He knew what Mr. McNeal was referring t
o. There was no way the officials would
not have heard of it if he had already
gotten the news.
Besides , Jasper had noticed Mr. McNeal
answering his phone when he was talking
to Wendy.
“This is very bad.”
Mr. McNeal sounded hostile as he said, “A
s opposed to the tangible effects, I think
the symbolic meaning behind it is more
important. This is setting a bad example
for people of Somer descent across the
world.”
Jasper lowered his voice and answered,
44
But it’s not necessarily a bad thing for the
world to get a good look at their faces
now. But what do the higher-ups have to
say about this?”
Mr. McNeal answered, “What else could
they say? The officials aren’t allowed to
voice their opinion on this because
entrepreneurs should settle their affairs
themselves. The officials won’t interfere
with the market’s daily workings. You
know what I mean?”
Jasper nodded understandingly.
“The officials’ role here is merely to pass
judgments and set the rules. They can’t
get involved themselves, or else they’ll
incite panic amidst the entrepreneurs.
Under the premise that the entrepreneurs
themselves do not have a plan, the
officials are unable to get involved. You
require an entrepreneur like me to take
care of them, which is one of the reasons
why people like me exist.”
Mr. McNeal smiled as he listened to Jasper
and said, “Don’t worry, we won’t make
you work for nothing. Haven’t they halted
all their investments in the country? Are
you interested in them?”
Jasper’s eyes lit up.
The Atticus had made such a low number o
f domestic investments that it was
practically nothing, whereas those
Fongroup invested in had long since been
seized for investigation. Jasper had also
picked out a few of the most desirable
assets for himself. However, Hope Group
was different, as it had several projects
that Jasper was eager to have.
“Hope Group is one of the largest realtors i
n Harbor City, and they’re famous even
throughout the entirety of Southeast
Terra. They have several domestic
projects that are bound to rake in large
amounts of revenue, so, naturally, I’m
interested.”
“But I’m a little strapped for cash over
here,” Jasper hurriedly added.
Mr. McNeal waved a hand and said, “Let’s
not talk about this now. We can discuss
money when you’re not as out of pocket.
We have no reason to worry you’ll run
away. What’s most important now is that
we take care of the problem at hand now.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes slightly and
said, “They’re all from Harbor City. Since
the problem came from Harbor City, then
we should take care of it the Harbor City
way.”
“Alright.”
Mr. McNeal did not ask for further details.
He knew that Jasper would not go
overboard and that he would take care of
matters in a way that left most people
satisfied.
Several minutes later, Jasper took over
Wayne’s spot again and stood behind the
podium as he said slowly, “Everyone here
has already talked about what should have
been discussed today. Based on my
previous plans, I should be announcing
the end of the economic forum today.
However, I just received some news that I
would like to share with everyone before w
e wrap up.”
Then, Jasper watched as the expression in
the audience’s eyes turned from one of
curiosity to one of ferocity as he told them
about the three-way collaboration
between Fongroup, Hope Group, and
Atticus Group.
There was no need nor any way of keeping
it a secret. Everyone had their ways of
attaining information, they would have
learned of the press conference once they
left the venue anyway.
Thus, instead of leaving them to worry
and make wild guesses, Jasper decided to
lay everything out in the open.
“Harbor City does not need these rotten
apples, and the people of Somer descent do not need traitors like them either. We can’t sit back and await their execution if they’ve declared war on us. Let’s treat them as practice for what we’ll be doing when the stock market reopens in two days. We need to get rid of these traitors!”
