Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 586 Death Announcement
Early morning of March 2005, 3.

At this time, 2 hours had passed since the farce on the last night of February.

During these 35 hours, the hottest news around the world was the scandal that Lin Yuan suffered at the 77th Academy Awards and his angry declaration of war against the mastermind behind the scenes.

This news has attracted so much attention worldwide that it has even surpassed the popularity of the Iraq War.

At this time, the British and American coalition forces launched a second invasion of Iraq and would completely overthrow the Saddam regime within a month.

Such a major historical event was completely suppressed in popularity by Lin Yuan’s news.

There is nothing we can do about it. No one can control what the public likes to watch.

In the study of Lin Yuan's Beverly Hills mansion, Charlize came in with three drinks.

She placed a cup of American coffee in front of Betty, a cup of hot latte in front of Lin Yuan, and finally a cup of hot milk in front of herself.

"Public opinion has almost brewed, right?" Lin Yuan picked up the hot milk coffee, took a sip and asked.

"It's more than just almost the same. It's far beyond expectations. Charlize, show him how exaggerated this public opinion storm is!" Betty said with a smile.

Charlize picked up a stack of newspapers and placed them in front of Lin Yuan. They were all American media outlets, and the front page headlines were all about Lin Yuan:
"This is a despicable and shameless scheme that brings shame to the American culture that we are so proud of. Every American citizen with a conscience should stand behind Lin Yuan without hesitation and support him in fighting for himself." - Comment from the New York Times.

Well, this is indeed Lin Yuan’s public opinion base, expressing support for him as always.

"The ballots caught fire? They only burned the ballots? Shouldn't we be thankful that the person behind the scenes still had a bit of humanity? He didn't even cause a 'car accident' for the vote counters. That was really merciful!" - The Washington Post comment.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan mentally gave a thumbs-up. Sure enough, it was The Washington Post. Their sensitivity was different. No wonder they could predict that financial personnel traveling to Afghanistan for an audit would inevitably have a plane accident.

"No matter what, Ernst & Young must have played an ignominious role in this shady incident. Even if the ballots have been burned, justice is in the hearts of the people, and everyone knows the truth of the matter. Ernst & Young has lost the public's trust forever and can only slide into an endless abyss." - Comment by The Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal focuses on the fraud committed by Ernst & Young.

As reported, this shady incident will greatly damage the credibility of Ernst & Young.

The specific manifestation is...

The companies whose recent financial reports were audited by Ernst & Young and issued unqualified opinions saw their share prices plummet as soon as the market opened yesterday.

After the scandal was exposed, the credit of Ernst & Young was completely ruined.

In the face of such a scandal, shareholders began to collude on the Internet for the dual purposes of self-protection and venting Lin Yuan's anger, and agreed to jointly sell the stocks of companies audited by Ernst & Young.

So, after the panic selling, the stock prices of these companies began to plummet.

For example, the companies under the Mellon Group:

General Reinsurance Company, whose stock price fell 15% yesterday, added $128 billion to its market capitalization.

Gulf Oil's stock price fell 19% yesterday, with an additional market value of $218 billion.

National Steel's stock price fell 28% yesterday, giving it an additional $148 billion in market value.

……

In just one trading day yesterday, the listed companies under the Mellon Group lost nearly $600 billion in market value!
Betty smiled and said, "I bet Arthur Mellon must be smashing all those ivory carvings in his collection in anger right now."

"Ivory carvings? That's illegal to collect. You really have no moral bottom line." Lin Yuan said with a shrug.

"Is that the point? The point is that the Mellon Group's wealth shrank by $600 billion in one day! Aren't you happy?" Betty asked.

"Hahaha, of course. They deserve it!" Lin Yuan said.

"It's not over yet. As soon as the story opened today, the Mellon Group's stock prices continued to fall. So far, those companies have fallen by another 7% to 13%." Betty said.

"It fell so sharply yesterday, can it continue to fall today? I certainly hope their stock price falls as much as possible. How much will it fall?" Lin Yuan asked.

“Once a downward trend is formed and panic selling occurs, it is difficult to stabilize it immediately.

And in this case, a large amount of short-selling capital will not miss the opportunity to hunt, and they will all join in to share the feast.

"I estimate that this round of Mellon Group's overall assets will shrink by 8% to 10%," Betty said.

Hearing this conclusion, Lin Yuan couldn't help but gasp.

