272: Chapter 272 King of Wind

2:30 PM, the lights in the venue came back on.

Power cores, wisdom awakening—that was enough to define a press conference.

But today, there was a third act.

And it was the heaviest blow.

The giant screen behind the stage slowly slid open to both sides.

The audience let out an irrepressible gasp—not because the exhibit behind the curtain was so precise, but because it was so large.

A giant hub with a diameter of over 5 meters occupied the entire rear area of the stage. The surface of the hub had an aerospace-grade silver-gray coating, and the three bolt interfaces were over half a meter in diameter, like arms waiting for a giant.

This was just a 1:50 model.

The actual impeller had a diameter of 252 meters—it couldn't fit indoors.

Wind Tamer GWH252-16 MW Offshore Wind Turbine.

The big screen displayed parameters:

Parameter Data Comparison

Unit Capacity: 16MW, World's largest

Impeller Diameter: 252 meters, equivalent to 3.5 A380 wingspans

Swept Area: ~5.1 standard football fields, approx 36,300 square meters

Annual Power Generation: 66 million kWh, enough to satisfy 36,000 households

Design Life: 25 years, Industry standard 20-22 years

Applicable Waters: 10-50 meters deep, Offshore/Intertidal

Price: 150 million rmb, includes installation and commissioning

"We aren't making an onshore version of this turbine," Su Chen said. "A 252-meter impeller can't pass through tunnels—highways have a height limit of 4.5 meters, railways 5.8 meters; no road can transport it inland."

The audience chuckled.

"We also aren't prioritizing sales to Europe and America," Su Chen continued, his tone calm. "They have local giants—Siemens Gamesa, Vestas, GE. They have their own certification barriers and their own political agendas."

The big screen switched.

Not Europe, not North America.

It was the South China Sea.

The Maritime Silk Road.

"Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia." Su Chen read the names one by one. "These countries are industrializing. They need cheap, clean, and stable electricity."

Green light points lit up on the map: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bangkok...

"They have long coastlines—longer than Europe's. They have abundant wind resources—an annual average wind speed of over 7.5 meters per second."

"What are they lacking?"

Su Chen paused.

"They lack technology. They lack equipment. They lack an industrial chain."

"European turbines sold to them incur a 30% tariff, plus a 20% technology licensing fee. Japan doesn't make offshore turbines. South Korea is still hovering at 8MW."

The big screen switched to an economic model comparison:

Building a 1GW offshore wind farm

Plan A: European 8MW turbine (125 units)

Unit Capacity: 8MW

Number of Units: 125

Sea Area Usage: 100 square kilometers

Tower + Foundation Cost: 3.2 billion rmb

Cost per kWh: 0.52 rmb/kWh

Plan B: Starfire 16MW turbine (63 units)

Unit Capacity: 16MW

Number of Units: 63

Sea Area Usage: 65 square kilometers (35% saved)

Tower + Foundation Cost: 1.9 billion rmb (40% reduction)

Power Generation: 6% increase compared to 125 8MW units

Cost per kWh: 0.455 rmb/kWh (12.5% reduction)

"The 35% of sea area saved can be used to designate shipping lanes, create ecological reserves, or develop marine ranches," Su Chen said. "The 1.3 billion in saved infrastructure investment can be used to build another offshore booster station, or to provide three years of subsidies to every local fisherman."

He paused.

"This is the significance of 16MW—it's not a numbers game; it's mathematics."

The press conference officially concluded with Su Chen's final introduction. Despite the brief introduction, it couldn't hide its kingly stature: the world's largest offshore wind turbine.

No one left their seat to use the restroom.

No one looked down at their phone.

Over three thousand pairs of eyes in the venue were fixed on the stage.

Wang Zhenguo, Deputy General Manager of the State Power Investment Corporation, stood up.

He was fifty-eight, with graying crew-cut hair, a dark blue suit, and a party badge pinned to his chest. He wasn't a tech elite or a darling of the capital market—he was a veteran of the power industry.

"Mr. Su," Wang Zhenguo said, his voice deep and resonant. "State Power Investment Corporation will purchase the first batch of 100 Wind Tamer 16MW units."

He paused, not looking at a script.

"The contract value is 15 billion rmb. We will pay a 30% advance payment today."

The big screen flashed the numbers: 100 units x 150 million rmb = 15 billion rmb.

The venue fell silent.

Then—

Applause drowned out the venue.

It wasn't polite; it was overwhelming.

The applause lasted for a full minute. Wang Zhenguo shook hands with Su Chen amidst the applause, and the camera flashes turned the stage white.

