Doujiao, Huasheng, and Huanggua

Just as the Doujiao tricycle became a hit across the wilderness and penetrated village settlements everywhere, Haian Auto Works struck while the iron was hot, naturally displaying all the qualities and virtues expected of unscrupulous profiteers—namely, as long as there was grease left to squeeze from a toad, grip it for dear life, and don't let go even if you squeeze the piss out of it! A mere two weeks later, under Ji Jue's direction, the Doujiao tricycle's sibling model... —The Huasheng tricycle, made its earth-shattering debut! Peanut my ass! When Shang Tongwen laid eyes on the second tricycle his subordinates brought back, he was thoroughly unwell. A thick, bold question mark identical to Yin Zhaoyang's practically hovered over his forehead. He wanted nothing more than to grab that little nobody Ji Jue by the scruff of the neck and demand, *What the hell are you playing at?!* *Do you want to fight this out properly or not?!* *Did you actually get addicted to building motorized tricycles?!* This piece of junk was a downgraded, shrunken copy of the Doujiao from start to finish. They had even lopped off more than half the cabin frame, transforming it from a fully enclosed cab into an open-air convertible. It was the barest of bare-bones of bare-bones of bare-bones! Yet inside the Dongcheng workshop, the gathered experts drew in a collective, sharp breath of cold air. Everyone had assumed the Doujiao was already the peak of cutting corners. Who could have imagined... There was an even greater master of the craft?! "So light..." A newly hired structural engineer lay flat under the tricycle, tentatively reached out with both hands, and lifted the entire vehicle without much effort at all. It was practically no heavier than an electric moped! Its body was still devoid of a single drop of paint, its configurations still laughably destitute with nothing beyond the bare necessities required to make it run. Within a shrunken body barely two-thirds the size of the Doujiao was an almost physically condensed wisdom of cutting corners. One could only say that cutting corners to the absolute limit was an art form. The absurd lightweight design was enough to make one's vision go black again and again, but the craftsmanship was even more unfathomable... *Brother, you can cut corners on this too?!* The engineers scratched their ears and cheeks, staring at one another in utter bewilderment. They couldn't fathom it at all: how on earth did he pull it off? Cutting corners was something anyone could do. With a heart black enough, one could use glue and paper mache for the bumper beams and A and B pillars. Cutting corners was never the key. The key was that while cutting corners, he could still guarantee quality and quantity—achieving results even more terrifying than piling on heavy materials. Aside from that miser Yan Jian's design... What was even more terrifying was the craftsmanship! *Bang!* In a destructive head-on collision test, the entire tricycle flew up like a sheet of paper, spinning thirty-six hundred degrees in midair before crashing to the ground, rolling and scattering debris everywhere. The rear cargo bed was thrown completely clear. Yet the frame and chassis were only slightly deformed. Swap out the transmission, and it could probably still run... What was going on? What had happened? "Something's wrong..." The old-timer on the team who specialized in materials stroked the chassis, sniffing and tapping it, stopping just short of licking and taking a bite out of it. No, he actually took a bite. That mouthfeel, that taste—it was definitely aluminum alloy and steel alloy! But the problem was... Could such absurd compressive and impact-resistant specs really come from such a thin layer of aluminum tubing and a steel frame that looked like a bad joke? Where was physics? Did physics cease to exist again?! "Saw! Hand me the saw!" The old-timer was steaming red with agitation. Grabbing a cutting saw, without even bothering to put on gloves or a face shield, he went right at it. Sparks flew, landing on his hair before flickering out. The other engineers, who had wanted to examine the new tricycle gently, didn't even have time to stop him. The saw swept through. Following a crisp metallic clang, the chassis split in two. Apart from the heavy thud of the cutting machine dropping to the floor, only ragged breathing remained. Row upon row, the crowd pressed inward, shoulder to shoulder, packing tightly around the old man. Yet every single pair of eyes was glued to the cross-section, utterly transfixed. It wasn't the hollow pipe they had expected. Inside was a dense cluster of bubbles, neatly arranged like a honeycomb, intricately distributed throughout the hollow metal structure. It was as if he hadn't sliced through a chassis, but a chassis-shaped beehive! "Foamed metal?" "No, it's not that simple. The