Liu Hui chuckled: "Buy back all of China's cultural relics? How is that possible? Even if we at 'Star City' had inexhaustible funds, I wouldn't do such a foolish thing. The relics displayed in our museums will all be replicas."

"All replicas?" Mei Peng asked, astonished.

"Precisely. We will use facsimiles. We will dispatch people to major museums around the world to gather comprehensive data on all our nation's relics. Then, experts will craft replicas so convincing they are indistinguishable from the originals. When we display these facsimiles in the museum, next to each artifact, we will explicitly state: 'This item is a replica. The original is currently housed in the museum of [Country Name], and the circumstances of its collection are as follows...' Everything will be recorded clearly. Therefore, we have no need to buy these artifacts back, because although they are precious Chinese cultural treasures, they are simply not worth that much money."

"I want the people of Huaxia to know our nation's true history. A nation cannot remain eternally prosperous; experiencing calamity is not an unforgivable or shameful thing. As long as a nation can learn from adversity, strive vigorously to rise again, that is what matters. Not like the current domestic situation—burying our heads in the sand, whitewashing the peace, and perpetually living in the fantasy of being the Celestial Empire, unable to move forward."

Mei Peng chimed in, "On this point, I agree with the Boss's view. Those who spend exorbitant sums to buy back Chinese relics only to donate them to the state appear noble and magnificent. But in reality, they are aiding the wrongdoers, helping those who took our relics to profit from Huaxia’s wealth. It is precisely this seemingly benevolent act that has inflated the international price of Chinese relics and created massive commercial opportunities for those trafficking in them, making it much harder for the nation to reclaim them. By using replica artifacts, we can provide patriotic education to our visitors, helping them understand our history more clearly so they work harder in their future lives and careers to prevent such tragedies from recurring."

Yue Wang stated, "Exactly. Second Brother speaks the truth. Our future museum must achieve this effect, and we must use it as a unifying vessel to tightly bond all Huaxia people together." Liu Hui laughed, "In the future, 'Star City' will not only construct this massive, comprehensive historical museum, but we will also gradually restore many of the fine traditions handed down through Huaxia. For instance, starting now, 'Star City' will advocate for the use of traditional Chinese characters in writing."

Mei Peng gasped, "Boss, please don't! Although I recognize those traditional characters, I can't write them at all. What am I supposed to do?"

Liu Hui smiled, "I didn't say we'd abolish simplified characters immediately. I'm setting a transitional period—five years, during which both simplified and traditional characters will coexist. With a five-year buffer, the restoration of Huaxia's traditional script by phasing out simplified characters will be a natural progression."

Yue Wang inquired, "Since the Boss is determined to restore traditional characters, will foreign scripts like English or other languages be used within 'Star City'?" Liu Hui replied, "Except for certain road signs, 'Star City' will exclusively use Huaxia script. Furthermore, in our future education, the practice of learning English starting from elementary school will cease. Our 'Star City' is so powerfully ascendant that we naturally disdain learning the languages of others. Rather, those who come to 'Star City' will need to proactively learn Huaxia language to adapt to our environment. It should not be us accommodating them by speaking their tongue."

Mei Peng sighed, "If only you had been the Minister of Education back then, Boss, I wouldn't have wasted half my time learning that damnable foreign language. Now that I've finally mastered it, I've never had a single opportunity to use it in my entire life. A glorious youth wasted for nothing."

Yue Wang then asked, "Boss, once the Star City municipal government is established, the matter of citizenship will arise. What are your thoughts on this?"

Liu Hui pondered for a moment and said, "Star Group currently has 2.5 million employees, and including their families, that totals six million people. Thus, the first cohort of 'Star City' citizens will emerge from this group. Any Star Group employee, including their family, who wishes to join 'Star City' will automatically become a citizen, receiving a 'Star City' ID and passport. We won't force those unwilling to become citizens, but know that in the future, it will become exceedingly difficult for them to join us."

"The condition for becoming a citizen of 'Star City' is that they must hold only the identity of 'Star City' and absolutely no dual nationality is permitted. In other words, those wishing to join 'Star City' must renounce their citizenship in any other country."

Yue Wang pressed further, "Boss, you just discussed the situation for Star Group personnel becoming 'Star City' citizens. What conditions must outsiders meet to immigrate to 'Star City'?"

