America: My Time

Chapter 1135 Strong Counterattack
Chapter 1125 Powerful Counterattack

Now that Hong Kong is about to return to China, many people are having ulterior motives. It's not just the Europeans who have designs on John; even the British are. However, the British don't dare to act rashly, since John has enormous assets and astonishing influence in Britain. They dare not push John to the opposite side. If the Europeans are willing to take action, or even the Americans are willing to take action, those guys are naturally willing to give them some help!
The situation in Hong Kong is not as simple as it seems on the surface, and there are quite a few people eyeing John. After all, John has plundered the British conglomerate, and these guys would naturally want to take revenge on him if they had the chance. Don't be fooled by the fact that Hong Kong is calm on the surface now; in reality, there are turbulent waves surging beneath the surface.

Whether driven by the lure of energy or other calculations, John is now being watched by quite a few. The enormous achievements of Asian energy have once again attracted the attention of energy giants. Even with the division into three, these giants fear even greater, more frenzied expansion is on the horizon. This time it's Asian energy; next time, will it be European energy or Western energy?

No one knew that if European Energy and Western Energy also had a remarkable strategic plan, then forcing John to break up Western Energy was a mistake, which is why they were all afraid. John wasn't just an energy giant, but also a mining giant and a technology giant; the more they thought about it, the more frightened they became.

The more those people understood about John's current assets and witnessed the restructuring and consolidation of those groups, the more frightened they became. They worried that this would give John even more opportunities to grow. But they were powerless to stop it from happening; no one in the US dared to stand up against John. Neither the donkey nor the elephant wanted to offend a media giant like John. Targeting John at this time would only escalate the conflict. It was an election year in the US, and no one wanted to do something so foolish as to jeopardize their own election prospects!

Most importantly, even if they did that, no one would praise them. On the contrary, the public would criticize them. After all, John has made it very clear that he will not interfere in the election. He has already left the United States and is focusing on his business instead of caring about the election. As the richest man in the United States, there are very few people who can do this!
"Are we really not going to do anything with the Koreans?" Lee Boo-jin asked hesitantly. In her heart, she felt that such a tough stance would only exacerbate the conflict between the two sides and make everything worse. She thought it was appropriate to make some concessions, give the Korean officials a way out, and let them calm down!
"There's no need. Even if we give them face, those guys won't accept it, and they won't change their minds. On the contrary, they'll think I'm guilty and afraid to confront them. Let them do whatever they want. At most, they'll just play some petty tricks. If things really escalate, it won't be me who suffers, but them. Steel, energy, food, etc., what don't the Koreans lack? Besides, their most relied-upon markets are Europe and America right now. What do you think would happen if we cut off their sales channels?"

John might be more cautious with Japan, but with South Korea, he had no reason to give them face. He wasn't confident he could completely block Japan, but he was quite confident with South Korea; even without directly blocking their resource transactions, he could cripple their sales channels in North America.

At this moment, Lee Boo-jin realized that the Koreans were truly ignorant and arrogant, and had little ability to resist a powerful figure like John. Although Korean conglomerates controlled considerable wealth, this wealth relied heavily on overseas markets, and domestic demand was not particularly strong.

"Alright, don't overthink it. I have no intention of confronting those guys, but I also don't want to give them a friendly look. If you've done something wrong, you have to bear the consequences. After you go back, don't worry about those guys. Just focus on developing your own business and expand your retail presence in South Korea. I don't believe the South Korean people will refuse good quality products at low prices!"

The Koreans are jumping around excitedly now, but once the Asian financial crisis hits, they'll immediately be in trouble, like a dead fish, paying a heavy price for everything they've done. They really thought they were being swindled out of American money? They did things even the Japanese wouldn't dare do; it would be strange if they didn't pay the price.

