The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, dismissed by many in India as a distant European squabble, ignited the inferno Adav had so meticulously prepared for. August 1914. Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war. The world plunged into a conflict of unprecedented scale. For the British Empire, this meant turning to its vast colonial holdings for resources, manpower, and, crucially, industrial output.
Adav's Bharat Corporation, with its hyper-efficient steel mills, nascent chemical plants, and burgeoning shipping fleet, immediately became a prime target for war contracts. British procurement officers, initially haughty, soon found themselves at Adav's Pune office, appealing for urgent supplies. Adav, now a calm, almost preternaturally self-possessed fifteen-year-old, greeted them with the cold, commercial demeanor of a seasoned industrialist.
He would supply the British war machine, but on his terms. No appeals to "duty to the Empire," no fixed, low prices. His prices would be market-driven, reflecting the immense demand and his superior product. The Codex's [Economic Simulator] ran continuous, real-time projections, identifying critical supply chain weaknesses within the British military-industrial complex. It highlighted specific needs for high-grade steel for armaments, chemicals for munitions, and transport solutions to move troops and supplies. Adav meticulously identified bottlenecks and leveraged them for maximum profit.
He offered long-term contracts, but with built-in clauses for price adjustments based on raw material costs and demand fluctuations. He knew the British would be desperate. This wasn't about patriotism for him; it was about power. Every tonne of steel, every barrel of chemical, every rupee gained, was a step closer to his vision of an independent, economically dominant India. The war, a tragedy for millions, was for Adav, the ultimate proving ground for his corporate empire.