The vested interests within Huaxia were creating a public relations storm, attempting to block the launch and promotion of electric vehicles. However, Starry Sky Group countered with their trump card: environmental monitoring of PM2.5 levels, which utterly demolished the conclusion they had been championing—that petroleum cars were more environmentally friendly. Under this stark comparison, the superiority of electric vehicles was only highlighted.

Although they lost this initial engagement in the media war, the vested interests immediately shifted their strategy. They began aggressively pushing the narrative of how much electricity electric vehicles consumed, arguing that widespread adoption in Huaxia would inevitably lead to severe power shortages, gravely impacting people's daily lives and industrial production.

Furthermore, they pointed out that 70% of Huaxia's electricity was generated by coal. Using electric vehicles, they claimed, would actually mean burning more coal, resulting in greater pollution. Therefore, under current conditions, promoting electric vehicles was entirely unsuitable. They argued that electric vehicle adoption should only be considered when nuclear and hydropower constituted over 70% of the total power generation. But waiting for that milestone, they contended, would take more than a decade—this was merely a delaying tactic employed by the vested interests.

The public in the country was momentarily uncertain about the exact power consumption of electric vehicles and feared they might indeed trigger more serious environmental pollution, causing anxiety about the development of electric vehicles. Just then, Starry Sky Group released the energy consumption data for their electric vehicles. People were astonished to discover that just one kilowatt-hour (kWh) could allow the vehicle to travel between 10 and 15 kilometers, meaning a thousand kilometers of travel would consume only 60 to 100 kWh. Calculating solely based on current electricity tariffs, the cost to drive a thousand kilometers was only one-fifteenth of the cost of gasoline.

The electric vehicles themselves were not prohibitively expensive, costing at most the same as an equivalent model of a petroleum car. Moreover, the high-capacity batteries provided by Starry Sky Group boasted an extremely long lifespan—so long, in fact, that the battery might still be perfectly functional even when the vehicle's engine failed. Given these favorable conditions, electric vehicles instantly held profound appeal for consumers.

Next, the Huaxia government, in conjunction with Starry Sky Group, held a joint press conference. At this event, both parties announced astonishing news: Starry Sky Group would supply the nation with massive amounts of low-cost electricity to alleviate the country's increasingly severe power deficit.

Under this collaborative project between the Huaxia government and Starry Sky Group, Starry Sky would provide up to two trillion kWh of electricity annually to the nation, priced as low as 0.05 RMB per kWh. The total value of these two trillion kWh was equivalent to one hundred billion RMB. Although the total outlay for the Huaxia side in procuring this electricity was substantial, the per-unit price was incredibly cheap, almost akin to a gift from Starry Sky Group. The rate of 0.05 RMB per kWh was also far below the generation cost for domestic power enterprises.

With this sudden influx of two hundred billion kWh, the public discourse suggesting that widespread electric vehicle use would exacerbate the electricity shortage immediately evaporated. The two trillion kWh imported from Starry Sky Group alone accounted for 40% of Huaxia's total power generation last year. Never minding how much electricity the electric vehicles themselves would consume; the societal shutdowns of factories caused by the power shortage would see dramatic improvement.

With this surplus of power, some within the country began to call for the government to seize this rare opportunity to shutter a number of highly polluting, energy-intensive, and ecologically destructive power plants, further improving the nation's natural environment. Some radical civilian groups even called for the demolition of the Three Gorges Dam to restore the Yangtze River basin to its original ecological state, preserving a clear blue sky and pristine waters for future generations.

In short, the moment the agreement between the Huaxia government and Starry Sky Group regarding cheap electricity supply was announced, the public dissatisfaction with Starry Sky Group’s promotion of electric vehicles was immediately suppressed. After all, the Huaxia government maintained very strong control over various domestic sectors, and they stood to benefit significantly from this massive development in the electric vehicle era. Not only were their own automotive enterprises directly involved in producing electric vehicles, but they also secured vast amounts of cheap electricity, finally solving the power shortage issue that had plagued national development for years.

As for the domestic auto manufacturers destined for collapse due to the proliferation of electric vehicles, they either transitioned into new roles or began supplying various components for the joint ventures producing electric vehicles. While they lost their former influence, they managed to save their livelihoods. In this dawning electric era, if one could not adapt to the demands of the times, eventual elimination was inevitable.

In the electric age, people could travel using cheaper, cleaner, and more environmentally friendly electric vehicles. Even at home, they could completely abandon natural gas as an energy source and switch entirely to electricity. It was believed that over several decades, this transition would lead to continuous environmental improvement, as the largest source of pollution—vehicle exhaust—would rapidly disappear.

