Do Not Fire the First Shot

Black House!

Beautiful Country Energy Minister Moy Mickel stood before President Jesmin like a quail, his head hanging in dejection.

Also present were Defense Minister Selim Hamon and CIA Director Judien.

This was a relatively private meeting. Mickel was one of Jesmin's trusted aides, which was why he had been allowed to attend this secret meeting of Beautiful Country's top leadership.

"Mr. President, I'm sorry for the trouble, but I couldn't stop the Jieko Group's biological batteries from spreading. Those biological batteries have far too many advantages."

Mickel spoke weakly. He had made efforts before, but technological innovation was like automobiles replacing horse-drawn carriages and mobile phones replacing letters. Even Beautiful Country, the hegemon of Blue Star, could not stop the changes brought by technological progress.

The tide of fuel-powered vehicles being phased out surged like a tsunami. As Beautiful Country's Energy Minister, he had the will but not the strength, and could only watch biological batteries enter car after car and household after household.

Jesmin frowned and tapped the table. In a heavy tone, he asked, "How are the reverse-engineering efforts going? Is there any hope of obtaining the technology behind these biological batteries? Even if the energy density is somewhat lower, we can accept that."

The biological batteries had placed enormous pressure on him as Beautiful Country's president. Internally, the major oil companies were dissatisfied; externally, the pressure from several oil-producing client states was mounting.

He knew the chances were slim, but he still could not help hoping. If they could reverse-engineer even an inferior biological battery, they could make up for the losses they were suffering in the oil industry. They only needed to stop the Jieko Group from monopolizing the market.

"We can't reverse-engineer them. According to the reports from the laboratory personnel, many of the