You should know that as one of the top ten financial groups in the United States, the Mellon Group's industries include not only listed company stocks, but also a large amount of real estate, bonds, precious metals, etc.

Conservative estimates put the total assets at at least $7 trillion.

If the overall assets shrink by 8% as Betty expected, that would be $5600 billion.

It is equivalent to losing 2 to 3 Linyuan Films at once.

With such a huge economic loss, it's no wonder that Arthur Mellon was exposed. Even a top consortium cannot withstand such a huge loss.

Regarding this result, Lin Yuan can only say that it was his own fault and it is very gratifying.

But she wasn't done yet. Betty continued, "This time the stock market crashed, and the share prices of not only Mellon companies fell, but also many other listed companies that were also audited by Ernst & Young.

For example, the stock prices of companies like Mobil Oil, Intel, and American Lines have also plummeted, and they can be said to have suffered unprovoked disasters.”

"They won't blame me, right?" Lin Yuan asked.

If this kind of thing were blamed on him, it would be too unfair.

Betty shook her head and said, "No, their anger is directed at Ernst & Young. After all, it was Ernst & Young that committed fraud, destroyed their own reputation, and caused them to suffer huge losses. They know exactly who to direct their hatred at."

"That's good. So, EY is going to be finished? Only the Big Three will be left in the future?" Lin Yuan asked.

Many Chinese people have heard of the Big Four accounting firms, or “the Big Four” for short. They are PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte.

But there were originally five major accounting firms, and another one of them was Arthur Andersen, which collapsed in 2002 after the energy trading company Enron collapsed amidst a financial fraud scandal. Its auditor, Arthur Andersen, also collapsed due to financial fraud.

At this time, EY, like Andersen three years ago, was also deeply involved in a fraud scandal and its credit completely collapsed.

The consequences were even more serious than those of Andersen - the stock prices of a large number of listed companies collapsed, causing incalculable losses.

Under such circumstances, Lin Yuan didn't believe that Ernst & Young could survive at all.

Betty nodded and said, "Ernst & Young is doomed. But it's not just Ernst & Young that's doomed. Its owner and several senior partners will probably not have a good ending either. If they just lose everything, that's the best outcome..."

Betty didn't elaborate, so Charlize asked, puzzled, "Losing everything is just the best outcome? Could they even risk their lives?"

Lin Yuan took over the conversation and said, "I'm afraid that even if they lose their own lives, their families will be in danger."

"God! Are you top rich people so cruel in your game? You even kill an entire family?" Charlize exclaimed.

"You are one of us now. If I lose one day, our fate will probably be similar. Are you afraid?" Lin Yuan asked.

Charlize puffed out her plump chest and said, "I'm not afraid, and I don't believe you will lose!"

Betty, standing by, smiled and said, "With Lin Yuan and I working together, we won't lose. But how did you know it would affect your family?"

Betty looked at Lin Yuan. Logically speaking, he should have never seen such a dark scene in the top-level game.

Lin Yuan just smiled but didn't answer.

What could he say?

Answer: In later generations, in the news, we have seen this ugly scene exposed countless times?
Bernard Madoff, who once served as the chairman of the Nasdaq board of directors, later had his "Ponzi scheme" exposed due to the outbreak of the subprime mortgage crisis, causing huge financial losses to a large number of powerful people.

The result was that Bernard Madoff died in prison, his son was "forced to commit suicide," and the entire family was wiped out.

The losses caused by Ernst & Young this time definitely exceeded those in the Madoff fraud case.

In this case, can the bosses behind the listed companies let EY go?

When Lin Yuan thought about the tragic endings of the bosses of Ernst & Young and their families, he felt it was not worth it.

At least Madoff relied on the "Ponzi scheme" to live a life of luxury and extravagance for many years.

Although I paid a heavy price in the end, at least I had a good time.

And what about the bosses of Ernst & Young?
He was completely used as a pawn by the Mellon Group and did not gain any huge profits, but instead lost himself.

Lin Yuan didn't sympathize with them. Playing the game in this top power field must be extremely dangerous.

Even chess players could be torn to pieces, let alone those who are chess pieces, whose fate is completely beyond their control.

Lin Yuan knew that he didn't need to take action anymore, as the bloodiness of the power field had already devoured his enemies.

Seeing Lin Yuan sighing, Betty said, "I also participated in this stock price shorting war."

Lin Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "I knew that a capital tycoon like you would not miss such a bloody feast. Tell me, how much money did you make?"

