Christmas Collapse!

Tokyo, Shibuya Ward.

It was the same izakaya, the same four graduates from the chemistry department of the University of Tokyo, but the atmosphere of their drinking had completely changed. They looked troubled, sighing repeatedly.

"Ah, our New Year's holiday is ruined. I heard this year's bonuses are also canceled," Inoue Mitsuhiko grumbled.

"Who could have imagined that in just three months, that small Huaxia company would overturn the entire industry."

"Actually, we got off easy. I heard Toyobo is in the worst situation. Due to severe losses, they seem to be planning large-scale layoffs."

"No way! Toyobo has EKS and N38, two top thermal fiber technologies!"

"It's precisely because Toyobo invested so heavily in thermal fibers, and Kunlun Company, which emerged out of nowhere this year, also focuses on thermal fibers, that they've had such a fierce collision."

The four of them sighed in unison, then raised their glasses and drank dejectedly, mourning the unlucky Toyobo. Toyobo, skilled in thermal fibers, encountering Kunlun Company, equally skilled in the same field, was perhaps fate.

Kunlun Company's rise had an unprecedented impact on Japan's chemical fiber industry. This year's financial reports from major groups were more dismal than the last. For the four of them, as industry insiders, not only had overtime increased significantly, but their year-end bonuses were likely to be canceled as well.

Fortunately, the companies they worked for were large conglomerates that produced not only chemical fibers for clothing but also engaged in other chemical materials, so they didn't have to worry about unemployment.

However, those specializing in the field were in dire straits. Toyobo, Kanebo, Fujibo, and Saijo Textiles, Japan's four major chemical fiber and apparel fabric groups, were all mired in operational difficulties.

Ota Shigeru, the oldest among them, scanned the patrons in the izakaya with a worried expression. "There's no need to doubt it. We've already lost this war of thermal fibers. In just three months, Kunlun Company's products have swept across the entire Northern Hemisphere."

"Take a look for yourselves. About half the people in this izakaya are using Kunlun Company's products."

The other three followed Ota Shigeru's gaze. Indeed, many people in the izakaya were wearing Kunlun Company's products. This was easy to identify because, while also cold-weather apparel, X Fiber products were particularly light, thin, and fashionable.

"Under normal circumstances, no one likes to wear bulky clothes, so Kunlun Company's victory is quite natural, isn't it?"

"I have to admit, being able to wear a dress in the coldest season has a fatal allure for women. No matter how expensive, girls will buy it, right?"

"It's only been three months! In just three months, Kunlun Company has gotten half the people on the streets of Tokyo to wear their products. It's simply a miracle!"

"I heard Mr. Gao Yuan, the boss of Kunlun Company, is only twenty-one years old. To invent X Fiber at such a young age and run such a promising company, that's the real miracle."

They chatted, and as chemistry majors, they had plenty of common topics.

Only Ota Shigeru remained silent, drinking his liquor gloomily with a troubled expression.

Finally, Ota Shigeru couldn't hold back any longer and asked Ono Narimasa, "Toray Group has the strongest material science R&D capabilities in Japan. Have you managed to crack Kunlun Company's technology?"

Ono Narimasa was slightly taken aback. Even among good friends, inquiring about company secrets like this was inappropriate.

As for cracking Kunlun Company's super honeycomb structure technology, that was nothing to be ashamed of. Almost all chemical groups worldwide, and all laboratories proficient in chemistry and materials science, were attempting similar things.

After careful consideration, Ono Narimasa shook his head. "There's been no progress at all. For some reason, even using the same formula, we still can't produce fiber filaments with the super honeycomb structure. Why do you ask, Ota-kun?"

Everyone looked at Ota Shigeru. His position as Section Chief made him the only one among the four with access to company executives and a wealth of insider information.

Ota Shigeru sighed deeply, his drunken eyes slightly glazed over, and said in a very bleak tone, "If we don't crack Kunlun Company's technology soon, we might not have a chance."

The others were shocked and asked in unison, "Why do you say that?"

