Chapter 85: Four Star Group Resists, Memory Chip Price War Begins

The outskirts of Suwon, South Korea.

The piercing sound of fire alarms tore through the pre-dawn darkness.

Several high-pressure water cannons were blasting water frantically at the ventilation outlets of Samsung Group's No. 2 wafer fab.

Black smoke, swirling with sparks, shot straight up a hundred meters into the sky.

The air was filled with the acrid smell of burning plastic.

A few kilometers away, on the top floor of the Samsung headquarters.

Lee Jae-yong was wearing silk pajamas, holding a glass of whiskey on the rocks.

He leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the fire in the distance.

The ice cubes clinked against the glass, making a crisp sound.

"How is the fire being contained?"

Lee Jae-yong took a sip of his drink, a sinister smile hanging at the corner of his eyes.

His assistant stood three steps away, bowing, deliberately suppressing even his breathing.

"The fire department has already entered after burning down half of the abandoned scrap warehouse. The core production line wasn't damaged."

"An abandoned warehouse won't do."

Lee Jae-yong turned around and downed the whiskey in his glass in one gulp.

The liquor slammed into his stomach down his throat, igniting a fire.

"Notify the PR department and have them write a press release."

He slammed the glass onto the windowsill, shaking out a few droplets of water.

"Just say that the core factory area suffered a massive fire, the precision machine tools were destroyed, and production capacity has been severely damaged."

The assistant swallowed dryly, a chill running down his back.

"Young Master, if this news gets out, the global spot market will likely crash."

"That is exactly what I want."

Lee Jae-yong gritted his teeth, a viper-like ferocity gleaming in his eyes.

"Doesn't Lu Jingming like forming cliques and building ecosystems? I want to see what he uses to fill this ten-billion-dollar hole."

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

A notice bearing the Samsung red letterhead hit the global tech circle like a depth charge.

The spot prices of DRAM and NAND memory chips soared right at the opening.

A straight red line pointing upwards stung the eyes of every trader.

In just two short hours, the previously stable purchase price had tripled!

Donghai City, Xinghai Technology building.

A flurry of chaotic footsteps echoed in the corridor, accompanied by heavy panting.

"Bang!"

The solid wood door of the president's office was pushed open.

Fatty Xu, his forehead glistening with oily sweat, stumbled inside.

He held a newly faxed price list in his hand, the paper rattling as it shook.

He had long since taken off his suit jacket, and his shirt was soaked, sticking to his back.

"President Lu! It's on fire! Those Koreans really set fire to their factory!"

Fatty Xu's voice cracked, the fat on his face trembling.

President Lei squeezed in right behind him, tripping over the threshold.

The hem of his gray plaid shirt was completely pulled out, and he looked like he had just been fished out of the water.

"President Lu, this is a huge problem!"

President Lei threw his torn black leather bag onto the coffee table and wiped the sweat from his face haphazardly.

"Samsung has locked their warehouse! Word from customs is that they've completely cut off supply to all our alliance's orders!"

Lu Jingming sat in his executive chair. He was holding a white porcelain teacup, slowly skimming the foam off the top.

He didn't look up, only lowered his head to blow on the rising steam.

"Didn't I tell you all yesterday to just manufacture it yourselves?"

He took a sip of tea, the liquid slightly bitter as it slid down his esophagus.

The bottom of the porcelain cup clicked against the mahogany desk with a dull thud.

"What, did you sleep through it and get scared into amnesia?"

President Lei was so anxious he was jumping around, his leather shoes creaking on the wooden floor.

"My dear brother! When you said to manufacture it yesterday, I thought it was just a figure of speech to push us!"

He grabbed at the air with both hands, looking exactly like a drowning man.

"That's memory chips! It requires multi-layer stacking and micro-miniaturization technology!"

President Lei's eyes were bloodshot, his voice tinged with a sob.

"We can't even find a factory in the country that makes planar flash memory; are we supposed to use shovels to dig out a 3D stack!"

Fatty Xu slumped on the sofa, gasping for air.

"It's all over now."

He stared at the price list, the corners of his eyes twitching.

"It's tripled! Even if we scour the black market for smuggled goods, the cost of assembling a single phone will put us two hundred yuan in the hole!"

Shen Qingqiu walked in wearing high heels, holding a thick folder.

She wasn't wearing a jacket, her white shirt sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

On that face that was always cold, there was a rare look of anxiety.

"It's not just Samsung."

Shen Qingqiu slapped the file onto the table and pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses.

"Micron and SK Hynix are also hiking their prices, all just waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves."

She rubbed her aching brow and sighed.

"These three oligopolies control ninety percent of the global production capacity."

"No matter how strong our Xialong Chip is, without memory, the phone can't even get past the startup screen."

The room went quiet. All that could be heard was the hissing sound of air leaking from the central air conditioning vent.

