King of the Wilderness

Chapter 483: Chapter 269: Lin Yu’an’s New Value (Part 2)

Matty’s breathing started to become somewhat rapid as Lin Yu’an was precisely dismantling his legal accusations.

"Thirdly, my source of information is some friends I knew in Alaska. They are not citizens of the United States and are not under U.S. legal jurisdiction. Do you think the SEC’s subpoena can be sent to the permafrost of Siberia or the highlands of Western China?"

This statement, like a powerful punch, completely destroyed Matty’s professional defenses.

He was momentarily at a loss for words. As a top lawyer, he understood better than anyone that the law has boundaries. And the world that Lin Yu’an mentioned happens to be just outside those boundaries.

"This is not a crime, Matty." Lin Yu’an’s voice carried a cold smile, "This is a perfect arbitrage conducted under legal premises. Clean, legal, and untraceable."

Matty made a "hah" sound in his throat, an involuntary reaction under extreme excitement and fear.

He immediately realized that the real motive of Lin Yu’an’s phone call was not to give him investment advice, but to conduct the ultimate stress test of legal purity and professional instinct.

He was asking: You, Matty, are you the litigator who only dares to cite precedent in court, or the rogue who dares to seize incredible profits?

"Lin..." Matty’s voice was hoarse, each word squeezed out as if through clenched teeth.

"I warn you as your chief legal advisor, this call never happened. Our call records, and any future evidence that could point to it, must be completely and cleanly destroyed!"

But Lin Yu’an knew, Matty had already stated his position.

The call was disconnected.

Matty sat in his study, overlooking the Los Angeles night view, motionless for a long time. He was not trembling due to fear, but because of excitement!

"Perfect crime..." he murmured to himself.

As a mad dog who has been rolling in the legal mire all his life, he realized the risk was enormous, but so was the reward. Most importantly, it was theoretically impeccable!

After thinking for ten minutes, he picked up another untraceable phone and dialed his trader’s number.

"Use the trust fund account I set up in the Cayman Islands under my son’s name to buy 5 million dollars in GME call options. Yes, that crazy stock. Make the transaction records look like a risk-hedging diversified investment. Don’t ask why, just do it."

He hung up the phone and poured himself a glass of the strongest whiskey, downing it in one go!

After ending three calls, Lin Yu’an turned off his satellite phone and threw it into a drawer.

Three seeds, already laden with irresistible temptation, had been personally planted by him.

He knew that from this moment on, his relationship with those three Hollywood tycoons was no longer a simple contract; they had become gamblers on the same ship, in an unprecedented high-stakes gamble.

And he was the sole dealer.

In Los Angeles, in Scooter Braun’s office, he was staring at his just-placed trade interface, expression complex. Just then, his private phone rang, the caller ID showing Brian Lorde.

Scoot took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Brian."

"Scoot." Came Brian’s steady voice from the other end, "I just finished an intriguing call. The other party was a prophet from Alaska, predicting a war about to erupt on Wall Street."

"Brian, my friend, that prophet called me too."

"GME." The two said the code almost simultaneously.

There was a brief silence on both ends of the line, a cooling-off period after exchanging intelligence.

"He asked me for a jungle plane." Brian broke the silence first, "As payment for his information."

Scoot rubbed his brows: "He didn’t ask me for anything. Just gave me a piece of advice among friends. But... Brian, he mentioned his information sources."

"It’s China and Russia." Scoot’s voice turned dry.

There was silence again on the other side of the call, but this time, Scoot could clearly feel the pressure in the quiet escalating rapidly.

"Scoot." Brian finally spoke, his tone calm but each word dropping like ice, "Now, I need you to answer me very, very honestly."

"When did you know that the trump card you signed back from Alaska was connected to the card tables in Moscow and Beijing?"

This question, far more lethal than any roar, it didn’t directly accuse but instead bound Scoot’s professional judgment with the risk of treason. Like a gigantic question mark hanging over Scoot’s head.

Scoot immediately replied, "Just in that last call, Brian." He knew that any hint of hesitation would be interpreted as concealing.

"Before today, all my evaluations of him were based solely on his on-camera performance. I thought I had found a gold mine."

"But now it seems, I might have... uncovered a crack leading to the Abyss."

"A crack..." Brian mulled over the word, then let out an ambiguous chuckle.

"Quite apt. Well then, my old friend," he intentionally emphasized the address, "have you considered another possibility?"

Brian’s voice grew distant and dangerous, "Is there a chance this so-called crack was something you knew about all along and carefully prepared for me as a... surprise? A surprise to test the strength of our twenty-year friendship?"