Shadow Empire

Chapter 1066 Thunderstorm
The call was finally answered after a while. He covered the receiver and looked at the large group of people, saying, "Someone has already answered."

He gestured for silence, then spoke into the receiver, "I'd like to speak with the CEO. I am... we know each other, he will speak to me."

By this time, Cooper had already recognized the guy. He was sitting in the front row at that investor dividend conference. It was said that he and his clients had invested more than five million dollars in Hope Mining stock!
This is definitely not a small number in this era.

The heavy investment also brought amazing returns, with a five million investment yielding a market value of over twelve million at its peak—not all of the five million was purchased at the bottom.

There are many traders like this in Detland who like to use this "buy-the-rise" approach to investing.

After they buy shares at 100 yuan per share at the bottom, if the stock price increases by a certain percentage, say 3%, 6%, or 10%, they will buy up no more than 30% of the shares they already own, which is 30 yuan per share, according to their own style.

This "chasing the rise" strategy may seem a bit silly, but it is actually an operational method that has been proven by the free stock market.

It may seem that by continuously buying new shares, the average price of the shares is increased, but the stock market itself is not a "game of average values". Each transaction is an independent event and an independent calculation.

I bought 100 shares at one dollar, and then another 100 shares at two dollars. In total, the share price seems to have become one dollar and fifty cents.

But actually, it's just that 100 shares cost one yuan, or 100 shares cost two yuan.

As stocks continue to rise, they will continue to chase the upward trend, ensuring that each purchase brings a certain profit.

If the stock price falls immediately after purchase, they will formulate a stop-loss rule based on the purchase rules.

For example, if they buy after the price has risen by 6%, they will start selling some of their shares when the price drops to only 3%.

When significant fluctuations occur, they quickly sell all their stocks, which is the "selling on dips" part of the "buying high and selling low" strategy.

Since this method of operation was published in books, some people have used it to dominate the investment market.

No one, including God, can be sure what those damn graphs will do next.

Some people can make money, while others can't. They either make money or don't make money through other methods, so other methods come into being.

In short, this investor holds a relatively large number of shares and a relatively large market value among these circulating shareholders.

It's normal for him to have the company president's business card.

The secretary quickly replied, "I'm sorry, sir, the president is busy these past few days and he's not in the company..."

Mr. Five Million listened to what the secretary in the president's office said and noticed a tremor in her voice, which made him sense something was wrong. "Has something happened?"

The female secretary on the other end of the phone seemed to be on the verge of collapse; her voice trembled with tears, "I'm sorry, I can't explain it to you in detail, I don't..."

"I have to hang up now, goodbye."

The call was quickly disconnected; the girl's sobbing seemed to carry some kind of terrifying virus, capable of infecting others even through a telephone line.

Mr. Five Million tried his best to appear normal, but his slightly trembling hands betrayed his true feelings.

He tried twice before finally managing to put the phone receiver back on the spring clip. Then he turned around, put his hands behind his back, and left without letting anyone notice his trembling hands.

No matter how hard he tried to hide it, someone would eventually notice something was wrong and ask him about it.

He looked at the people in the room, just shaking his head repeatedly.

Amidst the urging of the crowd, it took him quite a while before he pursed his lips and uttered what his female secretary had said, along with his own analysis: "Something might have happened to the company."

Everyone in the room wore expressions of disbelief. "Don't be ridiculous, how could anything happen?"

Mr. Five Million looked somewhat anxious and restless, making small gestures with his hands on his face. "I don't know, but I feel something is very wrong. I have to go to the company to check it out."

Hope Mining also has a building in New Gold City. Although the location is not particularly good, having its own independent office building can be seen as a potential hint or declaration.

This is a way of showing people that they have the ability.

Some listed companies in New Gold City do not have their own office buildings; some of them are still renting office buildings from others.

But they own their own buildings, and that's where things get different—under the current federal financial security law, any company that meets federal listing standards can go public.

Some very small "listed companies" are small in scale and want to attract more investors' attention and gain development opportunities by going public.

It's the weekend, and for this to happen at this time is absolutely terrible.

Mr. Five Million said he would go over to see it immediately, and others also said they would go with him, including Cooper.

