For the next two days, Jason remained at Skyview Pavilion, enjoying hot springs, massages, swimming, and sauna sessions with Grace.As the operator, Richard naturally waived all expenses, not daring to charge even a single dollar.
During this time, Wendy and Luna both tried to insert themselves, using various excuses to appear nearby. Jason rejected them without hesitation.
Luna had been openly clinging to other businessmen at the banquet. In Jason's eyes, she had already been categorized as nothing more than a favorability generator. Moreover, she was too thin—completely outside his preferences.
Wendy was different. She had charm and presence. But Jason was clear about one thing: until her favorability crossed 80, she was untouchable.
Two days later, Olivia finally returned with results.
Inside the private hot spring, steam curled into the air as Jason and Grace soaked quietly. Olivia entered without ceremony and handed Jason a neatly organized report, then began her verbal briefing.
"Jason, CloudMode International has serious issues."
"First, the outsourcing situation is confirmed. I used a fake one-hundred-million-dollar cooperation proposal as bait and arranged a factory visit. The footage has been recorded discreetly."
"While OEM itself isn't rare, CloudMode markets itself as an Italian handcrafted luxury brand under LUNEVA. This evidence alone is enough to severely damage their brand credibility."
Jason nodded, expression calm.
"Second, inventory fraud and fake orders. They inflated revenue through order brushing, resulting in over 320 million dollars in unsellable inventory artificially counted as assets."
"Third, related-party transactions. CloudMode pays 15% of its annual revenue to LUNEVA's parent company as 'brand licensing fees.' The industry norm is 5%. This is essentially profit transfer and disguised foreign capital support."
Olivia paused, then added calmly:
"There are also scattered scandals—quality issues, coats priced in the tens of thousands unraveling and fading after minimal wear, consumer complaints that were suppressed…"
Jason asked quietly,"Can this kill CloudMode?"
Olivia thought carefully.
"If we release only this report, success probability is about 30%. Regulatory investigations can be delayed or softened."
"With media pressure, it rises to 50%."
"If we add capital attacks, success exceeds 90%."
Jason nodded decisively.
"Don't release it yet."
Olivia looked up.
"Do one more thing. Contact Reeves Family. Borrow as many CloudMode shares as possible."
Olivia's eyes flickered with realization.
"Jason… you want to short CloudMode?"
"Yes," Jason replied calmly."They're listed in the US through a reverse merger. Structurally weak. Easy target."
"How much?" Olivia asked.
Jason didn't hesitate.
"Their market cap is barely over one billion dollars. Borrow everything you can."
Even Olivia paused for half a second.
"Jason… short selling has limited upside and unlimited downside."
Jason smiled faintly.
"That's only true when you don't control the narrative."
Short selling worked differently from traditional investing.
You borrow shares, sell them at the current price, then buy them back after the price collapses. The difference is pure profit.
CloudMode's shares were easy to borrow they specialized in this exact business.
Jason leaned back into the hot spring, steam rising around him, voice calm and absolute.
"Once public opinion, regulators, and capital move together…"
"There won't be a downside."
All that was needed to short a stock was collateral and interest.
Many long-term shareholders were perfectly willing to lend out their shares for a fixed period. To them, it was free money—earning interest while still retaining ownership.
But short selling carried a fatal flaw.
The profit was capped. The loss was not.
If you borrowed shares at $100 per share, the lowest possible return price was $0.Your maximum profit was therefore $100 per share.
But if the stock rose?
At $200, you lost $100 per share.
At $300, you lost $200 per share.
At $400, $500, $600…
There was no upper limit to loss.
That was the true terror of short selling.
There had once been a legendary short-seller—Jim Chanos.He had famously crushed Enron, exposed Luckin Coffee, and profited from the collapse of Hertz, earning nearly one billion dollars.
Impressive.
And yet—even someone like him could be wrong.
In 2016, after exhaustive research, he targeted Tesla.By every traditional metric, Tesla's valuation was absurd—completely detached from reality when compared to other automakers.
So he shorted it.
What followed became a cautionary tale taught in finance classrooms.
Over the next few years, Tesla's stock price rose eighteen times.
By the time Chanos exited, he had suffered an eighteen-fold loss on that single position.
One mistake—nearly fatal.
This was the true nature of short selling.
And yet—
Jason listened calmly, showing not the slightest trace of hesitation.
After Olivia finished her warning, he nodded once and said evenly,
"First, I trust your research completely."
"Second, this amount of money puts zero pressure on me."
"You can proceed."
"Establish the short position. Borrow shares."
"If possible, also buy put options."
"And if CloudMode International has issued any corporate bonds, short their credit default swaps as well."
Olivia's fingers paused for a fraction of a second.
She understood immediately.
Jason had no intention of leaving Ethan or Edward any way out.
This was not a warning shot.
This was an execution.
She said nothing more and immediately contacted Queen Capital, the Reeves family's investment arm, to begin borrowing CloudMode shares.
The moment the Reeves family learned it was Jason, their attitude flipped entirely.
They moved fast.
Within hours, 100 million shares were borrowed.
Naturally, collateral was required—and in proportion to the amount borrowed.
As borrowing became more difficult, Olivia began raising interest rates.
2.5%… 3.5%… 4.2%… 5%.
That was when the Reeves family realized something was seriously wrong.
Inside a conference room.
"Jason is clearly planning to annihilate CloudMode. But shorting at this scale… the risk is enormous."
"Jason isn't reckless. He's not the type to gamble blindly."
"And Olivia would have warned him repeatedly."
"He must have decisive evidence. Enough to be certain the stock will collapse."
"That may be true, but short selling is still war against the entire market."
"Shareholders will resist. Management will resist."
"Market makers want volatility—but they profit most when stocks rise."
"Investment banks, analysts, financial media—officially neutral, but easily influenced."
"In reality, they rarely report bad news."
"In short… everyone wants prices up."
"The only ones betting on a collapse are short sellers."
"Which means short sellers are fighting the world."
"Even companies with serious internal problems sometimes survive under market protection."
"And when a short fails… the losses are unlimited."
"With interest this high, the burn rate becomes terrifying."
After a moment of silence.
"Still… we should remind him. As a friend."
Out of respect, she sent a message through Olivia, suggesting a long-short hedging strategy—short CloudMode, but go long on correlated sectors or the broader index to limit downside.
The reply came quickly.
Jason's response was brief.
No need.
"Hedging reduces losses—but it also reduces profit."
"My goal isn't financial performance."
"My goal is to destroy CloudMode International."
They exchanged a long look.
Finally, they made a decision.
"I'll follow him."
"I'll short thirty million shares."
"But I'll hedge. I want exposure—not suicide."
Meanwhile—
Olivia continued borrowing.
150 million.200 million.300 million.400 million.500 million…
The short position grew like a rising tide.
And once it broke—
It would drown everything beneath it.
There are 150 chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439