Chapter 295 : Collapse
Chapter 295: Collapse
Sector A, Bit Avenue.
The largest stock exchanges, major banks, and investment firms in New Valhalla City were all gathered here, making it the undisputed financial district of the city.
As always, when 9 a.m. arrived, the brokers, traders, and market makers who had come to the stock exchange prepared themselves for another fierce battle against the figures displayed across the electronic boards, armed with the data they had personally brought.
Then, on that particular day.
Everyone there focused their attention on the stock chart of a single corporation.
“Something's strange about Stingray's chart...”
Suddenly, the stock prices of every publicly listed Stingray subsidiary began rising all at once.
Some by 1%.
Others by as much as 3%.
Ordinarily, a movement of only 1–3% would not have been especially remarkable.
However, considering that a MegaCorp the size of Stingray rarely fluctuated by more than 1% in a single day, it was an extremely noteworthy development.
Financial analysts immediately began closely examining Stingray Mysteric Technomodules and the other listed subsidiaries.
Among them, the more capable analysts managed to uncover one fact through various information channels.
—Someone is buying up shares aggressively.
—The buyers appear to be newly established investment firms no one has ever heard of.
—There's only one person who would do something like this at a time like this.
—Aaron Stingray has finally made his move.
That became the prevailing analysis.
The real battle over management control between the siblings had finally begun.
The bold investors saw this as an opportunity.
They jumped directly into the middle of the conflict, hoping to profit from the scraps left behind by the clash between two whales.
Meanwhile, the cautious investors stepped back, finding such an overt move suspicious.
Naturally, the news soon reached Kalia's ears.
“So my brother has finally begun.”
“That seems to be the case.”
“It appears he's trying to shake the stock price somehow and wound you, President.”
“What should we do?”
“For now, I believe we should invest as much available capital as possible to reinforce our defensive line.”
“At present, that's the most we can do.”
“Will that really be enough?”
Kalia asked her economic advisor, unable to hide her uneasiness.
His response, however, was filled with confidence.
“It will be enough.”
“If Chairman Aaron Stingray truly intended to respond, he should have begun preparing several months ago... perhaps even years ago.”
“Jumping in this suddenly will only increase stock volatility.”
“Furthermore, rumors have already spread throughout the securities industry.”
“Even if we don't make extraordinary efforts, the market itself will naturally strengthen our defensive line.”
“So you're saying my brother has no options left?”
“Exactly.”
The economic advisor declared confidently,
“Today's mere one percent increase alone will inflict enormous losses upon Chairman Aaron Stingray.”
“And no matter how much underworld money he gathers, there are limits.”
“No sane person can continue absorbing losses worth hundreds of billions of Credits.”
“...Understood.”
“Still, just in case, I recommend informing the financial authorities and the police.”
“It would be best to eliminate the threat before it grows.”
No one knew how many bullets Aaron Stingray still possessed.
Since no one could accurately calculate the underworld's income, perhaps he truly did possess enough money to swallow the entire Stingray Group whole.
However...
Black money remained black money.
Its origins were impossible to verify.
If excessive amounts of it suddenly flooded into the market, the investment firms using it would naturally become targets of tax investigations.
Once that happened...
Aaron's weapon would disappear on its own.
“This is unquestionably a blunder.”
“He'll end up tripping over his own feet.”
The economic advisor openly mocked Aaron's judgment.
He even congratulated Kalia in advance, saying victory was already theirs.
Yet Kalia simply couldn't shake her growing uneasiness.
'Is that really true?'
'Would my brother really...'
The following day.
Stingray's stock surged once again.
Even accounting for growing market optimism, the increase was substantial.
For a MegaCorp the size of Stingray, seeing such dramatic gains for two consecutive days was highly unusual.
Although Kalia knew Aaron Stingray was responsible for creating this market situation, leaving her somewhat uneasy...
It was still good news.
Just as her economic advisor had predicted yesterday, higher stock prices made it increasingly difficult for Aaron to acquire additional shares.
The more aggressively Aaron moved...
The stronger the defensive wall protecting Kalia became.
'I don't understand.'
Had he simply threatened her with force instead...
Kalia might have been completely powerless.
Faced with Aaron's overwhelming strength, she would have had no choice but to kneel.
Instead...
Aaron insisted upon using an unnecessarily peaceful method.
As a result, he alone was suffering losses.
'What exactly are you thinking?'
Still...
If Aaron himself had chosen not to draw his sword...
There was no reason for Kalia to refuse.
Feeling considerably more at ease than the previous day...
She went to sleep.
The following day.
The stock rose again.
Three consecutive days of gains were not particularly alarming.
After all, it was simply the combined effect of market optimism and the movements of the giant known as Aaron Stingray.
The real problem...
Was that the investment firms believed to have been funded by Aaron had begun qualifying as major shareholders.
“Our calculations indicate that the investment firms established by Chairman Aaron Stingray have now acquired 2%.”
“Then that makes sixteen percent in total.”
Compared to Kalia's current 23%, the gap had narrowed to only 7%.
The fact that he had closed the gap that much in merely three days sent chills down her spine.
“It seems the Mafia possesses far more money than we imagined.”
“Their business model differs fundamentally from ordinary corporations.”
“Products like Junk Chips and narcotics enjoy virtually unlimited demand.”
“They make money in an entirely different way.”
“I don't particularly care about that.”
“So what's your analysis?”
“There's nothing to worry about.”
The economic advisor remained just as confident.
“As I said before, Chairman Aaron Stingray is only tightening the noose around his own neck.”
“In fact, he should be worrying about his own future.”
It resembled a mountain whose slope became steeper the higher one climbed.
The more aggressively Aaron purchased subsidiary shares...
The higher the stock price climbed.
Consequently...