But this was just the beginning.

China Huaneng: 50 units intent, 7.5 billion rmb

China Datang: 40 units intent, 6 billion rmb

Vietnam Electricity: 30 units intent, 4.5 billion rmb (includes technical training + 5 years O&M)

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (Malaysia): 20 units intent, 3 billion rmb

National Power Corporation (Philippines): 15 units intent, 2.25 billion rmb

Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Indonesia): 15 units intent, 2.25 billion rmb

Half an hour of new intentions: 240 units, 36 billion rmb.

The signing frenzy subsided slightly.

Su Chen raised his hand to signal for quiet.

He wasn't about to announce the next product.

He was going to state the real conclusion.

"Over the past forty years, Chinese enterprises have been adept at turning high-end products into cabbage prices," he began, speaking slowly, every word nailing into steel.

"Refrigerators, color TVs, mobile phones, cars, photovoltaics—we gained market share but lost profits."

The big screen switched:

1980-2018, Chinese Manufacturing Key Product Price Curve

Refrigerators: Imported 8,000 rmb -> Domestic 2,000 rmb

Color TVs: Imported 6,000 rmb -> Domestic 1,500 rmb

Mobile Phones: Imported 5,000 rmb -> Domestic 1,000 rmb

Cars: Imported 300,000 rmb -> Domestic 100,000 rmb

Photovoltaic Modules: Imported $2.5/watt -> Domestic $0.2/watt

Every line was a steep decline.

"Some people say this is competitiveness," Su Chen raised his voice. "This is self-consumption."

The venue was quiet.

"We traded 10% profit for 60% market share," he continued. "European and American companies used 40% profit to hold onto 20% of the high-end market. Who won?"

No one answered.

"Both won—they won the present, we won the future," Su Chen softened his tone. "But the 'future' is already here. We can no longer rely on being cheap to win."

He turned to face the big screen.

Starfire Pricing Principles

Performance not lower than international top level

Price is 80% of international top level

Gross profit not lower than 40%

Average employee salary not lower than 2 times local manufacturing

R&D investment not lower than 15% of revenue

"This isn't kindness," Su Chen said. "This is a survival strategy."

"A 40% gross margin is what sustains 15% R&D. 15% R&D is what maintains sustained leadership. Sustained leadership is what allows us to define prices—rather than being defined by them."

He paused.

"We don't engage in internal involution."

"We want pricing power for global high-end equipment."

This sentence was broadcast in real-time by 128 media outlets worldwide.

20 minutes later, CNN Breaking News popped up a headline:

"China's Starfire: We Want Global Pricing Power"

The Economist replaced its cover overnight; the new cover was a silhouette of Su Chen with the title:

"When the East Starts Pricing"

Su Chen stood in the center of the stage.

Behind him, the big screen scrolled through key scenes from the past seven days:

Day 1: Gu Yanting fired a shot at a semi-solid state battery, close-up of the bullet hole

Day 2: Zhou Qingyu released three new Red Flag cars, the audience stood up and applauded

Day 3: Wu Yi showcased 2200MPa steel, a 7.62mm bullet stopped on the surface of the steel plate

Day 4: Gu Xinghe announced the "War-Stopping Balance," the sabertooth hx-30 main cannon pierced 1.5 meters of concrete

Day 5: Li Wanqing released the Flint-t1 chip, 16nm outperformed 10nm in actual tests

Day 6: Gao Mingxuan stood next to the Xingtian machine tool, with 11 steel beasts behind him

Day 7: Su Chen shook hands with Chixiao, the candle dragon light cluster flowed in the darkness, the Wind Tamer 16MW hub rotated under the spotlight

The screen froze.

Seven-day total: 263 billion USD

The big screen displayed this line.

Not rmb, not euros—USD.

This was the largest product launch cycle in human business history.

There was no other.

Su Chen bowed deeply to the audience.

90 degrees, holding for three seconds.

There were no cheers from the audience.

No screams.

Over three thousand people stood up at once.

Silence.

Only silence.

It wasn't that they had nothing to say—it was that they couldn't speak.

263 billion USD weighed on the chest of everyone present.

This was created in seven days.

Seven days ago, Starfire was still "that company that makes pretty good batteries."

Seven days later, Starfire had become "an entity that defines the next generation of power, intelligence, and energy."

Su Chen straightened up without looking at the big screen again.

He turned and walked backstage.

His back looked very young, twenty-eight years old.

The lights gradually dimmed.