Cooper got into the stockbroker's car. The two had recently become as close as half-brothers, all because of Hope Mining's stock.

They became a community of shared interests, able to empathize with each other's joys and sorrows. Coupled with their common language and hobbies, their relationship grew increasingly close.

After the car started, Cooper asked, "What do you think happened?"

The stockbroker shook his head. "I can't guess."

"The company's stock is performing very well right now. Even if the entrustment of state-owned assets cannot be renegotiated, the resources they control can still drive the market value to continue to grow. I have no idea what will happen."

This is also what stockbrokers don't understand the most. If the previous crash was an accident caused by panic, then what happened to the president now seems very unreasonable.

He couldn't understand what might have happened no matter how hard he tried.

"Could there be some internal issues within the board of directors?"

“I don’t know, but we will find out soon enough what I do know.”

It doesn't take long to get to Hope Mining Company from here; it only takes about thirty minutes.

As their car approached the main gate, they noticed police cars with their lights on outside the company, which immediately made them realize that the problem might be serious!

The two ignored the ticket and parked the car on the side of the road, then ran towards the door.

At this moment, Mr. Five Million and his group arrived and were communicating with the police inside...

"I am an investor in the company, and I have the right to know what is happening here!"

Mr. Five Million's face had turned red; clearly, he was extremely angry and fearful!

The officer shook his head at him. "If you were really some big shot, you wouldn't be making things difficult for someone as insignificant as me. You could call our sheriff or chief, and they would tell me to make way for you."

Instead of constantly demanding that I obey orders I can't possibly obey, why not try what I'm about to say?

Mr. Five Million glared fiercely at the police officer. "I'll remember you."

The officer shrugged indifferently. "Whatever. You'd better have a good memory, or you might not remember me."

"Fuck!" Mr. Five Million cursed, then turned around. "Does anyone here know anyone in the police station?"

Someone quickly raised their hand, "I can go make a phone call."

Only then did Cooper and his stockbroker squeeze through. "What happened?"

Mr. Five Million also vaguely remembered the two men, knowing they were also investors. "I'm not entirely sure, but as you can see, this is definitely a bad thing. I need to make a call too." People made way for him, and he quickly returned from the phone booth. He didn't tell anyone what he had done, but some people seemed to have guessed.

Then someone else left to make a phone call, and then came back.

A few minutes later, the police officer received a notification. He looked at the wealthy people without surprise and lifted the seal, saying, "Only three of you can go in."

Mr. Five Million went first without hesitation, then the person who made the call to the police station went second. After a few people scrambled for a bit, a handsome man in his forties beat the others and squeezed in.

As for Cooper and his stockbroker?
Such a minor character has no chance of getting in.

The moment Mr. Five Million and his two companions entered the office lobby, they sensed a different atmosphere.

There were more police officers in the lobby, questioning everyone around them. Some scrutinizing eyes were cast their way, and then an officer approached them and asked, "Are you also staff members here?"

Mr. Five Million shook his head. "I'm an investor, and I want to know what happened."

The officer looked regretful as he glanced back at the chaotic lobby. "As you can see," he said, "we're trying to figure out what happened."

"What we know right now is that all the company's top executives have disappeared. The only information we have is that they left the country last week."

"Their destination is cooperating with our investigation request, but we are unsure when we will receive more specific information."

"In addition, all the funds in the company's accounts have disappeared."

Mr. Five Million was stunned for a moment, "Disappeared?"

"What does it mean?"

The officer shrugged. "Sorry, literally. This money circulated through multiple accounts in a very professional way, was eventually withdrawn, and then disappeared without a trace. It can't be found."

"In other words, they may have run off with the donation!"

"The donations ran off with?" Mr. Five Million laughed in exasperation. "Do you know how much their assets in Lapa are worth?"

"Also, this building alone is worth a lot of money. That's their greatest wealth. How much money can they possibly abscond with?"

"Several million, tens of millions?"

"It's not even a fraction of these assets, why would they do this?"

The officer put his hands on his hips and looked at him. "That's something we're also trying to figure out, sir."

"If you don't have anything else to do, you'd better leave first. Of course, if you want to see anyone, you can register, but whatever you do, you'll need one of our people to accompany you."

