Ethan opened his mouth, but said nothing.

"We don’t have the people, Ethan. That’s the reality." Leo sighed. "Those old bureaucrats, for all their problems, have the technical know-how. They know this city’s labyrinthine pipes and rules."

"If we conduct a major purge now, this building will be paralyzed by tomorrow. Trash won’t get collected, heating pipes won’t get fixed, and even broken streetlights will be ignored."

"When that happens, the angry citizens won’t care if it’s the old bureaucrats causing trouble. They’ll just curse me, the new Mayor, for being incompetent."

Leo pushed the list back.

"So, we can’t replace them. At least, not right now."

"We need to keep them, use their skills, and at the same time, use Sarah’s audit to whip them into line until we can train our own people."

’Well done, Leo.’ Roosevelt’s voice held a trace of approval.

’Ethan is still too young. He thinks replacing the enemy with our own people will solve the problem.’

’He thinks Frank’s Union stalwarts, once they put on suits and sit in an office, will be more loyal than Tom O’Malley.’

’But he doesn’t understand. Once those Union stalwarts are sitting in a director’s chair, it won’t even take three years for them to become the exact same kind of bureaucrats as the current bunch.’

’So-called loyalty, so-called closeness—in the face of the corruption of power and profit, they’re nothing but a fragile illusion.’

’Once your ass is in the chair with the power to sign off on things, the former revolutionary becomes the new bureaucrat. When it comes to power, human nature is all the same.’

’You can’t be on good terms with everyone in City Hall, nor do you need to be.’

Roosevelt’s voice grew distant, filled with a sense of reminiscence.

’Back when I was in the White House, I had Ike, I had Hopkins, I had Marshall. They all professed their loyalty to me, but I never managed them through loyalty. I relied on checks and balances, on letting them fight amongst themselves, on having them watch each other.’

’I used their ambition, I used their fear. The one thing I never relied on was their conscience.’

Roosevelt’s voice paused, then he continued, ’As a true leader, you must remember one ironclad rule: no one can be completely trusted.’

Leo’s fingers paused on the tabletop.

A question suddenly popped into his head: ’Does that mean I can’t trust you either?’

Silence descended in his consciousness.

The silence lasted for a long time, so long that Leo thought Roosevelt wasn’t going to answer.

’That’s a good question.’

Roosevelt finally spoke, his voice low, yet carrying a chilling honesty.

’If I were alive right now, if I were still sitting in my wheelchair with my own political agenda and family interests, then you absolutely could not trust me.’

’Because for the sake of my goals, I would sacrifice you without a moment’s hesitation, just as I’ve sacrificed countless others.’

’But now I’m just a ghost, Leo. I have no personal interests, only lingering attachments. And that, ironically, makes me the only ally you can truly rely on.’

Suddenly, Roosevelt’s tone shifted.

’So, in a sense, only the dead are worthy of trust.’

In that instant, Leo felt a chill shoot up his spine and straight to the crown of his head.

Then, Roosevelt’s voice returned to normal.

’Even so, maintain your skepticism. That is the mark of a competent politician.’

Leo took a deep breath, pulling his thoughts back to reality.

Ethan opened his mouth, but said nothing.

He understood law and policy, but he really didn’t know how to fix a sewer pipe.

"So, we have to keep them."

Leo stood up and walked over to Ethan.

"But that doesn’t mean we compromise with them."

"What do we do, then?" Ethan asked.

"I’ll have a plan when the time comes. For now, let’s talk about something more important."

Leo walked to the whiteboard and wrote the three main strategic objectives from the document on it.

Pittsburgh Revitalization Plan, Phase Two.

Inland Port Expansion.

Municipal Transparency Reform.

These three phrases represented three completely different directions, and three completely different battlefields.

"Ethan, we only have a hundred days." Leo folded his arms, his gaze drifting across the whiteboard. "A new official gets to light three fires. The first one has to burn the brightest, and it absolutely cannot be allowed to singe us."

"In the long run, the Inland Port expansion offers the greatest returns," Ethan analyzed. "It can fundamentally change Pittsburgh’s position in logistics, bring in long-term tax growth, and it’s the foundation of the deal you made with Morganfield."

"But it’s also the slowest." Leo shook his head. "That’s a massive project worth hundreds of millions of US Dollars, involving approvals from federal, state, and city governments. Then there are environmental assessments, land acquisition, and Union negotiations. The preliminary feasibility study alone could take us a whole year." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"The people of Pittsburgh can’t wait that long. They just elected me; they need to see change immediately. If I tell them, ’Please wait another five years, you’ll have jobs once the port is built,’ they’ll run me out of office."

Leo picked up a marker and drew a symbol for ’on hold’ next to "Inland Port Expansion."

"This project has to move forward, but only behind the scenes. It can’t be the centerpiece of our first hundred days."

Ethan nodded, his finger moving to the third item.

"Then what about the municipal transparency reform? That was a major plank of our platform we promised during the campaign. Cleaning up the corruption network left by the previous administration, cutting those no-show jobs, and dragging the opaque procurement contracts into the sunlight. It would be a huge boost to your political reputation."