Under directives from a "red-headed document" issued by the central authority, Huaxia governments at all levels mandated that all new vehicle purchases would be electric, with a gradual phasing out of older petroleum cars. They not only supported domestic electric vehicles with concrete action but also shaped policies to favor clean and green electric transport while imposing restrictions on petroleum vehicles powered by fossil fuels. Another major undertaking by the Huaxia government was investing heavily to build a vast network of charging stations nationwide, eliminating public concerns about recharging electric vehicles.

Starry Sky Group, making its first major move with the full support of Luo Tianmin domestically, successfully promoted electric vehicles within Huaxia. They turned this world's largest market into a model market for electric vehicle adoption, providing invaluable lessons for developing other international markets.

Petroleum speculators and automakers around the world rejoiced internally when they saw Starry Sky Group select Huaxia as the first market for their electric vehicle push. They understood how immensely difficult it was to launch a product successfully in Huaxia, especially one that would upset the interests of such a vast array of entrenched stakeholders. But before they could gloat, Starry Sky Group used a series of calculated maneuvers to secure the cooperation of the Huaxia government, successfully rolling out their electric vehicles. Suddenly, owning an electric vehicle in Huaxia became a point of pride. This outcome caught the factions waiting to watch the fallout completely off guard.

Especially after witnessing the ultimate trump card Starry Sky Group played in the Huaxia market—cheap electricity—they immediately foresaw a huge looming crisis. Previously, they could dismiss electric vehicles as energy-wasting; now that vast amounts of cheap electricity were available, the argument that electric vehicles were inefficient no longer held water.

They had originally planned that even if their oil couldn't be used in cars, it could still be used for power generation, securing some profit margin. But with such cheap electricity flooding the market, their path of petroleum-based power generation was also blocked. The cost of generating electricity from oil far exceeded the price point offered by Starry Sky Group’s supply; any electricity they generated would have no market viability.

Consequently, they fell into a state of constant dread, holding endless meetings to devise a strategy to counter the relentless advance of Starry Sky Group's electric vehicles and cheap energy.

These individuals also purchased some electric vehicles in Huaxia, extracted the high-capacity batteries, and prepared to reverse-engineer them to uncover their secrets. However, the products manufactured by Starry Sky Group possessed strong anti-tampering mechanisms. Once they opened a high-capacity battery, all internal components instantly self-destructed, preventing them from deciphering the secrets contained within.

Starry Sky Group was perfectly willing to let these people study the batteries because they were completely unaware of the existence of the Magical Formations. Without knowledge of these formations, they could never uncover the secrets of the high-capacity batteries. Thus, their scheme to reverse-engineer the Starry Sky batteries to produce knock-offs also failed.

While these parties were floundering, Australia suddenly announced it would not promote electric vehicles domestically. Due to its vast territory, sparse population, and abundant natural resources, Australia did not worry about environmental degradation, nor did they fear running out of petroleum. They were unwilling to abruptly change the consumption habits of their populace. Therefore, they declared they would set up barriers against Starry Sky Group's electric vehicles entering the Australian market to protect their domestic auto industry.

Seeing Australia suddenly step forward, these groups immediately understood: the Australian government had invested heavily in this massive oil gamble and was now trapped mid-way. To prevent their stored oil from becoming worthless, they publicly opposed electric vehicles, launching what they termed a "grand exposé" of their perceived drawbacks, urging the public to see clearly and avoid being duped by companies touting high-tech facades. Through this aggressive publicity campaign, they hoped to stop Starry Sky Group's electric vehicles from entering Australia and preserve their high-priced domestic oil transactions.

When Liu Hui learned that Australia was the first to oppose the promotion of electric vehicles, he merely sneered. He was well aware of Australia's true motives. Australia aimed to act as the vanguard, hoping to incite other nations to follow suit and form a market protection alliance, thereby starving Starry Sky Group's electric vehicles of sales outlets and keeping the high prices of their held oil futures stable, lest their investments collapse and they face trial in their home courts.

Indeed, after Australia declared its opposition, several other nations quickly followed, also stating they would not adopt Starry Sky Group's electric vehicles, unwilling to alter their citizens' established consumption patterns. However, these were minor nations with virtually no global influence.

A greater number of countries chose to wait and see. After all, they had intricate webs of commercial ties with Starry Sky Group, and powerful interest groups cultivated by the corporation existed within their borders. They dared not make any decision so early as to salvage their domestic oil enterprises. Their future policies would depend entirely on how Starry Sky Group handled the provocations from Australia and others.

