Chapter 269: Star Chain

This feeling of fear…
How to put it? It's like a rabbit bumping into a lion that's dozing.
Even though the lion is just lazily lying there, not even giving the rabbit a second glance.
But you know perfectly well that the lion could open its bloodthirsty jaws at any moment and easily swallow you whole, skin and bones.
That deep-seated, irresistible fear gripped Musk's heart.
At first, he thought that guy was just a lucky investor.
But now, looking back at Su Hao's trajectory, this wasn't luck; it was clearly a miracle!
What was hidden behind him?
Was it overwhelming power capable of shaking the world order, or a flawless, ingenious, and terrifyingly sophisticated strategy?
Musk didn't know.
He only knew… he was terrified.
The name Su Hao filled him with fear.
That, perhaps, was the most accurate description.
"Don't contact Fanghuan Shipping anymore, contact Fanghuan Investment directly.
We've done business together before, their communication channels should be working."
"Yes, I'll contact them right away."
Even if he was scared, he couldn't pretend to be deaf and dumb.
The other party had already fired the signal flare right in their face; if they didn't take the bait, what awaited Tesla next would probably be more than just a logistical disruption.
***
"What? Who was it again?"
"Musk. He said he wants to meet with you, the sooner the better. He specifically emphasized that he will fly to Shanghai in person."
After hearing Liu Bo's report, Su Hao was a little puzzled.
What's wrong with this foreigner all of a sudden?
"Chairman Su, you see, Fanghuan Shipping has acquired two companies in Japan and is now working with Jiangjin Group to put pressure on Japan's semiconductor supply chain.
It seems... Shimatsu Electric is caught in the middle.
However, it's neither our target nor Jiangjin Group's target."
Liu Bo's meaning was clear: we didn't intentionally target them; it's just that the scope of our generalization was too broad, and we accidentally dragged them into the mess.
But, coincidentally, Tesla's core batteries are produced by this unfortunate company.
No wonder Musk was so anxious and rushed over here.
"Hmm... so, as long as we loosen the logistics controls here, the problem on Shimatsu's side can be solved immediately, right?"
"Yes. I just spoke with the shipping company, and they said that with just a word from you, they can release Shimatsu's cargo ships at any time."
I see.
Then what's the point of all this?
Just release the logistics to them, and that's it.
Su Hao genuinely didn't want to see Musk.
Just thinking about the overwhelming, almost manic madness he'd intuitively sensed on Musk's face during their last meeting made him feel physically uncomfortable.
"Then..."
He was about to speak, intending to have Liu Bo decline the offer so Musk wouldn't have to make the long journey.
However, the moment he opened his mouth—
"...!"
His throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton; he couldn't utter a single syllable!
"Chairman Su?" Liu Bo looked at him questioningly.
Su Hao tried several more times, straining, opening and closing his mouth, but it remained deathly silent.
He understood.
It was that again.
His erratic, ever-present intuition, always popping up at crucial moments, was forcing him to meet Musk in an almost brutal way.
“…Okay,” Su Hao finally managed to squeeze out, changing his mind.
“Could you get me a copy of all the information on Musk and his companies' current projects?”
“Sure! Mr. Su, I knew you'd want this, so I prepared it in advance.
This is a summary report of all recent activities by Musk and his companies.”
Liu Bo deftly handed over a folder.
“Wow.”
“Not bad, you’ve improved.”
“Hehe, following you, Mr. Su, I feel like my brain has gotten smarter too.”
Su Hao opened the report and quickly skimmed through it.
Musk’s projects were diverse, but the core remained unchanged:
The dream of sending humans to Mars was still where he was spending the most money; SpaceT’s rocket engine development budget was burning through cash faster than a printing press.
Su Hao wasn't particularly interested in these space dreams; his fingers flew across the pages until…
His gaze, as if drawn by a magnet, fixed fixed on a name.
“Starlink?”
“Ah, a disruptive project, you could think of it as a satellite communication service.”
Liu Bo explained from the side,
“Domestic telecommunications companies all rely on building base stations, right?
But this ‘Starlink’ operates on the logic of launching satellites into the sky like crazy, using countless satellites to form a global network.
It aims to provide signal coverage to every corner of the globe, achieving high-speed internet access without dead zones.
The only downside is… it's incredibly expensive; the cost of launching so many satellites is astronomical.
Moreover, the company isn't publicly listed, so you can't invest even if you want to.”
Although commercial application may still be many years away.
But the report said that just recently, Musk had successfully launched two experimental satellites, entering the testing and operation phase.
"It's said that if this technology succeeds, it will completely revolutionize the existing communication system and become the next-generation communication standard."
Xia Guo's communication infrastructure is already among the best in the world, with fiber optic internet access and extremely high 5G signal coverage.
But there are always limits on the ground.
For example, in uninhabited areas like ocean shipping routes, the Gobi Desert, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, as well as some remote mountainous areas with complex terrain, achieving 100% seamless coverage using fiber optic cables and ground base stations would be astronomically costly and difficult.
"No matter how strong our ground network is, it's still vulnerable to natural disasters and man-made calamities.
A few years ago, during the floods in the south, many base stations and fiber optic cables were severed, turning entire areas into information islands and causing great difficulties for rescue efforts.
If we had such a sky-based network as an emergency backup, the situation would be completely different."
Su Hao suddenly had a thought flash through his mind.
my country's ground-based communication network is arguably the world's leading.
But what if the future battlefield for communication isn't on the ground, but in the vast expanse of space?
"..."
Su Hao's finger gently landed on the two words "Starlink" written on the report.
In that instant!
Su Hao saw a hallucination.
Those were billions of satellites, like stars scattered across Earth's orbit, weaving together an invisible yet omnipresent giant network that controlled every network signal on the entire planet!
It was a chilling yet seemingly tangible vision of the future!
Su Hao finally understood what his intuition was trying to tell him.
The lifeline of future communications, the key to the next era, might very well be in the hands of that madman, Elon Musk!