149: Chapter 149 A National Treasure: Who Will Be the Successor?

On the homepage of Star Technology's official website, those six Chinese characters written by a calligrapher—[Come to Fei City if You Have the Guts]—continued to ferment across the global network.

It was like a massive slap, delivered through the screen, hitting the faces of all the giants who attempted to use rules to besiege Star Technology.

A "Tech Alliance" composed of companies like Intel, Apple, Samsung, TSMC, and ASML urgently held a video conference.

In front of the camera, Intel CEO Kising's facial muscles contorted as he grabbed a crystal water glass from the table and smashed it violently against the wall.

Glass shards flew everywhere.

ASML President Wen Ning, the man who had once clamored about using patents to completely lock down Star Technology, sat in his chair now with a rather unsightly expression.

Apple CEO Tim Pete, a man who hated Star Technology to his core, was currently feeling helpless, his will exceeding his power.

Their legal weapons were completely useless against China's Star Technology.

The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece with a title full of helplessness and irony—"The End of Rules is Physics."

The article pessimistically predicted that this century-defining lawsuit, initiated by Western tech giants, would ultimately evolve into a century-defining joke.

They couldn't even find the front door of the defendant.

While global public opinion was buzzing about the direction of this "asymmetric war."

Several black "hongqi" sedans with special military plates drove into Xingchen Technology Park.

Wei Yi, who had received notification in advance, personally led a team of Aegis Security members to wait in front of the headquarters building.

The motorcade came to a steady stop, and the rear door of the hongqi sedan in the middle opened.

In the top-floor office, Chen Xu had previously received an internal report from Wei Yi.

Walking to the floor-to-ceiling window and looking at the cars downstairs, he saw Zhang Jianzhong step out of the vehicle.

He wasn't wearing his usual civilian clothes today, but a military uniform, the general's stars on his shoulders reflecting the sunlight.

His expression was more serious than ever before.

Following behind him were two young soldiers, also in uniform but without any rank insignia.

These two young men were tall, with steady temperaments and sharp eyes, maintaining a certain distance from Zhang Jianzhong.

The two of them were carrying a black alloy box, one hand on each side.

Chen Xu did not go downstairs to greet them, but simply had Guan Yi wait below while he waited quietly in his office.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the office door, and Guan Yi pushed it open, leading Zhang Jianzhong and his party inside.

"Chairman Chen, sorry for the intrusion."

After entering, Zhang Jianzhong nodded to Chen Xu.

The two young men quickly checked the office environment, then stood behind Zhang Jianzhong with the box, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

"Director Zhang, please sit." Chen Xu pointed to the sofa.

Zhang Jianzhong didn't sit, but instead took a red folder stamped with the highest level of seals directly from his briefcase and handed it to Chen Xu.

"I've come today on behalf of the higher-ups to deliver something to you." Zhang Jianzhong's voice was steady and powerful.

He opened the folder and showed it to Chen Xu.

"This is an official document from the highest level. The content is simple: the state will unconditionally support Star Technology in responding to any form of external pressure. To this end, a special response group composed of multiple departments has been established."

Zhang Jianzhong's gaze was fixed on Chen Xu.

"You, Comrade Chen Xu, hold the highest decision-making power for this group."

The weight of this authorization made Guan Yi, who was standing to the side, feel the pressure.

This meant that at the national level, Star Technology had been draped in the strongest armor.

Chen Xu glanced at the document with some surprise and nodded, gesturing for Guan Yi to take it.

No excitement or joy from gaining power could be seen on his face.

Seeing this reaction, Zhang Jianzhong actually felt more at ease in his heart.

He took a deep breath, his tone becoming heavy.

"Of course, we have also come with a request."

"We see infinite possibilities in your 'Kunlun' chip. However, many key military fields, such as national defense supercomputing, integrated command systems, and battlefield situation simulations, require PC-level computing chips with even stronger performance."

"We hope Star Technology can develop a military-grade chip product for us. Secondly, there is something else we'd like you to take a look at for us."

As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Chen Xu's answer, he signaled to the two young men behind him.

The two stepped forward and placed the black alloy box they were carrying on the carpet in the center of the office.

There were no markings on the surface of the box, but its heavy industrial texture showed that the contents inside were extraordinary.

Zhang Jianzhong walked to the box.

With a "click," the latch of the box was opened.

He stepped aside, and the lid flipped up, revealing the contents inside.

It was a set of metal exoskeletons that looked somewhat crude in design, with exposed wiring and hydraulic lines covering the joints.

Its design was full of the brutalist aesthetics of Soviet equipment; every component looked incredibly solid, but consequently appeared very cumbersome.

On the inside of the lid, a copper nameplate was embedded, etched with two characters: [Dragon Scale].

Zhang Jianzhong looked at the equipment with a complex and bitter expression on his face.

"This is the latest result of all the hard work from our 703 Institute, the 'Dragon Scale' individual exoskeleton system Phase I prototype."

"It is already equipped with the SC-V2 high-energy super battery and the Lingxi chip."

"But..." Zhang Jianzhong's tone sank, "its mechanical structure, its energy efficiency, and its dynamic response all have massive problems. We... cannot make it any better."

He looked up, staring intently at Chen Xu with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Chairman Chen, I know this request is very presumptuous, even somewhat inappropriate... but we would like to ask you, or your team, to help us take a look."

Chen Xu's gaze swept over the exoskeleton.

He could tell the designers had made their best effort within a limited industrial foundation.

He looked at Zhang Jianzhong's face, which was full of expectation, and remained silent for a few seconds.

Finally, he nodded slowly.

"Leave it here."