Chapter 198: Airstrike

On March 15, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce suddenly issued a statement that, due to Dream Technology posing a threat to national security, it would be added to the Entity List by the U.S. and subjected to comprehensive sanctions.

This move stirred up a storm, and people were eager to find out just what kind of enterprise Dream Technology was to be placed on the U.S. sanctions blacklist.

In recent years, the U.S. has increasingly misused its extraterritorial jurisdiction, continuously adding various countries, companies, and individuals to its sanctions blacklist under the pretext of national security threats.

In truth, these are nothing more than the U.S.’s means of politically suppressing potential rivals out of political motives, and are one of the most concentrated expressions of hegemonism.

It can be said that U.S. hegemonism is manifested in two main forms: military strikes and economic sanctions.

These two methods are the tyrannical blades of U.S. global governance.

People quickly discovered that Dream Technology is a global multinational conglomerate that originated in Germany and has since developed into a union of companies across multiple countries.

It is mainly composed of six major companies: Germanic Dream Technology, Babylonian Dream Technology, Asan Dream Technology, ASEAN Dream Technology, Tang Country Dream Technology, and African Dream Technology, as well as a series of other subsidiaries and child companies.

Since this company has not gone public or disclosed financial statements, no one knows what its actual performance is.

However, it wasn’t long before well-informed people came out with shocking data.

Dream Technology holds nearly half of the global OEM market in the consumer electronics industry and two-thirds of the OEM market in the machinery industry.

In other words, it essentially holds the production rights to the most commonly used and consumer-proximate products in the industrial field.

If Dream Technology were to halt production completely, many places around the globe could be affected, and many products could be delayed in reaching consumers.

Moreover, brand merchants looking to maintain their original profits might have to raise their selling prices.

Bloomberg specially wrote an article stating that the U.S. sanctions would cause an emerging OEM giant to collapse instantly!

Some old OEM enterprises, whose survival space was once suppressed by Dream Technology, might now find new life.

Nevertheless, Germany’s Spiegel Weekly believes that the U.S.’s abuse of sanctions will bring great uncertainty to the global economy.

Considering that Dream Technology originated in Germany, the U.S.’s actions are clearly aimed at suppressing Europe, especially since Europe has had its own ideas about the Persian issues recently.

RRein Leinar, the Global President of Dream Technology, made a statement in Berlin that he could not accept the U.S. government’s decision.

The U.S. had added a legitimate and compliant enterprise dedicated to enhancing global manufacturing capabilities to its sanctions list without presenting any evidence, which he found utterly absurd.

In light of this, Dream Technology decided, effective immediately, to no longer OEM for U.S. companies. It also decided to launch its own branded products similar to those of U.S. companies.

Dream Technology vowed that in the fields of machinery and consumer electronics, wherever U.S. brands dominated the market, Dream Technology’s own or joint brands would defeat American goods.

Once this statement was issued, it caused a global sensation.

This was a challenge by a company to U.S. enterprises in two industries; it was a company resisting U.S. hegemony.

At the time, there were observers, scoffers, mockers…

Almost no one was optimistic that Dream Technology could survive under the heavy-handed U.S. sanctions, let alone defeat U.S. enterprises in two industry sectors.

Just then, the Germanic government took the lead in stating that Germanic Dream Technology was a Germanic innovative tech enterprise, all its business activities comply with Germanic laws and regulations, and the Germanic government would not impose any sanctions on it.

Following the Germanic government’s statement, several European countries stated they would not impose any sanctions on Dream Technology.

Like a domino effect, Tang Country also made a statement. They would not accept the U.S.’s corporate suppression and would never sanction Dream Technology.

With Tang Country’s statement, some African countries also said they would not sanction Dream Technology and even welcomed the company to establish factories and mines in their countries.

Eventually, Babylon, ASEAN, and several other countries all declared they would not sanction Dream Technology.

Looking at this, the only major company location left without a statement was Asan country, causing some speculation.

The U.S. was very displeased with the uncooperative behavior of these countries, with its Secretary of State even announcing that he would make shuttle visits to Germanic and other allied countries.

