In a luxurious hotel in a certain Arican city, a lavish banquet was underway. Not only were the sect leaders of leading semiconductor companies from around the world in attendance, but there was also a special guest, none other than the president of the International Antitrust Organization, Roberts.
"Mr. Roberts, I must thank you for your assistance this ti!" Mobai raised his glass, "Without your generous help, who knows how long that Huaxia kid would have continued to swagger!"
"Hahaha, it's just one Huaxia person, nothing difficult to handle," laughed Roberts, "No matter how big the enterprise, as long as the country in which it is registered is a mber of the United Nations, our Monopoly Law applies to them."
"That Huaxia person, unexpectedly, he actually managed to independently develop a 2nm chip, and we have never felt so stifled before!"
"Yes, our own 5nm technology has just matured, to reach that stage is still going to take quite so ti, and who knows how the Huaxia people did it."
"This is not what we should be concerned about," another person said, wearing a sly smile, "No one wants to see Huaxia rise. This docunt, no matter what, must be obtained."
"Oh? Could it be that your... units have already been deployed?"
"Hahaha, not just us, surely you have already been itching to move, right?"
"Mutually so!"
"Not to be spoken of, not to be spoken of!"
"Hahaha!"
"Others shouldn't even dream of getting a piece of this industry. And that Huaxia man even dared to super double our prices; he really thinks he can dictate this market?"
"Hahaha, you're talking about super doubling? We've gone for the ultimate doubling!"
"Enough said, we've been beaten with the ultimate doubling."
"Rest assured, gentlen!" said Roberts, "Our investigation results are already out, and I have already penalized him according to the highest standards! If they do not continue to modify their practices, they will receive an additional fine every six months, and in a few months at most, I think they will start to open up their exports normally."
"Indeed, gentlen should first consider how to surpass the Huaxia people in technology, or else this situation won't last long!"
"Wait," Mobai suddenly thought of sothing, "Mr. Roberts, what is the highest penalty for a monopoly enterprise under the Monopoly Law?"
"A fine of 3 billion US Dollars!" Roberts said proudly, "According to his current behavior, in fact, a warning of just 5 million US Dollars would suffice, but I used my authority to directly raise the fine to the maximum standard!"
"Only 3 billion US Dollars?" Mobai suddenly felt a jolt, as if sothing wasn't quite right. He rembered that the last ti Zhang nglong had initiated a strike and established so Worker's Fund Foundation, he had easily thrown in 100 billion US Dollars.
For soone like Zhang nglong who doesn't treat money like money, an additional 3 billion wouldn't cause him any pain at all.
"Only?" The entrepreneurs present stared at Mobai; 3 billion US Dollars was not a small number, and many of their companies did not even make that much in net profits in a year.
Such a fine, applied to any of their companies, would likely knock them flat.
Qualcomm Electronics was big, but Mobai's tone couldn't possibly be that exaggerated, could it? When had he learnt to humblebrag like the Huaxia people?
"Is this already the highest penalty?" Mobai continued to confirm.
"Yes, this code was approved 12 years ago after being recognized by all mber countries of the United Nations; initially because the amount was too high, it underwent several revisions before finally settling on 3 billion."
"It's over," Mobai's eyes went dark.
"Mr. Mobai, what's wrong?"
"Forget 3 billion, even 30 billion US Dollars wouldn't make him blink, such a fine is nothing to him!" Mobai said, "Do you know about the large-scale strike event that happened in our country recently?"
"I've heard sothing about it, it seems to have been instigated by that Zhang nglong." Soone responded.
"You may not know, but this Zhang nglong spent a hundred billion US Dollars to set up a foundation to support that strike," discussing this matter, Mobai once again felt profound humiliation. If it weren't for giving up on Infelite, the situation could have had a severe impact on the nation's economy.
Not too long ago, he had contacted Infelite; despite her advanced age, she was still in Kaibong shooting films to pay off debts, reportedly taking on three movies a day, surviving on goji berries and ginseng. Yet, such a life might have to continue for several more years...
"Excuse , I have to take a call." At that mont, Roberts' phone rang.
"Hmm, it's , what's the matter?" Roberts asked, as the call was made by his assistant.
"President, we just received a huge sum of money in our fine collection account."
"The fine account? That money ca from Huaxia, didn't it?" Roberts said. If that Huaxia person really didn't care about money like that, then the fine should have already been received, "It should be 3 billion US dollars, just report it up!"
"Yes, it's funds from Huaxia, but..."
"But what?"
"But the amount isn't 3 billion US dollars; it's 100 billion US dollars!"
"What?" Roberts suddenly couldn't stand still, "Are you sure it's that company called Silicon Moonlight from Huaxia?"
"Yes, it's them, and they left a note."
"What note?"
"They said this money is to prepay the fines for the next ten years. If it runs out, they said to just ask for more – any request for corrective asures is out of the question."
"Bang!" Roberts slamd the table hard, "He is challenging the authority of the anti-monopoly agency!"
"Mr. Roberts, what has angered you so much?" the entrepreneurs imdiately asked.
"This Huaxia man... He actually paid a fine of 100 billion US dollars all at once... He said it's to prepay for ten years' worth of fines, and we can ask for more once it's used up."
"What? He's so arrogant?"
"Isn't he afraid of sanctions?"
"Damn! Didn't we just say? The highest penalty is only 3 billion US dollars for half a year. Even if we wanted to increase the penalty, the Monopoly Law wouldn't allow it!"
"Mr. Roberts, is there really no special asure we can take?"
"This... If we want to change the regulations, we need to draft them six months in advance, go through round after round of assessnts, and even if it eventually passes smoothly, it will take at least a year and a half!"
"A year and a half? By the ti their chip technology progresses, Huaxia's communication technology will have skyrocketed in a year and a half!"
"Not just Huaxia, other countries that import their chips will catch up quickly too."
"How can he be so rich?"
...
"Mr. Mobai, why do you look off? Are you feeling unwell?" At that mont, soone suddenly noticed Mobai's hands trembling slightly and his expression had beco particularly grim.
"This Huaxia man!" Mobai spoke through gritted teeth, "He just sent
a new contract, raising the price by 32 tis."
"Fuck, we received it too, our price went from 8 tis to 16 tis!"
"Us too..."
"Still a minimum order of 10 million chips, even if our dozen or so companies just order 10 million, that's at least several trillion US dollars!"
"He's robbing us in broad daylight!"
"Look, that Huaxia guy nad Zhang nglong has posted on Twitter and Facebook!"
"What did he say?"
"He... he said... he's already paid the fines for ten years, unless the Monopoly Law changes, otherwise don't bother him..."
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