223: Chapter 223 The Final Counterattack, Sanctions and Countermeasures

Chen Fan pushed open the double doors of the Huihuang Group's top-floor conference room.

Inside, a giant holographic screen was playing a loop of a joint press conference held by major Western powers. The White House press officer stood behind the podium, reading the Antitrust and National Security Sanctions Act. To the right of the large screen, news pop-ups from various global media outlets were displayed side-by-side. CNN scrolled a red-and-white breaking news alert: "The Twilight of the Eastern Tech Giant, Wall Street Strikes Hard." The front page of The Times featured bold, black characters: "Without Precision Machine Tools, the Huihuang Group's Chip Myth Is Shattered."

At the bottom of the screen, a global stock market trend chart was displayed. The K-line chart for Huihuang Group's overseas listed companies showed a cliff-like plunge, with green numbers rapidly changing as three hundred billion dollars in market value evaporated.

The atmosphere in the conference room was extremely tense. Dozens of core executives looked worried as they stared at the paper briefings on the table.

Zhou Ming stood up with a report to brief him: "President Chen, all thirty batches of our high-end machine tools have been detained at customs. The thirty newly built high-tech factories will come to a standstill the day after tomorrow due to a lack of core production equipment. The liquidated damages are reaching tens of billions a day."

Chen Muyang stood at the end of the long table. He swiped his finger across a tablet, calmly issuing instructions: "The Public Relations Department is to initiate the Level 1 stability maintenance plan. Shut down all domestic self-media accounts following the rumors. The Legal Department will send people to the General Administration of Customs to file an appeal according to international trade law, delaying the seizure process for now."

Lin Wanqiu stood by his side, organizing the latest summarized data and plans before handing them to Chen Muyang. Their eyes met. Lin Wanqiu nodded, and Chen Muyang signed the report with a pen. They were the only calm pair in this chaotic conference room.

Chen Haoyu hit the Enter key. A multinational video link was connected.

The large screen split in two. The left side remained on the news broadcast, while the right side cut to a luxuriously decorated North American office. Smith, the chairman of the Wall Street joint consortium, leaned back on a leather sofa, holding half a Cuban cigar.

"Mr. Chen, your time is running out." Smith exhaled a cloud of smoke, his attitude arrogant. "Hand over the underlying code of the second world servers and open all background permissions for the xingyao phone. Otherwise, we will permanently cut off the supply chain for five-axis linkage CNC machine tools and extreme ultraviolet lithography machines."

Smith pulled out a heavy paper document stamped by multiple countries.

"This is the joint embargo agreement just signed by several major European industrial powers." Smith slammed the document onto the table. "Without our standards and without our equipment, your workers can only beat steel plates with hammers. You won't even be able to manufacture a single qualified aerospace screw."

The conference room fell into a deathly silence. The executives looked at the embargo agreement, their palms sweating.

A gray-haired veteran shareholder stood up and looked toward the head of the table. "Chairman, thirty thousand technical workers at the Jiangnan Industrial Park are waiting to start work. Fifteen supporting enterprises have tens of billions in inventory piled up. If the supply chain is cut, the entire ecosystem is finished. Should we first yield the distribution rights for the second world's North American market in exchange for the equipment's entry?"

Chen Fan strode to the head seat and sat down. He tapped his finger on the mahogany tabletop, making a crisp sound. He reached out his right hand and heavily pressed the physical cut-off button on the communication console.

The right side of the large screen went black. Smith's voice stopped abruptly.

The executives all turned their heads to look at him.

Chen Fan looked around both sides of the long table. He asked in return, "Who told you we were going to use their machine tools?"

He entered a thirty-four-digit top-level security password. The underlying permissions for the Macro-Strategic Analysis Module of the new system were unlocked. The system's deduction, combined with the technical results secretly completed using domestic resources, was imported into the group's main server.

The holographic screen lit up again.

The screen cut to live surveillance of the Jiangnan Underground Arsenal Base No. 6. Inside the massive underground space, the lights were bright. Twelve fully enclosed production lines were running at full speed.

Robotic arms swung, and high-pressure water jets washed over special titanium alloys. Cutter heads operated at high speeds, slicing through ultra-hard metal materials. A complex-shaped aerospace engine turbine blade took form, its surface free of burrs, smooth and even.

Zhou Ming pushed back his chair and strode to the large screen. He took off his gold-rimmed glasses, quickly wiped the lenses with the corner of his shirt, and put them back on. He leaned in until he was just a centimeter from the screen, staring at the measured parameter table flickering on the side.

