Great Power Reclamation

Chapter 2918 It's a matter of life and death, you must die.
A more complex and covert global capital game has fully unfolded. This game is without gunpowder, yet equally thrilling, with every step involving billions or tens of billions of dollars in capital flows and shifts in the industrial landscape.

Ye Feng demonstrated exceptional strategic resilience and operational skills. Brothers Investment's capital flowed like mercury, penetrating every crevice yet remaining elusive.

When its direct acquisition of a German robotics company was blocked, Brothers Investment instead acquired the company's largest Asian customer and gained considerable influence through long-term procurement contracts and technology cooperation agreements.

When a US AI chip design company faced funding difficulties due to CFIUS review, Brothers Investment instead invested in a rapidly rising UK ARM architecture ecosystem partner company and supported corresponding alternative design companies in China.

In the public discourse, the two sides engaged in heated debate, accusing each other of unfair competition and protectionism.

In the financial markets, the battle between bulls and bears unfolded across multiple stocks, and even foreign exchange and futures products, with each side winning and losing. However, Ye Feng's side, with its more flexible strategies and seemingly continuous financial support, gradually stabilized its position and even began to fight back.

A classic battle took place in the foreign exchange market.

Ye Feng believes that against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve's continued interest rate hikes, some European economies are relatively vulnerable, and their currencies may be overvalued.

He quietly laid out a plan to short the government bonds and currency of a certain Southern European country. Meanwhile, his opponent attempted to squeeze Ye Feng's short positions by driving up the currency's value.

However, the "Deep Blue Project" team obtained the country's much worse-than-expected economic data in advance. One minute before the data was released, Ye Feng ordered a massive short-selling attack, while simultaneously releasing negative news through the media.

In an instant, the country's bonds and currency plummeted. Ye Feng not only made a fortune, but also dealt a heavy blow to the Western capital that was trying to besiege him.

This victory greatly boosted morale and made Wall Street and the City of London realize that this young Chinese-American elite was not only rich, but also intelligent and bold, making him an extremely formidable opponent.

After months of intense negotiations, the two sides seem to have reached a dynamic stalemate.

Western conglomerates could not completely suppress Ye Feng's expansion, and Ye Feng could not achieve an overwhelming victory like he did in South Korea. Every step forward required tremendous effort and sacrifice.

But Ye Feng knew that this stalemate was itself a victory. It meant that a powerful new player had finally squeezed into the top club, which was dominated by Western capital, and had gained a firm foothold.

He successfully leveraged the power of capital to create an opening and gain space for the expansion of Warrior Group and Chinese enterprises on a global scale.

One late night, Ye Feng stood once again in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of his office. The city lights were still dazzling.

Looking back on his experiences during this period, he realized more and more deeply that: industry is the body, and capital is the wings.

Wings without a body are ethereal and indistinct; a body without wings struggles to move.

Especially in the context of global competition, strong capital with a strategic vision is an indispensable accelerator and protective umbrella for industries to go global and participate in and lead the formulation of rules.

"Father laid a solid foundation, and I will equip us with the strongest wings." Ye Feng thought silently, "This game has only just begun. The road ahead is long, the opponents will be more cunning, and the environment will be more complex."

But his eyes were firm, showing no fear.

Just then, the encrypted line rang; it was Ye Yuze, Ye's father, calling from Seoul.

"Kid, I heard you were having a good fight with those old foxes over there? Did you suffer any losses?" Ye Yuze's voice carried its usual gruffness and concern.

"Dad, don't worry. There will inevitably be some bumps along the way, but overall it's not too bad. It's just that we're burning through money faster than we're fighting a war."

Ye Feng smiled.

"Money is meant to be spent! Spend it when the time is right! Our Warrior Group has a great cash flow, no doubt about it! If all else fails, I'll make you more!"

Ye Yuze declared with great confidence, "Remember, we don't provoke trouble, but we're not afraid of it either. Whether we're running a real business or playing the capital game, the principle is the same: we need to have our own tough weapons, and we need to dare to unsheathe our swords!"

"I understand, Dad." A warm feeling welled up in Ye Feng's heart. His father's support would always be his strongest backing.

"Oh, right," Ye Yuze suddenly said, his tone becoming hesitant.

"Um... Park Soo-ah's side... sigh, this stone is getting hotter and hotter... you better think of something quickly..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Feng couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed that in Seoul, besides dealing with the mess in the business world, his father also had to contend with the troubles brought by this "sweet stone."

