214: Chapter 214 Shenzhen's "Technology Extravaganza"

April 30th, 10:00 PM, Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center.

The massive exhibition hall was empty, with only a few work lights illuminated. Tomorrow, tens of thousands of spectators would flood this place, and hundreds of millions worldwide would watch the live stream.

But for now, Su Chen was the only one there.

He walked slowly through the seven exhibition areas.

Consumer Electronics Zone: The HX2 phones were inside glass cases, their screens shimmering with vibrant colors. Beside them were new drone products, their sci-fi designs looking like alien technology. VR glasses sat quietly on display stands, waiting to immerse users in virtual worlds.

Automotive Zone: The Red Flag H7 sat as silent as obsidian, its lines elegant yet powerful. The X2 performance SUV was next to it, its low-slung body resembling a cheetah ready to pounce. The Xingchen Heavy Industry trucks were majestic and imposing, the characters for "Xingchen" on the front grilles gleaming under the lights.

chip Zone: 14nm wafers shone like a starry sky under microscopes, their transistors arranged neatly like an army. Beside them was the 7nm technology roadmap, arrows pointing toward the future.

Military Industry Zone (not open to the public, but for internal preview): The "Golden Crow-1" missile model glinted with a cold light, the "night owl" attack aircraft hovered in mid-air, and the "war mastiff" robotic dogs stood silently like loyal sentinels.

Rocket Zone: A scale model of the tianlong-1 was ready for launch, the flame patterns on its body appearing as if they were actually burning.

Su Chen walked to the center of the main stage.

This was where he would stand tomorrow, facing the eyes of the entire world.

He closed his eyes, imagining the seats filled with people and the live broadcast signal reaching every corner of the globe.

“Starting tomorrow,” he whispered, “the world will remember this week.”

His phone vibrated.

It wasn't a call, but a system notification.

A pale blue holographic projection unfolded in the air:

【During the seven-day launch event, the "Tech Demo Enhancement" module will be temporarily unlocked.】

【Function: Ensure all demonstration segments are foolproof. Including but not limited to:】

Cyber-attack immunity

Equipment failure prevention

Demo effect optimization

Emergency situation handling

【Upon achieving a perfect launch event, the system will issue rewards based on the level of impact. A mysterious grand prize is waiting to be unlocked.】

Su Chen smiled.

“Even you’re coming to help out.”

He put away his phone and took one last look at the exhibition hall.

Under the lights, all the products waited quietly.

Waiting for tomorrow's debut, waiting to change the world.

Su Chen turned and left.

The massive doors of the exhibition hall slowly closed.

Outside, Shenzhen was ablaze with lights, as countless people made final preparations for tomorrow's feast.

This tech war was about to reach its climax.

Rewinding to the morning of April 29th, tech corporate headquarters in 56 countries and regions worldwide received invitations from Morning Star at almost the same time.

Cupertino, California, Apple Headquarters. Tim Cook's secretary opened a black gold-stamped envelope. Inside was a metal card—actual metal, as thick as a credit card, with the Spark and Xingchen logos etched on the surface, along with holographic invitation text: "Apple Inc. is cordially invited to the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center to witness a new era of technology. May 1-7, Spark-Xingchen Tech Innovation Conference."

Seoul, South Korea, Samsung Electronics. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong looked at the invitation and said to his assistant, “Prepare the private jet. Notify the China branch to book all the suites near the convention center.”

Tokyo, Japan, Sony Headquarters. President Kenichiro Yoshida picked up the invitation, the metal card feeling heavy in his hand: “This is a challenge, but also an opportunity. We must go.”

Munich, Germany, Siemens Industrial. CEO Roland Busch stood by his office window, the invitation on his desk: “It’s been seven years, and finally a Chinese company dares to invite us in the field of industrial equipment. Book the flights and bring the technical team.”

Paris, France, Airbus Group. The CTO stared at the words "Xingchen Heavy Industry" on the invitation, his brow furrowed: “They’re going to build large aircraft? Or aerospace? I have to see this for myself.”

On the morning of April 29th, the tech sections of major global media outlets were collectively "invaded."

The Wall Street Journal's front-page headline: "Seven Days in Shenzhen: The 'Normandy Landings' of Chinese Tech Giants." Subtitle: "From Apple to Airbus, global tech leaders will gather in Shenzhen to witness what may be the most important tech showcase of the century."

BBC Tech Column: “This is not a product launch; it is a manifesto. Morning Star is using seven launches to issue a comprehensive challenge to the global tech order.”

Nikkei Shimbun Editorial: “The Asian tech center is shifting from Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei to Shenzhen. This conference will be a turning point.”

Senior Bloomberg News analyst Tom Hank said in a TV interview: “In my thirty years in the industry, I have never seen such a dense, cross-domain tech launch. If Morning Star can truly deliver on its promises, the global tech supply chain will face a total restructuring.”

