The most critical piece of Adav's pre-war strategy was the acquisition of a shipping fleet. The British controlled the sea lanes, a stranglehold that could cut off India from vital trade during wartime. Adav intended to snap that chain.
He began discreetly. Instead of building ships from scratch, a time-consuming and capital-intensive endeavor, he used the Codex's [Economic Simulator] to identify distressed shipping companies in neutral European nations, particularly Norway and Denmark. These companies, facing uncertain futures with rising geopolitical tensions, were open to quick, lucrative sales. Adav, operating through layers of anonymous proxies and offshore accounts, acquired a dozen aging but serviceable cargo ships. He then quickly put them under the flag of a newly formed, ostensibly independent, "Bharat Merchant Marine" based in Goa, then still under Portuguese control, providing a crucial neutral port.
His strategy was multi-pronged. These ships would not only transport raw materials and finished goods for Bharat Corporation, but also establish independent trade routes. Adav foresaw the crippling effect of blockades and U-boat warfare on British shipping. His own fleet, strategically sailing under a neutral flag and carrying seemingly innocuous cargo (often high-grade steel and fertilizers), would provide crucial lifeline for his growing empire. He also began stockpiling key resources like rubber, copper, and specialized machinery, knowing that wartime shortages would drive up prices and make them almost impossible to acquire.
The British, preoccupied with the naval arms race against Germany and the increasing instability in Europe, barely registered this minor shift in the colonial shipping landscape. They saw a few old tramp steamers changing hands, perhaps a small Indian merchant diversifying. They missed the deliberate, strategic intent behind Adav's moves: to create a logistical independence that would allow Bharat Corporation to not only survive the coming war but to thrive in its chaos, unburdened by the very control mechanisms the British believed were their ultimate power.