Audi's official crash test livestream had barely started, and already millions had flooded in—and the number was still climbing fast. Ten million viewers was only a matter of time.
The moment the stream went live, comment spam exploded across the screen.
"Finally! I've been waiting all morning. Didn't even dare go to the bathroom."
"You rookie. Crash tests take time. Settle in."
"I've already decided—whichever car performs best today, that's what I'm buying."
"Same. I hope Audi delivers. I want to support domestic, but not at the cost of safety."
"What star rating do you think those foreign cars will hit?"
"The old global standards barely reached three stars under this new test. Don't expect miracles."
"Audi might hit four stars. The rest? Hard to say."
"Come on, you think these foreign brands are using mass-production models? No chance."
"Audi probably isn't cheating, but you can bet the others are."
"How do I know? Because my Audi A4 was rear-ended by one of those test cars two days ago."
"The one that hit me? A Porsche E345. Their car was toast. Mine? Just needed a bumper replaced."
"Wait, you're proud your car got hit?"
"I'm proud I walked away, and my car walked with me. If the A4 weren't built solid, I wouldn't be here to comment."
As the audience poured in, Audi's Five-Star Crash Test officially began.
The first car up: the Porsche E345. Same class as the Audi A4.
Since the A4's launch, the E345's sales in China had tanked. It used to move over 10,000 units a month. Now, even after price cuts, it barely broke a few thousand.
Today, Porsche's CEO, David Mason, watched as his company's car rolled onto the test field. His expression radiated smug confidence.
In his mind, this E345 had been hand-tuned to perform. It would show strong results. But no one was looking at him now. Every camera, every eye, every comment was locked onto the car in center field.
The first test: frontal collision.
At 64 km/h, the car would slam into an obstacle 1 meter tall and 0.45 meters thick, with a 40% overlap based on the car's width.
Once final preparations were complete, the E345 launched forward.
Inside the venue, the execs from every company were tense.
On the surface, they were allies—co-signed competitors ganging up on Audi. But deep down, they were also rivals. No one wanted Porsche to outperform their cars.
They all had the same hope: Porsche does decently, but not too well.
Haifeng, watching from the sidelines, looked unmoved.
Audi had done dozens of crash tests like this. This was nothing new.
And the E345? Tweaked or not, it was still the same core model. There was no surprise coming.
But the viewers in the livestream couldn't stay calm. The speed, the setup, the intensity—all of it pushed tension through the roof.
"Damn, that's fast. Are you sure this is a safety test and not a stunt show?"
"Looks like it's gonna get totaled…"
"Even tanks take damage at this force. That car's screwed."
"If this E345 gets flattened, Mason's gonna want to disappear."
"Less talk—watch! It's hitting now!"
Bang.
The impact echoed across the test site—and through millions of livestreams.
For a second, the screen shook. The noise left everyone stunned.
"Holy hell."
"If I were driving that… would I still be alive?"
Under that kind of force, even the safest car would struggle.
The Porsche E345 crumpled as expected.
The front end was mangled. The bumper had torn away. But it hadn't folded completely, badly deformed? Yes. Total loss? Not quite.
David Mason smiled, eyes glinting with satisfaction.
The test wasn't scored yet, but he already liked what he saw from the damage alone.
Feigning disappointment, he performed:
"Ah… worse than we expected. Looks like there's still room for improvement."
"Still, it's within acceptable range. We can say this test was a pass."
He looked sideways at Haifeng as he spoke, smug, superior.
The other brand reps jumped in, eager to ride the PR wave:
"Mr. Mason, that performance was excellent."
"Among active production models, this is top-tier."
"Congratulations on the strong result."
"Honestly, if we match the E345, we'll be more than satisfied."
"Porsche's safety engineering shines through. Quite a surprise."
Loud praise filled the venue. But underneath, every executive was doing quiet math—Could their test units hold up that well?