Liu Hui chuckled, "The most basic requirements are passing the advanced Mandarin proficiency test—Level 8—and being able to write excellent Chinese characters." Mei Peng exclaimed admiringly, "Boss, you're incredible. I suggest we test them on knowledge of oracle bone script too—make them carve it onto tortoise shells with an engraving knife!" Liu Hui laughed, "Our 'Star City' has already expanded to the Moon, and our future prospects are limitless. Therefore, immigration requirements must naturally appear highly selective; not just anyone can join our flying..."

Yue Wang interjected, "If we set the bar this high, won't we inadvertently block many truly talented individuals from joining? Wouldn't that be a great pity?"

Liu Hui asked, "Fourth Brother, which echelon of personnel do you think Star Group values most in its management?"

Yue Wang replied, "In Star Group's management, everyone has equal opportunity. If I absolutely must compare, the most valued are the general employees. As for the leaders, they seem less critical."

Liu Hui chuckled, "Precisely. When I designed Star Group's 'Employee Experience Value Plan,' I factored this in. Star Group can function without geniuses because I can provide the technology; ordinary people, by following our established regulations, can manage such a large corporation. Therefore, the true core of Star Group is our vast base of grassroots employees—I must provide them space for development. Over these years, Star Group has thrived consistently. Do you now think my decision back then was mistaken?"

Yue Wang conceded, "The Boss is indeed formidable, shifting the societal center of gravity toward the common populace. Thus, even if that segment of senior leadership encounters issues, as long as the masses remain supportive, 'Star City' will be as stable as a great mountain and face no problems."

Liu Hui stated, "Once the qualifications for 'Star City' citizenship are finalized, we will then introduce genetic identification cards for their management..."

"Now that 'Star City' functions as an independent regional government, we must consider the issuance of Star Coins..."

"The status of the United Nations..."

"The exchange of envoys with other nations..."

And so, on that cool evening, Liu Hui, Mei Peng, and Yue Wang casually conversed, thereby establishing the management system of 'Star City' that would later have profound ramifications. Later historians studying this era would refer to that night as the 'Founding Night.'

After resting at home for a few days, Liu Hui returned to official work. Upon starting, he immediately summoned the team previously established to manage petroleum futures trading and inquired about their progress.

"Boss, since we began operating in the international petroleum futures market, over the past six months, we have sold futures contracts totaling 15 billion tons—exceeding 100 billion barrels of oil. This trading volume rivals the total traded in the global petroleum futures market over several decades."

"Through these massive futures transactions, we have secured over four trillion US dollars in huge capital gains from the petroleum futures market. The current price of oil futures has been suppressed below twenty dollars. If we continue to flood the market with more futures contracts, although the price will certainly fall even lower—perhaps reaching a rock-bottom price of a few dollars—we can guarantee selling the remaining oil and potentially gaining an additional two trillion US dollars or more," the petroleum operations team reported their recent performance to Liu Hui.

Liu Hui calculated that 15 billion tons of oil had already been sold from the deep-sea field; 25 billion tons remained in inventory. As cheap electricity and electric vehicles are imminent, the price of oil will further decrease, rendering any oil extracted thereafter virtually worthless.

"If that is the case, then sell off the remaining reserves as quickly as possible! We can accept a slightly lower price," Liu Hui commanded.

The members of the petroleum operations team were already privy to Star Group's next strategic phase and understood that oil prices were destined to sharply depreciate. Thus, they fully supported Liu Hui's decision for a massive sell-off. Upon receiving the order, they immediately proceeded with the next phase of futures operations.

Subsequently, Liu Hui met with the high-energy battery promotion team. This team had already visited automakers worldwide with their advanced batteries. Based on careful market research and analysis conducted earlier, they exclusively targeted second-tier automotive brands. Upon witnessing the high-energy batteries, these second-tier manufacturers immediately recognized a colossal business opportunity. Consequently, they imposed strict secrecy on their negotiations with Star Group, ensuring that the world remained unaware that Star Group's high-energy batteries had surfaced.