internal structure is too complex." The manufacturing expert shook his head resolutely. "Standard foamed aluminum couldn't possibly form such a large cavity, nor..." He paused, letting out a dry sigh. "...could it be so controllable." "Secondary processing? Fabricating the component beforehand and then injecting foamed metal..." "Look closely at the cut. Are there any tool marks? Besides, forget secondary—even after three, four, or five passes, how much effort and care would it take to reach this level? Calculate it yourself before you speak, will you?" "Metal 3D printing?" someone muttered with suspicion. "Forget the fact that metal 3D printing technology hasn't advanced to such an absurd degree. Even if Haian had a massive breakthrough in secret, have you considered the manufacturing costs?!" "Then how on earth did they do it?" "You're asking me? Who the hell am I supposed to ask!" For a time, dead silence reigned. No one spoke. Only resentful glares directed at the old-timer who had been so eager to saw the chassis open. *Why did your hands have to be so itchy?* Before it was cut open, only physics had ceased to exist. Now that it was open, materials science and manufacturing were out the window too... This wasn't standard metal foaming at all! Conventional foamed aluminum involved injecting chemical additives during processing to create numerous pores inside the metal, thereby improving heat resistance and reducing weight. Were these two even the same thing? What kind of additive or processing technique could create such a uniform, dense, and sharply defined structure? Moreover, it had to naturally form a regular honeycomb-like hollow interior upon contraction, which happened to be the optimal structure for resisting shock, tension, and shear... With that kind of luck, every lottery ticket printed in the present world wouldn't feature numbers; it would have your name written on it. More importantly, after production, it would need further processing. The moment external force was applied to bend the component, that astonishing stability would inevitably be compromised, causing internal fractures and distortion. Yet it was impeccably uniform. Which meant... As everyone exchanged glances, they arrived at a despairing conclusion. There was no secondary processing at all! From raw material to finished component, from casting to completion, there were no intermediate steps. It was cast in a single pass! Single pass, my ass! "Stop looking." A smoking artisan bent down, pinched a fragment of the chassis, turned it over to inspect it, and finally let out a faint sigh. "This is a structure formed naturally as the molten metal solidified." Achieving this was actually quite simple: find someone from the Desolate Ruins who could control metal, an Entropy practitioner who could direct heat, or a Tianyuan expert skilled in telekinesis to manipulate the metal while it was still molten, relieve the internal stress, and shape it into such an intricate structure. Of course, there was an even simpler way... —Why not consult the wondrous Fluid Alchemy?! In the entire present world, the sole heir to Sage Quicksilver, the inheritor of Fluid Alchemy—wasn't he sitting right inside Haian Auto Works, legs kicked up, thoroughly enjoying the look on their faces? He could probably down two extra bowls of rice just watching them! *Do you understand what patent barriers are, huh?! Do you know what Fluid Alchemy is?!* A mere foamed metal structure was just a basic technique developed during Myriad Metamorphosis simulations to save time. Ji Jue had hundreds of related tricks and applications tucked away in his pockets! At least a few hundred! After a few casual experiments, he had effortlessly reproduced and replicated it using ordinary materials. For other artisans specializing in metallurgy and smelting, achieving this effect required holding their breath and concentrating with absolute focus. For him, it could be used for mass production... Such was the confidence Fluid Alchemy granted him! "What about the Association?!" Another artisan came to his senses and frowned. "Doesn't this count as disrupting the market?!" The first artisan fell silent for a moment, then turned around to look at him as if he were an idiot. "I'll bet you fifty bucks Chaosheng never registered the patents for this technology and material." The Ring of Taiyi had always dealt severe punishments to artisans who disrupted markets or interfered with the normal workings of the present world through alchemy. The problem was, such cases were impossible to stop completely. Too many aspects were involved, from production and processing to sales. The ties between the Celestial Chosen and the present world were endlessly tangled. If the scope were expanded, every registered artisan would end up dragged into the Hall of Judgment. Besides, there were only so many artisans with limited