177: Chapter 177 It's All Bubbles

The profit-seeking nature of capital was laid bare at this moment, like a school of sharks that had caught the scent of blood, instantly shifting from frenzied pursuit to frantic flight.

Initially, the giant funds and investment banks at the top of the pyramid, such as Morgan Thorne and Omega Capital, still attempted an orderly retreat.

The instructions they issued to their trading departments were:

"Sell in batches, in small amounts, and across multiple accounts; gradually reduce holdings of AI and related industry chain stocks to avoid causing market panic."

However, in a global capital market that is highly interconnected and where information travels at the speed of light, an orderly retreat was merely a beautiful fantasy.

When countless small sell orders flooded the market simultaneously from different accounts and institutions, quantitative change instantly triggered a qualitative shift.

The market's nerves had already become exceptionally sensitive due to the rumors surrounding enlightenment.

When the first wave of concentrated selling appeared, it was like the first domino being pushed over.

Intelligent algorithmic trading systems were the first to detect the anomaly.

Pre-set risk control programs were triggered, automatically executing sell orders and further increasing selling pressure.

Seeing the liquidity of buy orders rapidly drying up, high-frequency trading firms also immediately pivoted, joining the ranks of the short sellers.

Panic spread like a plague through fiber optic cables to every trading terminal across the globe.

The scope of the sell-off rapidly spread from core AI concept stocks to the entire industry chain:

Stocks of upstream semiconductor companies that provided specialized silicon materials and high-end chips to AI firms were the first to fall in sympathy.

The stock price of GPU giant Super Micro Semiconductor went into freefall, with the single-day drop rapidly expanding to 15%, subsequently triggering circuit breakers.

Stocks of server manufacturers and data center operators also suffered in succession.

Following that, all downstream startup companies labeled with AI, regardless of the quality of their technology, were subjected to indiscriminate selling.

The valuation bubble was instantly pricked.

Capital led capital by the nose, and panic devoured the remaining rationality.

The initial plan for an orderly withdrawal was completely cast to the back of their minds.

Now it was no longer a competition of who was smarter, but who could run faster.

"Get off the ship! Get off the ship now!"

This became the only cry in the hearts of all traders.

A chain reaction had formed, and a full-scale stampede tragedy had inevitably occurred.

This was a dark day for the global capital market, with the trading screens displaying an eye-searing, despair-inducing blood red.

In an ordinary apartment in Queens, NY, a white man named Calvin Miller was sitting in front of his computer, chewing on an energy bar. His eyes were bloodshot, but his gaze was exceptionally excited.

Just yesterday, he had poured all his savings, plus the money borrowed from mortgaging his house, and the ten-fold leverage applied for from his brokerage, into a heavy position on AI concept stocks that he believed represented the future—mainly Super Micro Semiconductor and several red-hot AI startups.

Before the market opened, he was still on a video call with his wife, excitedly painting a beautiful blueprint of life after achieving financial freedom.

Moving to a bigger house, sending their children to the best private schools, and taking the whole family on a trip around the world.

"Baby, get ready for the good life! AI is our money-printing machine!" he shouted at the camera.

In the first few minutes after the market opened, he didn't pay much attention to the slight fluctuations in stock prices, thinking it was a normal correction.

But when the decline rapidly expanded to 5%, and then 10%, his smile froze.

When the stock price of Super Micro Semiconductor fell below his liquidation line and the brokerage system began to automatically execute a forced liquidation, his mind went blank.

"No... no... don't!! Stop!!"

He watched as the net asset value of his account on the screen shrank crazily at a rate of tens of thousands of dollars per second, until it turned into a huge, shocking negative number.

This meant that not only had he lost all his principal, but he also owed the brokerage a huge sum of money.

He jumped up from his chair like a crazed beast, grabbing the screen tightly with both hands, his fingernails almost digging into the LCD screen, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"NO! NO! STOP IT! FUCKING STOP!!"

His face was twisted with extreme fear and despair, flushed red, with veins bulging on his forehead.

The man who had been yearning for a bright future just minutes ago had vanished, replaced by a broken soul who had instantly taken on heavy debt and fallen into an abyss of no return.

The apartment echoed with his desperate roars and the sound of things being smashed.

Outside the window, the sun was shining brightly, but his world had already turned pitch black.

In Seoul, Korea, a popular female financial anchor, Park Ji-yeon, was conducting her daily stock market opening live broadcast in front of the camera.

Before going on air, she was smiling sweetly, interacting with the audience, and cracking jokes; the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant.

The large screen in the background displayed the thriving green of the AI sector from the previous day.

"Good morning, dear viewers~ It looks like today is going to be another hopeful day! The momentum of AI concept stocks continuing to lead the rise seems unstoppable!"

She made a cute heart gesture at the camera.

However, less than ten minutes after the opening bell rang, the colors on the background screen changed abruptly!

The red symbolizing the decline was like a bursting flood, rapidly submerging the entire AI sector, and the decline figures were jumping and expanding at an alarming speed.

The smile on Park Ji-yeon's face instantly froze.

She blinked in disbelief, subconsciously leaning closer to the monitor screen, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"Uh... this... it seems the market is experiencing some... some technical adjustments..."

Her voice began to tremble as she tried to maintain professionalism.

But when she saw several AI stocks that she held heavy positions in—and had strongly recommended on the show just yesterday—heading straight for the daily limit down, her psychological defenses completely collapsed.

She forgot she was live, forgot there were hundreds of thousands of viewers in front of her.

"Ah... an dwae... (No... don't...)"

She covered her mouth, her eyes instantly filling with tears, her voice choked with sobs.

"How could this happen... It's over... It's all over..."

The next second, she completely lost control, slumped in the anchor chair, and wailed without any regard for her image. Her carefully made-up face was a mess of tears and snot, her eyeliner smudged, looking extremely disheveled and unsightly.

She cried out incoherently.

"My house... my loans... eotteokhae (what do I do)... they're all gone... they're all gone..."

The live feed was quickly cut by the flustered super-moderator and switched to an advertisement screen.

But these few seconds of breakdown had already been screenshotted and recorded by countless viewers, becoming the most impactful and heartbreaking personal footnote in this global financial panic.

Tragedies similar to Calvin and Park Ji-yeon's were playing out in different forms, all over the world, on this very day.

They might be retired elderly people who had bet their entire life savings, young people eager to get rich overnight, or ordinary office workers who had followed the trend of investing.

Swept up by the torrent of capital, they were fragile and vulnerable in this sudden storm triggered by enlightenment.

After the feast of capital ended, all that was left was a mess and countless shattered dreams.