A a cup of hot coffee gave off its aroma; outside, a light drizzle fell, while inside, the faint sound of a zither drifted through the room.
At an antique-style desk, a middle-aged man in his early fifties, dressed in a gray linen shirt, worked a calligraphy brush across the paper.
Cultivate Character, Live Long.
The man looked over the four large characters he'd just finished and gave a satisfied little nod.
Just then, a man in his forties, dressed in a suit, hurried in with a folder. "Secretary Steve."
Chairman Steve frowned slightly, glanced over, then went back to admiring his own calligraphy. "Harvey, you're pushing forty — quit rushing around like this. What's going on?"
Harveyhanded over the folder. "Just got word. Militech's cut a deal with Norton Battery Technology in Houston. Bought out the whole company for 180 million. Norton's already been renamed the Militech-Norton Lithium Battery Plant."
"Oh?" That got Steve's attention. He grabbed a towel, wiped his hands, and took the folder. "Which number is this?"
"Counting the earlier Harris CO and Atlas deals, plus this Cang City one — that's number three," Harvey answered.
Steve nodded, walked over to his desk chair, and sat down. He scanned the numbers in the folder for a moment before closing it. "What's the rough output on these three combined?"
Harvey answered right away. "Harris about 400 MWh a year, Atlas is 700, and Norton's around 600. All together, nearly 2,000 MWh — close to a quarter of our own output."
"This Nick fellow's got some serious ambition." Steve thought it over. "Looks like I need to talk this over with a few old friends. How's the tech team doing on the experiments with their new stuff?"
Harvey's face turned serious. "We've got preliminary results. Performance is legit impressive. And that's just from reverse-engineering what they published in the patent filings — some of the key parts of the tech never got patented at all. Looks like they're keeping those as trade secrets."
"What's this Nick actually after? Trying to flip the whole market upside down?" Steve shook his head.
"From what we've heard through channels, the regulators want market stability too, and they won't put up with reckless moves from Nick's side. Should we team up with the other companies and go make our case to the regulators? If he keeps this up, nobody wins," Harvey suggested.
Steve thought it over, then shook his head. "Let's not bother the authorities yet. Get a clearer picture first. Keep watching closely, report the second they make another move.
This industry doesn't need an unstable element running around in it. Set up a meeting with the old crowd — tell them I'm inviting them out for boating and coffee at the lake."
"Got it!" Harvey nodded.
Steve's face finally relaxed a bit. He turned back to Harvey with a small smile. "So? How do you like my calligraphy?"
...Meanwhile, out in Texas, Nick was sitting down with a group from Houston Atlas Lithium Battery Manufacturing in a high-level conference room of the newly opened office tower.
"Mr. Tyler, the terms we're offering you match the other three companies exactly — and honestly, they're already pretty generous." Nick looked across the table at the man opposite him, mid-to-late thirties, eyes bloodshot, looking worn down.
This was Tyler Richardson, thirty-eight, general manager and biggest shareholder of Atlas. Ten years ago, he and some partners had built this battery company from the ground up. Now it was struggling — capital flooding into the lithium battery space, everything consolidating and upgrading fast, and small players like his just couldn't keep pace.
They were still hanging on, barely, but everyone knew where this ended up: get bought out, go under, or catch some miracle turnaround. Miracles happen, sure, but not often — so realistically it was down to the first two.
And Nick's new battery tech dropping was the final nail. Their last bit of hope was gone. If they didn't sell now, once that tech spread wide, nobody would even want to buy them anymore.
So the smart move was to sell to Nick while he was still buying up companies — at least they'd get a fair price that way.
But Tyler Richardson wasn't ready to just give up. Ten years of his life went into this. He wasn't about to hand it over without a fight.
"Nicholas, we've looked over your offer, and it's genuinely fair. But on the equity split — can we talk more? I'm not asking for much. You take the controlling stake, I just want forty percent. That's it."
Nick shook his head. "I get where you're coming from, but business is business — best not to let emotion get in the way.
That said, considering your situation, we can let you keep a slice of equity. Just not more than fifteen percent.
Honestly, I'd rather buy the whole thing outright. Cleaner for you, easier for us.
180 million, plus another five million on top, for full ownership. That's a completely fair number — you can check what we paid the other three, it's no secret."
"I know the number's fair. I just want to keep some skin in the game." Tyler held Nick's gaze, determined. "Truth is, we hit trouble mainly from a cash flow crunch. Get us some capital to upgrade our manufacturing process, and I'm confident we can turn this around and start making money."
"Based on what I know of your track record, I actually believe that." Nick nodded, smiling. "Since you're pushing this hard, I'll set aside a bit more for you. Just not too much."
"Twenty percent. Just twenty, the rest is yours." Tyler made his final push.
Nick leaned back, studied him for a moment. "Fine. Twenty percent. But there's a condition."
"Name it," Tyler said immediately.
Nick smiled. "We don't have the manpower to run this plant ourselves right now. So after the deal closes, you stay on as plant director. Keep helping with equipment upgrades, keep the technical team and workforce intact — nobody gets let go. We'll bring in a replacement once we find the right person."
"Absolutely, absolutely!" Tyler's face lit up.
"Good, we're settled then. Let's get the contract drafted."