3 PM in the afternoon, New York, at a coffee shop on the corner of a street not far from Wall Street.

Deep inside the shop, Luo An and Michael Brey sat across from each other, with no one else around them.

“Those sons of bitches…”

Unlike Luo An, who remained calm while leisurely sipping his cappuccino, Michael Brey’s expression was grim. After cursing softly for a while, he asked:

“Luo An, you anticipated this would happen, didn’t you?”

Michael Brey believed in numbers; many things in this world could not be distinguished as right or wrong, but numbers could. The results of calculations were either right or wrong, no ambiguity.

Based on federal mortgage default rates and housing loan data, Michael Brey calculated that federal housing prices would inevitably start to decline in 2007.

In 2005, Michael Brey approached investment banks on Wall Street and creatively proposed creating CDS, a financial product for legally gambling based on federal house prices

For the next two years, Michael Brey was mocked as a fool by many, but he didn’t care. He knew he would ultimately be the victor.

The time has now moved to mid-February 2007, and just as he expected, federal mortgage default rates were visibly rising, yet the prices of mortgage-backed securities had not dropped.

This means that while Michael Brey’s judgment was correct, federal housing prices had yet to decline.

Data was on point, the facts were clear, and Michael Brey could not ignore them. He painstakingly analyzed this “free market” that did not follow logic and ultimately reached a conclusion he least wanted to see:

The federal mortgage market was manipulated, housing prices were controlled, and all departments of the federal financial system were jointly defrauding retail investors, even defrauding each other.

“This is Wall Street, Michael.”

Seeing the dark circles under Michael Brey’s eyes, Luo An smiled and said:

“The Federation is a capitalist country. Players have their playstyles, and the house naturally has its tactics.”

“Mother-fu-ker! Son of a bitch!”

Michael Brey understood the meaning behind Luo An’s words. He ran his fingers through his hair, cursing angrily again.

After a long silence, Michael Brey slowly raised his head, speaking in a slightly hoarse voice:

“Luo An, I need your help.”

“Go on.”

“I need some funds.”

CDS, this financial product, had all sorts of high-sounding names, making many people feel they couldn’t understand it at all.

But in reality, this financial product could be simply understood as two strangers betting on Old Wang’s car. A bets the car will crash, B bets it won’t.

A, who bets the car will crash, has to pay B a sum every month. If the car never crashes, A keeps paying.

But the moment the car crashes, B, who bet it wouldn’t, has to pay A a large sum, and A wins the bet.

Old Wang’s car is the federal housing price, A is Michael Brey, and B are the investment banks.

Michael Brey stated that in his plan, federal housing prices would drop by February 2007 at the latest, so he only prepared enough monthly premiums to pay the investment banks until then.

Now with the housing prices still holding steady, only half a month is left until March, and next month’s premium still needs a large sum, which Michael Brey can no longer cover.

Facing the anxiously red-eyed, pleading Michael Brey, Luo An chuckled, showing a bright and sunny smile, and said:

“We are friends, Michael. Friends should help each other, right?

How much are you short of? Name a number.”

Michael Brey’s eyes lit up instantly. He clenched his fist tightly, almost jumping out of his chair in excitement.

Michael Brey was straight and didn’t fancy men, but at this moment, he thought Luo An was the most handsome man he’d ever seen!

Especially with that “name a number,” Mother-fu-ker, Michael Brey finally understood how women feel.

After taking a few deep breaths to suppress his excitement, Michael Brey said seriously:

“I roughly need 23 million US Dollars.”

Michael Brey controlled over thirty billion dollars, but these funds were forcibly bound from investors who strongly disagreed with his bearish view on federal house prices.

For two years, these investors constantly demanded to withdraw their investments, placing immense pressure on Michael Brey.

Among the people Michael Brey knew, only Luo An agreed with him. Luo An shared his bearish outlook on federal house prices, making Michael Brey feel at times that only he and Luo An were the truly smart people in the world.

“23 million US Dollars…”

Hearing this figure, Luo An’s brow furrowed slightly. Seeing this, Michael Brey’s heart tensed, so he quickly asked:

“Is the number too big? Otherwise…”

“No.”

Luo An shook his head, asking:

“Is that figure for March’s one-month premium?”

Michael Brey paused for a moment, then nodded:

“That’s right.”

Luo An gently shook his head, took a sip of coffee, and said:

“That’s not enough. I can initially provide 80 million US Dollars for you, and we can discuss further needs later.”

Upon hearing Luo An’s words, Michael Brey’s face lit up with excitement, both shocked and thrilled. He quickly realized the implication in Luo An’s words and asked in a low voice:

“Luo An, do you think they’ll control federal house prices for much longer?”

“I’m not sure.”

Luo An set down his coffee cup, gave Michael Brey a deep look, and said plainly:

“But I know one thing: the house doesn’t lose.”

Michael Brey understood numbers and data, while Luo An didn’t understand those. But Luo An understood the game rules of the Federation.

“These bastards who should be tossed into a cesspit…”

Understanding the implication behind Luo An’s words, Michael Brey cursed again, his face grim. Luo An smiled, not too bothered, and picked up his phone to call the bank, transferring 80 million US Dollars into the account provided by Michael Brey.

After chatting for a while, the excited Michael Brey headed to pay the bill and left first. Luo An wasn’t in a hurry to leave; he was waiting for someone.

As time passed, over half an hour later, a white man in a suit, equally tired-looking, walked into the coffee shop.

Upon seeing Luo An, the newcomer headed straight to his table, plopped down on a chair, and signaled the waiter for three cups of coffee.

“Good afternoon, sir.”

Surprised, Luo An asked Trick Kennedy, who shared the same black circles as Michael Brey:

“What happened to you? Is the Judgment Process Church case that hard to handle?”

Trick Kennedy downed his coffee, wiped his mouth, and gave a bitter laugh:

“It’s not the Judgment Process Church, it’s…”

Mid-sentence, Trick Kennedy paused, waved his hand to change the topic, and asked:

“Luo An, what brings you to Wall Street?”

“I have some investments on Wall Street. I drop by whenever I have time to check in.”

Luo An casually replied:

“The US Dollar is depreciating faster and faster. Not investing would mean more losses.”

Trick Kennedy agreed, nodding. After some small talk, he got to the point, saying:

“I have two pieces of good news for you this time.”