Chapter 696 - 325: Capital’s Panic
An assistant held a tablet, his hands trembling.
"Sir, there’s been some movement on Wall Street."
"Read."
"The pharmaceutical sector index has dropped four percent since the market opened."
The assistant swallowed.
"Several major hedge funds have begun selling off our stock. An analyst at Goldman Sachs released a brief downgrading the entire industry to a ’watch’ rating."
"What’s the reason?"
"The reason is... policy risk."
The assistant handed the tablet to Vance.
"The market believes there’s a five percent chance that Leo Wallace will secure the nomination. While that’s only five percent, it’s enough to send capital into a panic."
"Because if that five percent chance comes to pass, the entire industry’s business model will be rewritten."
Vance stared at the red, plunging line.
It was panic made manifest.
Capital is the most sensitive of beasts, and it had smelled a shift in the wind.
And it was fleeing.
Vance knew he couldn’t wait any longer.
If he allowed this panic to spread, allowed Leo to keep riding this wave of momentum...
Once Leo actually reached that position, or even just acquired that level of influence...
The pharmaceutical industry would be well and truly done for.
He had to be shut down.
Vance picked up the phone.
"Notify all the board members."
"And the heads of Merck, Johnson, and Antai Insurance."
"We’re calling an emergency closed-door meeting."
"Now."
"Immediately."
...
「Houston. A private estate belonging to the National Energy Association.」
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Sterling sat on a sofa, tablet in hand.
Several energy tycoons were seated in the room. They had just finished a video conference about the situation in Pennsylvania.
"Vice president?"
An oil tycoon from Texas let out a gruff laugh.
"Those folks in the Democratic Party must have lost their nerve. To rope in that kid from Pittsburgh, they’re even willing to make unconstitutional promises like that. What does that tell you? It tells you their base in Pennsylvania has completely shattered."
Sterling lowered his tablet.
"It is indeed a gesture. Everyone knows Leo can’t be vice president—his age is a hard barrier, and the Constitution isn’t that easy to change. But the gesture sends a clear message: the White House is bowing to Leo."
"Those people from the Republican National Committee were just on the phone with me. Taylor wants us to use our connection with Leo to persuade him to stir up more internal chaos in Pennsylvania, hoping to completely split the Democratic Party during the primaries."
"So what was our response?" the oil tycoon asked.
"I refused."
Sterling replied crisply.
"Why? It doesn’t hurt us to throw the Democratic Party into chaos."
"Because Leo Wallace is our asset." Sterling stood up. "Gentlemen, let’s not forget our primary objective. We want that Computing Power Special Zone. We want the endless stream of power exports that comes with it. And more importantly, we want the foundation for a century of dominance."
"Leo’s base is the unions, the blue-collar workers. His position on the political spectrum means he has no choice but to stand for industrial revival, which aligns perfectly with our interests."
Sterling looked at the tycoons in the room.
"If Leo actually defects to the Republican Party, or if he loses his clout within the Democratic Party, and they replace him with some Establishment Faction puppet who only knows how to preach environmentalism and shout slogans—could we still build our Computing Power Special Zone? Could our power plants still run at full capacity?"
"The more influence Leo has, the louder his voice in Washington, the more secure our business becomes."
Sterling concluded.
"Let him raise hell. If he can actually snag a vice presidential nomination, even if it’s just in name only, that’s still a wedge we’ve driven into the White House."
"Tell Taylor that the Energy Association supports Leo Wallace, regardless of his party."