220: Chapter 221 The lasso landed on the titanium alloy! The backyard land grab...

"Click."

Shen Du pressed the remote, and the large screen in the center of the CEO's office suddenly lit up.

On the screen, an emergency global press conference in Washington was being broadcast live.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security stood before a podium crowded with cameras and microphones.

With a grim expression, they read out an executive order that had just been signed.

"...In view of the fact that anomalous data from a specific country in the semiconductor field has posed an inestimable threat to national security, effective immediately, the Bureau of Industry and Security is officially releasing the latest 'Entity List'!"

The spokesperson's voice echoed through the office via the speakers, revealing an irrepressible sense of urgency:

"All core semiconductor design and manufacturing enterprises within China, as well as related top-tier research institutions and universities, will be blacklisted in their entirety!"

Shen Du leaned back in his leather executive chair, legs crossed, his gaze as calm as if he were watching a farce that had nothing to do with him.

The scrolling news ticker at the bottom of the screen was refreshing at high speed with even more devastating details:

[Comprehensive activation of the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR): Any chip foundry worldwide that involves the use of U.S. technology, patents, or equipment is strictly prohibited from performing chip foundry services or tape-outs for any Chinese enterprise!]

Immediately after, the television feed cut seamlessly to the U.S. Capitol.

A congressman was waving a document in his hand, shouting sternly:

"We have urgently passed the latest amendment to the 'CHIPS and Science Act'!"

"The government will provide tens of billions of dollars in direct subsidies to multinational giants building factories on U.S. soil."

"But everyone must sign the 'guardrail clause': if you take the money, you are strictly prohibited from expanding any advanced process manufacturing plants in China for the next 10 years! Between Washington and Beijing, multinational giants must choose a side immediately!"

Not only that.

In the subsequent live feed, a Pentagon spokesperson also officially appeared.

They high-profilely announced the new prohibited procurement list under the "National Defense Authorization Act," explicitly stipulating that the U.S. federal government, the military, and their contractors are prohibited from purchasing or using any chips and equipment produced by specific Chinese semiconductor enterprises, effectively implementing a comprehensive blockade on terminal demand.

At the very end of the news, a brief report regarding a secret closed-door agreement reached by member states of the "Wassenaar Arrangement" in Vienna was pushed to the top of the screen as breaking news.

For a moment, the entire television screen was filled with the frantic roars of the Western world after it had completely torn off its hypocritical mask.

The overwhelming bills and sanctions were like a storm sweeping across the globe, aiming to completely stifle the entire Eastern semiconductor industry in its cradle.

Shen Du raised his right hand and gently pressed the remote.

The hysterical roars on the TV screen instantly vanished without a trace.

The lively press conference scene immediately turned into a silent, farcical pantomime.

He tossed the remote onto the mahogany desk, picked up the steaming cup of Mingqian Longjing tea beside him, gently blew on the floating leaves, and took a sip.

As the warm tea slid down his throat, Shen Du leaned back against the leather chair again.

Watching the impassioned Western politicians on the screen, there was not a shred of panic in his eyes; instead, a trace of undisguised mockery spilled out.

"What a pity."

Shen Du looked at the clownish figures on the screen and sneered in a low voice: "Your actions were, after all, a step too slow."

If this seemingly airtight combination of sanctions had been unleashed half a month, or even ten days ago, it would indeed have been a devastating, dimensionality-reducing blow to those domestic semiconductor enterprises that heavily relied on overseas supply chains.

But now, it is July.

Just a month ago, behind those two heavy airtight doors in the restricted underground area of Yu Mountain, the domestic Cold Etching Machine technology and foundry supply chain, along with the foundational silicon wafer (semiconductor circuit carrier) tape-out process, had already achieved a 100% complete closed loop.

Jiyuan Technology has long since completely "weaned" itself off, requiring no consumables or supplies from overseas from start to finish.

In Shen Du's eyes, this frantic strangulation attempt, which the Washington elite were so self-righteous about and had plotted for so long, was nothing more than tightening a heavy noose around a piece of titanium alloy steel plate that had already been forged.

Beyond sparking a few impotent embers and exposing their lack of confidence to the whole world now that all their cards were on the table, it couldn't hurt a single hair on Jiyuan Technology.

At this moment, this terrifying information gap, spanning borders and intelligence networks, was toyed with to the extreme by Shen Du with the posture of a controller.

Just as Shen Du set down his teacup, the bottom making a crisp "click" against the table, a slight, unprovoked stinging sensation suddenly appeared on his retina.

Immediately after, a pale blue, translucent system panel that only he could see forcibly projected into the air.

In the center of the panel, the long-term mission directive representing the ultimate goal of Jiyuan Technology: [Complete the overall listing preparations for Jiyuan Technology, aim to ring the bell at the U.S. NASDAQ, and achieve a total market capitalization exceeding 10 billion USD!] was now flickering with a dangerous crimson alarm, like a short-circuited neon light.

Accompanied by a faint electronic buzzing sound, the crimson text rapidly disintegrated.

An emotionless system judgment prompt subsequently appeared:

[Detected force majeure extreme geopolitical sanction physical blockage, NASDAQ listing route declared invalid. Mission route forced to change trajectory, reorganizing...]

In less than two seconds, the previously disintegrated characters rearranged themselves on his retina, turning into a line of extremely dazzling golden text: [Listing target location trajectory change locked: Europe!]

Looking at this golden text that refreshed out of thin air, Shen Du was not annoyed that his original plan had been shattered; instead, he leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

"As expected, the system is not a rigid machine."

A flash of shrewdness, deep with calculation, crossed Shen Du's eyes.

To be honest, from the moment the system initially set Jiyuan Technology's listing location in the United States, he had always felt an indescribable sense of dissonance.