"I mobilized $100 billion myself and made $30 billion. I mobilized your $200 billion and helped you make $62 billion." Betty said proudly.

Hearing Betty's words, Charlize was stunned.

Charlize: Σ(°△°|||)︴

In your opinion, money is really just a number, right?

Earned $92 billion in such a short time?
The capital market is indeed a legitimate place to make money. If you ignore the risks, the rewards for the winners are simply irresistible.

But Betty regretted that she acted too slowly and placed too much emphasis on safety, so the overall return was not high.

After all, the Mellon Group alone lost more than $5600 billion, and when combined with the market value impairment of other companies, the total amount is difficult to estimate.

It was such a rare feast, but she only got to eat a little bit of meat, which was a bit regrettable.

Lin Yuan guessed Betty's thoughts and reached out to touch her head. "I'm very happy to have made so much money. I don't feel wronged at all. I wish they would stab me in the back a few more times."

"I think so too. Next time I will be prepared to earn more. This way, if you put yourself in a difficult position and get stabbed in the back a few times, we can truly become the richest man in the world." Betty said with a smile.

Charlize on the side: (￣△￣；)
I don't understand what you're trying to do, but I'm shocked.

Charlize took out a few more newspapers and some news screenshots and excerpts and placed them in front of Lin Yuan: "These are reports from news media around the world. You can also take a look. It can be said that we have support from all over the world."

Lin Yuan flipped through the media reports Charlize handed him. There were reports from China, Japan, South Korea, Europe...

There are even reports from India, a mysterious Eastern country, and a number of mainstream African media.

These media, spanning from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere, from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere, all expressed their support for Lin Yuan.

In this storm of public opinion, Lin Yuan demonstrated his unparalleled influence on a global scale. Charlize said it was no exaggeration to say that he received support from all over the world.

This is also the first time that Lin Yuan's world-class influence has been displayed to everyone without any concealment.

Betty dared to bet that Arthur Mellon would never have thought that Lin Yuan's influence was not limited to Europe, America and East Asia, but had even penetrated into India and Africa, becoming a truly global star.

If he were given another chance, he would definitely not rush in so rashly.

Betty said: "Arthur Mellon is under tremendous pressure now. The chairman of the Oscar organizing committee, John Donald, has been arrested. The West Coast Guard Command is under investigation and the commander has been taken away for investigation.

Things are moving in a direction that is not favorable to him.”

Suddenly, Betty's cell phone rang.

After she answered the phone and listened for a few words, she immediately said, "Protect Commander Negan. We don't want to completely fall out with the Coast Guard. Don't let any more accidents happen."

Then Betty hung up the phone and said to Lin Yuan, "John Donald committed suicide in prison."

Lin Yuan said, "I guess the surveillance camera at the scene must have been broken when he committed suicide?"

"How do you know?" Betty asked in surprise.

"There is nothing new under the sun, no surprise at all," said Lin Yuan.

"This means that the investigation into the scandal of the Oscars cannot be carried out further because all the key witnesses and evidence are missing," said Betty.

"It's okay. Sometimes the absence of evidence is also evidence. These 'accidents' themselves can prove a lot of things. I believe that people who understand will understand." Lin Yuan said.

Betty said, "I've had Commander Negan of the Coast Guard under guard. The information and evidence he revealed only proves that Arthur Mellon contacted him to send a few ships in. But it doesn't prove that Arthur Mellon ordered the assassination."

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "I know, but I still say the same thing. In the eyes of most people, this evidence is enough to prove the problem."

"But in this case, we can't take legal action to convict Arthur Mellon," Betty said.

"Who said I was going to take legal action? How many years can he be sentenced to? He almost took my life!" Lin Yuan said.

"So what are you going to do?" Betty asked.

"Please help me make a technically processed encrypted voice-changing call to Arthur Mellon, and don't leave any evidence. Tell him to be prepared, because I am going to assassinate him once too." Lin Yuan said.

Lin Yuan thought Betty would talk him out of his impulsiveness, but Betty just asked, "Are you sure? Especially after telling him in advance like this."

"If I don't tell him in advance, how can he endure the torture of constant fear? Believe me, I am 100% sure." Lin Yuan said.

"That's good. Is there anything else I can do?" Betty asked.

"Will doing this cause you trouble that you can't handle?" Lin Yuan asked.

Betty shook her head: "You Chinese people like to say that some things are not as heavy as a pound if you don't weigh them on the scale, and they won't stop even if you weigh a thousand pounds.

