The test came three days later, and it arrived via the market.
Ye Xia was executing her morning wasting trades when she noticed an anomaly. A mid-cap pharmaceutical stock, "NeuraMed," was experiencing wild, irrational volatility. It was a company she had researched; they had a promising drug in phase 3 trials, but the results weren't due for months. There was no news to justify the sudden, massive sell-off, followed by frantic buying.
Her [Basic Financial Analysis] skill screamed that this was manipulation. A classic "pump and dump" scheme, but on a sophisticated scale. Someone was driving the price down to scare off weak investors, then buying up the shares cheaply before some anticipated good news.
She remembered Mo's warning. "You'll know it when you see it."
This was the test.
She focused, digging deeper. Using her real brokerage account, she bought a small amount of NeuraMed stock, just to track it closely. Then she used the [Basic Intelligence (Global)] function, even though it was expensive and had a long cooldown. She needed to know.
[Query: Who is manipulating NeuraMed stock and why?]
The information flooded her mind, crisp and clear: Gavin Strickland's fund, Orion Capital, is shorting NeuraMed and spreading negative rumors through shell companies. They have insider information: the phase 3 trial results, to be announced after market close today, are overwhelmingly positive. Orion plans to cover their short position and buy heavily at the depressed price just before the announcement.
It was illegal. It was brazen. And it was a perfect trap.
Strickland had clearly noticed her. This volatility was a beacon, designed to lure in a "naive" new player like her. If she followed the downward trend and shorted the stock herself, she would be ruined when the good news hit. If she panicked and sold any position she had, she would lose. The only way to win was to see through the manipulation and bet against the trend—to buy when everyone was selling.
But it was a huge risk. The intelligence could be wrong. Or Strickland could change his plans.
This was the test: did she have the courage to trust her own analysis and the system's intelligence? Could she act with conviction in the face of apparent market insanity?
She looked at the clock. She had two hours before the market closed.
She made a decision. This would not be a wasting trade. This would be a real investment using her personal funds. A declaration of war.
She transferred a large portion of her personal capital—$500,000 USD—into her real trading account. It was a huge sum, most of her liquid wealth. Her heart pounded, but her hand was steady.
She placed a buy order for NeuraMed stock at the current, artificially low price. The order filled quickly. She was now heavily long on a stock that was crashing.
Then, she turned to the system. She had today's 1,000,000 RMB quota to waste. She could simply make her usual loss-making trades. Or, she could use this opportunity to add pressure to Strickland.
She had an idea. A wasteful, aggressive idea.
She used the system's funds to place a massive, market buy order for NeuraMed stock. It was a huge volume, enough to momentarily stall the downward trend. It was a blatant signal that a big player was betting on the rise. It was a direct challenge to Strickland's manipulation.
The market reacted with confusion. The price stabilized, then ticked upwards slightly. Ye Xia knew it was a temporary effect. Strickland's machine would counter it. But she had thrown a wrench into his works. She had shown him she wasn't afraid.
She spent the rest of the afternoon wasting the remainder of her quota on other, unrelated loss-making trades, her focus split between the screen and the ticking clock.
At 3:55 PM, five minutes before the market close, the NeuraMed stock was still down significantly for the day. Strickland's forces had successfully pushed it back down. Ye Xia's personal account showed a paper loss of nearly $100,000. A cold sweat broke out on her brow. Had she miscalculated?
Then, at 4:00 PM, the news wire flashed.
NEURAMED PHASE 3 TRIAL A SMASHING SUCCESS. DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENT IN ALZHEIMER'S SYMPTOMS.
The after-hours market exploded. NeuraMed's stock price shot up like a rocket, soaring 150% in minutes. Ye Xia's $500,000 investment was now worth over $1.25 million.
She had done it. She had passed the test.
A message flashed on her screen from her broker. It was a trade confirmation, but for a stock she hadn't bought. Someone had purchased a large block of NeuraMed stock in her name, right before the close, and it had just been executed at the pre-announcement price. The profit was enormous.
A second later, her phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number.
[A lesson in leverage. And a repayment for the alley. – M]
Mo. He had intervened, amplifying her bet and securing her a massive win. The "repayment" was a pretext; it was a message. He was acknowledging her success and showing her the next level of power—the ability to move markets behind the scenes.
Before she could process it, another message arrived. This one was from Gavin Strickland. It contained only one word:
[War.]
Ye Xia leaned back in her chair, a slow, fierce smile spreading across her face. The lost heiress was gone. The bullied victim was a memory. In her place was Ye Xia, the financier. Ye Xia, the survivor.
She had faced the test and won. And she had just acquired a powerful, if dangerous, ally, and a vengeful, exposed enemy.
The game in New York was over. It was time to go home and settle scores.