The high-energy battery team reported to Liu Hui that they had reached preliminary cooperation intentions with five world-class automotive companies. Although these five were not the largest players, being second-tier brands, their combined market share was still substantial. Under the preliminary agreements reached with these automakers, Star Group would form joint ventures with each of the five companies, carving out defined market segments. Star Group would contribute finished high-energy batteries and fast-charging technology in exchange for a 30% stake in the newly formed joint ventures. The automakers would be responsible for all other aspects, such as investment, production line upgrades, sales, and logistics. Because of their substantial capital input, they would hold the remaining 70% equity.

To outside observers, this collaboration between the automakers and Star Group appeared extremely unfair, with the car companies being severely disadvantaged, having invested heavily yet failing to secure the core high-energy battery technology while conceding 30% of the equity. However, in the eyes of these automakers, the partnership was an immense boon. Beyond establishing a crucial connection with the powerful 'Star City' through the joint venture, they stood to seize vast market share with the arrival of the electric vehicle era. It was foreseeable that electric cars—affordable yet equally powerful—would sweep the globe upon launch, becoming the preferred choice for buyers. This irreversible historical tide offered them a chance for super-growth during this transformative period.

Liu Hui deliberately avoided partnerships with the first-tier automotive brands because those behemoths often tended to be overly demanding. These major manufacturers had already sunk excessive capital into mechanical vehicles and commanded the lion's share of the market. A sudden shift in their established path would naturally meet resistance. Having achieved such success in the existing market, they felt no urgency to cooperate with Star Group, and even if they considered it, they would likely reject Star Group’s stringent terms.

Therefore, Liu Hui immediately approved the plan to collaborate with those automakers. He was supremely confident that in the near future, his electric vehicles would dominate the world, relegating petroleum cars to the dustbin of history.

Having secured a colossal capital base of four trillion US dollars through the massive dumping of petroleum futures, Liu Hui immediately reinvested these vast sums into large-scale international procurement. These super-orders significantly boosted employment rates and GDP in the purchasing nations, making the enterprises and workers there increasingly reliant on Star Group's contracts.

Once Liu Hui finished managing corporate affairs, Desheng approached him, ready to report on events that had transpired on Earth during Liu Hui's absence.

"Desheng, tell me, what has happened on Earth during the time I was away?" Liu Hui inquired. While Liu Hui was on the Moon, Desheng did report on Earth events, but for security reasons, they had only discussed major incidents in brief, without in-depth conversation.

"Boss, when we began dumping oil early this year, those Middle Eastern nations that previously enjoyed good relations with us started voicing complaints. They felt we had disrupted the petroleum market order and cut off their source of wealth," Desheng reported.

Liu Hui had anticipated that dumping oil would damage the feelings of these nations, but there was no alternative. The energy market was a strategic realignment direction for Star Group, and these necessary frictions had to be managed.

"We acted rather unfairly in this matter. We will find an appropriate opportunity later to compensate them. After all, their populations are relatively small," Liu Hui conceded.

Desheng continued, "Boss, the massive fluctuations we created in the petroleum futures market have concentrated nearly all the world's idle capital into that arena. This includes several of the world's most renowned financial hedge funds. They have all been gobbling up the oil futures contracts we've been offloading, betting on a rebound in oil prices to reap enormous profits. Among them is Wei Chao's Dream Investment Company in the United States; Wei Chao has already poured over five hundred billion US dollars into oil futures transactions in total."

Liu Hui stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Even Wei Chao has entered the fray of oil futures speculation? It seems he is also optimistic about the long-term performance of oil!" Desheng confirmed, "Before our high-energy batteries officially launched, no one foresaw oil becoming worthless, so their bet on a price recovery is logical; global oil resources are finite, and consumption reduces the supply. Furthermore, driven by Wei Chao's previously established formidable reputation, his entry into buying oil futures triggered a domino effect, drawing at least another two trillion US dollars into the market to speculate on our oil futures."

Liu Hui chuckled, "Heh, I didn't expect Wei Chao to render us such significant assistance at this juncture. Without his pioneering example, perhaps selling off our oil futures would not have been so easy." Desheng agreed, "Indeed, we owe much to Wei Chao for facilitating the rapid sale of our futures contracts. However, Wei Chao is not the only one speculating. Financial institutions worldwide have plunged into this frenzied speculation; even some nation-states view these oil futures as an opportunity and are betting everything on the recovery of oil prices."

Liu Hui considered this. "If that is the case, then our plan to launch electric vehicles in the second half of the year might face some unexpected changes."