However, this matter is not his responsibility. His father has so many women, he can't possibly manage them all. He should deal with the trouble he caused himself.

The turbulent waves of global capital competition, and the father's "sweet burden," are strangely intertwined, forming the real world of the Ye family, full of challenges and opportunities.

After hanging up the phone, Ye Feng took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to the boundless prosperity outside the window.

The game of capital has no end, and the next battlefield may already be brewing. But he knows that he and his family have embarked on this global journey of no return, and the only way forward is to keep moving forward.

Ye Yuze temporarily brushed aside the "sweet troubles" in Seoul by saying he was "busy with business and needed to return to China urgently," but Ye Feng knew that his father's romantic entanglements (or perhaps romantic tribulations) were just a minor ripple in the bigger picture.

His main focus must be on the more treacherous and expansive global capital chessboard.

The initial clashes with traditional financial groups in the US and Europe have come to an end, and both sides have entered a strategic stalemate.

Ye Feng knew very well that this balance was fragile, and the other side would never willingly share the stage. They were merely accumulating strength, looking for the opportunity to deliver the next fatal blow.

What Ye Feng needs to do is to use this relatively calm period to accelerate the planning, strengthen the defenses, and open up new fronts.

Ye Feng's first step is to further strengthen the synergy between Warrior Group and Brothers Investment, creating an unshakeable "technology-capital" closed loop.

He convened a closed-door seminar with the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Warrior Group and the chief analyst team of Brothers Investment.

"Technology is our foundation, and capital is our weapon," Ye Feng set the tone at the beginning. "We need to define more precisely which 'core technologies' the Warrior Group must firmly grasp, and which 'peripheral technologies' or 'complementary technologies' can be acquired and influenced through capital means."

After intense discussions, they created a detailed "technology tree" diagram. At the roots and trunk are the core algorithms, basic materials processes, and chip architecture design that the Warrior Group can completely independently control. The branches and leaves include a large number of application software programs, solutions for specific scenarios, and the supply chain of non-core components.

“For the branches and leaves, and even some secondary branches,” Ye Feng instructed:
"Brother Investment should take the initiative. Globally, we should seek out small companies with unique technologies but lacking market access or funding, and invest in and acquire controlling stakes in them. The goal is not to replace Warrior Group's R&D, but to form a protective and complementary force, making our technology ecosystem more robust and resilient to risks."

At the same time, Ye Feng promoted an internal plan: to spin off some non-core but technologically advanced business modules of the Warrior Group, introduce Brother Investment and other strategic investors, and operate them independently.

This approach will not only inject more vitality and development funds into these businesses, but also allow the Warrior Group to focus more on its core business, while simultaneously building a larger "Warrior Group" of high-tech enterprises through capital ties.

Once this closed loop is formed, the Warrior Group's technological advantage will be amplified exponentially through the power of capital, and the capital invested by Brothers will become more valuable and aggressive due to the anchoring of cutting-edge technology.

Europe is not a monolithic entity. Especially with the United States aggressively pursuing unilateralism and constantly infringing upon Europe's traditional interests, the contradictions between established powers like Germany and France and the United States are becoming increasingly public.

Ye Feng keenly grasped this point.

He dispatched a capable deputy, stationed in Berlin and Paris. Publicly, this deputy was the head of Brothers Investment's European operations, but privately tasked with establishing secret communication channels with European industrial capital and financial families.

In Berlin, they focused on reaching out to German mid-sized champions (Mittelstand) and family businesses who were dissatisfied with the US digital tax policy and data sovereignty issues.

These companies possess deep technological expertise, but feel powerless in the wave of globalization and digitalization, and are both dependent on and fearful of the monopoly of American tech giants.

Brothers Investment's proposed solution is to invest capital to help the company undergo digital transformation and upgrade, and leverage Warrior Group's technology and Brothers Investment's channels to assist in expanding into the Asian market, especially the Chinese market. In exchange, they hope to obtain a board seat and cooperate on key technology research and development.

In Paris, the focus is on projects related to the "European technology sovereignty" strategy promoted by the French government.

The French are eager to restore Europe's technological independence, but are hampered by fragmented funding and difficulties in internal coordination.

