Chapter 414: A Shocking Chess Game

Amidst the global cryptocurrency market's devastating winter, Fanghuan Coin, a rising star, is experiencing explosive growth against the trend.
Despite skepticism that it might be the next Luna Coin, the "Fanghuan" brand itself is an unbreakable guarantee of credibility.
Moreover, the breadth of Fanghuan Coin's practical applications is unprecedented.
"The strong support from Jiangjin Group was a crucial factor.
They fully integrated all their payment channels with us, resulting in an explosive growth in user numbers. This move was incredibly effective."
"It's foreseeable that with FTX's downfall, no exchange will be able to challenge Fanghuan Exchange's dominant position for a long time to come."
"But we can't stop there," Su Hao said calmly.
"Yes, Chairman Su, there's another issue now. This series of collapses in the cryptocurrency market has also affected M-shares."
M-shares and the cryptocurrency market may seem like two separate worlds, but they are actually inextricably linked.
Countless financial derivatives linked to cryptocurrency have been issued by major investment banks and securities firms.
The collapse of Luna and FTX led to the bankruptcy and liquidation of dozens of investment institutions, and panic, like a plague, is sweeping through the financial markets.
"Whether it's VIETN or our AMC, many stocks, regardless of their performance, are plummeting."
"..."
Su Hao remained silent, his gaze sweeping across the data list on the screen.
Sure enough, the screen was a blinding crimson, like a sea of ​​blood.
Suddenly, Su Hao's gaze fixed on a name.
"...FaceWeb, what's going on now?"
"FaceWeb? Oh, their company is a complete mess now.
Their founder, Mark Zuckerberg, seemed obsessed, stubbornly betting everything on 'Metaverse' since last year.
As everyone saw, that thing is a joke.
They're being utterly crushed by the media and investors worldwide."
"Yes, their market value has plummeted. The strong rise of our Picpic has dealt them a fatal blow."
FaceWeb, the former social media giant, is now being predicted by analysts worldwide to produce the worst annual financial report in its history.
However, something strange happened.
At this moment, Su Hao's intuition enveloped the name "FaceWeb" in a dazzling golden light...
***
FaceWeb's market value, at its peak, proudly surpassed the trillion-dollar mark, enjoying unparalleled glory.
The celebratory bell-ringing ceremony, marking its entry into the "trillion-dollar club," seems like only yesterday.
But now, its market capitalization has plummeted from its trillion-dollar pedestal to less than three hundred billion US dollars.
A full seven hundred billion US dollars vanished into thin air!
"The shareholders are in an uproar, making a scene every day, and some are even pressuring Congress to launch an investigation into the company."
At an emergency meeting at Faceweb, a senior executive's remarks caused founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to furrow his brow.
"Investigate me? On what grounds?" His voice was thick with suppressed anger. "Is the stock price drop my fault?"
In his logic, the culprit behind this disaster was the global eviction crisis.
What an ironic reality: the crisis brought FaceWeb unprecedented user growth, but simultaneously strangled its lifeline—advertising revenue.
Those once-lavish sponsors, those brick-and-mortar businesses, were struggling to survive amidst the wave of shutdowns; where would they find the money to invest in advertising?
And advertising was a crucial pillar supporting over 97% of FaceWeb's massive empire's revenue.
When that pillar began to rot, the collapse of the empire was only a matter of time.
No matter how many users you have, without advertising, it's all for nothing.
“What truly dealt us the fatal blow was ‘Picpic’,” an executive said gravely.
“We have over three billion users globally, which seems massive.
But the truth is, our core metrics—user activity and average usage time—have been ruthlessly crushed by ‘Picpic,’ whose user base is far smaller than ours!”
‘Picpic,’ and its addictive short videos, were like an unstoppable cultural plague.
It precisely captured all the fragmented moments of modern life, constructing a digital black hole that mercilessly sucked everyone’s attention into it.
Ultimately, it rapidly swept through and conquered the entire social networking market.
Faceweb didn’t sit idly by.
Mark Burger personally oversaw the launch, deploying short video functionality at unprecedented speed in an attempt to fight back.
However, every struggle, every attempt to imitate, appeared clumsy and powerless against ‘Picpic’s overwhelming, insightful algorithmic offensive, ultimately leading to its complete collapse.
“And the final straw that broke the camel's back was… the Fed’s just released forward guidance for the earnings season!”
Another executive’s voice trembled.
“They hinted that to curb inflation, the next rate hike… could be an unprecedented 100 basis points!”
“What?!” Markberg jumped to his feet. “Are they crazy?!”
“Absolutely. The market crashed as soon as the news came out.
All the analysts are lowering their forecasts, believing a global recession is inevitable.
Our advertisers are cancelling all their advertising orders for the second half of the year at an unprecedented rate!”
A cruel death loop had closed.
The macroeconomic recession led companies to cut advertising budgets;
Meanwhile, Faceweb internally panicked due to its strategic missteps in dealing with ‘picpic,’ accelerating user churn.
Beset by internal and external troubles, Faceweb was at the center of this cyclical storm, enduring the most intense tearing apart!
"Because of this news, our stock price has started another round of sharp decline today!
If this continues... we won't even be able to hold onto 300 billion; it might very well fall below 200 billion!"
Alarm bells rang in Mark Berg's mind: He had to find a way to break this deadlock!
Just then, the conference room door was flung open, and Mark Berger's assistant rushed in, looking flustered.
"It's terrible! Fanghuan Investment... Fanghuan Investment is on a buying spree in the market, buying up huge amounts of our stock!
They've bypassed us and launched a public tender offer directly to funds holding large stakes in us, offering a premium to acquire all their shares!"
"...What?" Markberg didn't react immediately. "Fanghuan? Why would they buy our competitor's stock at this time?"
An executive's lips trembled. He seemed to have realized something and spoke cautiously:
"Don't you find it strange? The panic surrounding the Fed's interest rate hike has been amplified in recent months, and it seems there are always some capital forces fueling it...
And according to our intelligence, many of those capital forces have intricate connections with Fanghuan!"
Another person suddenly realized and added:
"And! Our strategy to deal with 'picpic' has repeatedly failed. Every key product update seems to have been anticipated by them...
And 'picpic's' parent company is Fanghuan!"
A cold, sharp thought flashed through Markberg's mind.
All the seemingly isolated events, all the jumbled fragments of clues, now converge like a magnet, piecing together a chillingly terrifying picture.
Fanghuan, as the parent company of "picpic," is simultaneously launching a devastating attack on itself in terms of product and market penetration.
On the other hand, it is leveraging its influence in the global financial markets to amplify the panic of economic recession, creating a market crash in the cryptocurrency space, precisely detonating its own lifeline—advertising revenue!
Now, they have even issued Fanghuan Coin, frantically absorbing massive amounts of capital into the market, launching a fatal acquisition at the lowest point of "FaceWeb's" stock price!
A breathtaking game has begun!
"It's over..." the first executive murmured, utterly dejected.
"I'm afraid Fang Huan's target from the very beginning was 'Faceweb'!"
Hearing this, Mark Berg felt a chill run from his tailbone to the top of his head. It wasn't the cold of the conference room's air conditioning, but a chilling shiver from the depths of his soul, the inescapable chill of being watched by a behemoth!
In an instant, every hair on his body stood on end!