"Hey, Nicholas, that's enough for now. Some folks in the industry aren't happy with you — they've already gone and complained to the higher-ups.
Look, your acquisitions are all fair market moves, sure, but you've gotta think about the bigger picture too, right? A stable industry benefits everyone long-term. The economy's a little shaky this year, so stability matters more than ever. You following me?" Director Kai said to him over the phone.
Nick nodded along quickly. "Understood, Director Kai. Don't worry — these four companies are it. No more acquisitions after this."
Kai laughed on the other end. "Kid, you've got quite the appetite, grabbing 2,000 MWh in one shot. You know what the entire nation's total installed lithium battery capacity was last year? You waltz in and grab two percent right off the bat — of course people are getting nervous.
Slow down, kid. You've got plenty of time."
"Ha, thanks Director Kai. We're done for now — just these four. No more expansion plans for a while," Nick said quickly, still smiling.
"Ah, so you're going the premium, boutique route."
Kai thought it over, then chuckled. "That works too. Keeps the disruption to the industry minimal, keeps people less riled up.
But I've gotta remind you — demand for this new battery tech is huge across several key sectors, especially defense research. You cannot let supply dry up in those areas."
"Don't worry — one of the four plants we bought this round, we own it outright. That one's going to be our dedicated special-manufacturing facility, purely for large-scale, specialized new battery production.
Great location too, right in Houston. Once we finish the handover and renovations, we'll invite you and the other relevant departments in for an audit," Nick answered earnestly.
He'd already worked out roles for all four plants. Three of them — where they held controlling stakes — would handle civilian battery production. The biggest one would cover their own internal needs, and the other two smaller ones would sell into the open market.
The wholly-owned plant would handle specialized batteries — big integrated battery packs, extreme temperature-resistant units, that kind of thing. More critical work than the other three, since it had to cover both Militech's needs and the battery requirements of key defense projects.
Kai seemed pleased with the answer, his smile audible through the phone. "You don't have to wait that long, actually. Several key projects need your new battery tech urgently — they're all hoping you can start production ASAP.
So get the acceptance and onboarding paperwork sorted fast, reorganize the plant, get it under control as quick as you can. Then push hard on the renovation and upgrade work. Meanwhile, our joint working group will move in alongside you.
We can run the audit while renovations are happening — saves time, and we can fix problems the moment they turn up. The Haiyan Institute and Project 309 are both pushing hard on this."
Catching the weight behind Kai's words, Nick got a little confused. "Director Kai, didn't we already license out the patents? Why do these big projects still need us supplying the actual batteries too?"
"Ha, there's a lot of key projects launching right now, and everyone needs high-performance batteries. Truth is, when it comes to battery manufacturing, the defense-industry system doesn't really have an edge over private companies — if anything, they're behind in some areas.
Upgrading a plant takes time and money, and absorbing your tech takes time and talent too. So we'd rather hand more of this work to reliable, capable private companies like yours. That's the trust the organization's placing in you — the trust the country's placing in your company," Kai said, his tone turning serious.
Nick dropped the smile and answered just as seriously. "Understood. We'll go all in, get real production running as fast as possible, and make sure every major project stays on schedule."
"Good," Kai said. "Also push hard on cluster management tech for large-scale battery packs. You guys have a real edge there — capitalize on it, get that tech developed fast.
Demand for cluster management on these big battery packs is urgent, military and civilian both."
"Our research team's already started on that, but it's gonna take time. We're a little thin on manpower there too. Wondering if we could partner with university labs on this front," Nick said, nodding, then throwing out his ask right away. Timing mattered — you don't just handle everything solo, you ask when it counts. As long as the request wasn't outrageous, the higher-ups usually worked with you.
Sure enough, Kai laughed at the request. "Ha, kid, you were setting me up for that one, weren't you? Fine, school-industry partnerships are something we push hard for. We can help connect you, but you'll need to hash out the actual terms yourselves.
Just know university labs usually run thin on funding and top-tier equipment, so you might want to lead with that angle when you approach them.
Also — aren't you a grad of your alma mater's engineering program? Battery tech's a flagship discipline there. Go visit more often when you get time. Being their star alum will open more doors than us pulling strings ever could."
*Huh, how'd I forget that? Sitting on a gold mine and still out here chasing spare change.* Nick smacked his forehead, then thanked him quickly. "If you hadn't brought it up, I really would've forgotten. Perfect timing too — alumni weekend's coming up soon, I'll definitely swing by and plant a few more trees."
"Ha, that's the spirit." Kai laughed heartily.
After a few more minutes of small talk, Nick finally hung up. Deep in thought, he called in his assistant, Calloway, and started rattling off instructions with a smile on his face.