The presence of this prince further propelled the incident's popularity to new heights.
The world's richest man single-handedly rescued the prince from inside a helicopter. This was undoubtedly a sensational event, and in certain circles, it sent shivers down spines!
Take the "fujoshi" community, for instance. In just three days, not only did the "Prince Huang" pairing emerge, but this pairing also spawned five to six hundred different written stories within those three days, and dozens of fan comics were produced.
One particular fan comic by a renowned artist reportedly had over 3,000 pre-orders, with content that was beyond description.
Beyond the fujoshi community, the religious sector was also significantly impacted.
The catalyst was an online article written by a Frenchman, a devout believer who was present at the scene of the accident.
According to his account, he was initially panicked when he saw the helicopter falling. However, he soon noticed a golden light flashing from high up in the sky, and he seemed to see a vast, majestic, and indescribably glorious face.
This face was so sacred and benevolent that just gazing upon it felt as though his mind and body were being purified.
Simultaneously, he seemed to see this face extend its hands. At this point, he was completely bathed in beautiful holy light. By the time he reacted, the Pangu Jia Yuan had caught the helicopter with its hands, perfectly rescuing everyone.
Finally, the believer wrote with utmost piety, "This is a great miracle. It is impossible for a robot to catch a falling helicopter with its hands at the critical moment. This is an impossible feat."
"If something like this happened, there is only one explanation: a miracle occurred simultaneously, and a great god extended His hands, using the Pangu Jia Yuan's power to save the entire helicopter and everyone on board."
To many atheists, such a post was utter nonsense, a form of mental self-indulgence. However, for fellow believers, it was different. They announced they had experienced enlightenment; this was God's miracle, a sign of God's impending salvation, and they proceeded to share it on their social media accounts, praying devoutly.
Then, an event of even greater influence erupted. Someone in cardinal robes posted an article on their social media account.
The article began with a photograph, a candid shot of the Pangu Jia Yuan holding the helicopter in its hands.
The photograph's angle was exceptionally perfect, taken from a relatively frontal perspective, positioning the helicopter in the center of the Pangu Jia Yuan's grasp, with its head slowly lowered.
From the photo, one could even sense a hint of benevolence and kindness, as if an elderly elder were gazing at their child with such tenderness.
Finally, whether it was the sunlight, excessive exposure, a blurred background, or the addition of special effects, the Pangu Jia Yuan's body was enveloped in a golden light, as if it were shining with golden radiance.
"At this moment, the Lord is here!" This short sentence had an explosive impact, and the topic of the new century's miracle once again swept across the internet, naturally igniting widespread debate.
Believers in Europe naturally lent their full support to the miracle theory, stating that this was the Lord performing His miracles through this mechanical body, as such a cumbersome robot could not possibly accomplish the extraordinary rescue of a helicopter.
Then, believers in the Middle East expressed their dissatisfaction. It wasn't that they denied it was a miracle, but rather that the deity was not their God, but their own. They pointed out that the person in the helicopter was a bearded man, implying a different faith, and questioned if God would save heretics.
As a result, Chinese netizens also chimed in. They argued that the mecha's name was Pangu, who was the supreme deity of China, so they were all mistaken; this was their Chinese ancestor manifesting.
Regardless of who had a valid point, the internet was abuzz with endless arguments. Even though more than half a month had passed, the incident's popularity remained at the top.
To summarize, the internet popularity of this incident surpassed any online event in history. Almost three-quarters of the world's population knew about this incident, which also meant that three-quarters of the world's population was aware of the Pangu Jia Yuan.
And as mentioned before, mechs are an irresistible romance for any man, which means that at least 3 billion people globally have some degree of affection for the Pangu Jia Yuan.
If even 1% of them develop a desire to purchase, that represents a market of 30 million people.
In fact, according to the market research department of Jiangnan Group, it is highly probable that 300 million units of Pangu Jia Yuan models could be sold within this year, disregarding supply constraints.
What does this signify?
Even after nearly 40 years of selling Gundam, Bandai has not had any single product line reach the unit count of hundreds of millions. This figure completely eclipses Bandai.
Therefore, the biggest challenge facing Jiangnan Group now is how to get the Pangu Jia Yuan models onto the shelves of every relevant store worldwide as quickly as possible.
