Afterwards, Mu Lin began his tour in Japan like a wealthy tourist who had truly come for leisure, hiring a personal tour guide. He traveled from place to place, marveling at the local customs, culture, and economic development, and no longer displayed any confusing behavior.
However, an invisible war quietly erupted in Japan’s stock market. It began with the shares of leading companies such as Samben Heavy Industries, Tiaye Automobile, and Sunny Manufacturing being gradually acquired, causing their stock prices to slowly rise. Driven by this positive trend, the entire stock market entered a bullish phase.
While ordinary citizens might remain unaware of such developments, major financial players certainly did not. By the third day of the stock price surge, the boards of directors of the targeted companies received official reports. Upon investigation, they quickly traced the source of the funds—several funds from the United States.
This revelation angered Japan’s corporate giants. Though they had lost the war and remained politically and militarily inferior to the U.S., they had risen economically over the years. Traditionally, it had always been Japanese companies and funds acquiring American firms, never the other way around. Now that the U.S. had dared to challenge them, they were determined to show their strength. Quietly, a stock market battle began.
Soon, under the protection of several major institutional investors, the U.S. speculative funds withdrew. However, they soon returned, this time targeting a different group of companies. Japanese companies and financial institutions quickly identified these moves and once again thwarted the foreign capital. The third and fourth rounds of skirmishes continued in small-scale confrontations, each ending in defeat for the U.S. funds.
Now, Japan’s stock market was in constant flux, volatile and turbulent, scaring away ordinary retail investors. Given Japan’s economic development trend, its stock market should have been thriving. Yet this unusual situation puzzled many renowned economists worldwide, who believed there must be some hidden reason behind it.
This situation also caught the attention of Japanese economic media. Through careful investigation, they soon learned from a scion of a traditional Japanese family that the root cause of the market turbulence was a wave of U.S. speculative capital attempting to profit from the market. The report spread like wildfire, stirring up a storm. Multiple media outlets reprinted the story, and further investigation confirmed its accuracy.
Since Japan’s defeat in WWII, the public had always felt humiliated by their status as a U.S. ally, carrying a sense of crisis. Since they couldn’t surpass the U.S. politically or militarily, they poured their efforts into economic development. With U.S. protection and support after the war, and no reparations burden, Japan’s economy had grown to become a global powerhouse.
To the public, if they couldn’t contribute to military or political strength, they could at least defend their country economically, defeating these foreign invaders and contributing to their homeland. Soon, the capital from individual investors surpassed that of financial institutions, greatly easing the pressure on institutional market defenders.
The two sides continued their repeated confrontations. However, what the Japanese hadn’t anticipated was that while they were vigilantly guarding against U.S. speculative capital, waves of new funds were quietly pouring in from around the globe. These funds entered in small batches through multiple accounts, making detection difficult unless one was paying particularly close attention.
The inflow of U.S. speculative capital united the Japanese public with a shared sense of purpose. Under their collective defense, Japan’s stock market soared like a rocket, entering a massive bull run.
Now, Japan’s major institutional investors and financial giants were making huge profits. With widespread retail support, their financial burdens were significantly reduced. After repaying large bank loans, they borrowed even more capital, investing relatively little in the stock market. As major players, they couldn’t afford to have too much liquid capital on hand. With public support and profit potential, not seizing this opportunity would be an insult to heaven itself. After all, they were big players—what did they have to fear?
“Daniel, I think the time is ripe. It’s time for us to reap the rewards. If we let these crops grow any longer, the yield will drop significantly!” Mu Lin said on the phone while listening to Klaus’s report.
“If you believe the timing is right, then make the decision. You know I never interfere with the choices of those working on the front lines. After all, you’re the ones in the field—you have the best judgment!” Mu Lin smiled and hung up the phone.
After hanging up, Mu Lin fell into deep thought. Was this the right thing to do? Once the plan was executed, not only would the criminal families suffer heavy losses, but even the major financial giants might struggle to survive, not to mention ordinary citizens. Mu Lin only wanted to deal with the criminal families, not harm innocent people. Hurting them would violate his conscience.
After a while, Mu Lin decided to go out for a walk. He called Misako, the tour guide he had hired, and prepared to enjoy the night view of Kyoto. The plan was already in motion, and he wanted to ease his inner distress under the cover of night.
Misako was a petite girl with delicate features and a soft voice. Mu Lin felt that her gentleness perfectly embodied the charm of Japanese women. Since hiring her in Xijing, he hadn’t changed guides—after all, wasn’t enjoying the company of a beautiful woman also a pleasure?
Enjoying the warm summer breeze and the colorful neon lights adorning the tall buildings, Mu Lin wandered through various specialty snack shops. His mood gradually lightened.
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