52: Chapter 52 The Long Group's Counterattack (Part 1)

A day of tense meetings finally came to an end.

"Fan Zi, that move of yours today was absolutely masterful! You completely crushed those Long Group guys, it was so damn satisfying!" Lin Hao said excitedly, rubbing his hands together and pressing for details. "When the hell did you cook up that 'Xuan Niao'? I was completely in the dark the whole time!"

A faint smile curled at the corner of Chen Fan's lips as he replied nonchalantly, "When else? As soon as Xiao Zhi told me Long Group was going to boast about superconducting materials at the tech conference, I worked through the night to get it ready."

It turned out that after Chen Fan used the Amplification system to tinker up a sample of superconducting material, his first call was to Fu Dong at the National Materials Laboratory. Fu Dong conducted tests overnight, and when he saw the data on the report, his eyes nearly popped out of his head on the spot.

"President Chen! You've just shattered the technological ceiling for superconducting materials!" Fu Dong's voice trembled with excitement. "When can mass production start? A key national project is counting on this material to save it!"

"We're still in the experimental stage," Chen Fan waved his hand dismissively, his tone steady. "Once this investment conference mess is wrapped up, mass production will be the top priority."

Then, his tone shifted, his gaze sharpening. "Engineer Fu, I must have the inspection report in hand by tomorrow. This is crucial for me. I'm counting on you!"

And precisely because of this, "Xuan Niao" was able to make its stunning debut at the press conference, catching Long Group completely off guard!

After hearing the whole story, Lin Hao slapped his thigh hard, his voice instantly rising an octave. "Holy shit! Fan Zi, you're a goddamn living Zhuge Liang!"

"Alright, alright, enough with the flattery," Chen Fan said with a laugh, patting his shoulder. "Go home and get a good night's sleep. There are plenty of tough battles ahead!"

11:30 PM, top floor of the Long Group headquarters building.

"Bang!"

A loud crash echoed as the tablet in Long Zaitian's hand was smashed violently onto the floor, sending shards of screen flying and scattering everywhere.

The conference room fell deathly silent. A dozen senior executives kept their heads bowed in unison, not daring to even breathe too loudly for fear of provoking the furious president.

"Forty-six!" Long Zaitian's voice was hoarse as if scraped by sandpaper, his eyes bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead. "A full forty-six partner companies! In front of the entire national media, they turned their backs and threw themselves at Fanxing Technology! They've utterly humiliated me!"

He grabbed the financial report on the table, crumpling it fiercely in his hand. The paper made a sharp, unpleasant sound as it wrinkled. "How much did the group invest for this summit? Ten million! Ten million! And what did we get in return? A lousy 'false advertising' label! Mockery from international peers! And—Fanxing Technology becoming an overnight sensation, shitting all over my head!"

"P-President Long..." the marketing director stammered, shrinking his neck, speaking timidly. "Emergency PR has been activated. We've contacted all our media partners. Clarification statements can be issued tomorrow..."

"Clarify?" Long Zaitian whipped his head around, his blood-red eyes fixed on the director. He let out a cold laugh, the chill in his voice enough to freeze a person solid. "Our data was fabricated. How did Chen Fan know?"

The conference room was terrifyingly quiet, filled only with Long Zaitian's heavy, ragged breathing.

"Investigate. Investigate thoroughly!"

The marketing director instantly fell silent, his head dropping even lower.

The financial director wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke cautiously. "President Long, the more pressing issue now is... among those forty-six companies, seven are our secondary core suppliers. If they all switch to producing Fanxing's stardust material, our automotive parts supply chain will be completely disrupted next month!"

"Disrupted? Find replacements!" Long Zaitian roared, spittle flying. "Is the market so small we can't find a few contract factories?!"

"The problem is..." the financial director said with a pained expression, his voice trembling. "Fanxing's partnership terms are too aggressive! Equipment rental is only a third of the market rate, raw materials are supplied at half price! Now, second and third-tier small and medium enterprises are going crazy, scrambling to join their 'Spark Alliance'! Even if we find new suppliers, we simply can't compete with Fanxing's prices."

Long Zaitian shuddered as if all his strength had been drained. He staggered and slumped into his leather chair, his chest heaving violently, his face an alarming shade of ashen green.

