After the energy expansion conference ended, senior officials from every nation held emergency discussions about the day's proceedings.
America, the Pentagon.
"Dozens of countries have already expressed tremendous interest in Atlantis's energy network. At this rate, I'm afraid we can no longer stop them from taking control of Earth's energy supply!"
"I never expected them to give up such a huge slice of the pie and hand all those profits to others. That makes most of our contingency plans useless."
"Yes! Their approach certainly disrupted our plans, but it also offers us considerable benefits, enough to largely offset our losses in energy exports."
"But the strategic advantages we've accumulated over decades are gradually disappearing. That puts us at a serious disadvantage when competing with other countries!"
"First they acquired vast numbers of steel-related businesses, and now they're moving into energy. One provides the most important raw material for basic industry, and the other powers industrial production. I'm worried... they're eating away at our foundations, step by step!"
"I agree. They're slowly boiling us alive, and we must remain vigilant.
I propose that we refuse to let America become part of their energy network. If we take the lead in refusing, we should be able to persuade a group of allies to reject this plan too!
Then, as long as we and OPEC massively increase crude oil production and invest more heavily in new energy technologies, we can lower energy prices ourselves.
Even if we still can't compete with their prices, we can at least maintain our energy independence!"
"No, I disagree! That's no long-term solution. Their technological advantage is too great. Taking them head-on will cost us far more than we gain!
Our domestic labor costs are already high. If our energy is more expensive than other countries' too, how