America: My Time

Chapter 1499 Taking Advantage of a Crisis or Testing the Waters
Chapter 1489 Taking Advantage of the Situation or Testing the Waters

“This is something they have to face. They should have thought of this situation the moment they followed their elder brother. Besides, their elder brother is also grooming his successor. If he didn’t do this, there would be even more trouble. Now that the old man has repeatedly stepped in, it’s clear that the family has gone mad and is no longer hiding anything for the sake of profit.” Eva was also dissatisfied with Old Martin’s appearance. After all, the family’s demands were too crazy and they had fallen into a kind of demonic madness.

"Alright, let your older brother handle this himself. Don't worry about it. It has little to do with you. Your older brother can handle everything. You should focus on your own affairs. After all, you're under a lot of pressure too. Who told you to have such wealth and power? He's both your strength and your troubles!"

“Mother, my problem isn’t too big, but my second brother’s situation is different. Even though he’s not in business, he still has a lot of trouble, and it’s even bigger. The people around him are even more obsessed with wealth!”

In fact, it's not just Allen and Eva, their whole family is like this, even the beautiful women around John are like this. Otherwise, why would they choose to leave their hometown? It's because the pressure from the people around them is too great!
Throughout the entire party, Anna and Eva were the most relaxed, as they didn't have to deal with much. Everything was handled by the beautiful women around John. From the very beginning, the savvy attendees had seen through this. If they couldn't even see this, they weren't qualified to attend the party. That's why the mother and daughter were so relaxed, while the pressure on Jennifer Connelly and the others was unimaginable.

This time, all the beautiful women around John participated, some of whom had only just met John. Their presence made some people think they were just decorations, but many more felt it was an attitude, that John was intentionally expressing something to them, though it wasn't clear yet, since everything was too short-lived!
John's formal negotiations have ended, and they've moved on to a more relaxed exchange. Compared to the formal negotiations, this exchange is much more relaxed, without as many concerns. After all, everyone is just exchanging ideas and perspectives, and whether or not they accept something is up to them. This kind of exchange is even more important, as it allows them to understand each other's true thoughts.

“John, are you really going to focus your energy on Asia instead of the US and Europe? Isn’t that a bit too crazy? You know Asia just went through a financial crisis and will need a long time to recover!” Rockefeller asked John without any hesitation. After all, he was very wary of John and was afraid that John would once again bring great obstacles to his plans in the semiconductor chip field.

"That's natural. If I didn't do this, I believe you would all be uneasy, and those Europeans are even less reliable. So I can only rely on Asia. As for your concerns, although they exist, they are not a big problem. I'm not going there to develop the economy; I'm just going to utilize the human resources there. Compared to Europe and America, the cost of human resources in Asia is lower. As for the accusations made by some people, they are completely unfounded. They keep bringing up job opportunities, but why don't they mention that the purchasing power of the American people is increasing? You know, we can provide more high-quality and inexpensive goods. This is most easily seen in retail stores like 7-Eleven. As for the relocation of industry, that's not my problem, but a systemic problem. Do we have enough supporting production? When those supporting manufacturers all moved away from the United States to Asia, I had no choice but to relocate as well. It's just that I did it a little better than them. I made good investments in Mexico to the south."

"That's how things are, but you can't expect everyone to accept it. After all, the United States is a free country, and we can't force others to change their perceptions, especially those who are unemployed."

"Yes, I can't change their minds, but I don't think these guys are doing us any good. Letting them grow stronger and remain ignorant will only lead us into disaster. I don't know what you think, but what I'm saying is that cutting off the path to upward mobility for ordinary people would be a disaster for us. Running water doesn't stagnate, but if it's stagnant, problems will soon arise. Although we are a free country, what would we have left if the people didn't exist? Don't think you can control everything; that's impossible. I don't approve of your plans, especially the elite society promoted by Oil Capital. I believe you all know what kind of people they are."

In response to Rockefeller's questioning, John gave him a small retort and warning. While it wasn't Rockefeller's doing, these old guys were secretly pushing everything along. It was impossible for them not to know the severity of the consequences; they always felt they had everything under control. But could they really control everything? How much time had passed, and those guys had already gone mad, especially those bastards in the military, each one insatiably greedy. No matter how much foundation America had, they would gradually erode it!
Although John knew what the future of the United States would be like, he wasn't initially clear about the underlying issues. However, over the past twenty years, he had become acutely aware of the problems facing the country. He simply lacked the power to change things because the interests and the number of people involved were too great. That's why he frantically built his own power base and completely transformed Oregon, consolidating control of the state. Relying on these bastards wouldn't guarantee his safety when disaster struck.

“John, you should know that this is not a decision that one or two people can make, and even if all of us sit together, we cannot decide it. After all, the impact is too great, and we are all powerless to do anything about it. Do you think we don't know the danger? We do know, but many of our subordinates have been persuaded, leaving us powerless to do anything about it!”

