America: My Time

Chapter 1597 Counterattack or Probing?
Chapter 1587 Counterattack or Probing?

Silence! Soon, the room fell silent. Neither Morgan nor Rockefeller spoke. They were both thinking. After all, their positions were different. They could say one thing but mean another.

After a long silence, Rockefeller finally spoke: "Morgan, I do have some doubts, but you know that's normal. I can't afford to be careless with John. You can relax and let go of everything, but I can't. You laid a solid foundation for your successor, but I failed. John's strength is growing stronger and stronger, making it hard for me to breathe. Although Oil Capital is developing rapidly, it still lags far behind John!"

"Rockefeller, what can I say to you? You think John is your rival, your enemy? You've been wrong from the start. John isn't our enemy; you just don't want to bow down, you're unwilling to submit to a junior. But times have changed, and we have to accept our age. I still advise you to sit down and have a proper talk with John, or wait until Little Bush takes over and have him speak to John on our behalf. I can also have him look after Morgan's interests, since I'll be retired by then!"

Upon hearing Morgan's words, Rockefeller nodded and said, "That's fine. It's easier for Little Bu Shi to step in than for you or me, and the reason is more suitable. However, this means that it won't just be the two of us who want to talk to John. Quite a few guys will want to talk to John, after all, they are all worried about John's targeting. They have seen the miserable state of the Koreans very clearly!"

"I didn't care. I was already retired by then. As for the Koreans, they brought it on themselves. Why did they have to cause trouble under these circumstances? They knew John's plan hadn't been completed, yet they still jumped around so excitedly. Who else would suffer if not them? It's just that the time was too short. John couldn't cut off their energy supply again. That would have had a bad impact, otherwise the pressure they faced would have been even greater. If it were you or me, we would have done even more crazy than John."

At this point, Morgan paused, glanced at Rockefeller, and continued, "This time, the oil giants have gone too far. They've lost sight of their place. Perhaps this frenzied expansion has made them reckless. Regardless, John is a member of the American financial group. They shouldn't keep targeting John and engaging in such scheming. If they succeed, we have nothing to say, but if they fail, they will have to pay the price. If they don't pay any price, they'll become even more reckless, and the rules we established back then will collapse! I believe the authorities will soon receive a request from Japan, because Japan will be affected by them!"

"Let's wait and see John's reaction. Russia is a tough country to deal with; they're experts at taking advantage of others' misfortunes. If Asia Energy is willing to do this, Russia definitely won't let them off without any benefit! To be honest, I'm a bit confused about John's thinking. Although Asia Energy has investments in Russia, the Sakhalin Island investment has already been signed. Even if Russia is unwilling, they wouldn't dare to break the contract. Why does he insist on doing this? Is it just to cause trouble for South Korea and Japan?"

"Perhaps he sensed danger. After all, the situation in Russia has changed, and it's hard to say how much use his former connections still have. Bringing Japan, South Korea, and China into the game was also a way to share the risks and pressure. Even if Russia reneges on its promise later, his losses will be smaller, and he might even be able to escape unscathed by the time Russia targets him! Think about Japan back then; John also escaped unscathed, selling off his assets under pressure from Japan and successfully getting away. Perhaps the same will happen in Russia! As long as Russia has ambition and greed, the chances of success are high. John doesn't lack projects to start now, but rather time—stable time! He no longer owns any group companies in name, only a copyright company. Soon he will disappear from the wealth rankings. After a while, do you think the American public will still remember him? Hiding behind the scenes while young and strong—who among the young people we know can do that?"

Rockefeller smiled bitterly: "No, not a single one. No one could make such a decision under such temptation. He is a monster, a monster that is only seen once in a century!"

“Yes, John is a prodigy. All we need to do is go with the flow, not fight him. The market is so big, there’s no need to fight to the death. We can divide the market!” This is easier said than done. Anyone can say nice things, but it’s too difficult to do them.

Time flies, and those Koreans never gave up. Even after the Japanese had gone back, they still wanted to get some benefits from John. But what they got was not John's agreement, but the anger of the Japanese.

After the South Korean plan was launched, Japan also launched a similar plan, but this time the shares were accepted by charitable foundations instead of family foundations. As for China and the rest of Asia, they are also speeding up, but this is more covert, and they are directly using offshore companies.

Faced with this situation, both the US and Europe understood John's intentions and knew that this was an inevitable restructuring, rendering their various ideas futile. Therefore, it wasn't just the Japanese who hated South Korea, but many others as well. In a short period of time, South Korea faced considerable pressure!

"There are still many things to deal with, but unfortunately there's no time now. The US election is over, and I should go back no matter what. I'm afraid this New Year won't be peaceful!" Upon receiving the US election results, John had no choice but to leave China, even though there were many things to deal with here. It was a matter of attitude.

John was traveling alone, without any other beautiful women by his side. When he set off from China, many people were excited, especially the guys from Japan. They knew that when John left the United States again, it would be the time for Asian Energy to negotiate with Russia, and their opportunity would come.

