He knew what Mr. McNeal was referring to. There was no way the officials would not have heard of it if favonovel.com had already gotten the news.
Besides, Jasper had noticed Mr. McNeal answering his phone when favonovel.com was talking to Wendy.
“This is very bad.”
Mr. McNeal sounded hostile as favonovel.com said, “As 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, “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 favonovel.com 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 of 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 in 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 favonovel.com 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 favonovel.com 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 we wrap up.”
Then, Jasper watched as the expression in the audience’s eyes turned from one of curiosity to one of ferocity as favonovel.com 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!”