"Processing precision reaches 0.001 micrometers. Main shaft speed is 100,000 RPM. Axis deviation is less than 0.1 arcseconds." Zhou Ming read out the data, his voice dry. He turned to look at Chen Fan. "A complete set of domestic industrial mother machines? The indicators here completely surpass the top current models in Germany."

Chen Fan leaned against the back of his chair. He didn't give everyone time to digest the news, throwing out his true trump card immediately.

"This is just basic equipment." Chen Fan swiped his finger across the control area.

The screen switched to a dust-free, constant-temperature laboratory. A two-story-tall, silver-white square tower-shaped device stood in the center. A holographic blueprint expanded beside it, marking the complex internal optical path structure.

"The final stage of the Pangu Project." Chen Fan spoke. "Ultra-high precision nanometer-level lithography machine core light source components. Utilizing high-purity superconducting rare earths from the Xishan Mining Area and the latest pulse capacitor array technology."

Chen Fan crossed his hands in front of him.

"We have already leaped into the mass production stage of two-nanometer chips."

Heavy breathing could be heard in the conference room. Several veteran shareholders clutched their chests, their mouths agape.

"Hao Yu." Chen Fan issued an order. "Open the global public satellite network interface and push the live broadcast signal to all major global media platforms."

Chen Haoyu hit the Enter key. The signal forcibly occupied the homepages of all major platforms.

Chen Fan's face appeared on billions of electronic screens around the world.

"Huihuang Group today officially rolled out its two-nanometer lithography machine and a complete set of high-end industrial mother machines." Chen Fan looked directly into the camera, his speaking pace steady. "This disruptive technology is only available for licensing to friendly countries that have not participated in sanctions against China."

He cut the live broadcast signal.

The global capital market underwent a dramatic change in just five minutes. Sell orders for Huihuang-concept stocks on major overseas trading platforms were swallowed up by massive amounts of capital. The K-line charts shot up, turning entirely red. The Nasdaq tech sector suffered a massive raid, with the stock prices of major Wall Street chip giants and heavy industry companies crashing in a straight line.

Thirty million people flooded into the YouTube tech channel's live stream. Multilingual comments filled the screen. North American netizens posted frantically on forums, demanding to sell off Fruit Company stock.

Thundering cheers erupted in the top-floor conference room. Executives hugged each other and pounded on the tables. The veteran shareholders shed tears of excitement.

Ten minutes passed.

The six red secure lines on Chen Hao Yu's desk rang simultaneously. He picked up the first one, listened for three sentences, and turned to look at Chen Fan.

"Boss, it's the German Minister of Industry's private line. He says they are willing to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from the joint embargo agreement. He requests a private meeting to discuss the import quota for lithography machines."

The second phone line was connected.

"The President of the French Heavy Industry Group. He proposes using the core patents for aerospace engines they hold in exchange for our two-nanometer chip foundry capacity. They are willing to open up the lease rights for deep-water ports on the banks of the Seine."

Faced with interests and absolute technological dominance, the Western technological hegemony alliance collapsed, falling into internal strife and a scramble for orders.

Chen Fan stood up. He adjusted his shirt cuffs and buttoned his suit jacket.

The conference room grew quiet. The executives turned to face him, straightening their backs.

Chen Fan walked to the end of the long table. He patted Chen Muyang's shoulder.

"I'll leave things here to you now." Chen Fan assigned the specific strategy. "Cut the chip share for the North American market by ninety percent; let their internal tech companies go protest at the White House. Sequence the European orders according to the order in which they surrendered today. To sign the agreement, make them trade their core minerals and cutting-edge patents."

Chen Muyang looked up, noting all the deployments. "Dad, where are you going?"

Su Wanqing walked over with a black cashmere coat. Chen Fan took the coat, put it on, and reached out to take his wife's hand.

"To accompany your mother on a long vacation." Chen Fan walked out of the conference room.

The executives watched the two of them leave.

Chen Fan pushed open the doors and walked down the spacious corridor.

The dark gold system panel deep in his mind changed. The progress bar flickered.

[Ding! The Macro-Strategic Analysis Module has received an anomalous extraterrestrial data frequency.]

[Data source: Alpha Centauri System.]

[Determined threat level: World-ending level.]

[Countdown to arrival on Earth: Three years.]

Chen Fan stopped. He turned to look at the large expanse of transparent glass windows outside the corridor. The high-altitude sky during the day was cloudless, with no starlight visible.

He gripped Su Wanqing's hand tightly and stepped into the private direct elevator.