Although there have been constant storms in Asia recently, and John has repeatedly taken steps to restructure the group, things have been calm in the United States. It seems that Hurricane Investment and Honest Bank have begun to quiet down, and there has been little movement in Europe as well. This has made many people uneasy, after all, John still has a lot of funds at his disposal.

However, at this very moment, John's media group ran into trouble, and the CEOs of Paramount Pictures and Legendary Entertainment Group both chose to resign. This happened so suddenly that it caught everyone off guard!
When John learned of this, he sighed. What was bound to happen had happened. Robert Iger had taken this step, and this guy went to Disney. Was this the beginning of the backlash from the oil giants?

It's best to part amicably. Although John could have given them some resistance in this matter, he ultimately refrained. After all, Robert Iger's contributions to Legendary Entertainment are indelible, and this wasn't necessarily his personal wish; given his position, perhaps the current oil giants felt their control over the media was strong enough to directly confront John, hence this underhanded move. Of course, it's also possible that Donald Trump was behind it all. Even though he wasn't involved in the US election campaign, those guys still considered him to be in cahoots with John! Many people wanted to see the reaction of Legendary Entertainment and Paramount Pictures, but they were all disappointed. The two major corporations simply offered their blessings to Robert Iger and his team without making any moves to obstruct them. This situation caused many to sigh, and even those who wanted to cause trouble were unsure of what to do next.

The CEOs of both companies had very valid reasons, and John had no choice but to comply. They also pointed out their incompatibility with the environment, since both companies had moved to Oregon, where the environment was different from that of California.

"John, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to give up so easily this time?" Smith asked with a worried expression, after all, in his view, this situation would seriously affect the development of the two media groups!

John smiled calmly and said to his father, "There's nothing wrong with it. Let them leave if they want. Although it will have some impact, it's not serious. The people below can take over. Actually, I knew this day would come, but I didn't expect it to come so soon, and at this time! If others want to leave, it's not a big deal either. It won't be a problem in the short term."

John's answer startled Smith, who then said, "John, you're not really going to do another asset restructuring like those guys are saying, are you? It's one thing in Asia, but this is the United States. If we do that again, the losses will be enormous. There's absolutely no need for that!"

"You're overthinking it. I don't have such thoughts. The issues in the US have already been resolved. Why would I waste my time and energy? It's just those guys' speculation. After all, the companies in the US have already gone public and raised funds. Do I need to continue doing this? I'm afraid there are some people plotting behind all this. Perhaps some guys are eyeing Gulfstream Aerospace and Bell Labs again. After all, those guys are always so greedy."

"That's good. You know, these successive events have given me a headache. Many people have been asking me about all of this. Now, many people regard me as a beacon for the stock market and want to hear my opinion on it! The emergence of the internet bubble has caused panic among many people."

Upon hearing these words, John's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that someone didn't want him to remain behind the scenes and wanted to sabotage his plans. Was it the work of those oily capitalists or the push from those old guys? John had to take it seriously!

John shook his head and said, "I won't come forward to make any explanations, much less try to change the market. What those guys think is none of my business. I don't want to be used as a pawn by them and sacrifice my own interests for theirs. Everything will return to normal. There won't be any changes in the US, at least not in the short term, unless someone insists on targeting me. In that case, don't blame me for retaliating!"

In John's mind, the most likely candidate is the oil giants. After all, they profited greatly during the Asian financial crisis, and these guys also have strong media influence. Although they are not as crazy as John, they are not far behind. On a global scale, their media influence is much stronger than John's.

For Oilfield Capital to grow and expand, it had to face pressure from John D. Rockefeller, so they decided to strike first, leading to this incident. However, the timing of their move was rather reckless. It seems they have quite a few powerful backers behind them; one wonders if Rockefeller himself was involved.

"John, stepping in to stabilize the stock market at this time will also benefit you personally!"

John shook his head and said, "On the surface, that's how it seems, but if I did that, all my previous efforts would be wasted, and I'd be back to square one. They just don't want me to remain behind the scenes, and this incident is the best proof. It's a pity, though; these guys acted too quickly and secretly this time, without any prior warning. After all, many people were drawn to the election and shocked by Morgan's retirement decision, giving them this opportunity. Fine, let me see what tricks you have up your sleeve!"

John's reaction didn't raise any red flags for Smith, as he was simply fulfilling a request from Old Martin. Even if he hadn't explicitly stated it, John understood; after all, there were always some greedy individuals on Old Martin's side. Was choosing to act after the election a slap in John's face? No, it was a provocation. These guys seemed furious at the Koreans' attempts to shift blame and were enraged by pressure from all sides.

Of course, more than anything, they wanted to use this opportunity to test John, and it's hard to say how many people were behind this. But their audacity suggests they had powerful backers. John's first thought was 911; these guys might have come for that reason, or perhaps they had already begun preparations!

John never underestimated the power of the Mossad. However, whatever their schemes were, it didn't matter. As long as their interests were affected, someone had to pay the price, and the Middle Eastern tycoons certainly understood that.

(End of this chapter)