crazy?! Doing this will create a huge mess!
The investors who suffer losses will line up to sue us into bankruptcy!"
"So, we need to assemble the top-tier legal team right now!
We even have a sufficiently 'logical' excuse:
If Robin Hood defaults and goes bankrupt, the huge shockwave will spread to every corner, triggering a domino effect, and the entire financial market will collapse!
The final impact would be equivalent to a second 'Lehman Brothers' event!"
'To prevent that apocalyptic scenario from happening, we are 'forced' to choose to remove the 'buy' button!'
Just cry and tell this story, and that's it!
"Lawsuits will definitely come pouring in, but we can drag it out and fight a war of attrition.
After all, most of the troublemakers are retail investors, aren't they?
As long as our legal team is good enough, the court will help mediate and offer a settlement amount at their discretion."
"What about fines? Huge fines are inevitable!"
"But at least the company won't die! As long as the company is still around, we can continue operating! We can always make the money back!"
Removing the buy button… what kind of genius could come up with that?!
No matter how Tynes thought about it, this idea was utterly absurd and would definitely become a famous scandal in financial history.
"What about Fanghuan Investment and Musk? Will those two lunatics let this go?"
"Them? They've already achieved their goal.
Fanghuan Investment successfully suppressed our influence, and Musk got his wish and ruthlessly exploited the short sellers.
They probably have little interest in litigation; who would want to waste money on such a pointless mess?"
"..."
Fanghuan Investment, Musk.
If it weren't for those two bastards, things wouldn't have come to this!
Taines wanted nothing more than to rush over and punch them in the face right now.
But reason told him he couldn't.
However, revenge is a dish best served cold.
He'd remember this debt.
Today's humiliation, he would repay a hundredfold one day!
"..."
Taines fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
But his hesitation didn't last long.