Chapter 165: Five Minutes of Charging for a Thousand Kilometers of Range – The Gas Station Owner Feels Like the Sky Has Fallen Down

Dark brown coffee dripped down the surface of Chu Xuan's leather shoes, spreading into an eye-catching stain on the floor.

He didn't even have time to tend to the red scald marks on his instep, his eyes locked onto the black brick inside the testing bench.

" Lu, President Lu... you aren't just making a battery. "

Chu Xuan swallowed hard, his purple leopard-print shirt clinging tightly to his back with sweat.

" You're trying to smash the oil wells of Middle Eastern tycoons and the livelihoods of gas stations around the world into smithereens! "

Lu Jingming had one hand in his faded jeans pocket.

He didn't even lift an eyelid.

He fished out that green plastic lighter and flipped open the metal cap with a " click ".

" If the livelihoods break, they break. Who told them to stand in the way. "

A faint blue flame flashed and vanished; Lu Jingming tossed the lighter casually onto the black console.

" Notify the testing department to stuff this thing into the xinghai su1 test car. "

He turned his head to look at Xia Weiliang, who was still licking a strawberry lollipop.

" Start a livestream. No editing, broadcast it live across the entire web. "

Chu Xuan wiped the greasy sweat from his forehead, his legs trembling.

" President Lu, we aren't buying trending spots or running ads. If we just start broadcasting out of the blue, will anyone watch? "

Xia Weiliang rolled her eyes dramatically.

She kicked off the chassis with her bare feet.

The gaming chair slid in front of the keyboard with a " swish ".

" You bumpkin, do you think my hands are just for show? "

She crunched the candy in her mouth, her ten fingers tapping out a blur on the keyboard.

" I'm cutting the signal source directly into the top recommended spots on all major platforms. "

Three hours later.

An official livestream room titled " Xinghai Solid-State Battery Extreme Cold Test " took over the screens without warning.

There was no promotional buildup.

It relied entirely on the massive waves created by yesterday's press conference, combined with the homepage push.

Less than ten minutes into the broadcast, over five million netizens swarmed in like zombies.

On screen, a boundless white snowfield stretched as far as the eye could see.

The thermometer in the upper right corner displayed: Mohe, Northeast, minus twenty-three degrees.

Fierce winds whipped up large snowflakes, slapping against the camera outside the car with a rhythmic thudding sound.

A xinghai su1 covered in zebra camouflage was speeding along the icy national highway at 120 km/h.

The magnetic levitation module in the chassis was rock steady in the extreme cold, without even a hint of skidding.

" Holy crap? Old Ma just posted on Twitter saying Xinghai's batteries were fragile, and now they're taking it out for a spin? "

" Long-distance driving at minus twenty degrees? Wouldn't a pure electric car just freeze into a popsicle and break down? "

" Waiting for the tow truck to save them. If this car doesn't break down halfway, I'll livestream myself washing my hair while doing a handstand! "

The screen was densely covered with comments, all waiting to see Xinghai make a fool of itself.

The camera cut to the interior of the car with a " click ".

The two testers weren't even wearing down jackets, just thin black thermal shirts.

On the holographic dashboard, the heater was cranked all the way up to the maximum of thirty degrees.

The tester in the driver's seat chewed gum and gestured at the camera.

" Hey guys, AC cranked to the max, seat heating cranked to the max. "

He floored the accelerator, and the motor emitted a faint hum.

" We won't slow down until this trip is over. "

The real-time mileage in the lower right corner began to jump frantically like a stopwatch.

Two hundred kilometers; the comments were still furiously spewing mockery.

" Fake battery reading! This is definitely a rigged meter with altered parameters! "

Five hundred kilometers; the tone in the livestream room started to feel a bit off.

" Wait... how has the battery percentage dropped less than half? "

Eight hundred kilometers; the haters collectively lost their voices, and the screen was filled only with question marks and gasps of disbelief.

When the mileage on the screen finally settled at " 1215 kilometers ".

The car finally slowed to a stop beside a dilapidated gas station on the national highway.

The battery warning light on the dashboard finally lit up with a glaring red 3%.

The entire livestream room, with thirty-five million people, was deathly silent.

Even the most stubborn keyboard warriors stopped, their fingers frozen on the screen.

Minus twenty-degree extreme cold, icy roads!

Heater on max, speeding at high speeds the whole way!

One battery, and it actually achieved an insane result of over twelve hundred kilometers!

But it wasn't over yet.

The tester pushed open the frameless door, wrapped himself in a random down jacket, and ran out of the car, shivering.

He parked the car in front of the experimental supercharging station that Xinghai had prepared in advance.

He pulled out the liquid-cooled charging gun, which was thicker than an arm, and shoved it into the charging port.

" Folks, I can't hold it anymore, I'm going to take a leak nearby. "

Rubbing his frozen hands, the tester dashed into the dry toilet behind the gas station.

" Everyone, please keep an eye on the charging progress bar. "

The camera was locked onto the battery icon on the center console screen.

3%... 20%... 50%!

The numbers were jumping so fast it looked like someone was randomly mashing a calculator.

The comments went completely crazy, lagging the server.

" Is this charging or a blood transfusion! "

" Even heating a lunchbox in the microwave isn't this fast! "

Five minutes later.

The tester came running back to the car, pulling up his pants and shivering.

On the screen, two glaring green characters stood out: 100%.

At the Xinghai headquarters, in the broadcast control room, Chu Xuan was clutching his leopard-print shirt tightly, his eyes red like a rabbit's.

" Lu, President Lu! The trending search has exploded! "

He grabbed a tablet, his fingers scrolling frantically across the screen, and shoved it in front of Lu Jingming.

" Global fuel car owners are forming groups to cancel their orders! Toyota and Volkswagen's new car orders have evaporated by three hundred thousand in one hour! "

Chu Xuan gasped for cold air, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

" The second-hand car platform crashed ten minutes ago. Those cars that were supposed to hold their value aren't even getting a second look, even when sold at half price! "

Lu Jingming leaned back in his boss chair.

He picked up the green plastic lighter casually.

His thumb pressed against the flint wheel, not lighting it, just listening to the " click " of the mechanical sound.

He curled the corner of his mouth, revealing half of his stark white canine tooth.

" The real show has only just begun. "

Late at night.

A torrential downpour slammed down without warning.

Fierce winds whipped bean-sized raindrops against the glass curtain wall of the Xinghai Technology headquarters building.

A black Maybach with Fujian license plates silently slid through the curtain of water and parked downstairs.

The car door opened.

A pair of old leather shoes stepped straight into a puddle full of mud and water, splashing up dirty water.

A middle-aged man wearing an old-fashioned black-gray Zhongshan suit stepped out of the car.

He didn't have an umbrella.

He let the cold rain flow down his graying hair and into the back of his neck.

He looked up.

Staring fixedly at the illuminated window of the president's office on the top floor, his legs standing straight as if rooted to the ground.

The security guard on duty ran over, wearing a yellow raincoat and holding a flashlight.

" Hey, hey! What are you doing! Acting like a ghost here in the middle of the night! "

The middle-aged man didn't dodge the bright light.

He reached out and wiped the mud and water off his face casually.

He hunched his back and squeezed out an almost humble smile at the security guard.

" Little brother, please announce my arrival. "

His voice was extremely hoarse, revealing a weariness of someone pushed to the edge.

" Zeng Jianguo from Ningyuan Era, requesting to see President Lu. "