America: My Time

Chapter 1350 Hidden Crisis

Chapter 1340 Hidden Crisis

Being born into this world means being bound by its rules. John didn't care about the rules of high society before, but as his strength grew and the conflict between him and high society intensified, he gradually realized that his existence was a disruptor for them. They were targeting him, and if he broke their rules, he would be resisted. However, John did not intend to submit and continued to fight against them. But his younger brother and sister did not follow his example!
When will I be able to stop being targeted by these guys? I'll have to wait until my child grows up and takes over all of this. Only then will I be able to coexist peacefully with these guys. They're not targeting me entirely for their own benefit; part of it is to maintain their rules!

Although he understood what was going on, John had no intention of compromising, no intention of yielding to these old guys; he was still going his own way. Moreover, given John's current status and position, he wasn't afraid of these old men. Most importantly, he had plenty of leverage, and he was meticulously planning and scheming against them.

Since these guys are greedy enough to want to 'share' more profits from him, he'll grant their wish and give them enough 'profits,' hoping they won't regret it later. He hopes that when the dot-com bubble bursts, these guys will be able to withstand the impact. Right now, these guys are all ambitiously eyeing him, and they'll regret it later. That's why John agreed to Morgan's proposal so readily and was willing to share profits with these guys.

The companies they currently own are indeed high-quality assets, each with its own goals. However, everything will change once the dot-com bubble bursts. At that time, these greedy individuals will pay a heavy price for their greed and arrogance!

Just as John was thinking about how to rip off those old guys in the US, Lee Boo-jin said, "Aren't you worried that those guys in Japan will keep pressuring you? You know you have quite a few businesses in Japan. If they really get angry, they definitely won't hold back. After all, that's their home turf!"

"Heh, you're overthinking it. So what if that's their home turf? Have you forgotten who I am? I can use the US to intimidate people, but they can't ignore my identity. If they dare to break these rules, I'll teach them what it means to bully others with power, and I'll make them regret it!"

John is right. If these guys from Japan don't know when to back down and try to force him, they're just courting disaster. John has always adhered to one principle: never use American power to pressure others. Even after cooperating with Japan for so long, John has always stuck to this principle. But if Japan dares to target him, John won't sit idly by. He'll show them how powerful he is.

As a media mogul with global influence, John's every move affects many people. Moreover, as long as John speaks and the media moves, even the president of the White House has to compromise. If it really rises to the national level, no matter how dissatisfied Richard Lambton is with John, he must protect the interests of the United States, the interests of American corporations, and John's interests. This is his duty!

"Really? You're really going to use that kind of power? You're not on good terms with the donkeys or the White House, so why would they help you?" Lee Boo-jin looked puzzled. In her opinion, John and the White House didn't get along well, and as the president, it was impossible for Jackie Chan to stand up for John, at least that's how it was with the Koreans.

"Heh, you're still too naive. Do you think the White House would dare to flatly refuse my request? Do you think that if I take this to the public eye, even as president, he could withstand public opinion? He can't. If that happens, he'll face the anger of the American people, and even the wrath of the corporations. If they dare to target me today, they can target other corporations tomorrow. For their own interests, all the corporations will choose to stand by my side, not to mention that I've already shown enough sincerity to get those corporations to cooperate with me!"

Yes, lured by profit, American conglomerates would naturally not refuse John's demands and would naturally choose to stand on John's side, not to mention that John is targeting a subordinate like Japan. Moreover, there has always been a voice in the United States dissatisfied with Japan, but it has been gradually suppressed. After all, those guys in Japan have already compromised a lot. However, if a media mogul like John were to take action and guide public opinion, it would quickly unleash a terrible storm against Japan. At that time, Japan would have to pay the price for their foolishness. Such foolishness is impossible for those guys in Japan to do, so they dare not engage in such a crazy struggle with John!

Despite the fact that these Japanese guys are playing on home turf, they have never been in control of the game. John has always held the reins firmly. Unless they're crazy, they wouldn't make such a foolish decision to engage in a direct confrontation with John under these circumstances.

"Isn't it unbelievable? This is real business warfare. The reason those guys in Japan keep targeting me is to force me to go to Japan and sit down with me for talks. They want to express their intentions this way, but unfortunately, I don't want to talk to them now, nor is there any need to. What they want from me isn't just profits; they want resources. They don't want me to hold them hostage; they want control of the energy supply!" John saw through these guys in Japan. The reason they readily agreed to his conditions and opened their markets to him before was to mislead him, to wait for the right opportunity. Once their cooperation began, they would use other methods to gradually extract the profits they wanted from him. Unfortunately, John wouldn't give them that chance this time. Asian Energy and Quantum Mining wouldn't accept any investment from Japan; they wouldn't give them any chance. Letting these guys into the game would bring a lot of trouble to his plans!
Although his cooperation with Russia is currently going smoothly without any problems or troubles, things will change as time goes on. John doesn't want to waste his precious time. Once the cooperation with Russia is running smoothly, he will focus all his efforts on exploiting Sakhalin Island's resources, regardless of sustainability, only choosing what is beneficial to himself and accelerating his return on investment!