As the situation in Hong Kong changes, many people have started to have inappropriate ideas, but John doesn't take them to heart. No matter how much these guys jump around, they will pay a heavy price in the future. In particular, many people have already withdrawn their funds from Standard Chartered Bank recently. These petty tricks may not have much impact, but they are very annoying.

"Tianfan, Standard Chartered Bank also needs to make some changes. There's no need to give face to those guys who aren't on our side. Put them all on the blacklist and don't do any business with them in the future. They want to cause trouble, so let them see our strength. If you want to be the first to stick your neck out, be prepared to be dealt with!"

"Boss, if we do this, it might damage Standard Chartered's reputation. After all, they are clients too!" "Tianfan, you're too lenient. There's no need to care about these ingrates and opportunists. Standard Chartered doesn't lack these clients, and our focus isn't on Hong Kong. Standard Chartered is a global commercial bank, not just a Hong Kong-based bank. The Taiwanese market far surpasses Hong Kong's now. We don't need to worry so much. If they want to play games, let them learn their lesson. Soon other companies will abandon their cooperation with these guys. I'll see if the people behind them will back them up and help them bear the losses!"

A ruthless person can't stand firm. John wasn't going to give these guys a friendly look, nor did he want them to get too cocky. When it was time to strike hard, he had to act decisively, without any mercy, or more enemies would appear before him. Killing the chicken to scare the monkey—this method, though commonplace, was effective. John needed to distinguish friend from foe, especially at this moment.

Many people have forgotten John's struggles with the British conglomerates, and how the British bowed their heads and gave in. Now some guys are jumping out again. If we don't teach them a lesson, they'll really think they're something special, daring to cause trouble in front of a conglomerate tycoon like John and making such provocative moves!
The counterattack quickly brought changes to Hong Kong, and then to Southeast Asia. If you're going to do something, do it thoroughly. Since these guys were the first to act, they had to be prepared to be hit. However, these opportunists clearly did not expect John's reaction to be so strong, which would directly deliver a fatal blow to them.

Those who cooperated with John's companies were naturally doomed. Except for a few guys who had no business dealings with John and thus escaped the calamity for the time being, this was just the beginning. The more insane was yet to come. John was only using his own power now. Soon, those companies that cooperated with John would also receive the news. A more insane massacre had just begun. Those who wanted to be the first to stand out would suffer a devastating disaster!

"This is outrageous! This is Hong Kong, not the United States! How dare they target so many of us? They don't take us seriously at all! We must make them pay!"

"Heh, the price? What right do you have to say that? Do you really think everyone doesn't know what you've done? There are consequences for wrongdoing. Don't try to drag us all down with you. No one will stand up for you. After you made those agreements with HSBC and others, you should have known the consequences. In their eyes, you're nothing but ants. I can tell you clearly that Standard Chartered has already blacklisted you, and the retaliation you're facing now is just the beginning. This time, they're going to wipe you out completely, leaving you no chance of survival. Go find those people behind this if you have any ideas. We will not get involved in this!"

"That's right. You have to bear the consequences of your own mistakes. We can't help you, and don't even think about pleading with them. It's useless. They've already left Hong Kong and won't give you a chance to ask anyone to intercede. I told you long ago not to trust those foreigners too much, but you wouldn't listen. Now you have to bear all the consequences yourself. I advise you to sell those assets quickly and leave Hong Kong!"

Although John's methods were ruthless, they didn't provoke public outrage, and no one was willing to plead for these opportunists. They had brought this upon themselves, so they had to face the consequences. HSBC and the other British figures didn't intervene, and no one cared about their losses. A small provocation had provoked such a furious counterattack from John, making these guys afraid to step forward, lest they be next.

Faced with absolute power, their petty tricks are utterly insignificant; in a real battle, they wouldn't stand a chance. John's operations in Asia are now largely complete, with massive investments in many Southeast Asian countries. If John wanted to target them, it would be a simple matter of a word. Yet these foolish guys have jumped into this trap, betrayed by the British and those who made them promises!

(End of this chapter)