America: My Time

Chapter 505 Final preparations
Chapter 505 The Final Preparations
John's operation was ready to begin at any time. Everyone only noticed that Hurricane Investment was still investing in yen, but they didn't realize that their settlement had changed. More funds had entered hidden accounts, waiting for new orders to begin, waiting for a crazy harvesting war to start.

"How's it going? Are you able to get a grasp of the situation here? What are those Indonesian guys saying, and what are they thinking?" The report only mentioned one ship, but the salvage team actually found three. They need to make contact and communicate with the Indonesian side!
"It's still under control, but these guys are asking for a bit too much, starting with a million dollars. All we have to do is hand over some damaged items!"

"We're not afraid of their greed, nor are we afraid of their high prices. We're just afraid they won't speak up. Once they do, it's easy to negotiate. We'll agree to their demands, but we need to keep evidence, and everything must be done legally. There can't be any mistakes. Finally, when we hand over the damaged artifacts, we'll give them another $100,000 as a service fee!"

Is one million dollars a lot? Not at all, at least in John's opinion. But for these salvage teams, it's a lot. After all, this is the late 1980s. They can't make the decision themselves, so they have to ask John, their boss, to make the decision.

"Don't worry too much, this is just the beginning. You'll get a million-dollar reward after the salvage is successful! But don't forget your main mission: pirates. We need to get detailed information about them to prepare for the future safety of the shipping company."

This time, John also met with the Indonesian guys. After all, Quantum Mining and Western Energy now wield considerable power in Southeast Asian countries, and Indonesia, rich in mineral resources, is a region that Quantum Mining and Western Energy highly value. For these guys, nothing is off-limits; they'll sell anything for the right price.

The more John understood the madness and greed of these guys, the more he sighed. But this was exactly the result John wanted. Only when they were greedy would he have a chance to get the resources he wanted. Now was not the time. When his next plan succeeded, it would be time for Quantum Mining and Western Energy to expand rapidly.

It was through these interactions that John began to set his sights on Indonesian energy. For some scoundrels who would sell anything, they don't care about so-called national interests; they only care about their own. If they could take over Indonesia's oil fields, their refineries, and even their crude oil terminals, it would be a tremendous boon.

Why didn't they discover this before? Perhaps those guys at Western Energy thought these people were too greedy and that this wasn't a normal transaction. But they viewed the greed and madness of these Indonesian guys through a Western lens. They were just overthinking it and missed an opportunity. However, after talking with them, John saw hope again.

Compared to the financial investment given to these crazy and greedy guys, it was insignificant compared to what he would gain. So John didn't care about such a deal. As long as the other party dared to sell, he dared to sell. There was nothing to worry about or be concerned about. These guys didn't care about the interests of the country!

In just a brief exchange, John understood these guys' greed, and he also gave them ample face, promising that Quantum Mining and Western Energy would definitely consider making more investments here. The crazier and greedier these guys were, the easier it would be for him to get everything he wanted from here, including the energy and mineral resources he desired. Of course, John had no intention of getting involved with the coal; it was their private territory, and outsiders shouldn't interfere. These guys were intentionally or unintentionally reminding John of this, and it must be said that they really didn't have many scruples.

Of course, the reason it went so smoothly was because of John's identity. The American conglomerates gave them hope, since they were more willing to cooperate with conglomerates like John's to ensure their own interests were better protected.

After settling things in Indonesia, John came to Hong Kong to make arrangements. This time, John dared not be careless in the slightest, because he was under too much scrutiny, and any small mistake could bring him great danger. Especially with this financial crisis, he had to be even more cautious and make comprehensive preparations.

First, security personnel must enter the premises and ensure the safe house is secure, leaving no room for error. All of this must be done covertly. Only with such preparations can the operation remain undetected before the storm hits. In comparison, Europe is much more discreet, as its situation has been under preparation for many years and is already well-understood. However, after this storm, things will need to change in Europe as well.

