Chapter 982: Stock Prices Plunge Again!

While the stock market was in turmoil, the situation in the city was equally unpredictable.

At 3:00 p.m., the police department held a press conference. Maxley, the head of the department, appeared in person. He first repeatedly assured the public that their arrest of those gang leaders and key members yesterday was not merely a token gesture; the police were not trying to deceive the public.

At the same time, the police department publicly announced that all the gang leaders and key members had already confessed to their crimes, and that the cases would soon be transferred to the prosecution for indictment.

However, the effect was limited; the public was not convinced and did not disperse. Instead, the crowd continued to grow.

By 3:30 p.m., traffic on seven or eight streets surrounding police headquarters had been brought to a standstill due to the massive influx of people.

As a result, the Governor’s Office and the police headquarters were once again inundated with calls from the upper echelons of society.

Left with no choice, the Governor’s Office was compelled to respond.

Less than half an hour after the police press conference concluded, the Governor personally stepped forward to deliver a televised address.

In his address, the Governor personally pledged his full support for the police’s investigation into those criminal gangs, guaranteeing that gang leaders who had committed serious crimes would be sent to prison, thereby restoring peace and order to the people of Hong Kong Island.

Subsequently, the Governor also called on the crowd surrounding Police Headquarters to disperse immediately and not disrupt normal daily life…

The successive statements from the police headquarters and the Governor’s Office sent shockwaves through the community, instantly making the already complex situation on Hong Kong Island even more unpredictable.

First, Yamada, Meng Lin, and others inside the police headquarters sensed something was amiss, and their attitude shifted from cooperation to resistance.

Originally, according to their agreement with Lin Luolan and Max Lee, they were only supposed to play along with the police station to put on a show—a mere formality.

Once the crowd dispersed, they would return to their respective organizations, and everything would go back to the way it was before.

They had assumed they would be able to leave once dawn broke.

But even by 9:00 a.m., when the police station opened for business, they still hadn’t been released.

More importantly, from last night until this morning—such a long time had passed—not a single brother from the gang had come to see them.

This made Yamada and the others extremely anxious, and they all demanded to see Maxley and Lin Luolan.

Subsequently, Maxley, Lin Luolan, and others summoned Yamada, Meng Lin, and the others to a meeting in the police station’s conference room.

Before the meeting began, Lin Luolan had Yamada, Meng Lin, and the others look out at the dense crowd of protesters gathered below the police station. Only then did she inform them that, since the crowd outside had not dispersed, they were currently unable to leave.

Next, Maxley produced a pre-prepared confession and asked Yamada, Meng Lin, and the others to sign it.

He also explained that the confession was merely intended to lull the public outside into a false sense of security; only by doing so would the crowd believe the police were genuinely and seriously investigating the case, and only then would they disperse.

Although Yamada, Meng Lin, and the others still harbored some doubts about this—after all, it was a confession—they wondered if signing it might put them in danger.

But considering that the police station and the Governor’s Office’s greatest enemies were not the triads, but Li Yi and the Chinese Merchants’ Association behind him—and that they still needed the triads’ help—they wouldn’t take action against them at this critical moment.

Furthermore, Maxley had personally guaranteed that once they signed the confession and the police held their press conference, they would be free to leave.

And so, Yamada, Meng Lin, and the others signed the confession without a second thought.

However, after signing the confession, they were not released; on the contrary, the number of guards surrounding them increased, causing Yamada and the others to realize something was amiss.

They demanded to see Maxley and Lin Luolan again, but this time, no one responded. It didn’t take long for Yamada and the others to realize they had been treated as sacrificial pawns…

Although they didn’t know where Maxley and the others got the nerve to target them, being deceived made Yamada and the others extremely angry. They scrambled to contact their henchmen on the outside, preparing to have them rescued.

What Yamada and the others didn’t know was that their gang on the outside had already been wiped out; it was just that Lin Luolan and the others had been keeping this information under wraps.

Despite the magnitude of the incident, there were no reports of it on the outside, except among a few insiders.

Furthermore, the henchmen who had managed to escape last night and during the day to alert their boss at the police station had all been detained by Lin Luolan and his crew.

Barring any surprises, these men would meet the same fate as their boss—they would be treated as sacrificial pawns to appease public outrage, facing prosecution and trial.

Lin Luolan, Maxley, and the others were well aware that once they’d decided to use these gang members as sacrificial pawns, they had to see it through to the end—otherwise, they themselves would be the ones to pay the price.

However, Meng Lin, Yamada, and the others all had powerful backers. By plotting against them in this way, Max and Lin Luolan were also facing immense pressure.

Fortunately, after the press conference at the police station concluded, the crowd gathered outside the headquarters dispersed, and traffic—which had been disrupted for most of the day—returned to normal.

But this isn’t over yet…

………

The Stock Exchange!

Compared to the Governor’s Office, which had been forced from behind the scenes into the spotlight, and Maxley, Lin Luolan, and others struggling to survive in the crossfire, Sangchai and his team at the exchange were equally frustrated.

According to Sangchai’s original plan, once they had driven the stock prices of companies like Wharf Holdings and Hang Seng Bank to their peak, they would sell the shares they had acquired, then continue to dump shares to drive the prices back down to rock bottom.

However, after his orders were issued, he discovered that someone had beaten them to it and had already begun dumping large quantities of their shares.

Upon investigation, they discovered that the ones selling off shares just like them were, surprisingly, the people from Star Company and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

In other words, for the entire day, these people had been moving in lockstep with them—and in some cases, their actions were even faster than their own.

Although Sang Chai didn’t know exactly what Li Yi was thinking, he couldn’t counter them at this point. After all, with their strategies aligned, attacking Li Yi and his group would be tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot.

Left with no choice, Sang Chai and his team could only watch helplessly as Li Yi and his group followed their lead… and made money…

With both major market makers frantically dumping shares of these companies, the market sentiment quickly shifted from buyers to sellers, and stock prices plummeted from peak to trough.

In less than half an hour, from 3:30 to just before 4:00, the stock prices of these companies—which had previously surged nearly twofold—were brought back down to earth.

Fortunately, when the stock prices fell to the morning’s opening price, the downward trend halted, bringing relief to the heavily invested institutions, speculative capital, and retail investors.

But just then, the British Hong Kong government suddenly issued an announcement. It stated that the government had recently conducted surprise inspections of several key enterprises on Hong Kong Island, uncovering a large number of illegal and non-compliant activities, and released a list of these companies along with details of the issues found.

Kowloon Wharf, Hang Seng Bank, Longheng Bank, Ho’s Group, and Star Investment were prominently listed among them.

The specific issues plaguing each company were also clearly outlined. For instance, Wharf Holdings was found to have severely substandard infrastructure, port management personnel engaging in extortion and bribery, and management accepting bribes.

Longheng Bank and Hang Seng Bank were found to have engaged in irregular lending practices, money laundering, and tax violations, while Star Investment Company also faced tax-related issues…

In response to these “issues,” the government has instructed relevant departments and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to form a joint investigation team to conduct on-site investigations at these companies.

As soon as this announcement was released, it instantly sent shockwaves through the stock market, causing the shares of these companies—which had just stabilized—to plummet once again…

…………