Dawn broke reluctantly over Manhattan, pale light struggling through banks of steel-gray clouds that hung low over the city like the ceiling of a great sept. In the glass tower that housed Terpu Capital's operations, every screen in the war room displayed the same image – the White House press briefing room, empty podium awaiting its occupant. The administration's energy announcement was scheduled for 9:30 AM Eastern.
Li Terpu sat alone in his office, a separate feed of the briefing room on his private monitor. His position was established, his forces deployed. Now came the waiting – that exquisite torment familiar to every battle commander throughout history. Outside, a light snow had begun to fall, delicate flakes swirling against the backdrop of the city like ash from a distant conflagration.
At precisely 9:27, his direct line rang once. He answered without speaking.
"The ravens fly true," came Wang Wei-ke's voice, their private code confirming their sources' final verification. "The content matches our intelligence precisely."
Li Terpu ended the call without reply. Three minutes later, the Secretary of Energy approached the podium in Washington, flanked by a bipartisan group of legislators. The performance that followed – for performance it was, every word carefully choreographed, every facial expression rehearsed – unfolded exactly as Li Terpu had anticipated.
The "American Energy Security and Transition Act" was unveiled with flourishing rhetoric about jobs, security, and technological leadership. The specific provisions, when detailed, aligned with Li Terpu's intelligence with such precision that it might have seemed he had drafted the legislation himself.
As the press conference continued, Li Terpu split his screen to monitor the market's reaction. The stocks they had positioned in were surging, some already triggering circuit breakers that temporarily halted trading due to excessive volatility. The options positions were exploding in value, their leverage multiplying returns in real-time.
A knock at his door preceded Wang Wei-ke's entrance. His normally impassive features showed rare animation, eyes bright with the fever of victory.
"The returns are beyond even our most optimistic projections," he reported, placing a tablet before Li Terpu. "Our energy portfolio has gained 43% in value since opening bell. The options strategies have returned over 600% on committed capital."
Li Terpu studied the figures with outward calm, though beneath his composed exterior, exhilaration coursed through him like wildfire through dry summer grass. Billions. They had made billions in a single morning's trading, capitalizing on information asymmetry with devastating effectiveness.
"Initiate the profit-securing protocol," he instructed. "Staged exits across three days, prioritizing the options positions. No single transaction large enough to signal intent."
Wang Wei-ke nodded, but remained standing, something unspoken clearly weighing upon him.
"Speak your mind," Li Terpu commanded softly.
"A triumph beyond measure, my lord," Wang began, choosing his words with characteristic care. "Yet such extraordinary returns, concentrated in specific sectors aligned precisely with undisclosed policy... it may draw unwanted attention."
Li Terpu's eyes narrowed slightly. "You fear regulatory scrutiny."
"The Securities and Exchange Commission has grown more sophisticated in its pattern recognition algorithms. Our positioning, while legal given we obtained no literal inside information from government officials, nonetheless presents a statistical anomaly they may find... curious."
A thin smile crossed Li Terpu's face. "Let them be curious. Curiosity without evidence is merely speculation. We covered our tracks well."
Yet Wang Wei-ke's warning proved prescient. Three weeks later, as the last of their extraordinary profits were being transferred to more secure and discrete investment vehicles, a formal letter arrived from the SEC's Enforcement Division. The language was bureaucratic and precise, requesting "voluntary cooperation" with an inquiry into "unusual trading patterns preceding the energy policy announcement."
The letter sat on the polished surface of Li Terpu's conference table like a viper coiled among flowers as his crisis response team assembled. Legal counsel, compliance officers, public relations specialists, and his core strategic advisors – all wore expressions of carefully controlled concern.
"This is merely a preliminary inquiry," offered Katherine Morris, their chief legal advisor, her Boston accent more pronounced under stress. "They're casting a wide net. Many firms had positions that benefited from the announcement."
"None with our concentration or timing," countered Wang Wei-ke. "We must prepare for escalation."
Li Terpu observed the debate dispassionately, fingers steepled beneath his chin. The conversation swirled around legal strategies, document preparation, potential testimony approaches – all necessary, all missing the fundamental truth he had begun to understand.
"We will comply fully with all requests," he announced finally, silencing the room. "Provide every document, every transaction record, every communication they request – after appropriate review, of course. Present ourselves as transparent, cooperative, slightly bewildered by their interest."
Morris nodded approvingly. "A wise approach. Obstruction would only heighten suspicion."
"Meanwhile," Li Terpu continued, "I want everything we can find on the Enforcement Division's key personnel. Career histories, political affiliations, financial situations, personal entanglements. Every shadow in their lives, every skeleton in their closets."
The room temperature seemed to drop several degrees as his meaning registered among his advisors.
"Sir," began Morris hesitantly, "while thorough background research on investigators is standard practice, what you seem to be suggesting—"
"I suggest nothing," Li Terpu interrupted smoothly. "I merely seek complete understanding of those who would scrutinize us. Knowledge is power, is it not?"
The investigation proceeded through spring and into summer, a methodical accumulation of documents, depositions, and data analysis. Li Terpu's team presented a facade of perfect cooperation while simultaneously executing the parallel strategy he had commanded.
The breakthrough came on a sweltering August afternoon. Ming, the former intelligence operative Li Terpu had contracted through layers of intermediaries, requested an urgent meeting at a nondescript hotel in Midtown.
"The deputy director of enforcement," Ming reported once they were secure in a swept room, sliding a dossier across the table. "Howard Chambers. His brother-in-law's construction company received three no-bid contracts for federal infrastructure projects last year. The paperwork seems immaculate, but I traced the approval chain. There's a pattern of reciprocity involving a vacation home in the Catskills and certain licensing approvals that bypassed standard protocols."
Li Terpu leafed through the meticulously documented evidence, a sense of cold satisfaction settling over him. Not merely corruption – leverage.
The approach was made through seven layers of intermediaries, the message delivered with such subtlety that nothing actionable was ever explicitly stated. Yet two weeks later, Li Terpu received word that the SEC investigation had been reassigned, then quietly de-prioritized, and finally closed with no action recommended.
That evening, alone in his penthouse as sunset painted Manhattan in hues of gold and crimson, Li Terpu sipped thirty-year-old scotch and contemplated the nature of the power he had touched. The market manipulation that had earned them billions now seemed almost childish in comparison to the deeper game he had glimpsed – the realm where laws themselves became malleable, where institutions meant to be impartial bent to the right pressure applied at precisely the right point.
"Money can solve problems," he murmured to himself, watching darkness claim the city below. "But power... power changes the rules of the game itself."
In that moment, as night fell over New York, a new ambition kindled within Li Terpu's heart. The billions he had accumulated no longer seemed an end, but merely a means – a tool to access a higher order of influence. His gaze turned westward, toward Washington, where the true levers of power awaited hands bold enough to seize them.
The game of markets had been mastered. The game of thrones now beckoned.