After all, this is the peak of popularity and the highest market demand.
As time passes, even the hottest topics will eventually cool down. By then, consumers willing to purchase models might decrease by at least 75%.
Thus, the entire Jiangnan Group is currently ramping up production at full throttle. However, the most critical factor affecting model production capacity is the molds. Even with a mold operating 24 hours a day, the output is fixed, so the speed at which Jiangnan Group can boost production is limited.
Currently, Jiangnan Group's daily production capacity is only around 500,000 units, which is far from meeting market demand.
This is why, in the United States, a single model kit has been scalped to $99. This is due to the significant shortage of models in the market. Boss Huang definitely prioritizes satisfying domestic market demand, always placing foreign supply in the second tier.
The result is that in the United States, less than 1 million units have been delivered over the past half-month, which is insufficient for the US market to absorb. Almost as soon as models are stocked, they are immediately snapped up by scalpers, who then resell them at inflated prices on second-hand platforms, leading to the threefold exorbitant prices.
And now, the bearded man has placed an order for 13.2 million units. Such a colossal number initially made Boss Huang's head spin, and he agreed to it without much thought.
However, after calming down, he reconsidered. Good heavens, if 13.2 million units were to be prioritized for the bearded man, they would have to ship these goods to Europe and the Americas, selling them for $60 a unit. This would not only allow them to break even but also double their profit.
This wasn't an apology to Boss Huang; it was practically fleecing Huang He.
"No, this contract cannot be executed!" Boss Huang stated resolutely.
"But boss, we've already signed the contract. If we breach it, they have the right to demand huge liquidated damages from us!" the secretary said cautiously. "Besides, we're not exactly at a loss. At the very least, they are buying them at 199 yuan, and all import and export taxes are borne by them, which will increase our profit margins."
"And I think they will eventually release these models into the market, so it shouldn't have a significant impact!"
"But our 'Da Ban' model's reputation will be ruined!" Boss Huang gritted his teeth and said. "Many people online are already angrily criticizing us for insufficient stock, saying we're playing games with them. Many people's anger towards scalpers is also directed at us, but the primary fault lies with the scalpers, so we shouldn't be greatly affected!"
"If a staggering 13.2 million units enter the market through scalper channels, we will have no explanation for the origin of such a large quantity of goods. Everyone will then assume that we are officially acting as scalpers, and Bandai will undoubtedly seize the opportunity to criticize us. At that point, the name Pangu Jia Yuan and the series might be completely tarnished," Boss Huang said, recalling a brand called "Mao Dong He" from later years.
Despite showing sincerity and launching competitively priced, fully-featured assembled products at 199 yuan, insufficient production capacity led to the inability to ship a large number of pre-orders. Instead, scalpers obtained a substantial quantity of goods and resold them at inflated prices on second-hand platforms.
Normal players, if they didn't want to wait months or even half a year to receive their orders, had to pay around 320 yuan for immediate stock, which completely damaged the brand's reputation.
They intended to lose money to build goodwill, but ended up making a loss by undermining their own reputation, a prime example of negative sales strategy.
Therefore, Boss Huang would not allow such a situation to occur. He had already made up his mind that even if it meant canceling the contract, he would absolutely not hand over the goods to the bearded man, as it would be damaging to his own brand.
That evening, Boss Huang attended the appointment on time, and the bearded man and his entourage were very hospitable, hosting Huang He at the finest Middle Eastern-style hotel in the capital. Boss Huang was also gracious, and the two even finished two bottles of Maotai.
When Huang He judged that the atmosphere was right, he straightforwardly stated that their production capacity could not fulfill the 13.2 million units and therefore requested that the contract be canceled.
After saying this, Boss Huang was prepared to be heavily extorted by the bearded man, as it was such a good opportunity to not extort some money from Huang He.
Unexpectedly, the bearded man took the initiative to admit his mistake and said, "I'm sorry, I really didn't think it through. I just wanted to help Mr. Huang recover his losses. Since the product is in short supply, let's consider this contract null and void, and burn it!"
With that, the bearded man directly had his secretary take out the contract and, in front of Huang He, burned it to ashes with a lighter.
"What exactly does this guy want?" Boss Huang stared at the ashes on the table, for the first time feeling a strong interest in the bearded man.