As long as you don't get caught and leave no evidence, then Arthur Mellon can assassinate you once, so can't you retaliate once?

It's not a big mistake to do this, but it is a mistake to be caught."

Betty was about to call Arthur Mellon when her cell phone rang first.

"It's Arthur Mellon," Betty said.

Lin Yuan didn't expect that when he was about to make a call, the other party came to him first.

What do you want to do?
Betty turned on the radio and answered the call: "Mr. Mellon, this is Betty Adams."

"Betty, we've known each other for so many years, can't you just call me Arthur?" Arthur Mellon's voice came from the phone.

"Call me Miss Adams!"

"..."

After a long silence, Arthur Mellon's voice sounded again.

"I was wrong this time. Can you help me talk to Lin Yuan and ask us to stop fighting? Of course, I will pay sincere compensation." Arthur Mellon said.

Betty didn't expect that Arthur Mellon called to ask for peace?
It seems that the result of Lin Yuan’s counterattack this time has made him feel unbearable.

From the storm of public opinion, to the shrinking assets of the Mellon Group, to the excavation of the chain of evidence, every action was like a sharp blade, piercing Arthur Mellon's body.

Now Arthur Mellon felt pain and wanted to end this fight that had started hastily due to underestimation of the enemy by asking for peace.

But Lin Yuan knew that Arthur Mellon was not really going to cut himself off from him from now on. Once this matter was over, he would definitely join forces with others and use a more meticulous plan to launch another fatal attack on him.

So Lin Yuan looked at Betty and shook his head.

Betty understood what he meant and immediately said, "Lin Yuan is right next to me. I'll let him talk to you himself."

"Mr. Mellon, I'm Lin Yuan."

"Mr. Lin, can we call a truce? I've prepared some very sincere compensation terms. Please listen to them..."

"I can't say for sure!"

"What? I haven't even told you my conditions yet!"

"No matter what conditions you put forward, my answer is only one, that is, no."

"You...what do you want to do? Don't think that the little evidence you have can do anything to me! Don't be so shameless!"

"You assassinated me once, so I will assassinate you once. After this assassination, if you can still survive, the grudge between us will be written off. It's fair."

Arthur Mellon's voice trembled on the phone. "What did you say? You're coming to assassinate me?"

"What gives you the right to assassinate me? How dare you do this? Are you crazy?" Arthur Mellon's voice became more and more hysterical.

"It seems that you know my past record. I have enough confidence in myself. From now on, if I don't take your life within a month, you will be considered the winner." Lin Yuan said.

"Lin Yuan, are you crazy? We are all wealthy people! How can we fight and kill each other? This is so disgraceful!"

"Why didn't you think so when you launched the assassination attempt on me? You've been dishonorable first, and now you expect me to be respectable? How can it be so easy? Blood hatred can only be washed away with blood."

"Lin Yuan, you lunatic! You won't succeed! If you dare to come, my bodyguard team will catch you and make you die in endless humiliation and pain!"

Arthur Mellon's voice revealed the fear in his heart.

As the son of a top consortium, when had he ever received such death threats?
Obviously he was scared. He never thought that one day his life would be seriously threatened.

Lin Yuan wanted to put this kind of psychological pressure on him, so he continued:
“I hope your bodyguard team is as tough as you say.

You can use all your skills, as long as you can stop me, catch me, or get evidence that I want to kill you, even if you win, I will do whatever you want with me.

But I believe I will never lose! Look at the movies I have made in the past, have I ever failed?
Cherish your last month."

After saying that, Lin Yuan hung up the phone.

"Lin Yuan, you are angry." Betty said.

"Yes, I'm angry. These consortium bosses have been at the top for too long, allowing themselves to break the rules while imagining that others will abide by them.

This makes me very angry. I want to use my actions to tell them that if they dare to use a knife, they must be mentally prepared to bleed!" Lin Yuan said seriously.

"I understand how you feel, but this bet between you and Arthur is not equal. Your chips are not equal at all," Betty said.

"I know that even if I kill Arthur, the Mellon Group will still be the Mellon Group. But if I am gone, my entire group will fall apart." Lin Yuan replied.

"You know all this, so why are you still participating in this bet?" Betty asked.

"Because although the chips are not equal, the winning rate is not equal either. I am sure to win this round, so do I need to care about so many things?" Lin Yuan said confidently.

At this moment, Charlize and Betty felt that Lin Yuan was glowing. He was so handsome that it was inhumane.

(End of this chapter)