The legal representative of Cole Power Group — Nathan Cole.
Looking at the freshly printed business license, Nathan felt a rare sense of satisfaction.
Not only the name had changed. Since it was now a full-fledged "Power Group," the logo had to live up to the title.
Glancing at the Fortune 500 and the sleek badges of famous automakers, he noted that most relied on simplicity. Clean design, minimal strokes — that was the true mark of prestige. A logo that looked effortless, yet carried weight.
Design fees were always a point of debate. Some companies paid millions and ended up with something barely different from the old design. Nathan chuckled.
For his purpose, ten thousand rupees would more than suffice for a simple yet bold logo.
He pulled out his phone and posted the request on a professional design platform:
Corporate logo design. Must be simple and impactful. Budget: 10,000 rupees.
Task complete. He glanced at the clock. Nearly time for his dinner meeting.
Although Eastmere was close to a major first-tier city like Seabridge, local prices weren't nearly as high. For 1,800 rupees, one could enjoy a first-class meal. Normally, if it wasn't about business, Nathan was fine with a fifteen-rupee rice bowl.
The meal ended with the expected exchange — full plates, a few toasts, and smooth conversation that turned easily toward business.
Nathan's responsibility afterward was simple: pay sanitation crews for leaves. Each truckload of clean, sorted leaves would earn the workers 20 rupees in subsidy.
The price wasn't high, but for workers it was practically free money. They already had to sweep the streets; now they could sell the leaves instead of burning them. A few truckloads collected each day translated to extra income and better morale.
Everyone won.
…
Three days later, the new sign was hung outside.
Eastmere Power Plant — a subsidiary of Cole Power Group.
Nobody quite understood why, but the workers all knew one thing: Nathan Cole was aiming higher. Otherwise, why attach a "Power Group" name to what had been the city's third-largest, almost-forgotten station?
If there was hope of growth, morale rose too. The factory buzzed with energy, especially since the last of their stored coal had been burned.
Now, aside from the "battery" storing more than six million kilowatt-hours of electricity, the plant had no fuel left. The furnaces had gone silent.
Nathan wasted no time. His next order: dismantle every coal-driven engine, every motor, every last piece of redundant equipment.
Within hours, several heavy trucks rolled in. Workers removed machinery piece by piece, loading it onto trailers bound for the steel factory.
The sight sparked heated discussions among the employees.
"What's Mr. Cole doing? Selling the motors? Is the factory shutting down?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Why else would he rename it 'Cole Power Group'? He must be expanding."
"Expanding? Hah. Maybe he's just selling the old gear to buy newer ones. Higher efficiency, better conversion."
"Or maybe he's messing around. You know how expensive new power units are. We'll be bankrupt before we know it. Should've stuck with coal."
"Old man, your thinking's outdated. If the boss makes the group bigger, don't our wages and benefits rise too?"
"You saw those strange electromagnetic boards that arrived yesterday, didn't you? He's upgrading, mark my words."
…
Nathan didn't hear their chatter. After the last of the machinery was hauled away, he ordered the idle workers into construction duty.
The only structures left untouched were the transmission lines and the giant cables running between the workshop, the transformer, and the storage facility. Everything else was fair game.
First, they built a concrete wall 1.2 meters high around the workshop. Then, as instructed, they installed the electromagnetic collection plates.
Once the cement work was complete and the plates installed, Nathan had truckloads of soil delivered. The workers buried the plates beneath half a meter of dirt, sealing them beneath the earth like treasure chests.
Finally, with the dirt tamped down and the trucks gone, Nathan gathered every worker in the factory for a meeting.
He stood at the front, eyes steady, voice firm.
"The direction of this power plant is changing. From today forward, we will take the environmental route — bioelectricity. Our goal is simple: provide the cheapest, most stable power in Eastmere, and bring Cole Power Group into thousands of homes."
The announcement landed like thunder. Dozens of workers stared at him in disbelief. Even Uncle Lewis looked unsettled.
"Damn," one worker muttered. "He really means bioelectricity. I knew sending him abroad to study would fill his head with this."
"He's a bookworm. Knows what's in the papers, not the real world. Remember when Old Liu listened to a foreign expert and tried biopower? His plant went under in a year."
"Two months. That's all I give us before this place collapses."
"Easy for him — his family's rich. But what about us? Finding new jobs here isn't easy."
Almost everyone felt the same: Nathan's plan was madness.
Even Uncle Lewis sighed inwardly. The old machines were gone. There was no way back now.
The workers exchanged anxious looks, whispering in uneasy tones. Nathan took it all in, drew a long breath, and opened his mouth.