THE WALL STREET IMMORTAL

Chapter 8 The Destruction of Vanguard

Li Wei turned his face away from the glass window, but the lingering residue of Qi pressure from the mysterious man in the opposite building still felt etched into the back of his neck. That vibration wasn't just a threat; it was a proclamation that his existence in this era was no longer a secret. However, Li Wei didn't have time to chase that shadow now. His focus returned to the room, where the digital noise of the stock trading machines began to transform into an orchestra of destruction for the one person left standing in the ruins.

"This is impossible... hey, something’s definitely wrong with the system!" shouted one of Quoriel’s junior analysts sitting in the corner, his fingers dancing frantically across his laptop keyboard. "Vanguard stock... it’s getting pulverized, Boss! The valuation just dropped forty percent in three minutes! This is insane—it's a massive dumping!"

Quoriel Nightshade, who had been sitting with the poise of a predator, now looked like a man who had just seen a ghost. His bloodshot eyes stared at the giant monitor on the wall. The green graph representing Storm Investments was now vertical, shattering resistance levels that should have been impossible to cross in a single trading day. Conversely, the blue graph belonging to Vanguard—his pride and joy—was in a freefall, resembling a straight line toward zero.

"Do something! Buy it all back! Use the reserve funds in the Caymans!" Quoriel roared, his voice cracking. Cold sweat poured down his temples, soaking the collar of his expensive shirt, which now felt like it was strangling him.

"We can't, Sir!" the analyst replied in a tone of unbearable panic. "All our creditors... they’re pulling their funds simultaneously! An email just came in from Ulricth Pax, representing the European banking consortium. They’re unilaterally cutting all our credit lines. They said Vanguard is now considered a high-risk asset. We... we’re being hit with a margin call, Sir!"

Li Wei stood calmly beside Onyxa, his arms still folded across his chest. He observed the scene with a gaze that was almost bored. To him, this financial ruin was merely a modern form of destroying a rival sect. The only difference was that in the past, he used a sword to sever the flow of an opponent's energy; now, Sylphix used quantum algorithms to sever the flow of Vanguard’s capital. The principle remained the same: find the enemy's pulse and press until it bursts.

Onyxa Storm stood frozen in the middle of the room. Her heart was pounding so hard against her ribs that she felt breathless. She looked at the monitor that moments ago had displayed her ruin, only to see figures of wealth she had never before imagined. Storm Investments hadn't just survived; the company now possessed enough liquidity to buy half of Manhattan's financial district.

She slowly turned toward Li Wei. Her husband—the man she had always regarded as a burden, the man she had nearly kicked out for being useless—was simply standing there with a flat, infuriating expression. Li Wei looked as if he had just ordered a cup of coffee, not just dismantled a Wall Street titan with a single short phone call.

"Li Wei..." Onyxa murmured, her voice trembling. "What... what is actually happening?"

Li Wei didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on Quoriel, who had now collapsed onto the thick carpeted floor. The cell phone in Quoriel’s hand kept ringing, but the man didn't dare answer it. He knew who was calling. It was the shareholders demanding his head, the partners who would tear him apart, and perhaps the authorities who would question the origin of the black hole in his balance sheet.

"Who... who are you, really?" Quoriel looked up, staring at Li Wei with a look that was a mixture of hatred and pure terror. "No one in this world can move the market like that. Not through one phone call. What kind of cheating did you use, huh?! Are you practicing witchcraft?!"

Li Wei took a single step forward, causing Quoriel to reflexively crawl backward until his back hit the leg of the conference table. The cold aura that had been faint earlier now exploded from Li Wei’s body, filling the room with a heavy atmospheric pressure. The staff in the room suddenly felt the oxygen around them thinning.

"The world is vast, Quoriel," Li Wei said in a low tone that vibrated through the ribs of everyone listening. "Money is energy. And energy always flows to a more stable place. You were so arrogant with the numbers on the screen that you forgot that behind those numbers, there is a power that can erase them in the blink of an eye. You tried to prey on the weak, yet you didn't realize that you yourself are merely plankton in a raging ocean."

Li Wei then reached into his jacket pocket, taking back Onyxa’s phone. The screen still showed the last call log to an unregistered number—a number that was actually connected to Sylphix’s private satellite in low Earth orbit.

"Game over," Li Wei added curtly.

Just as those words left his mouth, the boardroom doors swung open violently. A group of men in black uniforms with federal security logos entered with stiff expressions. However, they didn't head toward Li Wei or Onyxa. They went straight for Quoriel, who was still sitting limp on the floor.

"Quoriel Nightshade? You are under our custody on suspicion of market manipulation and large-scale securities fraud. All Vanguard assets were frozen by federal court order five minutes ago," one of the officers stated while cuffing Quoriel’s limp hands.

The chaos was swift. Quoriel was dragged out, still raving about conspiracies and sorcery, while his staff could only stand there agape, realizing their careers had just imploded along with the company. The boardroom, once filled with aggressive tension, was suddenly silent, leaving only the hum of the air conditioner and the rhythm of Onyxa's still-erratic heartbeat.

Onyxa felt her world had just turned upside down. In less than an hour, she had gone from a CEO on the brink of bankruptcy to the most powerful woman on the trading floor today. And it all started with the man in front of her.

She walked closer, the click of her heels sharp against the marble floor. Ignoring the stares of the few remaining senior staff, Onyxa grabbed Li Wei's arm tightly, almost clutching it. She needed something to hold onto; she needed confirmation that this wasn't just a nightmare that had morphed into a beautiful hallucination.

"Li Wei, come with me. Now," Onyxa said in a tone that brooked no argument, though there was a tremor of vulnerability beneath it.

She pulled Li Wei away from the crowd, passing through the office corridors now filled with the shocked whispers of employees, toward her soundproof private office. Once inside, Onyxa immediately locked the door and leaned her back against it, staring at Li Wei intensely.

The room was dim, lit only by the New York City lights beginning to glow outside. The blue light from the skyscrapers fell across Li Wei’s face, casting shadows that made him look far more mysterious and dangerous than usual.

Onyxa took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm in her chest before she spoke. "Okay, enough with the 'poor son-in-law from the village' act, Li Wei. No village person can bring Wall Street to its knees in a matter of minutes. No ordinary person has a phone number that can make central banks tremble."

She stepped forward, closing the distance between them until she could catch the faint, oddly soothing scent of sandalwood from Li Wei's body.

"Who exactly was the person you called earlier? And more importantly—" Onyxa looked directly into Li Wei’s black eyes, which were as deep as an ocean trench. "Who are you, really, Li Wei? What is the real reason you agreed to marry me and join the Storm family?"