Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

"Sunrise in the East."

When this top-secret telegram, containing only four words, was transmitted directly to that high-level conference room in the city via a quantum-encrypted channel.

The officer held the thin piece of paper in his hand and remained silent for a full three minutes.

Then, the old man made a decision that surprised everyone.

"Block the news."

He placed the piece of paper on the candle flame and lit it, watching it turn to ashes, his eyes as deep as a black hole in the universe.

"Before 'Pangu' is truly connected to the grid and generates electricity, no one except those of you present here is allowed to leak even the slightest bit of information. Anyone who violates this rule will be punished for treason."

If exposed prematurely, those international energy oligarchs, driven to the brink, would absolutely not hesitate to launch World War III to nip this budding dragon tree in the bud.

Therefore, one must be patient and endure until the sword is fully sharpened and can be used to kill with a single blow.

……

This lockdown lasted for a full six months.

In the past six months, the international situation has been turbulent. Due to the severe technological and material blockade imposed on China by the West, China has tightened its export of key minerals such as rare earths in response, which has led to unprecedented chaos in the global supply chain.

Prices are soaring, inflation is rampant, especially energy prices, with international crude oil prices having surged to a terrifying high of $150 a barrel!

In Europe and America, ordinary people have to wait in long lines at gas stations to fill up their tanks, sometimes even resorting to violence. Meanwhile, the Middle Eastern tycoons and Wall Street moguls who control the oil industry are making a fortune, counting money until their hands cramp.

"The Chinese won't last long."

At a closed-door high-level energy summit, a Western oil tycoon swirled his wine glass, his face full of disdain and arrogance.

"They are a manufacturing powerhouse. Without our oil, their factories can't even keep running for a day. Just watch, in two months at most, that guy named Liu Ming will be begging us to buy our oil at a high price."

Everyone burst into laughter, believing that energy was the strongest chain they had placed around the neck of the Eastern dragon.

However, they had no idea that, just as they were celebrating their victory...

In the northwestern desert of the Dragon Kingdom, on the coastline of Jiangnan, and within those tightly protected military restricted areas.

One after another, strangely shaped buildings, resembling giant white eggs, are rising from the ground at a terrifying speed that would leave even the most ambitious infrastructure developers speechless.

……

Six months later, on the winter solstice.

The official news broadcast of the Dragon Kingdom's television station was abruptly interrupted from its normal programming schedule.

The host, dressed in an extremely formal dark suit, broadcast a breaking news segment to the nation and the world in a tone that was barely concealing his excitement and even slightly trembling.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today is a day that is destined to be recorded in human history."

"Just now, the world's first megawatt-class commercial controlled nuclear fusion power plant, 'Pangu,' independently developed and constructed by my country, was completed in Ningzhou City, Jiangnan Province..."

The host took a deep breath.

"...Officially connected to the grid for power generation!"

"boom--!!!"

This news is like dropping a nuclear bomb with a yield of tens of thousands of tons onto a calm lake!

In an instant, not only in China, but the entire world's internet was completely paralyzed!

The servers of major forums and social media platforms were overwhelmed by hundreds of millions of search requests in an instant.

"Controlled nuclear fusion? Holy crap! Wasn't it supposed to be another fifty years?"

"Commercial networking? This is like science fiction coming true!"

"Ningzhou? Isn't that Liu Shen's old territory? Was it him who caused this?"

The following news content plunged all the people of the Dragon Kingdom into a frenzy of celebration!

"According to the joint announcement from the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration."

"Effective immediately, the base electricity price for all industrial and residential electricity connected to the 'Pangu' power grid will be reduced to..."

"Three cents per kilowatt-hour!"

Three cents! Less than a dime! That's practically...free!

What does this mean?

This means that for companies in China, the biggest cost—energy cost—has been wiped out at this moment!

This means that people can run the heating 24 hours a day in winter and use the air conditioning without restraint in summer, without worrying about the painful electricity bill at the end of the month!

The most terrifying thing is that the announcement also mentioned that this is only the first one, and that China will build hundreds of such fusion power plants in the next three years, completely replacing traditional coal and thermal power generation.

……

"This is impossible! This is absolutely fake news! It's the Chinese engaging in strategic fraud!"

In the president's office of a top investment bank on Wall Street, the oil tycoon who had confidently declared just a few months ago that China couldn't survive was now hysterically roaring at the television screen like a wild boar whose tail had been stepped on.

"How could they possibly achieve nuclear fusion! That's a power only God possesses!"

However, the market does not lie.

Almost at the same second the news broadcast aired, the international crude oil futures price on the New York Mercantile Exchange, that previously soaring, deep red curve, instantly plummeted like a weight whose rope had been cut.

In an extremely tragic, desperate, almost vertical manner... it poured down like a torrent!

"It's crashed! It's plummeted! It dropped thirty dollars in just one minute!"

"It's still falling! It's fallen below 80! It's fallen below 50!"

"Circuit breaker triggered! Crude oil futures have triggered a circuit breaker again!"

The entire Wall Street trading floor was filled with desperate wails and screams. Those once arrogant energy oligarchs, looking at the alarming green numbers on the screen, collapsed to the ground one by one, as if all their strength had been drained away.

They knew. It was over. Everything was over.

Oil, this liquid once known as "black gold," which sparked countless wars and laid the foundation for the dollar's hegemony, at this moment, before the eerie blue "artificial sun" of the Dragon Kingdom, has utterly become a pile of worthless black water.

……

In the city, in the National Development and Reform Commission building, Liu Ming stood by the window, watching the people below who had spontaneously taken to the streets and were embracing and cheering after hearing the news.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Boss."

Ghost Hand pushed the door open and came in, tears of laughter still glistening in the corners of his eyes. "Just now, several crown princes from oil-producing countries in the Middle East almost blew up our Ministry of Commerce's hotline. They were begging to come to the city to visit you, saying they were willing to supply us with oil at the lowest price, or even for free, just in exchange for a share of our nuclear fusion technology license."

"Oil?"

Liu Ming chuckled softly, picked up the teacup in her hand, and took a sip.

"Tell them that our Dragon Kingdom doesn't lack those fire-starting things."

"Want to cooperate? Sure. We can exchange them for concessions on their domestic ports, mines, and infrastructure."

Liu Ming turned around, her deep eyes flashing with an aura of domineering arrogance.

"Starting today."

"The energy game on Earth has changed hands."

"We no longer have to depend on anyone's approval."