Chapter 568 - 266: Another Chat
"The view here is nice." Campbell looked at the flowing river. "But I never have time to enjoy it."
"If you called me here to admire the scenery, we can do this another time." Leo’s voice was cold and hard. "I have a mountain of messes back at City Hall."
Campbell took a sip of his coffee, the steam fogging up his glasses.
"Washington called me."
Campbell’s voice was soft, partially carried away by the wind, but still clear.
"Marcus Crassus roared at me over the phone. He gave me a clear directive."
Campbell turned and looked at Leo.
"He told me to mobilize the Pennsylvania National Guard."
"To sign an executive order declaring a state of emergency in Pittsburgh. To send the army to occupy City Hall, relieve you of your duties, and forcibly dissolve that Industrial Revival Alliance of yours."
"He told me to label you as a rebellious instigator of riots and throw you in Federal Prison."
Leo’s hand, holding his coffee cup, tightened abruptly.
’Washington has finally lost its patience. They’re ready to deploy the machine of violence.’
"Then why haven’t you done it yet?"
Leo sneered.
"What are you waiting for? For me to get on my knees and beg you? Or do you think the National Guard doesn’t have enough bullets?"
Campbell shook his head.
He turned his gaze back to the river, watching a lone water bird skim past in the cold wind.
"Because I don’t want to see bloodshed in Pennsylvania."
Campbell’s voice was filled with exhaustion.
"Leo, you’re too young. You only see the struggle, the wins and losses. You think it’s a great feat to poke a hole in the sky, a glorious achievement to get tens of thousands of people onto the streets."
"But I see the consequences."
"If the Guard marches into Pittsburgh, your workers will fight back. The Union members will bring people to block the roads with trucks, and clashes will break out. After the first shot is fired, the situation will spiral completely out of control."
"Factories will shut down, schools will close, and hatred will spread like a plague. Pennsylvania will be torn in two—one half slaves to Washington, the other an angry mob."
"I am the Governor of this state."
Campbell’s voice grew heavy.
"My duty is to protect this land, not turn it into a battlefield."
Leo was stunned for a moment.
He looked at the old man beside him.
For the past few months, he had seen Campbell as his greatest enemy, an immovable rock blocking the path of reform.
But he’d never considered that the rock refused to move because it was trying to hold back a flood.
"You think your Industrial Revival Alliance has survived this long purely because of your own methods?"
Campbell suddenly laughed.
"You think that note system that bypasses regulations, that illegal cross-regional procurement... you think it was all truly seamless?"
"Months ago, the State Treasury Department had already drafted the seizure orders, and the Auditing Bureau’s investigation team was already on the highway."
"I was the one who suppressed it."
Campbell pointed to his own chest.
"I used my executive privilege to block those fatal bullets for you in Harrisburg."
Leo stared at the flowing river below, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Why?" Leo looked up. "We’re supposed to be political enemies."
"I even had a whole legal counter-strategy prepared against Harrisburg, but I never expected you to remain silent."
Campbell took a sip of his now-cool coffee and let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
"Leo, I came from a legal background. I’ve been a prosecutor and an attorney general. I know better than anyone what kind of gray areas your actions are treading in."
He turned his head, his gaze clear and perceptive.
"But I don’t care about flaws on paper. I just want Pennsylvania to prosper."
"If you truly want to get this stagnant state moving, you’re bound to have to play with antiquated laws and find those gray loopholes no one else dares to touch."
"Amending legislation is too difficult. Vested interests will use every procedure to slow you down, and administrative inertia will trap you like quicksand."
"That’s why any set of rules starts to stink after being in place for too long. It protects the past, not the future."
"Washington is already displeased with me. Because I’m disobedient. They need a compliant executor, not an old patrician with sentimental ties to his home state."
"They’re very likely to make their move through Aston Monroe."
At the mention of this name, Campbell’s tone turned icy.
"I’m the one who propped Monroe up. More than half of his network in the State Government was woven by my own hands. He has some influence in the state, but he’s still too green to topple me on my own turf. He can’t have any real effect on me."
"But he is a huge threat to you."
Campbell stared at Leo, his tone becoming extremely serious.
"Washington will use Monroe to bypass me and move on Pittsburgh directly. If Monroe wants to climb the ladder, he’ll have to use your head as his pledge of allegiance."
"So, I came to see you today to cooperate. If you fall, I lose my leverage against Washington."
"Your situation is extremely dangerous right now, Leo."
Campbell’s voice seemed to drift in the wind.
"Public opinion alone can’t save you. Public opinion is a tide. It can push you ashore today and drag you into the deep sea tomorrow."
"What you need is administrative legitimacy. A solid shield that even Washington would have to think twice about shattering."
"I can give you that shield."
Campbell reached into the inner pocket of his overcoat and took out a neatly folded document.
He handed the document to Leo.
Leo took it.
It was the draft of the Medicine Benefits Transparency and Fairness Bill.
The very bill aimed at establishing the Mutual Aid Alliance and breaking the pharmaceutical sales monopoly.
Previously, this bill had become a target of mutual attacks because it contained a clause for a regulatory committee.
But now, Leo saw that the clause had been crossed out in red ink.
Beside it was Campbell’s personal signature and an annotation: To be deleted.
"This is my sincerity."
Campbell looked at the river, his tone calm.
"I can remove that regulatory committee clause. I’m willing to sign a clean bill."
"You can have full control of the Mutual Aid Alliance. You can negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies, and you can establish your new order."
"I’ll give you legitimacy."
"I will do everything in my power to push the bill through the state legislature’s review."
Leo’s hand, holding the document, trembled slightly.
’This is what I’ve been dreaming of.’
He had no doubt about Campbell’s influence in the state legislature. With the governor’s promise, the Mutual Aid Alliance would become an official institution protected by Pennsylvania state law.
Even Washington would face immense legal hurdles if it tried to interfere with a legitimate state-level project.
"And the conditions?" Leo asked.
"Help me stabilize the situation."
Campbell turned and looked at Leo.
"Stop causing trouble in Harrisburg. Cease all media attacks within Pennsylvania."
"Let me finish this term with dignity."
"I’m no longer looking for a position in Washington. I just want to serve out another term in this office, peacefully, and keep this state from falling apart on my watch."
’Do you understand, Leo?’
Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind, filled with deep sentiment.
’He’s asking for help.’
’Doesn’t he remind you of Hoover back in the day?’
’Herbert Hoover, the President who was overwhelmed at the start of the Great Depression. He was a principled administrator, diligent and dedicated, trying to patch up a collapsing world with outdated rules.’
’But he was so powerless against the tide of a new era.’
’He couldn’t stop the greed of Wall Street, nor could he quell the fury of the starving masses.’
’Campbell is the Hoover of this era.’
’He still believes in that old-fashioned sense of elite responsibility, in that gentle, unspoken political understanding. But the times have changed. Politics now is the law of the jungle, where the strong devour the weak.’
’He’s been phased out.’
’But he doesn’t want it to be an ugly end.’
Leo looked at the old man before him.
The wind ruffled Campbell’s hair, making him look even older.
The burning aggression in Leo’s heart slowly faded.
He realized the man sitting across from him wasn’t an enemy, but a fellow prisoner trapped in the same game.