134: Chapter 134 Trade Barriers? The Prelude to a Dimensional Reduction Attack

Washington, United States.

In the meeting room of the Department of Commerce building, the air was stagnant.

Secretary Philip sat in the main seat, a finger tracing aimlessly across the smooth tabletop.

On the screen before him, the stock price charts for Apple, Qualcomm, Infineon... all the tech giants' K-lines were showing a piercing green.

Not just a drop, but a plunge.

"Mr. Secretary, Fruit Group's market value has evaporated by 120 billion dollars in forty-eight hours."

An aide's voice sounded like it had been rubbed with sandpaper.

"Their sales in Europe are falling off a cliff. The 'Pathfinder' and 'VKConnect' incidents were just the beginning. More and more European developers have responded to Star Technology's 'Pangu Global Developer Alliance'."

Philip's temples throbbed.

He raised his hand in a silencing gesture.

The aide shut his mouth.

Philip knew he had poked a hornet's nest.

Looking back now, that press conference announcing sanctions against Star Technology seemed more like a carefully planned suicide attack.

He had personally pushed his European allies into China's embrace.

"We can't be passive anymore."

Philip stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the Capitol Hill complex in the distance.

"We must use more direct means to make them feel the pain."

"Let them know who the rule-maker of this planet really is."

He turned around, his gaze falling on the trade representative, sharp as a knife.

"Activate the final plan."

The trade representative's body went a bit stiff.

"Secretary, are you sure? A 200% tariff... that's equivalent to completely closing the trade doors. This will trigger an all-out trade war, and our multinational corporations will..."

"Execute it!"

Philip's voice rose an octave, filled with determination.

"I don't care about multinational corporations! Right now, those Chinese phone manufacturers must feel true pain! I want all their overseas orders to turn into waste paper overnight!"

The news spread across the globe via international news agencies within half an hour.

[Breaking! The United States, along with its allies in Europe, Japan, and South Korea, has announced a punitive tariff of up to 200% on all Chinese electronic products equipped with "Zhoutian OS"!]

[Reason: Serious data security risks.]

This news completely set the world on fire.

Inside the "China Intelligent Terminal Ecosystem Alliance," which had been established for less than a week, it exploded.

Xingchen Technology Park, top-floor office.

Guan Yi almost burst into Chen Xu's office, the sound of her high heels clicking rapidly against the floor.

"Boss!"

She slammed a tablet directly in front of Chen Xu.

On the screen was that glaring news headline. Below the headline were the stock price charts of the alliance manufacturers, which had already begun to dive frantically.

The green was enough to make one's heart race.

"This is a strangulation targeting our entire ecosystem!"

For the first time, Guan Yi's voice carried uncontrollable anger.

"Huawei just sent news that their carrier channels in Europe have begun mass order cancellations! Xiaomi's market in India is also experiencing panic selling!"

"The entire alliance is in a panic! President person, President Yu, and the others are requesting an immediate emergency video conference!"

Chen Xu's gaze didn't go to the plummeting stock prices.

His eyes fell on the black phone on his desk.

The phone screen was on.

There were no programs running on it.

Only lines of complex code were writing, compiling, and running themselves.

The "Taiyi" AI was undergoing self-evolution.

Chen Xu watched the flowing code, his face showing no emotional fluctuation.

He picked up the internal phone on the desk and connected to Yan Yi's office.

"Yan Yi, package the developer interface of 'Taiyi' into an SDK."

"Encrypt it with maximum permissions and prepare for distribution."

Only after hanging up did he look up at Guan Yi.

"Notify all alliance manufacturer heads. We'll have a full video conference in half an hour."

Guan Yi nodded and was about to turn to make the arrangements.

Chen Xu called her back.

"Guan Yi."

"Boss?"

Chen Xu stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at his own Technology Park.

"They think that by building high walls, they can trap us inside."

"Then we'll let the users tear the walls down themselves."

Looking at her boss's back, Guan Yi's anxiety and anger slowly subsided.

She didn't fully understand the meaning of those words yet.

But she knew that her boss never did anything he wasn't sure of.

She walked quickly out of the office to arrange the meeting that would decide everyone's fate.

Half an hour later.

In the circular conference room of Star Technology, the main screen was divided into over a dozen small windows.

person, Yu Chengdong, Shen Wei...

The heads of all alliance members appeared on the screen.

Everyone's face was written with anxiety and despair.

"Chairman Chen, this time it's really over!"

person was the first to speak.

"A 200% tariff! The overseas price of our phones will triple! There's no price advantage to speak of; the market will drop to zero!"

"Yes, Chairman Chen, the overseas orders we just got are being canceled like snowflakes! The finance department is exploding! If this continues, our overseas business will completely collapse within a week!"

Yu Chengdong's tone was equally heavy; he even lit a cigarette and took a deep drag in front of the camera.

In the conference room, others chimed in one after another. Pessimism spread like a plague, enveloping everyone.

They had just seen a glimmer of hope to break through the siege, and now their path was blocked.

Chen Xu listened quietly to everyone's complaints, grievances, and even questioning.

When all the noisy voices had gradually subsided, he leaned toward the microphone and tapped it lightly.

"I'm aware of everyone's difficulties."

He turned to Guan Yi beside him.

"Send it to them."

Guan Yi nodded and performed a few operations on her terminal.

In the conference room, almost simultaneously, the computers of all the manufacturer heads received an email.

The email had no body text, only an attachment.

An installation package only 50MB in size.

The name of the installation package made everyone freeze.

[Taiyi · Enterprise Edition].

"What is this?" person asked, looking at the file in confusion.

"An AI assistant," Chen Xu replied.

"An AI assistant?"

Yu Chengdong's brow furrowed even deeper.

"Chairman Chen, what time is it now? What problem can an AI assistant solve? What can something like Siri do besides set an alarm?"

Chen Xu didn't mind his skepticism; his voice remained flat.

"Whether it's 'something like that,' you'll know after you install it and experience it for five minutes."

He looked at everyone in the camera.

"I'll only remind you of one thing."

"Before installing, make sure your phones are equipped with 'Kunlun' chips."

"Otherwise, they'll burn out."