The Tyrant Billionaire

After reading the list, Victor looked at Mr. Xu and said, "Mr. Xu, many of the items on this list are hard to obtain. I'm not sure I can get them for you, and there's another issue—your money isn't enough to cover the cost."

Mr. Xu looked at Victor seriously:

"I know the money isn't enough, so I'd like to discuss whether we can take the goods on credit. We'll owe the money for now. You wanted more promissory notes, right? We could only gather this much, but we will definitely loot more Imperialist businessmen and more banks as we advance.

It's just a matter of time before we get our hands on more promissory notes, savings books, and certificates, and we can repay you with those in the future."

Victor thought it over.

"I'll need to get approval for that. How about this? Today, we'll complete this transaction first. I'll prepare the medicines and medical equipment for you, but for those large weapons, I'll need to consult the boss."

The promissory notes and savings certificates were verified, and everything checked out. The two men shook hands and sealed the deal.

Victor sent a telegram to Hardy, informing him that he had acquired over $26 million worth of HSBC promissory notes. Hardy thought, not bad.

"Proceed with the plan," Hardy instructed.

The next day.

The weather was clear.

An American man brought a large promissory note worth $4.5 million to HSBC, handing it to the teller and requesting cash.

The teller was startled by the large figure and immediately reported it to the manager.

The manager came over to inspect the note. It wasn't a fake—it had been issued by the Beijing branch. However, Beijing had since been seized, and HSBC's Beijing branch had been shut down. At the time, HSBC had written off these accounts as bad debts to protect its own interests.

This had made HSBC's financial records in Hong Kong look very good.

To put it bluntly, HSBC was prepared to default on the debts.

"I'm sorry, sir. Due to the war, the account records have been lost, so we are unable to cash this promissory note at the moment. You'll have to wait until the war is over and we can verify the note's authenticity," the manager said, using a formal tone.

The American was furious and began shouting at the manager in the bank's lobby: "Look carefully! This is a promissory note issued by your bank. You promised that as long as I had this note, I could cash it at any of your branches. Now you're telling me the records are lost and it can't be used?

"The loss of your records is your problem, not mine. I demand that you cash this note immediately, without delay!"

The manager remained calm and spread his hands.

"I'm sorry, sir. There's nothing I can do. Until we find the records, we cannot cash this note."

"So, what if the records are never found? Does that mean this money will never exist?"

"All I can say is that we'll cash the note once the records are found," the manager replied, evading the issue.

The American man was furious.

That afternoon, he contacted several newspaper reporters and exposed the matter. The next day, several Hong Kong newspapers reported on the incident, with the Global Times providing a detailed report and commentary.

"A bank without credibility has nothing left. HSBC's refusal to cash a promissory note is a breach of trust. This kind of behavior is disgraceful and will cause many depositors to worry about whether they can still withdraw their money."

This news caused quite a stir in Hong Kong.

HSBC, the largest bank in Hong Kong, was now being accused of losing trust. People began to worry about whether the money they had in the bank would also be at risk.

The next morning, a large crowd gathered at the doors of HSBC. They flooded the bank's lobby, demanding to withdraw their money.

If anyone had been paying attention, they would have noticed that the people trying to withdraw their money were all members of the Gangs in Hong Kong.

These people held up savings books and demanded to withdraw their funds.

The bank employees realized that these savings books were all from the Chinese branches, accounts that had already been written off as bad debts. Naturally, the manager refused to release any funds.

When the crowd heard they couldn't get their money, they erupted in anger.

One by one, they began raising a ruckus in the bank, filling the HSBC lobby to the point where no business could be conducted. The chaos disrupted all normal operations.

At that moment, reporters arrived and started taking pictures of the angry crowd. The headlines the next day were even more sensational.

"HSBC loses trust, massive withdrawal rush at headquarters, citizens unable to get their money, HSBC suspected of running out of funds."

"With the Communists Party aproaching Hong Kong and the war pressure, many foreign firms are withdrawing from Hong Kong. HSBC is British owned, so could it have secretly transferred people's deposits, leaving only an empty shell behind? This is something we should be wary of."

After this report came out, it wasn't just the actors Victor had arranged—real HSBC depositors also began to panic and rushed to the bank to withdraw their money.

Only with cash in hand would they feel secure.

But the bank lobby was already packed with Gang members, leaving ordinary citizens unable to get inside. Unable to withdraw their money, people became genuinely afraid. They worried that they might never be able to access their funds. Word spread quickly, and soon, the crowd outside HSBC grew to nearly ten thousand.

HSBC's upper management hurriedly reported to the board of directors.

When the board members heard this, they were overwhelmed. If a bank run really happened, even HSBC wouldn't be able to handle it. Most of the bank's money had been lent out—otherwise, how would the bank make money?