205: Chapter 206 Destiny Manipulates Capital to Short the Singularity

Monday morning in Jiangcheng, before the sun had fully risen, the trading room at Singularity Technology's headquarters was already brightly lit. Song Zhiwei, dressed in a dark business suit, kept her eyes fixed on the multi-screen trading system in front of her, her fingers hovering over the keyboard, her fingertips cold.

Today was the first trading day after the victory in the patent war, and it was also the "high-risk financial war day" she had warned about in advance. The 100 billion in funds from the Market-protection alliance was already in place, waiting for any sign of movement after the market opened.

The time in the bottom right corner of the screen jumped to 9:15, and the call auction began. Singularity Technology's stock price opened 5% lower at 128 RMB per share, below the key support level of 135 RMB. The traders in the room instantly tensed up, and Song Zhiwei immediately picked up the intercom: "Watch the source of the sell orders. Prioritize absorbing sell-offs from small and medium retail investors; don't alert the main short-sellers."

But as soon as she finished speaking, dense, large-scale sell orders suddenly flooded the screen—100,000 lots, 200,000 lots, 500,000 lots... The black sell orders swallowed the buy orders like a tide, and the stock price plummeted from 128 RMB to 115 RMB in just three minutes, with the decline expanding to 12%.

"This is bad! The main short-sellers have made their move!" a trader's voice trembled. "Black Rock Capital is dumping shares through 17 offshore accounts, already throwing out 3 billion in market value!"

Song Zhiwei's heart suddenly tightened. She immediately dialed the Market-protection alliance, but an anxious voice came from the other end: "President Song, our funds are stuck in cross-border settlement; it will take at least half an hour to arrive! Black Rock moved too fast, they didn't give us any time to react!"

At 9:30, the market officially opened. The short-sellers' offensive became even more fierce as Black Rock Capital, joined by two other short funds, dumped another 2 billion in market value. Simultaneously, they published a fake research report titled "Singularity Technology's Cash Flow Break" across financial media. The report forged Singularity's bank statements, claiming the "company's available funds are less than 50 billion, insufficient to cover next quarter's R&D investment," and cited "anonymous executives" saying that "mass production of the Photon Chip has encountered major technical failures."

The fake report was like a bombshell, instantly igniting panic in the market. Small and medium shareholders began to follow suit and sell off. Stock forums were filled with negative comments like "Run! Singularity is going bankrupt!" and "I told you winning the patent war was useless." Some brokerages even downgraded Singularity's rating to "Sell," advising investors to "avoid the risk."

The stock price fell like a kite with a broken string—110 RMB, 105 RMB, 100 RMB... At 10:00 AM sharp, when the price broke through the 100 RMB mark, a collective gasp echoed through the trading room. The drop had reached 20%, and 120 billion in market value had evaporated, falling from 600 billion to 480 billion.

"President Song, the protection funds have arrived! Should we enter the market now?" the trader asked urgently.

Song Zhiwei looked at the still-surging sell orders on the screen and grit her teeth. "Wait a bit longer! Entering now is just throwing ourselves into the meat grinder. Black Rock still has at least 3 billion in short chips to dump; we have to wait until they are exhausted!" She knew that retreating now was for a better counter-attack, but looking at the continuously falling stock price, her palms were still drenched in cold sweat.

Meanwhile, Singularity Technology's customer service hotline was being overwhelmed. Calls from investors, partners, and suppliers flooded in—"Is your company really going bankrupt?" "Can the payment for next quarter's goods be made on time?" "Can the orders for the Photon Chip still be delivered?" The customer service team was frazzled, only able to repeat "the company's operations are normal, please do not believe rumors," but it was difficult to soothe the callers' anxiety.

In Zhou Yurou's office, several representatives of core suppliers sat on the sofa with solemn expressions. One supplier representative pushed up his glasses and spoke with concern: "President Zhou, we've worked together for so many years, we shouldn't doubt you, but with the stock price falling like this and the media saying you have cash flow problems... for the next batch of sensors, can we request a 50% prepayment?"

Zhou Yurou's heart sank; she knew the suppliers were starting to worry about the risk. She suppressed her anxiety and pulled out the latest production reports and bank statements. "Manager Wang, look, our cash flow is very healthy. We have 28 billion in available funds on our books, which is more than enough to cover all payments. Stock price fluctuations are just short-term behaviors of the capital market and do not affect our production or cooperation."

But the suppliers were still skeptical. Someone suggested "suspending production of the next batch of orders until the situation stabilizes." Zhou Yurou managed to persuade them to stay with great effort, but she knew in her heart that such a crack in trust would take a long time to repair.

In the top-floor conference room, Zhang Fan was looking at an intelligence report sent by Gu Jingshen—of Black Rock Capital's 5 billion in dumping funds, 3 billion came from a Panamanian shell company controlled by Tianming Group, and the other 2 billion was a "short fund" raised from retail investors in Europe and America. Behind the S&P rating downgrade, there was also a transfer of interests from Tianming; they had given the S&P analyst a "consulting fee" to include a "negative outlook" in the report.

"These people really stop at nothing to short us." Zhang Fan's fingers lightly tapped on the table, and the system in his mind suddenly popped up a prompt: [Causality Deduction: Black Rock Capital's short chips will be exhausted before 11:30. Around 13:30, a group of follow-on shorts will begin to close their positions. It is recommended to enter the market in batches between 11:00 and 11:30 to absorb the remaining sell orders, and then perform a reverse rally after 13:30.]

Seeing the system prompt, Zhang Fan felt confident. He picked up the phone and dialed Song Zhiwei's extension, his voice steady: "Starting at 11:00, enter the market in three batches: the first batch 30 billion, the second 50 billion, and the third 20 billion. Prioritize taking Black Rock's sell orders. After 11:30, regardless of whether the stock price has stabilized, stop entering and wait for the afternoon to counter-attack when the follow-on shorts close their positions."

"Understood!" Song Zhiwei's voice gained a bit more confidence. She immediately adjusted her strategy and had the traders prepare for the batch entry.

At 11:00 sharp, the protection funds entered the market on time. The 30 billion in funds acted like a dam, temporarily blocking the offensive of the sell orders, and the stock price stabilized around 100 RMB. Seeing this, Black Rock Capital immediately dumped their remaining 2 billion in chips, attempting to break through the defense line again. But this time, the protection funds firmly caught the sell orders, and the price fluctuated between 98 and 102 RMB.

When the morning session closed, Singularity Technology's stock price stood at 101 RMB, the decline narrowing to 19.2%, but 115 billion in market value had still evaporated. The traders in the room slumped in their chairs, their faces full of exhaustion. Song Zhiwei looked at the K-line chart on the screen, knowing in her heart that the real tough battle was still to come in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, in Geneva, Switzerland, the "Bishop" of Tianming Group was looking at Singularity's stock price chart, a cold smile curling on his lips. He said to the CEO of Black Rock Capital on the other end of the phone: "Continue to apply pressure in the afternoon. Get the follow-on shorts to push harder. I want to see Singularity's stock price drop below 90 RMB. Let Zhang Fan know that in the face of capital, his technology is worth nothing."

A respectful response came from the other end of the phone. A more intense financial strangulation was about to begin in the afternoon stock market.