At 7:00 PM on April 29th, CCTV's "Xinwen Lianbo" spent 2 minutes and 30 seconds reporting on the upcoming tech event.

“The Spark-Xingchen Tech Innovation Conference will be held in Shenzhen, serving as a concentrated display of our country's tech enterprises' independent innovation achievements...” The announcer's voice reached every corner of the nation.

Immediately following, the Department of Commerce, MIIT, and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly held a press conference, announcing that the conference was designated as a "National-Level Tech Innovation Exchange Platform" and would be given "the highest level of policy support and security assurance."

The Shenzhen municipal government activated a Level 1 response.

The Mayor slammed the table at an emergency meeting: “This is the most important international event since Shenzhen was established! It must be foolproof!”

The entire city entered "Convention Time":

Transportation: Subway Lines 1 and 4 increased their frequency, and 10 "Convention Express" bus lines were opened. "Tech Conference Dedicated Channels" were established at the airport and high-speed rail stations.

Security: All city police had their leave canceled, with 30,000 officers deployed for security. Traffic control was implemented within a 3km radius of the convention center, and the drone no-fly zone was expanded to the entire city.

Hospitality: 200 star-rated hotels were requisitioned by the government to host international guests. The municipal government coordinated hotel resources in surrounding cities to ensure every guest had a place to stay.

At 8:00 PM on April 29th, data on global flight booking platforms surged.

Ctrip data showed that within the next 72 hours, searches for flights to Shenzhen globally increased by 1200%. Economy class ticket prices tripled, business class quintupled, and tickets remained nearly impossible to find.

In New York, 22-year-old MIT PhD student Jack Chen maxed out three credit cards to buy a connecting flight from New York to Hong Kong to Shenzhen, totaling $3,800. “I have to go! This is a historical moment!” he wrote on Twitter.

In Bangalore, India, 27-year-old software engineer Raj bought a ticket from Delhi with a layover in Guangzhou, live-streaming his packing process on Facebook: “I’m going to see for myself that Chinese company that says it wants to challenge Silicon Valley.”

In Moscow, a group of hardware geeks chartered a plane, 30 people squeezed into a small business jet. “We want to see just how strong the 'Flint 3' chip really is.”

Domestically, it was equally crazy.

In Zhongguancun, Wang Wei, the founder of a tech company, booked a flight overnight only to find that all flights to Shenzhen for the next three days were full. “Check the high-speed rail for me! Even a standing ticket is fine!”

In Zhangjiang, Shanghai, a group of chip engineers collectively requested leave: “Boss, we need to go to Shenzhen to learn. This is a showcase of the highest level in the industry; we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives if we miss it.”

The boss waved them off: “Go! The company will reimburse you! Just bring back some materials!”

In the early hours of April 30th, Shenzhen's hotel booking platforms completely crashed.

Data showed:

- Booking rate for star-rated hotels across Shenzhen from May 1-7: 100%.

- Economy hotels: 100%.

- Homestays and apartments: 100%.

- Even hotels in surrounding cities—Dongguan, Huizhou, and Guangzhou—were completely full.

Folk wisdom began to manifest.

On local Shenzhen tech forums, a large number of posts appeared:

“Tech enthusiast seeking a place to stay! Can sleep on a sofa, will pay 200 a day!”

“Living room floor space for rent in a neighborhood near the convention center, 500 a night!”

“Offering a dormitory bed at Shenzhen University, males only, 300 a night!”

Even more exaggerated, some people started renting out their "balcony tents"—that's right, setting up a tent on a balcony and charging 800 yuan a night, and demand still outstripped supply.

Taxi driver Old Li couldn't stop smiling: “I’ve made more in these few days than I usually do in a month!”

April 30th, 11:00 PM, Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center.

This massive architectural complex, covering 1.48 million square meters, was brilliantly lit. Workers were making final arrangements, security guards were patrolling, and technicians were debugging equipment.

At the entrance of Hall 1, a massive countdown timer displayed: “Time until conference start: 9 hours 47 minutes”.

Inside the hall, the seven exhibition zones were ready. The products were displayed quietly, waiting to be scrutinized by the world tomorrow.

Outside the hall, hundreds of tech enthusiasts had already arrived, setting up tents in the plaza. They came from all over the world, speaking different languages, but with the same anticipation in their eyes.

A Japanese youth held up a selfie stick for a live stream: “Look, everyone, this is the convention center! Tomorrow, history will happen here!”

An American man sat on a folding chair and told a reporter: “I flew 16 hours just for this moment. Silicon Valley is too arrogant; it needs someone to take it down a notch.”

A local Shenzhen middle school student, led by his father to see the excitement, looked up and asked, “Dad, why are so many people here?”

The father patted his head: “Because, son, our China finally has something that the whole world wants to come and see.”

The night grew deeper, but no one slept.

This city, this country, and even half the world were waiting for the dawn.

Waiting for that tech feast that would last seven days and was destined to go down in history.

Waiting for the Spark to ignite the flames of a new era.