He stared fixedly at the dazzling crystal chandelier on the ceiling. An unprecedented sense of panic, like a cold, venomous snake, slithered up his spine and spread throughout his body.

Chen Fan... that bottom-rung employee who was fired just a few months ago... How is this possible?

He had secretly sent people to investigate. Chen Fan and Lin Hao were just two penniless nobodies struggling at the bottom of society, utterly incapable of making waves! That's why he had never taken those two seriously from the start!

But now... for the first time, he felt like he had kicked an iron plate!

"President Long."

Technical Director Zhou Ming, who had been silent until now, suddenly pushed his glasses up. A cold glint flashed across the lenses.

Everyone's eyes instantly focused on him.

Zhou Ming spoke slowly. "I was thinking... could the data for Fanxing's 'Xuan Niao' material also be fake?"

Long Zaitian's head snapped up, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"A 24K critical temperature is infinitely close to the theoretical limit for room-temperature superconductivity!" Zhou Ming's tone was firm, his finger tapping heavily on the table. "With the current state of global materials science technology, this is simply impossible! Moreover, they only released an anonymous data package. Even with the National Materials Laboratory's endorsement, there might still be something fishy that hasn't been uncovered!"

Long Zaitian's eyes grew brighter. He leaned forward slightly. "Go on!"

"We can strike here!" A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Zhou Ming's eyes. "They used anonymous data to slap us in the face. Why can't we question the authenticity of *their* data?!"

"As long as we find one flaw—even just a theoretical loophole!—we slam the label of 'academic fraud' right back at them!"

"We won't compete with them on technology. We'll fight them in the court of public opinion! We'll ruin Fanxing Technology's reputation!"

Long Zaitian slowly straightened up in his chair. The fury on his face gradually receded, replaced by a chilling, sinister malice.

"And!" Zhou Ming, as if remembering something else, dropped another bombshell. He pulled up a document and projected it onto the large screen, pointing at the data with a cold sneer. "I've carefully analyzed the material parameters of Stardust-S1. The core of its explosive performance lies in a special lattice structure! And this structure requires extremely high-purity raw materials and top-tier, precision manufacturing processes!"

He pointed at a few lines on the screen, his voice full of triumph. "The composition of stardust material—tungsten content 18.7%, chromium 12.3%, vanadium 9.8%! These three critical metals... 7% of the domestic production capacity is in the hands of our Long Group!"

Long Zaitian's eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh hard, the pent-up frustration in his chest dissipating significantly. He stood up abruptly. "Issue my orders!"

"First, notify all our partner mining companies and trading firms. Starting tomorrow, the supply of tungsten, chromium, and vanadium to all non-partner enterprises is to be completely halted! All existing contract customers are to be re-evaluated for qualifications! Anyone with even the slightest connection to Fanxing Technology is to be blacklisted! Cut off their raw material supply. Let's see what they'll use for mass production!"

"Second, the legal department moves immediately! Dig up everything on Fanxing Technology! Environmental approvals, tax records, labor compliance—leave no stone unturned! I refuse to believe a company that started from a scrap yard doesn't have a single skeleton in its closet!"

"Third, the PR department!" Long Zaitian's voice rose sharply. "Spend the money! Buy the top headlines in all finance and tech sections tomorrow! The title will be: 'The Shocking Mystery Behind the Anonymous Data Package: The Enigma of Fanxing Technology's Technical Source'! Focus on highlighting that Chen Fan was just an unemployed pauper three months ago! Question whether his technology was stolen! Seized! Something shady!"

One command after another, like cold blades, issued from Long Zaitian's mouth.

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly turned deadly and severe.

Long Zaitian walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the myriad lights of the city below.

In the distance, in the direction of the Fanxing Technology factory, a few lights were faintly visible, stubbornly glowing in the night.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He muttered to himself in a low voice, dripping with venom:

"Chen Fan, you think winning the first round means you can turn the world upside down?"

"Too naive!"

"In this city, the rules of the game are never decided by technology!"

"I'll make you understand that offending the Long Group is the stupidest decision of your life!"

"I will personally crush you and Fanxing Technology into dust!"