America: My Time

Chapter 554 The Neon Panic

Chapter 554 The Panic of Neon
"Your Excellency, we have already reached a deal with John, and everything is no longer an issue. Now we want to know how you plan to hold the upcoming press conference. Will the White House host it, or will we decide for ourselves?"

When President Reagan heard these words, a faint joy appeared in his eyes. This was the result he wanted. The White House had put in so much effort, so naturally they wanted a good reputation and a share of the benefits they deserved. Otherwise, John's demand for arms export rights wouldn't have been resolved so quickly. Moreover, without the White House's full support, the transaction in the game world wouldn't have been able to proceed smoothly, since this was no ordinary transaction.

The White House was also heavily involved in the transactions within the game world. It was precisely because of the White House's involvement that many problems were resolved. It was also because of the White House's involvement that Morgan and John had some reservations, which allowed everything to proceed so smoothly. Under these circumstances, the White House naturally wanted to see sincerity.

Now that sincerity has been shown, how could President Reagan not be pleased? He nodded and said, "It's better for us to preside over such matters; it will be more convincing and easier to control the stock market crash. If you all wish, you can stay the night and leave after tomorrow's press conference."

Good heavens, it seems that President Reagan is somewhat uneasy about all of this, as he has suggested that Morgan and his team stay at the White House for one night to prevent the news from leaking out and allowing Donkey to prepare.

Upon hearing this, Morgan sighed inwardly. He knew this would happen; this guy wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. He also understood the other party's calculations. So he shook his head and said, "There's no need to stay. We all have our own accommodations, and it's not suitable for us to stay here. That would attract unnecessary trouble. There are quite a few people watching this dinner party. If we don't leave, they'll have bad ideas."

Morgan was also subtly reminding President Reagan not to act rashly and give others leverage. Although everyone understood the purpose of the dinner, they couldn't give the enemy any ammunition. If they let them stay, what would outsiders think and say? If Donkey stood up and caused trouble, wouldn't that be a ready-made handle?

"Alright, let's set a time then. We'll hold a press conference here promptly at 10 a.m. tomorrow!" Although President Tone was reluctant and wanted to take this opportunity to build relationships with these business tycoons and gain some benefits, it seemed he had no choice but to give up now to avoid unnecessary trouble.

As the plan was completed, the banquet came to an end, and people began to leave. John also left the White House with the crowd. John had his own estate here, and hotels were not safe. Not only John, but all the bigwigs of the conglomerates did not choose to stay in hotels, so as not to put themselves in danger.

At the end of the dinner, a spokesperson for the White House also informed the media that a press conference would be held at 10:00 a.m. the next day to make arrangements for the stock market crash, at which time Wall Street giants would make arrangements to rescue the market.

When the media personnel tried to interview John, they discovered he had already left. Under the cover of the White House staff, John and the other bigwigs had slipped away from the media and quietly departed. When the media personnel realized the tycoons' cars had disappeared, they suddenly understood. They quickly learned from their surveillance team that the tycoons had left and returned to their respective estates.

News of the dinner quickly spread around the world, as Europe and Asia alike were watching the White House and the dinner. They wanted to know what kind of bailout measures these American financial groups would take, and even more so, what arrangements John, this Wall Street tycoon, would make. Unfortunately, they only knew John's initial remarks, the meetings at the White House dinner, and the talks between John and Morgan, but they knew nothing about the details.

In contrast, the European side was not too worried, but the Japanese were all concerned after learning about the history of the White House dinner. Last time, John brought Naoko to the White House dinner, but this time, although Naoko had returned to San Francisco with John, only John appeared at the dinner alone, which was not normal.

Was this a warning to them, or was there another purpose? After learning of this situation, the Japanese were forced to gather together to discuss the matter, while also speculating about what had happened at the White House dinner, how the Americans planned to bail out the market, and what impact this would have on them. No one believed that John's lack of a suitable female companion at the White House dinner meant there must be some calculation behind it; the most likely explanation was a warning to the Japanese, and a way of expressing a certain attitude.

“I’ve said it before, we shouldn’t keep testing each other. It will only backfire and make John, that little fox, unhappy with us. We’ve already received his warnings, and this situation is another kind of warning!”

"We can't rule out that possibility. We have to admit we underestimated John's reaction. But it's too late for us to regret it now. All we can do is try our best to salvage the situation. Fortunately, John appeared alone at the dinner party without any other female companions. That's a good result. At least no one has replaced Naoko's position, which is a good thing."

"Gentlemen, perhaps we are overthinking things, and there is no need for us to be so nervous. I admit that John is very capable, a media mogul who controls the narrative, but do we need to be so cautious? He doesn't have absolute power in the United States, nor is he without enemies. At least those Taiwanese are on the opposite side of him, which is an advantage for us!"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear those words again, and I don't want anyone else to know. You may not know how cunning that little fox John is, but others do. And don't forget, we can't side with the oil tycoons, at least not openly. Do you understand? That would incur the wrath of the Middle Eastern tycoons. Our oil resources depend heavily on them. If they are dissatisfied with us, it could affect our oil supply. Also, don't forget we're discussing uranium mines with that little fox John, and iron ore pricing is about to begin again. We can't afford to be careless. You may not care about any of this, but we can't, and neither can Japan!"

"Well said. The energy issue is of paramount importance and we absolutely cannot afford any mistakes. We can tolerate the iron ore issue and have other options, but we don't have many choices when it comes to energy. If we provoke that little fox John and he joins forces with the Middle Eastern tycoons against us, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Alright, let's leave this topic at that. Regardless of what John the little fox is planning or whether he's intentionally warning us, we need to take this seriously. During this time, no one should make any rash moves, cause any unnecessary trouble or conflict, or do anything underhanded. Also, Mr. Morita, if possible, you'd better talk to John the little fox and find out what he's thinking."

Hearing this, Akio Morita sighed inwardly. These guys had thought of him again after everything went wrong, but what could he do? He was Japanese too, and in this situation, he could only do his best. Moreover, he himself felt uneasy knowing about the White House dinner and sensed something was amiss. The warning was definitely there; he just didn't know how serious John's warning was.

"I will try my best to understand everything, but we should be more cautious and not cause any more trouble. It would be best to warn Nakamori Akina's greedy family not to cause trouble, at least not for the time being. We need time to understand everything and to wait for the reaction from the United States."

In Akio Morita's mind, Akina Nakamori was the biggest mistake because of her greedy family, which could cause unnecessary trouble at any time. However, this was just his opinion. In the eyes of many others, this greedy family was the perfect candidate for testing, and they could control them at any time. The more greedy they were, the easier they were to manipulate. This is why Mitsui Fudosan and its associates made their move, and why others were scheming.

Without this guy's guidance, the situation wouldn't be what it is now, and that greedy family wouldn't have made one foolish move after another. Everything was under their control, and that was the key. As for the future consequences, that wasn't their concern. At worst, they'd sacrifice that greedy family; to them, they were just cannon fodder, not worth taking seriously at all.

In contrast, the others weren't so easily manipulated. After all, not all family members were so greedy. Naoko and Hitomi were both extremely cautious, understanding what they could and couldn't do. As for the other women, these guys paid them even less attention now, even considering it just a simpler transaction. After all, these women weren't accompanied by any security personnel and only received a property—a stark contrast to Naoko, Hitomi, and Akina Nakamori!
(End of this chapter)