What is Cold Etching Machine technology?

It is a dimensionality-reducing nuclear weapon capable of uprooting the entire U.S. semiconductor hegemony and completely overturning their trillions in sunk costs.

Taking this technology, which could cost Wall Street its life at any moment, and listing it in their lair, the NASDAQ?

That's not just pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth; it's practically riding into their headquarters to slap them in the face.

Given the current backdrop where the heavy club of sanctions is being swung with the full power of the nation, the system's opportunistic judgment that the U.S. route is a dead end and shifting the main battlefield to Europe perfectly aligns with his own inner predictions.

Going to Europe is good!

Those old-money conglomerates in Europe, although they wave flags and shout for Washington on the surface, have long been fed up with the unilateral bloodsucking of American tech hegemony in their bones.

Using the Cold Etching Machine technology to incite European capital to defect is not only more in line with commercial logic, but also possesses far greater room for maneuvering and potential for "harvesting leeks" than going to the NASDAQ for a head-on collision.

Shen Du waved his hand, dismissing the golden prompt box on his retina regarding the European trajectory change.

He picked up the remote to completely turn off the TV screen, then turned his gaze to the desk and reached out to open a report marked with a "Top Secret" seal, detailing the monitoring of local forces in Shanghai.

Just as the report was opened, Shen Du simultaneously activated another core task that had been running in the background on his system panel: [Special Mission: Devouring Mountains and Seas].

However, when he saw the progress bar on it clearly, his fingertips, while turning the pages, suddenly froze in mid-air.

The original goal was to increase the Shen Family faction's control in Shanghai by ten percent.

But now, that progress bar representing power had not only failed to advance even a millimeter, but was instead displaying a glaring, dark red color that signified shrinkage.

It fell.

Not only did it not increase, but it actually dropped by five percent!

The distance to that goal had become infinitely remote.

"A fire in the backyard?"

Shen Du's eyes narrowed slightly, and his sharp gaze instantly fell back onto the thick summary of local intelligence on the desk.

As he flipped through it quickly, the glaring red lines marked on the paper analyzed the current real situation in Shanghai vividly:

Because of the violent impact of the overseas semiconductor sanction club, a large number of domestic traditional technology and foreign trade enterprises had been severely hit, and their market valuations had plummeted off a cliff.

But it was precisely this extreme turmoil that ignited a frenzy of capital bottom-fishing.

The report showed that in just this short half month, a large amount of complex overseas hot money, like sharks smelling blood, had flooded into Shanghai through various secret offshore channels.

At the same time, those powerful and prestigious families who had originally entrenched themselves in various regions across the country—the so-called "dragons crossing the river"—also took advantage of the chaos in Shanghai to enter the market with capital, starting to frantically stake their claims in major core areas and industries.

Under this massive forced entry and physical collision of foreign capital, the overall pie that originally belonged to the Shen Family faction was being ruthlessly and frantically diluted by external forces.

Shen Du's slender fingertips tapped lightly on the wide solid wood desk, making a "tap, tap" sound.

After only a few seconds of thought, he immediately overturned his initial vigilance.

He reached out and operated the desktop, opening another internal communication terminal that had undergone the highest level of physical encryption.

The screen instantly lit up, and eight encrypted avatars representing the most top-tier power in Shanghai were all in an "active" state at this moment.

These Eight Giants of Shanghai not only did not retreat even a fraction because of the U.S.'s nationwide sanction club, but instead, within their internal top-secret network, they were busily and enthusiastically perfecting the docking directions for the semiconductor industrial chain that each was responsible for!

"So that's it..."

Shen Du looked at the progress reports from each family scrolling rapidly on the screen, a relieved yet sharp arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

He instantly saw through the real reason for the system progress bar's regression.

It wasn't some betrayal by allies!

It was that these Eight Giants of Shanghai had long been tightly tied to Jiyuan Technology's chariot by him, becoming the most die-hard allies.

In order to cooperate with Shen Du in completely opening up the semiconductor closed loop and dealing with the current international death blow, these eight families had "all-in" all the core funds and high-level energy they could mobilize into the abyss of semiconductors!

It was precisely because these eight local snakes had retracted all their defense lines and thrown all their resources into the tech war, causing a huge defensive vacuum in their traditional commercial territories in Shanghai: real estate, foreign trade, and traditional finance.

This gave those sensitive overseas hot money and the "dragons crossing the river" who took advantage of the chaos to storm in from all over the country the opportunity to exploit the weakness and frantically gnaw away at the territory.

This resulted in the Shen Family faction's overall pie in the conventional market shrinking by five percent.

"Clap!"

Shen Du's eyes were cold and sharp; without hesitation, he slammed the local intelligence summary shut and tossed it aside.

Since The Eight Giants had withstood such terrifying international pressure and were determined to follow him down this path to the end, he must absolutely not get distracted at this critical juncture by running off to fight meaningless local "mud fights" with that foreign capital.

Shen Du stood up, strode to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the bustling city beneath his feet, where demons were dancing in chaos.

The next strategy was already incredibly clear:

domestically, Jiyuan Technology and The Eight Giants would unite to "play dead."

They would tightly cover up the trump card of the already mass-produced Cold Etching Machine, resist the sanctions hard, and let those "dragons crossing the river" scramble for traditional, petty profits.

And in the shadows, he would mobilize all secret resources, avoiding all domestic and foreign surveillance eyes and ears.

He would directly turn his guns and launch the fiercest capital landing battle toward the European continent across the ocean!

When he strikes the listing gong on the European continent that will shake the world, and rolls back to the country carrying the violent momentum of overturning tech hegemony, he will take these Eight Giants and completely strangle these foreign capitals that are currently taking advantage of the fire to loot, stripping them down to the bone!