Discerning people instantly saw this as a doorstep pressure tactic.

In the midst of these disturbances, the government of South Sudan suddenly exploded with news that Americans had launched a cruise missile attack that bombed its capital.

The event rewinds to a day earlier, at three o’clock in the morning local time in South Sudan.

Previously, the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Gravely, which had come near the Seychelles to take advantage of Asan country, had already hurried to the offshore waters of Kenya.

Captain Donald looked at the GIA intelligence officer beside him and said, “Are you really sure the target is there? I don’t want to use expensive missiles to bomb grass huts in one of the poorest countries in the world.”

In truth, Donald was very reluctant to carry out this mission as a professional soldier; he had a strong aversion to this so-called secret operation’s dirty work.

The intelligence officer calmly said, “This is about national security. If the target can be eliminated, your action tonight may save countless young men from going to the battlefield in the future.”

“Alright, maybe you’re right.”

Donald sighed and said to his executive officer, “Prepare to launch the missiles!”

“Yes, sir!”

As the order was given, the warship quickly entered the launch position and, with missile ignition and launch, one after another, missiles were fired.

In a short span of time, 20 cruise missiles were launched!

These 20 cruise missiles flew over Kenyan airspace at high speed and headed toward their target in Zhuba, the capital of South Sudan.

Unbeknownst to Donald, two B-2 Stealth Bombers from Diego Garcia base flew over Kenyan airspace after he fired his missiles, and they too launched a series of cruise missiles!

Suddenly, air raid sirens sounded in the dead of night in the capital of South Sudan!

All the people who were awakened from their sleep were confused—what’s the deal with these air raid sirens?

Has our country’s capital finally been equipped with an anti-air system? How else could we have advance warning and issue an air raid alert?

But who would air raid us?

Our country’s civil war seemed to have ended long ago, and the chaos of the tribal armed forces had also been strongly suppressed by government forces last year, right?

Is there an invasion by neighboring countries? Could it be the original mother country to the north?

Citizens of Zhuba rushed out from their thatched cottages and under the starry sky, Zhuba seemed unusually peaceful.

In fact, ever since the construction and operation of the Dream Technology industrial park in Zhuba, a batch of small and medium-sized supporting enterprises had followed suit, starting to bring prosperity to Zhuba.

Especially the few streets built by Dream Technology, wide and straight, are the pride of the people of Zhuba, finally giving Zhuba a bit of the capital’s grandeur.

The previous variant of the Ebola virus epidemic in the area was brought under control after special forces captured personnel from Heiying Pharmaceutical Research Institute, obtaining a batch of vaccines.

This allowed the epidemic in South Sudan to be rapidly contained, and with continued international assistance, some mild cases were gradually cured, successfully containing the outbreak.

Even with the epidemic under control, Dream Technology still funded the construction of a central hospital, which is currently under intense construction.

The huge hospital render at the construction site attracted countless citizens of Zhuba to come and admire it.

Not only that, but parts of the enterprises in the Dream Technology industrial park had already started production, supplying the market with a large number of basic industrial life products, which instantly halved the prices of previously imported industrial products, bringing real benefits to the people of South Sudan.

Dream Technology, in just over half a year in Zhuba, had won the strong support of the citizens, being recognized as a conscience enterprise and a true friend of the people of South Sudan.

At that moment, on the streets of Zhuba at night, the bewildered crowd suddenly noticed a cluster of lights flying from the eastern night sky, falling down to the southeast corner of Zhuba.

Eagle-eyed people immediately exclaimed, “That’s the Dream Technology industrial park!”

Thereafter, deafening explosions were heard as flames shot up into the sky.

The awakened people on the street panicked, rushing towards the direction of the Dream Technology industrial park, worried that their friends might be harmed.

But before they could get there, they were stopped by the cordon of the national defense army soldiers.

“Sorry, the military has temporarily declared martial law in that area. Everyone should go home to avoid being accidentally injured by missiles,” said the leading national defense officer.

Before the officer’s words had finished, another batch of missiles fell.