The capital required increased exponentially.
“A seven percent gap is enormous.”
“At the current rate of stock appreciation, closing that difference would require several trillion Credits.”
“Unless money literally falls from the sky, acquiring that much capital is impossible.”
“But my brother's funding comes from the underworld.”
“That changes nothing.”
“If you simply make one phone call to the government, President, they'll immediately tear those firms apart.”
“We could investigate them for illegal funding.”
“Or market manipulation.”
“Alternatively, we could strengthen our defenses by adjusting the group's cross-shareholding structure and ownership ratios.”
“We have many options.”
“...Very well.”
“You may leave for today.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
The economic advisor left work right on time, looking cheerful.
Watching him leave, Kalia felt reassured.
Yet the anxiety inside her continued growing.
The following day.
The market capitalization of every subsidiary increased.
Aaron's investment firms still showed no signs of stopping their purchases.
Their ownership stake had suddenly reached 5%.
Unknown funds worth hundreds of billions of Credits had begun pouring into the market.
Every major news outlet featured special reports analyzing the recent surge in Stingray subsidiary stock prices.
Many expressed concern.
Even New Valhalla City's notoriously corrupt financial authorities finally began paying serious attention.
During an official press conference, they announced they were closely monitoring the situation and would act swiftly should they detect anything threatening market stability.
Naturally...
No one believed them.
The following day.
The stock price soared once again.
Less than a week had passed...
Yet every subsidiary's stock had already risen by more than fifteen percent.
Given the circumstances, the increase itself wasn't particularly strange.
The real problem...
Was Aaron's steadily rising ownership stake.
“...It appears he's caught up to 18.9%.”
“...Didn't you say that was impossible?”
“I-I sincerely apologize!”
“This situation is simply unprecedented...!”
Just how much money did he have?
No...
How insane was this?
The value of the shares continued climbing.
Yet he completely ignored the losses.
He simply bought everything he could.
Even stranger...
He wasn't purchasing everything at once.
Instead...
He deliberately continued buying little by little.
Almost as though he wanted the stock price to climb even higher.
“So what do we do now?”
“For the time being, the Government Audit Office intends to begin an investigation.”
“They'll suspend trading for those investment firms and thoroughly investigate them.”
“I don't believe they'll collapse easily...”
“But since they're undoubtedly connected to the Mafia, it's possible to destroy them if everything goes well.”
“Very well.”
“I'll trust you.”
The following day.
Contrary to their promise...
The government did nothing.
Through another press conference, they announced they had been closely monitoring the Stingray Group situation but had not yet found sufficient grounds to intervene.
In other words...
'We don't know.'
'Handle it yourselves.'
That was essentially their response.
“W-Wait a second!”
“Does that even make sense!?”
“Have they all lost their minds!?”
“The stock market is obviously going crazy, and they're just going to stand there doing nothing!?”
As every Stingray subsidiary's stock fluctuated wildly...
The entire market began behaving strangely.
Companies completely unrelated to Stingray suddenly experienced massive stock increases despite having no positive news whatsoever.
Meanwhile...
The shares of perfectly healthy companies suddenly collapsed.
Consumer prices also began showing alarming signs.
Naturally so.
An enormous amount of mysterious money had suddenly fallen from the sky and flooded the market.
Experts had already begun warning about inflation...
The decline in the value of money accompanied by rapidly rising prices.
Most importantly...
“W-What?”
“I didn't hear that wrong, did I?”
“I-I deeply apologize.”
“Forget apologizing!”
“Explain it properly!”
“Well...”
According to the economic advisor...
They had considered slightly adjusting the cross-shareholding structure of the subsidiaries to stop Aaron's advance.
It had accomplished absolutely nothing.
Apparently...
Aaron wasn't merely buying shares in Stingray Mysteric Technomodules.
He was frantically purchasing shares in every company.
Even the unlisted subsidiaries.
Under those circumstances...
Tampering with the ownership structure would only benefit Aaron rather than hurt him.
“T-That doesn't make any sense!”
“Where is all that money coming from!?”
“I-I don't understand either.”
“Chairman Aaron Stingray has already invested several trillion Credits.”
“Even if every last coin circulating throughout the underworld were gathered together...”
“This level of financial power is impossible.”
“So where did all that money come from!?”
“I-I don't know...!”
“However...”
Just then.
One of Kalia's intelligence agents burst into the office in a panic.
Wearing a shocked expression, he reported,
“We've received information regarding the government.”
“Speak immediately.”
“It appears some kind of deal was made between the Mayor and politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties.”
“What do you mean?”
“You remember how the Mayor's approval ratings skyrocketed after the Mafia boss was arrested several months ago?”
“In reality, an opposition politician played a key role in that operation.”
“And the compensation appears to have been the government's decision to ignore the current situation.”
“As for the politician believed to have orchestrated this... the leading suspect is Zyle Stormwalker—”
“Those insane bastards!”
A curse burst from Kalia's mouth.
Her subordinates couldn't help staring in shock.
Kalia, who always carried herself like an elegant noble lady, had never reacted like this before.
“All of you, get out!”
“P-President...!”
“Get out!”
“Don't come back until you've solved this!”
“Or at the very least found a solution!”
“Figure out where my brother got all that money!”
“How much does he still have left!?”
“And what he's planning next!”
“Come back only after you've prepared countermeasures!”
Kalia exploded in anger.
Her subordinates hurriedly left the office.
Yet...
They themselves had no idea what to do.
Several days later.
The day before the Shareholders' Meeting.
“P-President...”
“What is it today?”
“......I-I'm sorry!”
Without another word...
The economic advisor immediately fell to his knees before Kalia.
Tears streamed down his face as he spoke to her back, pleading as though begging for his life.
“It seems...”
“We've lost...”