Preparations for Universal Studios have begun, with the overall design nearing completion. After a period of preparation, all work will commence. It must be said that the design of this Universal Studios project has been extremely time-consuming. Given the unique environment, preserving the natural scenery necessitates compromises, which makes the design very challenging. Extensive preparatory work is required, and construction will not begin until all preparations are complete. Following a detailed plan from the Mandarin Oriental Group, the official start date is set for the end of October, or even early November if progress is slower. This relieved John, as it coincides with the period after the financial crisis, allowing him to maintain a more advantageous position in this collaboration.

Now that the new Governor of Hong Kong has taken office, he has considerable reservations about American investments like John's, because British financial groups deeply resent John's opportunistic behavior. Now, with the recovery of the real estate market, they deeply regret selling their assets in Hong Kong to John and are extremely resentful of the Mandarin Oriental Group's dominance.

When the financial crisis hits, these guys will suffer another beating. At that time, they will no longer be able to fight against John, and they will even have to beg John for help. So John didn't care too much about this situation. In short, Standard Chartered Bank will continue to tighten its lending policy and will not lend to anyone except for loans to the Mandarin Oriental Group. The reason is simple: Standard Chartered Bank needs to ensure the cooperation between the Mandarin Oriental Group and Universal Studios and ensure the smooth progress of the Universal Studios project. It is not able to take on other responsibilities.

Standard Chartered Bank does not exercise the rights of the Hong Kong Central Bank; those rights are exercised by HSBC. Any problems will be borne by HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank will not bear any responsibility for this and will not accept requests for help from those individuals.

It was precisely because of Standard Chartered Bank's strong position that it aroused the dissatisfaction of British financial groups, who believed that Standard Chartered Bank was an obstacle to Hong Kong's economic development. Unfortunately, no matter how much they protested, it was useless. Standard Chartered Bank simply ignored them and invested its funds in the appreciation of the yen, and made amazing profits.

"Tianfan, you need to be prepared. No matter how much those guys plead, don't listen to them. We only have one goal: tighten credit. The situation in Hong Kong is getting more and more chaotic, and we need to pay more attention to security. Jaguar Security Company will invest more in this. The banks absolutely cannot have any problems. Security must be under complete control!"

"I've already given the instructions. We'll cooperate fully with the security company's inspections to ensure absolute safety. The situation is indeed getting increasingly chaotic. Because of the Hong Kong government's leniency, those guys are becoming more and more audacious. If this continues, Hong Kong's security will be severely impacted." At this moment, Yuan Tianfan couldn't help but sigh. However, this wasn't a problem he could solve on his own. Standard Chartered Bank was in a better position, and even his boss's investments in Hong Kong weren't facing any major issues. But no one could guarantee what would happen next.

Better safe than sorry. Given the dangerous situation, it's best to make more preparations. As for the arrangements for the upcoming financial crisis, John was in no hurry to tell the other party. After all, there's still a long time to go, and the most important thing right now is safety.

Although John wanted to stay in Hong Kong a little longer, time didn't allow it. There were more important things to deal with in the United States, and arrangements and preparations needed to be made for the Hurricane Investment. Such a large-scale operation required more preparation in advance, otherwise it was easy for something to go wrong, or even for their plans to be exposed prematurely.

At this moment, John was also under immense pressure. Although he knew that Black Monday was coming, the pressure he felt before it even happened was unimaginable. Now, those old guys in the US were very dissatisfied with him. In this tug-of-war, he was currently in the upper hand, and those old guys were starting to feel uneasy.

As John refrained from further expansion and accumulated more and more capital, the old guys became increasingly uneasy, worried that this cunning John might launch a surprise attack, acquire their core businesses, and challenge them to a showdown.

If John were merely conducting a normal acquisition, they wouldn't dare use underhanded tactics, as that would only escalate the situation beyond control. Hurricane Investment could remain calm in the face of everything, but many Wall Street giants dared not. They were all cautiously wary of John, especially given the previous warnings, which made them even more careful. No one wanted to cross John's bottom line at this time, and no one wanted to face the threat from Hurricane Investment. The enormous sums of money in the other party's accounts filled them with fear and unease!

(End of this chapter)