Look, whether it was their statement or the media's attacks, it was all just noise. As long as things didn't blow up bigger, it'd dent sales a little, but nothing they couldn't handle.
Overseas was the big push this year, sure, but domestically was still where they had to plant their flag.
So they'd been watching the domestic numbers like a hawk. Unlike previous years, this time they'd added offline retail on top of the usual online platforms.
Combine that with the word-of-mouth and brand buzz they'd already built up, and every single metric had basically gone vertical since launch.
That growth kept spinning up new trending topics, which fed right back into more sales. A nice little loop.
Seeing domestic sales humming along fine, Nick shifted his attention elsewhere.
Two big things were on his plate lately: the battery plant acquisition deal, and Texas's push to get Militech to officially settle down there.
For Nick, both mattered — but the Texas thing could wait. No rush there.
The battery acquisition, though, couldn't sit any longer. Needed to get locked in.
During this stretch, Giovanni had already worked out and signed cooperation agreements with the military, the Science and Tech Bureau, and a few defense-industry units back east. Not a binding contract, just an agreement — but everyone knew an "agreement" like this carried more weight than most contracts ever would.
Honestly, the agreement itself wasn't that complicated — it just laid out the framework and direction for future cooperation.
Nick's side wanted the economic upside; the other three wanted the tech. No real conflict there in theory, but plenty of details to iron out.
For instance, Nick's team agreed to license their patented tech so certain units could manufacture the new lithium battery — but strictly for classified core projects, no commercial use, no market circulation whatsoever.
That was the exception, though. Normally it'd be a standard partnership. Once Nick's team wrapped up the plant acquisition, the military and the Science and Tech Bureau would run an audit and evaluation on the facility.
Pass that audit, and the plant could start taking production orders for the new battery from the military and defense contractors, with official reps stationed on-site.
There'd be follow-up projects too, like continued R&D on the new battery. Expert panels had already flagged plenty of room left to push the tech further.
So they planned to set up a dedicated lab and research team just to handle that ongoing work.
Once all that was settled and the agreements locked in, Nick's team could finally move. They'd been holding off on anything big until these pieces clicked into place.
Now that they had a green light, the very next day Nick sealed a deal with Harris New Energy Co., a battery outfit based in Binzhou — picked up 51% of the company for a few hundred million, plus rights to the new battery tech.
Just like that, Harris CO became a Militech subsidiary, rebranded as the Militech Binzhou Lithium Battery Plant.
Truth is, Harris CO wasn't huge — calling it a "company" was generous, it was basically one factory. Mid-sized at best in the industry.
Battery tech itself hadn't seen a huge leap in recent years, but manufacturing processes and production methods had gotten a lot more refined.
That let the big, well-funded players scale up fast, while smaller and mid-sized companies got squeezed hard under the pressure.
Without access to the newer processes, these smaller companies lost their cost edge and couldn't compete on price against the giants.
So they weren't just failing to profit — they were bleeding money, losing more the more they produced. Shareholders, unsurprisingly, didn't want to keep pouring cash into upgrading tech that wasn't paying off, which just made things worse.
As things got shakier, profit-driven shareholders started eyeing the exits, which made everything even more unstable.
So when Nick's team's new battery tech went public, it wasn't the giants who came running first — it was these small and mid-sized companies. They knew if the big players got their hands on this tech, they'd be finished for good.
Meanwhile, the big corporations, already fat off market share, were the least eager for change. So at first, they were actually kind of resistant to the new tech.
They still sent people to reach out to Nick's team, sure, but you can imagine the attitude behind it.
So this round, Nick's team was targeting mid-sized companies pulling somewhere between 400 and 1,000 MWh a year. Too small wasn't worth the effort; too big cost too much to swallow in one bite.
Mid-sized was the sweet spot. Besides, this battery was staying premium-tier for a while yet, so production volume didn't need to be massive.
That wasn't just Nick's call either — it lined up with what relevant departments had suggested, aiming for a smooth transition rather than blowing up the whole market overnight.
Plenty of other companies were in the same boat as Harris CO, and they became the main pool Nick's team started screening.
So once the Harris CO acquisition closed fast, it sent a ripple through the whole industry.
The speed of that deal made it crystal clear Nick's team meant business about breaking into lithium batteries, and that had some of the big players nervous.
Now, with the key patents firmly in Nick's hands, those giants were stuck. Why would Nick's side hand over their trump cards just to make room for competitors trying to muscle in?
Not like the old days, either — patent law and IP protections had gotten a lot tighter, enforcement stricter, penalties bigger. Unless they licensed the tech through proper channels, or invested serious R&D to work around the patents, or tried to copy something similar and hope it held up.
The first option was hard. The second was even harder.