America: My Time

Chapter 1449 Secret or Trap?
Chapter 1439 Secret or Trap?

"What is John up to? Is there a conspiracy behind this?" For those old guys, the first thing they thought of was a conspiracy. After all, in all the years they had fought John, they hadn't gained much advantage, and had even suffered losses!

"There's bound to be a conspiracy. Quantum Mining is selling its gold reserves. What do you think people will think of that? He restructured Quantum Mining again before. The real controller of the gold mine is Copper America, not Quantum Mining. If it were Copper America selling its gold reserves, I could accept it. But Quantum Mining is unacceptable to me, unless Copper America doesn't have any gold reserves at all and we've all been deceived by him."

“Deception? How did John deceive us? Explain yourself. Are you thinking of something?”

“I do have some suspicions, but I don’t know if they are correct. We have always believed that John has a huge amount of gold reserves. Chengxin Bank and Standard Chartered Bank both have amazing gold reserves, but is that really the case?”

“How could this be fake? Quantum Mining has never sold gold on the market. The gold reserves it has accumulated over the past ten years are astonishing. We all know that. Could there be anything fake about this?”

"How could it not be fake? Have you ever thought about it? John expanded so rapidly back then. Did he really have that much capital? Was there a problem with the source of his funds? I don't believe that the loans from those banks in Japan could support his crazy expansion back then. He must have secretly sold off his gold reserves. That's why Copper America Group has no gold reserves, and he can't touch the banks' gold reserves, since he's been shorting gold futures."

"Hiss, that's actually possible. But things might not be as bad as you think. John wouldn't leave any hidden dangers for himself. He dared to short gold futures and for so long, so he couldn't possibly not have gold reserves. Even if Quantum Mining's gold reserves have been depleted over the years, he has always been trading gold in Africa, and this has no impact on his investment plans in Japan."

"It has no impact. If you think that way, you're sorely mistaken. Have you forgotten about stock exchanges? Have you forgotten that they contain precious metals? And have you considered another issue? Asus's development over the years—how much gold has it consumed in its semiconductor chip investments, not to mention its investments in the high-end market!"

“That makes sense, now that you mention it, it really does. Rockefeller, this isn’t just your guess, is it? You must have secretly investigated Quantum Mining and all those other companies. Are you trying to target John’s plans in gold futures?” Soon, someone saw through Rockefeller’s scheme. Such business secrets can’t be guessed. For Rockefeller to say something like that, he must have done his research long ago.

“That’s right, I was indeed conducting an investigation. It was precisely because of my investigation that I discovered this problem and became suspicious. You wouldn’t believe how much gold is consumed annually just in the high-end market for these Saint Cloths, not to mention other expenses. Therefore, I don’t believe John has sufficient gold futures in his possession. All of this only came to light after his shorting of gold futures was exposed, which led me to this discovery!”

“But there’s something I don’t understand. Since John doesn’t have enough gold reserves, there’s no need for him to rush into doing this. It doesn’t benefit him much, and if someone suspects it, they can find out everything. Could it be that this guy is intentionally trying to lure us into his trap? Is this a setup?”

“I understand what you’re saying, and I can’t rule out that possibility. After all, my investigation period was too short, and so much time has passed. There are many secrets that we can’t know, unless we can get the Quantum Mining ledger, but that’s impossible. As for what you all think, that’s not something I can decide. I’m just stating my guess!” Rockefeller, that old guy, is really cunning and sly, and he doesn’t want to drag the matter into his own hands!
"Alright, regardless of whether John has enough gold reserves, as long as we don't have any plans for gold futures, we don't need to worry about it. In my opinion, no matter what secrets are behind this, I won't get involved. I don't want to make an enemy of John; he's too powerful. Besides, I don't want to suffer any losses. After all, he's currently restructuring his assets, and all the companies he owns are going public. I don't want to lose my share of the benefits!"

"Heh, DuPont, haven't you considered why John is doing this? He might be killing two birds with one stone, not only restructuring his assets but also replenishing his gold reserves. Don't forget that gold prices are falling right now!"

“Rockefeller, are you saying that John is selling internet company assets to make up for the gold reserves of Standard Chartered Bank, Sinolink Bank, and East West Bank? Are you saying that John has used up a lot of the banks’ gold reserves, or that he didn’t have much gold reserves to begin with? This is no joke. You should know how important this is!”

DuPont's expression turned serious at this moment. This was no small matter. If John really did this, it would mean that John's banks were in trouble. His shorting of gold futures was also calculated. He wanted to take advantage of the decline in gold prices to complete his gold reserves!
"I can only say that I have this suspicion, but whether everything is really like this is not something I can know. After all, time is limited and the information I have is also limited. From the information I have, the probability of this is very high."

Rockefeller's words stirred the hearts of all the old men present. If it were true, it meant that if they intervened in the gold futures market, they could potentially cause John's collapse, allowing them to extract a large sum of money from John. However, doing so would mean giving up semiconductor chips and internet companies.

"Gentlemen, is it possible that this is John's conspiracy, designed to make us abandon our previous agreement? He doesn't want to give up those internet companies, Nvidia, and Dreamworld. After all, the market value of internet companies is skyrocketing. Judging from the current rate of increase, if we give up voluntarily, John will benefit greatly!"