If those Japanese guys were to invest, they would definitely try to stop him. After all, from a long-term perspective, it would be destructive, and could even escalate to the point of attracting Russian intervention—something John definitely doesn't want. John's plan is to recoup all costs before Russia makes any changes, and then, when Russia intervenes or tries to take everything back, John can make a substantial profit!

John has never trusted Russia's integrity. Even though they're cooperating well now, it's only because Russia needs to rely on him. Once Russia no longer needs him, everything will fundamentally change. Will John's interests still be guaranteed then? John doesn't believe Russia will protect his interests; after all, Russia has no integrity whatsoever!

John was well aware of the immense benefits Sakhalin Island held, and as time went on, Russia would gradually take action against him, not allowing him to recklessly extract profits from Sakhalin Island. Moreover, it was Russia's home turf, and even if he wanted to resist, he would be powerless, since Russia had sufficient reason, and even sufficient right, to interfere in everything!
John's motivation for securing the markets in South Korea and Japan, and even for cooperating with China, is to maximize the exploitation of Sakhalin Island's resources and recoup his costs as quickly as possible. This is what John values ​​most, as he doesn't know when Russia might take back everything.

Even if Da Mao were to offer him a buyback price, it would still be a huge loss for him, something John was unwilling to see. It was precisely because he always had this concern in his mind that John was always making the worst-case scenario plans and arrangements to maintain complete control!

"They're eyeing Asian energy, they're eyeing Sakhalin Island?" Lee Boo-jin instantly understood John's words and the intentions of those Japanese guys. This was completely different from what she had thought before. She had assumed that those Japanese guys were targeting John's retail and other assets in Japan, or even his cars. She hadn't expected that she would be so wrong, even fundamentally wrong. What she was thinking was completely different from what Japan wanted to get!

"That's right, what they value most is resources. They don't want me to hold them by the throat, so they will definitely try to take advantage of that. The nearest resource to them is Sakhalin Island, and they naturally want to control everything themselves. But they can't do that. They can't cooperate with Russia right now, so they can only try to take advantage of me and Sakhalin Island. Actually, I already knew about their schemes when I started cooperating with these guys from Japan!"

"What? Since you know all this, why did you still cooperate with them and pay such a high price? You know, that undersea oil pipeline is a huge expense! And what about your investment in Sakhalin Island? If something goes wrong, your losses will be enormous! Aren't you afraid that something unexpected might happen, and that the situation might change dangerously?" Lee Boo-jin looked at John in shock, somewhat unable to understand. Lee Boo-jin still had a considerable gap to close; her perspective on issues was somewhat simplistic!
John shook his head and said, "What do you think is without risk? Even if I know those guys in Japan are scheming, so what? Am I supposed to give up our investment in Sakhalin Island and our cooperation with Russia just because they're scheming? The opportunity is there. Even if Japan has many problems, that's not a reason for me to give up. As long as there's an opportunity, we have to face it. Danger isn't scary; what's scary is not having the courage to take a gamble. You'll only know the outcome after you do it. If you don't try, you'll never know if there will be the huge profits you want!"

That's true, but how many people can actually do all that? If everyone had the belief and courage to take a gamble, then when Russia disintegrated, other countries wouldn't have been so resistant to Russia's debt problem, allowing John to get a bargain and take control of most of Russia's debt, because no one trusted Russia's integrity and no one was willing to cooperate with Russia!

John dared to do this not because of his exceptional foresight or his strong relationship with Russia—in fact, Russia doesn't value relationships and has a history of betraying its own people. John had more faith in his future memories, which is why he took the initiative. It was precisely because of these memories that he was more wary and cautious of Russia, fearing unforeseen events and the potential impact on his own interests.
John didn't want to work for someone else's benefit, especially not for Russia. He had invested a tremendous amount of effort in developing Sakhalin Island, only to have Russia reap the rewards. So from the very beginning, John prepared for the worst and focused all his efforts on developing Sakhalin Island's resources to recoup his costs as quickly as possible.

Although the Russians were aware of John's actions, they did not stop him. They understood John's concerns, and they couldn't stop him anyway. John was no ordinary person; he was a media tycoon and a financial giant in the United States. If they intervened, the situation would spiral out of control, causing the Russians to lose credibility and their reputation to plummet. At that point, no one would dare to invest or even cooperate with them, let alone cooperate with them. After all, even a financial giant like John had been cheated by the Russians; who would dare to cooperate with them?

When one's own credibility is completely destroyed, even Russia cannot withstand such an impact or pressure. If that moment comes, Russia will pay a heavy price for its actions. Moreover, if they really do this, not only will they not be able to cooperate with John, Russia will not be able to get any investment or any external funding.

(End of this chapter)