Ye Feng instructed his team to participate in the project in a low-profile manner, such as by investing in startups in the Gaia-X cloud computing project jointly promoted by France and Germany, or by partnering with the French sovereign wealth fund to establish an investment fund focused on artificial intelligence.

“We want Europeans to feel that we are ‘constructive capital’ that comes to help, not ‘predatory capital’ that comes to harvest like American capital.”

Ye Feng emphasized to the European team, "Even if we don't make money in the short term, we must lay the foundation of trust."

These strategies have yielded some subtle progress. A prominent German manufacturer of industrial robot sensors accepted Brothers Investment's terms, and a leading French biometrics technology company also opened its doors to Brothers Investment.

Although each step has been accompanied by rigorous scrutiny and lengthy negotiations, the ice is being broken.

Cooperation with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds is a key part of Ye Feng's global strategy.

These funds, which control massive amounts of petrodollars, have been seeking to diversify their investments in recent years, reducing their reliance on traditional energy and Western financial assets. They have a strong interest in high-tech and Eastern markets.

Ye Feng personally flew to Abu Dhabi and Riyadh and held several rounds of private talks with the management of major funds.

He was demonstrating not just a promise of financial returns, but a grand strategic blueprint.

"Your Excellency, the future global growth pole is in Asia, and the core driving force is technology. And China is the most important pole in this process."

Ye Feng explained to a prince who held considerable power, “Warrior Group represents China’s top technological strength, while Brothers Investment represents a capital bridge connecting China with the global market. Cooperating with us is not only a financial investment, but also a strategic investment to ensure that your country occupies a favorable position in the future technological landscape.”

He proposed several specific cooperation plans.

1. Jointly establish a large-scale global technology fund to focus on investing in technology companies in third-party markets outside of China, the US, and Europe (such as Southeast Asia and Latin America), and export "warrior-style" technology standards and ecosystems.

2. Invite sovereign wealth funds as strategic investors to invest in certain "warrior-affiliated" subsidiaries of Brother Investment that are about to be spun off and listed, and share the technological dividends.

3. In the field of new energy, especially in the strong energy storage and photovoltaic technologies of the Warrior Group, we will cooperate with sovereign wealth funds of Middle Eastern countries to build large-scale projects to help them achieve energy transition.

These proposals were exactly what the other party wanted. After complex and careful negotiations, Brothers Investments finally reached a preliminary agreement with a major Abu Dhabi fund to jointly establish a multi-billion dollar investment fund.

This move shook Wall Street, signifying that Ye Feng had gained another stable and powerful source of capital, greatly enhancing his financial strength and risk resistance.

However, the Western financial groups never stopped their counterattack. They used their deep political and business networks to constantly create obstacles for Ye Feng's plans.

CFIUS reviews have become more stringent and unpredictable, and have even begun to retrospectively review transactions that have already been completed in the past.

The EU's anti-dumping investigation has expanded to include more products from the Warrior Group. Several European companies that have partnered with Brothers Investment have suddenly faced tax audits or environmental investigations.

More importantly, a smear campaign targeting Ye Feng personally has quietly escalated.

A well-known international investigative journalism organization released a "major report" detailing how Ye Feng used a "complex offshore structure" and "ambiguous relationships with certain political parties" to "circumvent regulations and expand his influence." Although the report mostly used speculative and suggestive language, it was highly misleading.

Meanwhile, unusual activity resurfaced in the financial markets. Several stocks heavily held by Brothers Investment were again subject to concentrated selling, with the source of the sell-off concealed and the methods professional, clearly indicating a premeditated short-selling attack.

Pressure gathered again like dark clouds.

Ye Feng stood before the large screen in the command center, his expression grim. The chief analyst of the "Deep Blue Project" team was reporting to him:
"Boss, we've found it. Although the main accounts that shorted our cloud computing stock this time were disguised in multiple ways, the source of the funds ultimately points to a Swiss private bank controlled by the Cleveland consortium."

Behind the media attacks, there's also the shadow of a public relations firm hired by Alnim Capital. They're trying to replicate our success in South Korea, but this time on a larger scale and with more thorough preparation.

"The political pressure mainly comes from a senior senator who has close ties with Sir James. The resistance from the EU is closely related to the Rothschild family's lobbying activities in the European Commission."

As the information gradually became clearer, the face of the opponent re-emerged.

"It seems they're trying to crush us completely with a multi-pronged approach," Ye Feng sneered. "Then let them see what it means to lift a rock only to drop it on your own foot."