"You know, that's a possibility. And we all know how tight Jaguar Security Company's protection is for Quantum Mining, the major banks, and even those high-tech companies. Rockefeller, could your investigation have been deliberately fabricated to force us to relinquish our interests in internet companies? Otherwise, I don't think he'd do something so foolish. If this is all a setup, a setup targeting us, then it makes sense!" "That makes sense. If this is John's scheme, and we want to target gold futures and deliver a fatal blow to John, the best option is to prevent him from acquiring gold. This means we have to abandon those internet companies, Dreamworld, and Nvidia. Only then can we possibly cut off John's funding!"

"It's not impossible, but both are possible. What should we do? Should we wait and see and ignore everything, or should we take the initiative and give up on these high-tech companies like internet companies?"

"Hehe, if you want to give up, do it yourselves. Don't drag DuPont into it. Regardless of whether there's any scheming behind this, or whether John's gold futures strategy is problematic, I, Kong Xing, don't even want to know about John's gold reserves. All I want is the interests of the internet company. As for what you all think and how you want to do it, that's your own business. I won't comment!"

Although he couldn't see through John's plans, DuPont didn't want to take any risks or confront John at this time. He didn't know what John was planning, so the best option was to stick to the original plan. What others thought or thought was irrelevant to him. He only wanted to hold onto his existing interests and not become even more greedy!

DuPont's statement caused everyone present to sigh. They understood DuPont's choice; it was the most prudent decision. As long as he didn't act rashly and everything went according to the original agreement, he could obtain a good profit. He didn't want to ruin such a good thing, and even if there were better opportunities, they didn't tempt him because they were risky.

"DuPont, you need to think this through. If we can defeat John's gold futures scheme head-on, we can cut off his cash flow and cripple him. Then we can take advantage of that and extract even greater profits from him. Aren't you tempted?" Rockefeller glared at DuPont, seething with anger. He felt that DuPont was sabotaging his plans, and that was unforgivable!
"Hehe, I only want to protect my current interests. As for the other interests you mentioned, they are not of much concern to me. I don't want to lose what I already have, and I have enough funds on hand. I don't have the spirit to take risks anymore, unlike you guys!"

DuPont was unconcerned by Rockefeller's accusations and accepted them calmly. After all, he believed that being too greedy was not a good thing, because they were facing John, a prodigy, and he was worried that failure would severely damage them!
"After hearing what DuPont said, I don't want to make an enemy of that madman John. If something goes wrong, the losses will be far more than just a little bit of profit. So it's better for us to play it safe. Whether there are other problems behind this or not, it has nothing to do with us!"

Many people still sided with DuPont for a simple reason: the best thing is the profit that can be obtained. Even if there are amazing profits ahead, it is enough to protect one's own interests. One cannot be too greedy, or something terrible will happen.

John had no idea that these old guys in the US would make such a deal, and Rockefeller even intended to incite everyone to target John. If this were exposed, it would truly be a fight to the death with John!
Such changes, and the lack of sufficient evidence, have made many people hesitant to act rashly. On one hand, there are the previously agreed-upon benefits, and on the other hand, they have to seek out those benefits themselves, which would be exhausting. However, under the current circumstances, it's best not to say too much, as I don't want to be targeted!
Many people have this idea now, but no one has said it out loud. However, judging from the current situation, it is not very friendly to Rockefeller. Many people are unwilling to stand with him and feel that this is a bit unreliable. After all, this is not a small matter and has far-reaching consequences. Don't be fooled by their large amount of funds; John might not have any funds at all!

"Alright, everyone stop arguing. Make your own decisions and stop discussing this issue. Let's think about what John is trying to do in Japan, why those guys in Japan haven't made a move, or whether they've really changed and no longer resort to those underhanded schemes?"

Everyone knows John's amazing track record. Even though John has shown a slight weakness now, no one has taken action against him. These old guys don't want to be the first to stick their necks out or fight John to the death. Just thinking about John's amazing financial skills makes them feel cold to the bone.

Although some people were unwilling to accept it, and even most of the old guys present were unwilling to accept this arrangement, they had no choice but to accept it now. The reason was that they dared not gamble with the future of their own conglomerates and did not want to put themselves in trouble. They all knew how monstrous John was and how ruthless Hurricane Investment's methods were, and even knowing this, they were unwilling to get involved.

And so the meeting ended on bad terms. Everyone had different choices and interests, so they all had their own calculations and were unwilling to get themselves into bigger trouble. As a result, these guys were all seething with anger.

Why did this happen? Why didn't these old guys reach a consensus this time? To put it bluntly, they didn't trust each other. Don't be fooled by Rockefeller's eloquent words; everyone knows that he must have some reservations about them. So no one was willing to believe him, let alone take the risk, which brought things to a standstill.

How could the outside world be completely unaware of all this? Why is everything spreading so fast? That's why those old guys on Wall Street in the US haven't reacted at all. They're all afraid of falling into John's trap and losing even more of their profits. It's precisely because of this fear that everyone parted on bad terms and went their separate ways!

(End of this chapter)