As if he had just realized something, he said, "That's right, this building doesn't belong to Hope Mining. They just rented the whole building and forged the documents."

"The building owners have also called the police; they have been three months behind on rent payments."

Without that statement, Mr. Five Million might have thought there was some misunderstanding or other situation, such as the president and the board of directors going to discuss some new cooperation plan or to purchase mineral resources.

But when he learned that the building, which had been touted from the beginning as a self-sufficient mining company, was rented by his mother and that she was behind on rent, he realized that there might be a huge, terrible, and astonishing hole in it!

He was even a little unsteady on his feet!

Sweat was visibly seeping from his forehead. He immediately turned and walked outside, and the two people who had come in with him also left with him.

There's no point in staying here. We might as well go out and discuss it with everyone, and see if anyone else can figure out what really happened.

When they shared the information they had gathered with those outside, everyone wore expressions of disbelief.

Furthermore, as elites of Detland, whether they have experienced many stories themselves or heard many stories, the explosion of these elements often means that a shocking deception has been partially exposed.

Many people, including Cooper, started trembling after learning about this.

Mr. Five Million has taken over as the salon host, bringing people together. "What we need now is unity. First, we need to figure out what exactly happened."

"If they leased this building, then... what about the company's consistently profitable assets?"

“Minerals, and other things, whether these things are real, and whether their ownership is really in the hands of Hope Mining.”

When the police said they had forged the building's title deed, a terrible thought popped into Mr. Five Million's mind—it was all a scam!

It was a scam from the very beginning!

They were scammed, like the "drug miracle" and the "railway miracle" they often talked about, those "miraculous disasters" that happened in Detland and reaped the profits from countless investors!
Prior to this, there had been many classic scams perpetrated by listed companies of all sizes, the largest of which were "drug fraud" and "railway fraud".

There was a pharmaceutical company that claimed to have developed a super effective drug that could cure many diseases at the time, with only one injection required.

They also produced many highly professional clinical trial reports, including photos of patients, which they continuously published in newspapers and magazines.

In addition, some so-called medical experts, as well as some foreign medical experts, have said that this is indeed a great invention and they are looking forward to its effects after it is launched on the market.

This drug, dubbed a "miracle cure," hasn't even hit the market yet, but the stock of its parent company, which developed it, is soaring like a rocket. If rockets existed in this era, it would take off and never come down.

The stock price, which was originally less than one yuan, skyrocketed to more than ten yuan in a very short period of time. Everyone believed that this was a miracle in medical history and a great victory for mankind in the fight against disease!
Everyone is eagerly awaiting its release. Meanwhile, news continues to emerge from this organization, such as the triumph over a disease or the recovery of critically ill patients who are now able to get out of bed thanks to the all-purpose drug.

All sorts of information and materials came together, creating a carnival in Detland!
Then, a reporter quickly published an article questioning the authenticity of the miracle drug, and then more media outlets began to follow up. Almost overnight, people discovered that it was a complete scam.

They absconded with over 400 million federal soles.

If converted to today's values, it would be approximately three billion.

The "railway miracle" was a similar case, where a railway company suddenly claimed that they had secured contracts to build tens of thousands of kilometers of railways both domestically and internationally, and then displayed these contracts.

Surprisingly, the other party to the contract did not come forward to expose them at this time, but instead remained silent.

Afterwards, people didn't seem to pursue the matter further, as their attention was focused on where those people had gone.

The railway company thus gained significant attention from Detland investors, and its stock price surged dozens of times. Six months later, it vanished without a trace.

All the investments went down the drain. Only then did these "other half of the contract" take the initiative to declare that they had never signed a complete contract with these companies.

Some of these were letters of intent, and the company only showed a portion of them, concealing some potentially cautionary details.

In short, they completely shirked their responsibilities, and hundreds of millions of dollars were embezzled.

These events that occurred on Detland Street became stories that every veteran here would tell to newcomers, warning them that investing is not a low-risk endeavor.

On the contrary, investing is the federal government's riskiest and most profitable endeavor!

Every investment requires caution.

But ironically, this is exactly what happened to them, which is something none of them can accept.

At this moment, all they can hope for is that this won't be some kind of "mining miracle" that will push them into an abyss from which they can't get out!
(End of this chapter)