production capacity. Even if every single one blew their gaskets and desperately churned out cheap alchemical creations to disrupt the market, how much disruption could they actually cause? Thus, a line had to be drawn. Boundaries were set, and only those who crossed the line were severely dealt with. Yet... that bastard Ji Jue was playing right on the edge! Never mind that metal foaming wasn't unheard of; did ordinary aluminum alloy and steel count as alchemical materials? How much of it truly involved Fluid Alchemy?.. If you took such nonsense to the Association to lodge a complaint, all that awaited you was endless bureaucratic wrangling and a token warning at best. After all, making a living these days wasn't easy. Who didn't skim the edges a little to live more comfortably? If you dared to drag this onto the scales, Echo's reputation in the Association would immediately stink for three miles downwind. Good luck getting any artisan to work for you ever again! Besides, don't forget who had stood to Ji Jue's left and right when his artisan emblem was conferred! On the left, beaming like a blooming flower, was current President Delong. On the right, dead serious, was Gustav—the next president, who held the highest approval rating and the most immense influence on the board! Submit that complaint letter, and see if the Association gives a damn about you. The moment they thought it through, everyone present began trembling with cold rage... *Brother, what are you even trying to gain?!* Just thinking about it made their heads spin. Using such a technology to manufacture anything would yield massive, if not pure, profits. Licensing it alone would be enough to live in luxury, squander wealth, and gamble through the next lifetime without running out of money. Isolation layers for armor, thermal insulation tiles for large airships and battleships, primary materials for light combat vehicles... There were so many applications it could bring tears to a man's eyes. You could even walk into the Space Administration and slap those people across the face over and over, and they would still kneel, cling to your thighs, and weep, begging Daddy to love them a little more. Yet Ji Jue used it to build the chassis of a motorized tricycle! Flaunting his skill to the absolute limit on a pedestrian object, brazenly rubbing it in the face of Echo, a defense contractor! Slapping his industry peers over and over across the face. He might as well point at their noses and tell them: *I can replace you whenever I want!* What was even more chilling was the price tag of this new tricycle... If the Doujiao had been an absolute guzzler of fuel, labor, and everything else, the Huasheng was an absolute saver of fuel, labor, and everything else—including money. Cheap! Dead cheap! At Haian's newly opened outlets across the major cities of Haizhou, if you held a certificate from the Agricultural Support and Development Association, you could apply for a farm equipment subsidy. That knocked another discount off the wholesale price, bringing the entire vehicle—complete with exquisite floor mats and two cleaning rags—to just three thousand six hundred Federation currency! Three thousand six hundred! Three thousand six hundred! For that amount, you'd struggle to buy a decent bicycle! No matter. Come to my shop today—not five thousand, not four thousand, but just thirty-six hundred! Take the Huasheng tricycle home; consider it making a friend. On top of that, it inherited the same freedom of modification as the Doujiao. If you couldn't stand the sluggish, pitiful stock engine, you could walk into any repair shop, drop eight hundred more for an upgrade, and enjoy the back-pinning acceleration of a sports car... With this weight and this speed, you could blow past urban management officers and leave traffic cops in the dust, tearing along right before their eyes! Go tear up the second ring road tonight, kid! While the budget suspension, tires, and roughly five-ton payload capacity basically shut it out of the wilderness market outside the cities, don't forget... there were plenty of broke folks inside the cities too! Elderly farmers delivering vegetables from the suburbs, courier delivery boys, roadside vendors operating illegally on the sidewalks, and the labyrinthine alleyways where regular cars couldn't fit, littered with shoddy urban planning—who wouldn't love a nimble, cheap, economical, and durable little tricycle like this? Although the nature of such a tool meant replacement was slow—no one bought a new one until the old one was completely broken—the Huasheng's initial sales were remarkably solid thanks to the trail blazed by the Doujiao! And they were growing steadily... A Doujiao in one hand, a Huasheng in the other. After using the Doujiao to shatter the blockade throttling production, Haian used the Huasheng to mount a counteroffensive from the wilderness