Following its declaration opposing Starry Sky Group's electric vehicles, Australia received no immediate response from Starry Sky Group. The Australian side, unable to decipher Starry Sky Group's intentions, began encouraging domestic citizens to stage street protests against Starry Sky Group for allegedly monopolizing the auto market through technological superiority, hoping to ignite a global wave of opposition against the corporation.

Upon its rise, Starry Sky Group had begun supplying Huaxia with vast quantities of low-cost iron ore, satisfying domestic demand. With Huaxia completely shifting its allegiance to Starry Sky Group, Australia's largest consumer of iron ore slipped from their grasp. Their domestic mining operations suffered sharp declines in performance metrics due to the loss of the Huaxia market. After all, state-owned enterprises like those in Huaxia, which actively undercut each other while showering them with money, were an anomaly the rest of the world could not replicate.

Thus, Australia’s current move was essentially settling old scores with Starry Sky Group; they were determined to teach the corporation a lesson.

With this objective in mind, the Australian government was rather permissive regarding the protests against Starry Sky Group within their country; they did not even dispatch police to guard Starry Sky Group’s franchised stores.

Consequently, the protest march arrived outside the flagship store of the Starry Sky showroom in Sydney, beginning their demonstration against the perceived tyranny and high-handedness of Starry Sky Group. Initially, the protest remained orderly; participants merely stood outside the store holding banners and chanting slogans, maintaining a relatively peaceful atmosphere.

However, after about half an hour, several highly agitated individuals within the crowd began shouting slogans like "Down with Starry Sky Group!" and started charging the human barricade formed by the store's security personnel. Spurred on by these instigators, the mood of the protesters escalated instantly, and they followed these leaders to storm the Starry Sky showroom.

Although Starry Sky had security personnel from Starry Sky Protection forming a defensive line outside the store, they could not withstand the sheer numbers. The crowd quickly breached the security line and poured into the showroom. The defensive lines collapsed completely, and more protesters rushed inside. Under the direction of a few individuals, they began looting the merchandise stored within.

The employees inside the Starry Sky showroom, recognizing the danger, immediately followed the store manager’s orders and evacuated the premises under the protection of the security staff. After looting the goods, the instigators felt unsatisfied and began smashing the showroom. They swiftly transformed from peaceful demonstrators into destructive hooligans, setting fire to the store after vandalizing it.

Soon, a raging inferno engulfed the Starry Sky showroom, sending thick plumes of smoke soaring high enough to be clearly visible across the entire city of Sydney.

Upon receiving news that the protestors had begun looting, smashing, and burning the Starry Sky showroom, the entity secretly organizing the demonstration was stunned, immediately realizing the gravity of the situation.

If this were a mere commercial dispute with Starry Sky Group, they could have handled it by adhering to established international commercial rules; no matter how messy the fallout, it wouldn't have been catastrophic. But now, with Australian demonstrators engaging in looting, smashing, and arson, the protest had escalated to violence, making the entire affair enormous. This violent incident would not only incur the wrath of Starry Sky Group but also cause Australia to lose face internationally.

Therefore, this person immediately dispatched large numbers of riot police to the scene, but it was too late. The vandals had already completely destroyed the Starry Sky showroom, looted all its contents, and the building was engulfed in fierce flames. The only fortunate aspect was that Starry Sky Group's personnel had withdrawn early and sustained no injuries.

The police began taking the rioters still remaining at the scene back to the precinct. Upon interrogation, they discovered that these arrested individuals were not the ones who initially led the charge to break in, smash, and burn the store. During further investigation, the police found no record of who the few leaders responsible for the destruction were—it was as if these individuals never existed. Even when reviewing nearby surveillance footage, they could find no trace of where those leaders came from.

Just as the Australian government began its serious investigation into the looting and destruction of the Starry Sky showroom, "Starry Sky City" learned that one of its enterprises had been attacked in Australia.

Consequently, Starry Sky Group immediately held an emergency press conference on Starry Sky Television.

On screen, Liu Hui appeared deeply distressed. He first broadcasted footage captured by the showroom’s internal cameras showing the rioters in action. Then, he allowed the evacuated employees, who had since returned to "Starry Sky City," to recount the perilous situations they faced.

The shaken employees, after describing the grave dangers they encountered, angrily denounced the Australian government for condoning the rioters' actions of looting, smashing, and burning. They pointed out that not a single police officer was present at the scene to maintain order, which emboldened the thugs, who even chased them, nearly costing them their lives in Australia.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～ Thank you to reader: ld4017 for the donation! RO

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