Chapter 964
Chapter 964 - 950: Qi Bubble
1,556 words
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8 min read
"Is everything settled? On your way? That’s great."
When Lu Ping’an received the news, he made no attempt to hide his joy.
Since he had already placed his bet, he naturally had to go all in... Win big or escape if he lost.
Having finalized the plan, Lu Ping’an also started the process of cashing in his chess pieces.
"I, An Nan, will increase my investments and layout comprehensively! If everything goes smoothly with the development of my industry, my factories will triple in size next year at least."
Accelerating the cash-in didn’t mean exiting the game—in fact, quite the opposite. The Ponzi scheme, before its inevitable crash, was when development was at its fastest.
Lu Ping’an’s "cashing in stance" actually signaled a massive boom.
Facing the "expectations" of the entire city, Lu Ping’an adopted an extremely aggressive policy.
Cities have limits in their development, in how much industry and commodities they need—how big must a pond be to nurture a dragon.
He disregarded the reality that the city’s market was nearing saturation and instead catered to the local investors and citizens’ fervent desire for development... Investors wanted profits, politicians sought accomplishments, and ordinary people also desired well-paying jobs with generous benefits.
"...Of course, for future development and a healthy market, I will invest in new steam railways construction. This way, my products could also be sold to other cities..."
He seemed to nonchalantly skip over difficulties.
But if one were to think rationally, there were many flaws in Lu Ping’an’s words.
For example, the massive investment in city railway systems, whether a "businessman" could possibly afford it, and even if he managed that, the lengthy construction and associated costs of land acquisition, law enforcement, and so forth are not something an individual can handle.
Furthermore, even if all this were to be resolved in a few years and your goods could be shipped to other cities... how could you guarantee they would sell?
In this odd world of city-states, where each city is a "nation," local protectionism is beyond just prevalent—it’s to the extent that without greasing the local administrative wheels (paying enough money), it’s unlikely your goods will ever get through.
And in reality, given that each city has its own industries and labor resources and they all maintain a relatively stable state, "buying" a market is fundamentally a fallacy because as soon as you scale up, the other party simply won’t dare to sell... Or else they would face pressure from local businessmen, enterprises, and even more fatally, the social instability caused by large-scale layoffs in local companies.
These issues are unsolvable, at least in the eyes of most rational people. Opening up markets in other cities is highly unlikely as it brings an unknown factor that may cause social instability—it’s just too difficult.
"But this is Mr. An Nan we’re talking about!"
Yet the city’s ardent fans and investors didn’t see anything as impossible.
If Mr. An Nan said it, then it definitely would be a success.
Yes, investors, before this, Mr. An Nan’s businesses followed a wholly owned approach, under his own people’s control from the inside out.
But now, as he began to expand his industry development projects, his almost limitless funds began to fall short... However, in an instant, he was filled up by enthusiastic investors.
Good feelings bring warmth, trust, and expectations. The image of the "unbeatable, invincible super businessman" was further enhanced, and the "financing needs" he offered were frantically snapped up by the market.
But in reality, due to Lu Ping’an’s previous reckless operations, his funds were already bottoming out, and any subsequent financing came from "joint ventures" with other businessmen... But now, he had too much money that he had to squander.
"There’s so much money, I don’t even know if I’ll have time to spend it all..."
The supply of "extraordinary materials" in the city was always finite, and Lu Ping’an had bought every inheritable heirloom that was for sale, and even those reluctant to sell weren’t necessarily worth the price (mainly because it didn’t make sense).
What to do if you can’t spend all the money? Just splurge.
Massive discounts across all industries, all sorts of grand coupon events slapping you in the face. Buying clothes and winning antique furniture, can you believe that? Spending three thousand and somehow ending up earning thirty thousand... after a series of astonishing maneuvers by Mr. An Nan, everyone believed he had made a fortune and began handing out money like a madman.
So when everyone thought he was wealthy, he became even wealthier.
There was no helping it, when officials, private individuals, overt offers, and covert bribes all came pouring in, he couldn’t stop it.
This time, he was certain of what one could achieve with an acclaimed reputation and an endless stream of goodwill bonuses.
"...I mean, it seems like I could easily become the richest man around, right. No, the biggest fraud." Lu Ping’an stroked his chin, feeling that he alone could easily destroy a city’s financial system and make a decade of accumulation evaporate overnight.
"In an unrestricted ’civilized nation,’ it’s really easy, once you start rolling with the scale effect, it’s like large-scale, covert brainwashing... Really makes you not want to play with religion, where the profits could be ten times that of finance, earning not just money but also souls and boundless loyalty."
Lately, Lu Ping’an felt that Big Cat was suggesting some weird things, seemingly trying to lead him down a strange path.
"Actually, meow, you could go to Huaqi, meow, and run for Federal President, meow! The benefits of politics are the highest, meow!"
Cat talk, always uttering some excessively terrifying... naturally occurring phrases.
"...Uh, you know, it might actually work."
"Huaqi probably wouldn’t work; after all, they’re quite skilled at media warfare and mudslinging. But if it’s a smaller nation with a democratic election system, with this ability, you could truly steal a country..."
𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
There are always people who say things that should not be said.
Lu Ping’an’s expression was delicate; he felt he might have trouble when he returned.
Although he could implement an information blockade, in this day and age, there are no walls without leaks, and he can’t eliminate witnesses every single time.
"It’s fine, actually. Having powers with the potential to destroy the world, at the Bureau of Anomaly Management you’d be assigned a five-digit number at least, one more like you isn’t a big deal, plus you wouldn’t even be near the top of the list."
When it came to the world of the elite, Big Cat knew far more.
For such powerful beings, both official agencies and the Bureau of Anomaly Management would rather accord them preferential treatment... because you can’t kill them all is one thing, and who in their right mind thinks about destroying the world? It’s only when they’re pushed to the brink that real problems arise.
Of course, the creation of the Nirvana Plan might also be due to the sheer number of these unexploded bombs. Even if every exposed one tries to obtain the most appropriate treatment, no one can be sure that someone won’t snap one day.
"...Your power wouldn’t even rank as T0, world-destroying level; T1, large-scale influence over a certain area (city), is more like it, and that’s the chronic type. You might rank near the top of T2, though."
In just a few words, you could sense the ordeal implied.
Suddenly, Lu Ping’an felt sorry for all the police officers and military uncles; our world hasn’t been destroyed yet, and these people are probably fighting with all their might.
Given Lu Ping’an’s currently demonstrated abilities, considering the policies of the New Era, he’s likely to receive preferential treatment, especially with the official backing he already has.
Of course, there are restrictions... if he were to use his powers widely on home turf, someone would immediately want to have ’a talk’ with him.
But in this world, with Lu Ping’an having the whole city in his grasp, he has already begun the actual "looting" of the city.
Precious metals, extraordinary media materials, various treasures, real or fake, were moved one by one into the museum.
The high-value ones disappeared immediately, the medium-value ones were stored in the warehouse area, waiting to be moved in one go when leaving, and the low-value "junk" was displayed in the museum’s exhibition area, becoming another testament to the "clueless Mr. An Nan."
But this attracted even more hawkers, because the proverb of "spending a fortune for a horse of pure breed" could evoke greed in other treasure owners in other worlds just as well.
Lu Ping’an did not massacre the city nor rob all its wealth, but after his maneuvering, the "cleanliness" of the operation might have been even more thorough than outright slaughter and plunder.
And Lu Ping’an was patiently harvesting chips, preparing resources for war, waiting for another big fish to come knocking.
— End of Chapter 964 —