into the suburbs... Amid Yin Zhaoyang's futile blockades and interference, Haian Auto Works flourished and grew wildly in this deeply sunken, bizarre niche, carried entirely by extreme value and quality. They had even begun acquiring other tricycle factories! Competitors never dreamed that Haian, after rebooting with its sights set on defense contracts, would first wipe out so many small tricycle workshops. Riding this tailwind, Haian Auto Works' newly repaired facilities expanded once more. Striking while the iron was hot, they ramped up production capacity with wild abandon! The fallen leaves told a story: on the other side of Haizhou, in godforsaken Yacheng, Ji Jue had become the Lord of Scavengers... Under the Lord's reign, people would surely describe it thus: it was an age of tricycles! At the routine weekly morning meeting, looking at the employees and subordinates who had unconsciously packed the entire large conference room, Director Ji Jue delivered the following important directive: "Our enterprise is flourishing and thriving~!!!" "Tell me, who invented such a wonderful thing as the motorized tricycle?" "Something this good must be built again, built more, and built in every way imaginable!" And so, under the lifeless gazes of everyone present, he announced the first capacity expansion plan since taking office at Haian: build tricycles, build more and mightier tricycles, and build the finest tricycles under the heavens! Make it bigger, make it stronger, reach greater glory! Setting aside how the various factions reacted to Haian Auto Works charging forward in the tricycle market, Yin Zhaoyang, watching from the shadows, finally wiped cold sweat from his forehead upon receiving the news. *Close one. For a second, I thought this kid was actually prospering...* "Haha, scaring myself over nothing." After enduring Ji Jue's bizarre antics twice in a row, he had nearly developed Haian-induced PTSD. A plan he had assumed was in the bag had collapsed repeatedly from the start, riddled with unexpected problems. Facing an eccentric opponent like Ji Jue—who disregarded all conventional playbooks and shattered his rivals' worldview instead—Yin Zhaoyang hadn't gained the slightest advantage. It was like holding an iron hedgehog in one hand and clutching a steel toad in the other. To make matters worse, the backer behind him was a high-pressure monster who cared only about results, leaving Yin Zhaoyang running himself ragged. When the debt-collection lawsuit dragged out over procedural complications, his quiet efforts to acquire Haian Group's shares hit wall after wall as well. Now, watching Ji Jue obsess over motorized tricycles—to the point of gradually phasing out and abandoning the original production lines to focus entirely on expanding in this niche—Yin Zhaoyang actually breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how many tricycles you built, they were still just tricycles. Petty squabbling, incapable of amounting to anything. However large the industry scale grew, it was ultimately just picking up scraps in a mud pit the big players sneered at. Expecting to pull off a clean, sweeping overtake from such an absurdly obscure curve was far too unrealistic. Even so, Yin Zhaoyang didn't drop his guard in the slightest. Instead, he pulled out all the stops, bustling back and forth to choke off supplies of large equipment through Echo's channels and backroom deals. Even if the new integrated die-casting machines had already arrived at the port, not a single one would set foot in Yacheng without customs clearance documents. Meanwhile, Ji Jue seemed to have dropped any ambition on that front, dedicating himself entirely to cultivating the tricycle market. For a time, all of Yacheng seemed calm and peaceful. Unfortunately, the present world had no pause button. Time continued marching forward. On November 29, the Military Department announced that the bidding for the new armored vehicles would be moved up by three months. On December 4, the Chairman of the Military Affairs Coordination Committee was hospitalized with a sudden illness. On December 7, further details regarding the Midtown Airport bombing were disclosed. On December 9, Echo Tech-Industry's Dongcheng Shipyard was hit with an infringement lawsuit by Nanhuang Industry, seeking a total of 8.1 billion Federation currency in damages... Storms raged without end, waves crashing relentlessly. Just as the situation grew increasingly bizarre and the struggle in murky waters ground to a stalemate... At 1:30 AM on December 12, Haian Auto Works' official website homepage, forgotten for over a decade, updated without warning. A news release unveiled their very first independently developed and produced domestic passenger car since resumption of operations— [Huanggua]! That same day, at 2:00 AM, Yin Zhaoyang, who had just closed his eyes, let out another piercing shriek.