Chapter 556: Killing Three Birds with One Stone

A cold glint flashed in Anthony's eyes:
"In Japan, we've turned the political scene upside down; they're too busy dealing with their own problems to cause any real disruption.
On the other hand, Fang Huan's fierce attack on South Korea has severely damaged the core interests of the Shanxing Group, both in the semiconductor and financial markets, cutting off their financial lifeline.
They probably see this as a life-or-death struggle."
"So, it's most likely those South Koreans did it?"
"Very likely. They were probably driven to desperation and decided to launch a 'decapitation strike'—ruthless, but incredibly stupid.
They're trying to throw Fang Huan into chaos by assassinating Chairman Su, while also serving as a bloody warning.
But, in our view, it's utterly absurd."
"Yes, boss, there's another reason we couldn't foresee this attack...
It's because the whole thing is so illogical, so contrary to common sense!
Those Koreans made an utterly stupid mistake.
Did they really think that killing Chairman Su would sink the Fanghuan Group? What a joke!"
That's right, Su Hao, hailed as the soul and core of the Fanghuan Group, a god-like mastermind.
But he's definitely not the "final boss" hiding behind the scenes.
Just look at his file, and you'll find the clues.
How could a hopeless shut-in, a typical good-for-nothing, suddenly become the mastermind behind global financial upheavals?
It's obvious even to a fool that Su Hao is just a pawn pushed to the forefront, a glamorous "white glove" enough to deceive the whole world.
Behind him, there must be an unseen hand at work!
If Su Hao were truly gone, the entity behind the scenes could easily install another proxy.
In the end, instead of severely damaging Fang Huan, it would only thoroughly enrage this sleeping lion.
"That's right, incredibly stupid," Anthony sneered.
"They weren't assassinating him, they were pulling the lion's whiskers... no, they succeeded.
Now, the lion has awakened, and the consequences are extremely serious."
At this moment, Fang Huan was consumed by rage.
Not only did he issue a final ultimatum to "Wildfire" to rectify its operations;
Within Xia Country, the Fang Huan Group had also used its powerful connections, mobilizing official forces to launch a bloody purge under the guise of "sweeping away the underground gambling industry chain."
"It's rumored that Fang Huan has mobilized the elite forces from all his security companies.
They've uprooted and crushed any organization even remotely connected to the assassination operation, regardless of size.
Even local government forces are fully cooperating, giving it the green light."
"With such a massive operation, how can the news be suppressed?"
"The official explanation is 'severely cracking down on gambling crimes and purifying social atmosphere.'
Fang Huan, however, has used his invisible hand to control all social media and online communities, preventing any related information from leaking out."
In the old days when news relied on newspapers and television, manipulating public opinion was easy.
However, with the widespread use of smartphones and the rapid rise of social networks, everyone is a self-media outlet, everyone is a monitor.
In theory, it's impossible to maintain absolute control like before.
"But people are wrong; they're too naive."
They thought they had seen the whole world, but what they actually saw was merely a world that Fang had imagined for them.”
Anthony said quietly,
"Look at the situation now. In some places, Fang Huan has become a 'god' in the online world.
They control everything, and what's most terrifying is that the masses are completely unaware of this, still believing they live under the free sun."
Fang Huan not only owns several giant social media platforms, but has also quietly acquired controlling stakes in numerous online communities, large and small, both domestically and internationally.
Those who obey me prosper, those who oppose me perish.
If any platform dares to refuse their acquisition offer, it will face utter annihilation—
Fang Huan will directly cut off its cloud services, physically eliminating it completely!
This is the terrifying aspect of owning a top-tier cloud service company.
Especially after acquiring "Aaron," they are virtually invincible in this cyber world.
"Now I finally understand why they were so crazy back then, throwing money into artificial intelligence without regard to cost."
Anthony muttered to himself,
"It wasn't for some bullshit 'human progress,' but to create, at this very moment, an absolutely rational system, a billion times more efficient than human...public opinion control."
Using artificial intelligence to achieve precise filtering and public opinion guidance from massive amounts of information.
This is something out of a science fiction movie, and Fang Huan's investment has actually made it a reality!
After a moment of silence, Anthony raised the most crucial, and most perplexing, question:
"Since the Korean conglomerates dared to act, they couldn't have been so hasty. It must have been meticulously planned, with a determination to succeed.
But why did they fail three times in a row, in such a ridiculous manner?
Given their circumstances, this kind of thing only allows for success, not failure. They must know this better than anyone else."
"You mean... Chairman Su already knew about the assassination plan beforehand?" The subordinate gasped.
"That's the only explanation! Good luck might allow him to evade it once. Extreme luck might allow him to evade it twice.
But to evade three assassination attempts meticulously planned by national-level agents?
Unless, he knew in advance when the assassin would arrive, from which direction, and even...
even what color underwear the assassin would be wearing that day!"
If this assassination was orchestrated by Shan Xing, it must have been carried out by Korea's top agents.
Those people's professionalism is not to be underestimated.
They were assassins who could never make a mistake.
Yet they failed three times in a row. The only explanation was—the intelligence had already been leaked!
“Then…why is headquarters so angry with us?!”
“Because this is a test, and also a warning.” Anthony’s lips curled into a bitter smile.
“To see just how capable our intelligence network really is, and to see the loyalty of everyone in the Fanghuan Group.
After all, ‘Wildfire’ has expanded too quickly lately. It’s time to teach us a lesson, to put those arrogant fools back on our collars.”
"And...and incidentally, they also gained a legitimate excuse to take action against South Korea?"
"Yes," Anthony nodded,
"Ultimately, this assassination attempt, from beginning to end, was orchestrated and driven by Fang Huan Investment.
Using Chairman Su, this bigwig, as bait, they deliberately provoked South Korea to act, and may even have secretly passed on false intelligence.
Through this 'assassination attempt,' they tested the loyalty and media control capabilities of the Xia Guo Group headquarters;
they also gained a righteous pretext to crack down on our 'Shanhuo';
and incidentally, they even seized leverage over South Korea's Shanxing.
This deal was a triple win! Fang Huan made a killing."
Using their own core figure, Su Hao, hailed by the outside world as "the spokesperson for God," as bait to orchestrate such a grand and earth-shattering scheme.
Only Fang Huan could pull off such an inconceivable and ruthless move.
But that's how they've always been, isn't it?
"So... Boss, what should we do next?"
"What else can we do? The master has already raised the whip. What choice do we, as his dogs, have but to stick our asses out?" Anthony stood up, patted his subordinate on the shoulder,
"Tell headquarters, whatever they say, we do. Don't contradict them.
Like the brothers, I don't want to give up this... such a 'thrilling' job."