[Chapter 751: Is This a Rhythm of No Witnesses?]
"Master, I guess they can't do anything?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the Russians are at it again, but this time it's different from 8/19. They almost blew the White House apart."
"Fuck, that's the Parliament building. Tsk tsk, the fighting nation is really extraordinary. Here we just get people throwing shoes and pulling hair, but I've never seen anyone bombard them with tanks."
"After this round, it's a complete mess. Master, since the dealings with Leo Wanta, there's no way to recover now. If my estimates are correct, a lot of people are going to end up in jail. Or..."
...
On October 3rd, after two years of shock therapy, the conflict within the Russians was truly out in the open. According to American economists, the hope was massive, but it would still take some time. As for how much time, they suggested asking a fortune teller.
By this point, a group of wise heads finally came to their senses, or rather, they had reached their purpose. Everything that needed to be divided had been divided, and any further shock action would only lead to disaster.
"Ha! I got it, Tanner. The fact that this matter cannot be made public is secondary. This time, I'm afraid even the victim will be gone."
"Master, he just has to follow the legal procedures; pay the back taxes and he is all set. Fourteen thousand dollars, pay it off and walk out."
"How is that possible? That guy will never escape their watchful eyes. But sure, it will be enough to give the CIA a headache."
...
William White wasn't mistaken; he was merely a person of interest. There was little to be done. You can't blame them for not admitting he was a CIA asset; it was a real mess.
It was nothing to shoot oneself in the foot, but to outright shatter bones? That might just be the CIA's renowned incompetence.
The inaccurate intelligence on Somalia has made the new boss embarrassed. The Wanta plan has repeatedly gone wrong, and now Pentagon is also going to handle things impartially.
Come on, did they really think they could operate on the edge of legality?
Even on the edge, it still had to conform to the law; this wasn't Somalia.
Sure, Clinton didn't dare reach out anymore. However, pretending he didn't see them was out of the question. As long as nothing went wrong, they might be fine; but if they messed up, it'd mean prison for everyone.
In America, it was quite simple to drag something out indefinitely. As long as you followed the standard procedures, who cared if it was just a case of tax evasion? Ten years of delay wasn't unusual at all. If necessary, it could go on even longer.
This was why sometimes, pleading guilty led to lighter sentences. The backlog of cases was just too immense, and judges had it rough too. If you pleaded guilty quickly, and he was in a good mood, perhaps he'd give you a break.
This was why top American lawyers were in demand; their negotiating power surpassed that of smaller attorneys.
Unless you were a Supreme Court Justice, you weren't necessarily a match for these guys. As for someone like William White? It just made everything more complicated. Fighting a lawsuit against someone like him was a waste of public resources.
...
Recently, William White had been slacking off in the exercise department. Staring at his noticeably round belly, the wealthy man sighed. That cursed obesity gene was stubborn.
After changing into a new outfit, William White returned to his office. Just like in history, it seemed this case was also destined to drag on. But that wasn't entirely bad; at least there wouldn't be a currency crisis erupting anytime soon.
Unfortunately, with that in mind, prices for commodities were bound to remain low. Gold, minerals, oil, diamonds -- none of these were likely to yield profit for him.
The only silver lining was that the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing was still in play. Since these assets wouldn't be pouring into commodities, they were bound to flow into the securities market and real estate. As a result, stock and property prices would continue to rise.
When things got big, not every project could be profitable. If everything was making money, there was something seriously strange about it.
Investment geniuses are one thing, but crossing into the realm of the bizarre just didn't add up. Like with his venture capital, plenty of failures were lurking around too.
Why would William White approve companies that had never popped up in his memory?
The reasoning was simple; losing a little money wasn't scary. If someone caught on to his irregularities, that would really be a problem. All he needed was a slightly higher success rate. That's the only way his actions could be justified.
...
"Andy, how did the precious metals fare yesterday?"
"Sir, not much changed. Trading was really light."
"That's odd; wouldn't gold have gone up?"
The old man's question left Andy cringing. They had been gearing up for a gold rise for quite a while now. With Europe's situation once again tense, this should have been the time for prices to spike.
Unfortunately, with such lackluster trading, there was no opportunity to stir the waters. They often said that murky water was where you caught fish, and there was truth to that. Without a good opportunity, a giant like Morgan Stanley couldn't hope to find any competition.
Alright, maybe there was one.
"By the way, Andy, has there been any news from William White?"
"No changes. Although he holds a substantial amount of spot gold, he's shorting gold in the futures market. Our estimates show his short position is about double."
The old man hesitated. To him, it seemed William White was merely hedging his bets. If Morgan Stanley rushed in to short the market, it would undoubtedly stir up a storm.
Futures were one thing; they had leverage. But if William White decided to sell off his spot gold, London's market wouldn't be able to withstand it.
"Andy, any updates from the Fed?"
"Sir, they might continue to cut rates. This latest round of quantitative easing hasn't really moved the markets. You know, Greenspan isn't like the previous boss. Recently, he stated that moderate inflation is a sign of a healthy economy."
"Nonsense! If it weren't for his predecessor's groundwork, what grounds did he have to say that?"
...
The old man wouldn't have thought if he actually started buying gold, William White would take the chance to sell. The price of $400 per ounce has really only been in the past few years. Around 1999, it fell below $300.
Let's just say, the fundamentals of gold have actually changed beyond all recognition, and the amount of circulating dollars was minimal. Where could you expect it to rise?
No matter how much quantitative easing was implemented, the Fed still needed to stick to the rules. In fact, Europe was quite irked by their recent behavior.
C'mon, could you folks get it together? This isn't the Bretton Woods System we're talking about. The dollar is credit money now -- don't joke around.
What? You're claiming to have a lot of credit?
When Americans boast about their confidence, their European partners were all flipping the bird.
Seriously, they'd never seen anyone this shameless. The oil crisis was merely an excuse; they had drained themselves dry in the wars -- this was the reality.
Once upon a time, they had to put up with an unreasonable Soviets. However, now they were at each other's throats. Without external threats, they couldn't afford to let things spiral out of control.
Calling you big boss was fine; if you offered some protection money, that could be tolerated. But could we negotiate on military spending? It feels outrageous.
Since there were no aliens and no threats, why not keep things peaceful? Can't we all just live well?
*****
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