Ota Shigeru said gravely, "It is said that Kunlun Company and its partners are planning a full-scale offensive on Christmas and will clear the market during the Huaxia Spring Festival."

Christmas offensive!?

Spring Festival market clearance!?

This... this is too arrogant!

Christmas, New Year, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival. Within a short two-month period, so many important holidays were approaching.

It wasn't entirely unexpected that Kunlun Company and its partners would launch their offensive during this period.

However, no one had anticipated their offensive would be so ferocious.

On December 15th, ten days before Christmas, the global offensive began.

The price of X series products was already not expensive, comparable only to cotton-padded clothing, yet their performance surpassed top-tier down. Now, they were even further reduced in price, with various exquisite small gifts and free lucky draws for members.

"Thermal underwear for seventy-nine yuan? So cheap!"

"A down-lined short cotton jacket that can withstand minus thirty degrees Celsius, two sets for five hundred and ninety-nine yuan? Holy crap, buy one get one free! Down jackets with the same performance would cost at least two thousand yuan. The cost-effectiveness is incredible!"

"Super quick-drying underwear, only nineteen yuan!?"

"Super cold-weather gloves, twenty-nine yuan!?"

"Hat and scarf set, only fifty-nine yuan!?"

"What are you waiting for? This opportunity won't come again. Grab it quickly! What you grab is what you earn!"

In the autumn of 2014, Japanese media coined the term "baku gai" to mock the Chinese tourists who flooded the country during the National Day holiday.

These Chinese tourists, like country bumpkins who had never seen the world, bought whatever they saw, even clearing out the toilet seats in Akihabara. Several fights even broke out due to the "baku gai."

Time flew by, and on this Christmas several years later, Kunlun Company returned the term "baku gai" in its entirety!

From the southernmost Okinawa to the northernmost Sapporo, the scene of Japanese citizens engaging in "baku gai" of X Fiber was no less than that of the Chinese tourists back then.

Moreover, this time, the "baku gai" was not limited to Japan but occurred worldwide!

Even in tropical regions where people didn't know what snow was, they were not spared, because Kunlun Company not only had X2 Fiber but also X1 Fiber for a dry feel when worn.

In short, from the consumers' perspective, this was a shopping feast. Just buy, buy, buy.

However, professionals in the chemical fiber sector understood clearly that this was actually Kunlun Company's all-out assault on the global chemical fiber giants!

To welcome Christmas and the New Year, major chemical fiber groups had stockpiled large quantities of products in advance.

Gao Yuan's goal was simple: you produced it, so you will consume it back!

Don't think you can sell it just by lowering the price. Today, we'll show you what it means to be unsellable even at a loss!

In this world, capital is powerful, but it is by no means the ultimate force.

Otherwise, with Huaxia's current financial strength, they could just buy semiconductor technology instead of enduring such humiliation.

However, the reality was quite brutal. Top-tier technology, the nation's crucial assets, could not be bought no matter how much money you spent.

Back then, Japanese companies used their top-tier chemical fiber products to conquer Huaxia.

Now, Kunlun Company and its partners, armed with an unparalleled technological advantage, have fought their way back!

If the period from September to December saw Japanese enterprises in a continuous retreat.

Then from December to January, it was a complete collapse!

According to statistics from Japan Sangyo News, chemical fiber sales during the Christmas and New Year period plummeted by ninety percent compared to previous years, with warehouses of major corporations piled high with inventory.

After the New Year holiday, on January 7th, the first domino fell with a resounding crash.

Toyobo, a giant in textiles and chemical fibers, declared bankruptcy and restructuring due to insolvency.

On January 8th, major creditors, including Mitsubishi Bank, Postal Bank, Mitsui Investments, and Sumitomo Insurance, formed a joint delegation to fully take over Toyobo, and invited Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited to seal and audit Toyobo's accounts.

When the news broke, the entire world was in an uproar.

Sigh, the speed at which I write... I finished this chapter at one in the morning.

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