Fatty Xu and President Lei were ashen-faced, as if waiting for a judge to strike the gavel.

Lu Jingming leaned back in his chair. He fished out that one-yuan plastic lighter from his pocket.

"Click."

The flint sparked, but the cigarette didn't light.

He tossed the lighter onto the table casually, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Those losers at Samsung, every time they can't win, they burn down their own factory."

Lu Jingming crossed his hands behind his head, his eyes filled with the nonchalance of a spectator.

"The Koreans are playing the fire-price-hike game again? They really have no new tricks."

Chu Xuan poked his center-parted hairstyle through the door, clutching a walkie-talkie in his hand.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he was panting from running.

"President Lu, Old Zhou is waiting at the old No. 2 factory building. The production line has been completely cleared out."

He scratched his scalp, looking completely confused.

"But Old Zhou is asking me, with just a few modified lithography machines and no blueprints or authorization, what is he supposed to do in there?"

When President Lei heard this, his legs went weak. Most of his body slid directly from the sofa onto the carpet.

"President Lu, you don't even have the blueprints, and you told Old Zhou to clear the factory?"

He closed his eyes in despair, feeling that the alliance agreement he had just signed had become a death warrant.

Lu Jingming didn't take the bait. Deep in his mind, the system's mechanical voice was blasting like New Year's firecrackers.

"Ding! The Samsung Young Master has executed a monopoly conspiracy, triggering the spread of panic in the domestic mobile phone circle!"

"Ding! Alliance members are feeling intense regret and despair!"

The digital counter spun so fast it blurred, and a massive amount of 'defense-breaking' points were instantly credited.

Lu Jingming's eyes darkened. His consciousness dove into the deepest section of the system store.

He locked directly onto the row of storage technology options glowing with dark gold light.

"Unlock."

The defense-breaking points were instantly drained by more than half. A dazzling blue light cracked open on the virtual panel.

A thick, metallic-sheened atlas appeared out of thin air in the drawer beside him.

"3D NAND Flash Stacking Storage Full-Link Manufacturing Guide."

The prototype technology for Changcun chips that would break the international monopoly in the future lay quietly inside.

Lu Jingming pulled open the drawer. He pressed his palm onto the heavy atlas, the cover feeling cool to the touch.

He stood up, the hem of his black T-shirt sweeping across the desk.

He pulled the atlas out directly and threw it onto the coffee table in front of President Lei.

With a "bang," it shook the coffee paper cup on the table, spilling two drops of brown liquid.

"Open your eyes and see what this is."

Lu Jingming stood with one hand in his pocket, looking down at the devastated middle-aged man on the carpet.

President Lei, hands trembling, flipped open the hardcover cover of the atlas.

He only took one glance. His originally dead-gray eyes instantly widened. His pupils contracted violently.

"This... is this vertical stacking technology?"

President Lei's voice cracked, sounding like a screaming rubber chicken someone had stepped on.

He pressed his face almost against the pages, staring greedily at those complex wiring logics.

"The physical limits of planar flash memory have been broken? We're building skyscrapers straight up?"

His hands shook as he leafed through the atlas forcefully. The pages rustled loudly.

"This storage density... this yield rate control model for wafer dicing..."

Fatty Xu couldn't get close and was pushing him anxiously.

"Brother Lei, what are you yelling about! Can this thing make memory or not!"

President Lei lifted his head abruptly. His glasses slid down to the bridge of his nose, and two red fires burned in the depths of his eyes.

"Yes! If this technology can be implemented, Samsung's production capacity is nothing!"

He clutched the atlas tightly, as if protecting his life's treasure for the rest of his days.

Shen Qingqiu was also stunned. She walked closer in her high heels, took a glance at the data parameters, and gasped.

"Lu Jingming, where did you get this industry-disrupting patent?"

"Dug it out of the Koreans' ancestral grave."

Lu Jingming sneered. He walked to the door and looked back at Chu Xuan, who was standing there foolishly.

"Go, take this book and meet up with Old Zhou."

Lu Jingming's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a ruthlessness that could crush everything.

"Three days. Tell him to take those old guys from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and get the first stacking line up and running for me."

Chu Xuan swallowed dryly, ran over, and snatched the atlas from President Lei's arms. He hugged it to his chest, terrified that someone else would take it.

"President Lu, what about after we manufacture it? Samsung has hiked the price by three times now."

Lu Jingming reached out and pushed open the office door. The draft from the hallway rushed in, blowing his black hair.

"Hiked three times?"

Lu Jingming turned his head, half of his face hidden in the shadows of the hallway. He curled the corner of his mouth, revealing half of a sharp canine tooth.

"Go tell Old Zhou."

Lu Jingming's eyes were as cold as ice shards in the dead of winter.

"Once the new goods come off the line, have him teach those Koreans a good lesson on what 'dirt cheap' really means."