In Times Square, a massive screen flashed red with spiraling stock tickers. Panic erupted in the streets.
Narration: "The empire was not conquered by armies. It was strangled by its own hunger."
Wall Street traders screamed, phones buzzing incessantly. The Dow plunged into the abyss.
Alarms blared: "MARKET FREEZE – CIRCUIT BREAKER TRIGGERED."
A broker whispered: "We're poorer than yesterday… poorer than ever."
European banks collapsed under U.S. debt exposure. Headlines screamed: "Eurozone freezes assets. Trade routes paralyzed."
A family in Berlin stared at empty supermarket shelves.
Narration: "The North had isolated the South for centuries. Now the North was isolated itself."
NATO generals sat in a chaotic war room.
General 1: "Without money… we can't fuel the machines."
General 2: "Our alliances are crumbling. No one will march for debt."
A soldier quietly removed his helmet, weary. Silence fell.
Narration: "The strongest army in history had no coin to pay its soldiers."
In America's slums, children dug through trash beneath towering skyscrapers.
An old man coughed: "We used to pity others… now we are them."
Narration: "The empire became what it mocked."
Politicians screamed in Congress: "Sanctions were our weapon—now they've turned on us!"
Food lines stretched across Washington D.C. A graffiti read: "KARMA = KARMA."
Narration: "The spell had broken. The curse returned to its maker."
Empty factories in France. Riots in Italy, crowds shouting: "We were betrayed by America!"
A map showed trade routes cut; Europe glowed red with "ISOLATED."
Narration: "The Atlantic alliance had become a sinking island."
At a summit, BRICS and SOL leaders shook hands beneath golden banners.
Charts displayed the SOL currency surging in value. Citizens across Asia, Africa, and Latin America celebrated.
Narration: "From shadows they rose—not as colonies, but as architects."
Ships with SOL insignia sailed across oceans, carrying food, energy, and medicine.
Lacolone: "While their markets burn, ours will feed the world."
Maya: "Let them starve on their sanctions."
Valgor watched the U.S. market collapse: "They built castles on paper. Now the paper burns."
Jessica: "Don't laugh too loud. Desperate wolves bite hardest."
Valgor: "…Let them bite air."
Protests erupted in Washington: citizens demanded food, chanting: "Where's our freedom now?"
Riot police hesitated. Politicians whispered: "We are losing the streets."
Narration: "When bread is gone, the flag cannot feed."
Back in Unity Hall, giant celebrations lit up the sky. Fireworks exploded over cities.
Maya proclaimed: "We are no longer the developing world—we are the world."
Crowds roared: "SOL! SOL! SOL!"
In a dark bunker, surviving U.S. and NATO elites whispered: "We lost the markets… but war is always profitable."
A satellite feed glowed red, targeting the South.
Narration: "When the market dies, the merchants of war awaken."
Leaders debated the costs of victory.
One: "If they fall too far, chaos will spill over to us."
Another: "They showed us no mercy. Let them choke."
Maya watched silently.
Narration: "Victory carried the weight of mercy—or vengeance."
Dollar bills burned in trash fires. Wall graffiti read: "SOL = SURVIVAL."
A child in the slums smiled while eating food labeled "Made in the South."
Narration: "The old currency died in ashes. A new one fed the hungry."
A NATO summit was half-empty. Leaders whispered: "Without America, what are we?" Silence fell.
Narration: "What was once a shield had become a shadow."
Deep underground, the Elysium cocoon pulsed again. Crimson glyphs flared.
Whisper: "When kings fall… monsters rise."
Lacolone gazed at the Unity Map, aware that storms still gathered.
Full-page spread: A crumbling Wall Street bull statue, broken in half, as a glowing golden SOL coin rises like the sun behind it.
"The empire had fallen. But the world had not yet chosen what would rise in its place China Finds an Empty throne."