n

n

nChapter 81 Collapsing Economy

nThe other countries demonstrated how serious they were in the following two days. Even more people joined the discussion online.

nFlamia, Neige, Soilia, Woodia…

nSeventy-three countries joined hands in boycotting Moon. The Moonian economy took a dive in those two days.

nIn the city where the sacred temple was, Lex, the owner of a processing plant, got out of his car with his bag under his arm, looking depressed.

nHe walked into the workshop and waved at his staff. “That’s it. Everybody, please stop what you’re doing.”

n“Why? Boss, isn’t the deadline today? Don’t worry. I’m sure we can finish by the end of the day. Have some faith! We don’t mind working overtime. Right, everybody?” Chad, the manager, was a smooth talker. He chuckled when he heard what Lex said. “Just buy us a big lunch tomorrow. We’d all love the sound of that!”

n“Yes!” all the staff replied in unison.

nLex was a good employer. He treated his employees well and often took them out for lunch. He had promised the staff that after this delivery, he would take them all on a trip and a nice restaurant as a reward.

nHowever, there was no smile on Lex’s face today. “Sorry, guys, but the trip isn’t going to happen. We’ve run into a problem, and they’ve canceled the order.”

nChad was surprised. “What? Canceled? They’ll have to pay the penalty!”

n“No, they won’t. They won’t even talk to me. They’ve blocked me, and I can’t sue them.”

nChad was astonished. “How can that happen? It doesn’t make any sense!”

n“I don’t blame them. They’re in a worse spot than us. They’ve lost orders that are worth billions of dollars.”

n“How?”

n“Don’t you watch the news? Dozens of countries are boycotting us at the moment. Those goods were supposed to be shipped out, but the buyers don’t want them anymore. The cargo ships can’t even leave the harbors. What can they do? Nothing!”

nChad said, “In that case…”

n“Just go home. You people have always wanted a vacation, haven’t you? You’re going to have a very long one now. As for your salary, please give me some time. I haven’t been able to collect any money, but don’t worry. I’ll pay you what you’re owed.”

nIn other words, he was sacking them. To be more precise, the factory was closing down. Lex had thirty partners, and all of them had run into problems. He had lost everything and almost wanted to jump off the building.

nTheir orders with foreign countries were terminated. Some of those partners were domestic. One would think that orders with them wouldn’t be affected.

nHowever, the partners also had partners of their own, which included business partners overseas. When they terminated their contracts, Lex was indirectly affected.

n“Boss…”

n“Just go. I’m fine.”

n“Boss, you don’t look fine!”

n“I’m—” Lex suddenly collapsed. Chad caught him in the air. Everyone panicked and sent Lex to the hospital. “What’s going on? Why is this happening?” “It’s all because of the announcement Sky Eye made! Is a meteorite really coming?”.

n“What do you think? I don’t buy it! So far, no other countries have made that announcement.”

nSome of Lex’s employees chatted in his ward.

n“I hope Sky Eye will give us an explanation soon. If things keep going like this, we’ll starve to death before the meteorite kills us all.”

nSandy was filled with frustration when she saw the empty racks in her supermarket. She was so angry that she kicked over the cash register.

nAll the manufacturers had stopped producing goods, and the supermarket couldn’t replenish its stock. What it had was already sold out.

nSandy didn’t know why she was still opening for business. She would lose the supermarket if things didn’t improve soon enough. Sandy and her husband had borrowed 800,000 from the bank to open this supermarket. They hadn’t paid back half of it yet. Who would have thought something like this would happen?

nShe hated it!

n“What meteorite? Why do they have to make up such things? They’re ruining our future! I still have a mortgage to pay this month! What should I do? Can someone help me?”

nThe pressure was crushing her. It was the last straw. Sandy couldn’t take it anymore. She fell forward onto the counter and burst into tears.

n…

nJustin sat in the lobby of a sales center, scratching his head in distress. He had bolted the door from inside, but the closed door couldn’t block the voices.

n“Justin, get out of there!”

n“I need my money back now!”

n“We’ve paid the deposit! Why did you stop the construction? Why?! When can we get our flats?!”

nThe manager came out of another room, carrying his bag and looking panic-stricken.

nJustin glanced at him, and the manager said, “Boss, I’m sorry, but I can’t take it anymore. I’m leaving. Otherwise, those people outside are going to kill me! Boss, you should get out of here, too! We dismissed the construction team after the engineers went back to their own countries. We can’t finish this project. If they knock that door down before you can get away, they’re going to kill you!”

nThe manager slipped and fell to the ground. Despite the pain, he scrambled to his feet, grabbed his back, and slipped away from a side door.

nRun?

nWhere to?

nJustin had nowhere to go. The people outside were all shareholders that had invested in this property.

nThe buildings were of a Woodian style, so they hired Woodian designers. However, they ran off with the money two days ago, and Justin couldn’t go after them because he couldn’t enter Woodia.

nThe shareholders had all lost tens of millions of dollars. If they knocked down that door, Justin would meet a miserable end.

nIt was all because of the boycott. Almost all the countries had joined hands and worked against Moon.

nJustin couldn’t stop the designers from leaving. Moon hadn’t stopped anyone from coming in or leaving the country. However, other countries wouldn’t let any Moonian enter their borders.

n“I’m begging you! Please remove that announcement! You’re killing people!”

nSimilar situations had been happening everywhere in the country. The bigger and the more prosperous the city was, the more severely it was affected.

nWith how things had been going, people would start jumping off buildings in three days.

nLex, Justin, and Sandy already wanted to take their own lives.

n