Good heavens, Rockefeller gave John such a powerful explanation that John was speechless. Although all of this is possible, the probability is very low. It can only be said that these old guys were fueling the flames. Without their covert efforts, how could everything have developed so wildly?

"Alright, I was just sharing my opinion. After all, my energy is focused on Oregon, and I don't have time to deal with other situations. Ultimately, only time will tell. As I said before, I will fulfill all the promises I made to you, provided that you also keep your promises. Otherwise, don't blame me for coming back. Someone even kicked me out of the EUV Alliance and chose to cooperate with those guys in Japan. I just don't know if you still have that confidence now?"

John dared to say this because he had already made preparations. Putting aside how many years the EUV Alliance's theoretical verification would take, and how much time and money it would take from theory to production, the most important thing was that doing so would directly put Nikon in Japan into a bigger problem: funding. This meant that they would have to fight on two fronts, while ASML would not have such pressure and could focus all its efforts on developing its own approach.

Of course, John dared to do this because he knew the future competition in lithography machines and the difficulty of developing EUV lithography machines. Nikon alone couldn't sustain the competition unless all semiconductor giants participated. However, his arrival changed everything. ASML had captured the demand for lithography machines from Taiwan and South Korea, putting considerable pressure on Nikon. Now, with the Asian financial crisis, John didn't believe these companies could hold out. John was well aware of Japan's madness, and the US didn't trust those Japanese either. So, although ASML had been kicked out of the game, it wouldn't affect future development. When the time was right, he would participate again! John's mention of lithography machines at this time was a warning to those companies, after all, Rockefeller and other old guys were behind it. However, John didn't want to break ties, or even want to ruin those old guys.

John doesn't need too much time; he just needs to hold on until the dot-com bubble bursts. John believes that with these guys' greed, everything will develop in the direction he expects. As long as he doesn't fight against them, everything will go back to its original trajectory, or even become more insane. After all, he has dragged the Europeans into this disaster, which is even more insane than the original dot-com bubble.

Faced with John's threat, Rockefeller was furious, but he had no other choice but to endure it. He dared not wage a semiconductor chip war against John over such a trivial verbal dispute. Although John seemed to have suffered a significant setback in the semiconductor industry—after losing Dreamworld and Nvidia, the semiconductor chip industry had fallen into a slump, even though John still owned other chip companies—Rockefeller and other old men dared not think that way, much less provoke this madman.

Normal people wouldn't do something so crazy, like carrying out such a crazy asset restructuring to hide and transfer assets, and sharing so much profit with others. But John did it, and John also has a powerful weapon in his hands, which makes them even more hesitant to go too far.

“John, rest assured, we will all keep our promises, there will be absolutely no problem with that. Anyone who dares to cause trouble in this matter will have to bear the wrath of all of us. However, as you know, we need to make arrangements for Nvidia and Dreamworld, so could you sell these shares to us in advance? Of course, we can promise to buy back the remaining shares you have at double the price.”

John was shocked when Rockefeller said this. He knew that he had sold enough shares to give these guys control of two major companies, but they were still not at ease and wanted to kick him out early. It seemed that they had even more ambitious plans in semiconductor chips, the Internet and personal computers.

Whether to reject Rockefeller's proposal or accept it, John found it difficult to decide. After all, this was no small matter, and it wasn't just about superficial benefits; it would impact the development of the entire semiconductor chip industry, as well as the internet and personal computers.

“John, you know we have no choice. There are too many interests involved. We need to split it up and each of us gets the share of the assets we need. With the rapid development of the internet and personal computers, we really can’t wait. What do you think?”

Was this a test from Rockefeller, or a joint test from these old guys? John pondered this question. If it was merely a test, then everything would be fine. But if there were other conspiracies behind it, then it would be a different story!

John took a deep breath, knowing that these guys would never let him go. He had to give them an answer today, and his answer would determine his future.

"Sure, if you really want to acquire all the shares I hold, or even the shares held by Eva and Allen, that's fine too. After all, it would make you quite worried if they still hold those shares. I'm not worried about the split of Nvidia, since Intel can handle everything. But if Dream World is split up further, it will have a significant impact. You should think this through!"

Would John really be so kind as to remind these guys? Not at all. John knew his advice would be useless. Those old guys had already made arrangements for communication and had already decided on the splitting of these assets. Neither of the two companies would exist because they were worried that John would have other means to influence everything. Only a real split would be the best outcome, and they were all prepared. This time, they took advantage of the party to directly ask John, catching him off guard. But their plan would not change.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were on John's face, waiting for his answer. After all, this concerned the interests of all of them, even Morgan, who also had to consider his own interests and would not stand on John's side at this time!
(End of this chapter)