"Close, but not quite the bullseye."

Roosevelt’s voice carried a hint of exasperation, like a mentor disappointed in a promising student.

"Leo, you’re the Mayor now, but it seems you’ve forgotten how you won. Have you forgotten the core concept that put you in this office?"

"Struggle," Roosevelt said coldly, spitting out the word.

"Struggle?" Leo was taken aback.

"Look around you. Look at this building, and then think about the City Council across the street," Roosevelt guided him. "If you act like Santa Claus, hauling a giant sack of free US Dollars back from Washington to fill the financial holes and fund new projects, what do you think those old geezers will think?"

A bolt of lightning seemed to flash through Leo’s mind.

He suddenly understood.

’They’ll think I’m a capable sucker,’ Leo answered inwardly.

"Not just a sucker, Leo. You’d be extending their lifeline."

Roosevelt let out a cold laugh, then began to dissect the political logic behind it.

"You need to be clear about the source of your power. You are the Mayor elected by the citizens of Pittsburgh, one vote at a time. You are not a governor appointed by bureaucrats in Washington."

"Getting money from the Federation sounds impressive. The media might even see it as proof that you’re incredibly well-connected. But from the perspective of local governance, it’s actually a trap."

"Why?"

"Because Washington’s money is detached," Roosevelt explained. "It’s allocated from the national treasury, untangled from any local grudges. When you spend that money, it’s like you’re operating in a vacuum. You don’t step on anyone’s toes."

"But Pittsburgh’s money is different."

"Every US Dollar in the Pittsburgh budget has a real person standing behind it, tied to a web of deeply entrenched relationships."

"This sum might have been scraped from the police Union’s pension fund. That sum could be a kickback from some construction contractor. Another sum could be a useless project set up by a council member to curry favor with their district."

"This money has owners. It’s tied to flesh and blood."

Roosevelt paused.

"If you bypass all that and use Washington’s money for your projects, you’re willingly giving up your chance to intervene in the city’s core power structure."

"You’ll become a philanthropist with no real power, while those old geezers controlling the City Council—who should have been taking responsibility, who should have been tearing their hair out over the budget deficit—are let off the hook by your generosity."

"They won’t have to face the pressure of the deficit, won’t have to make painful cuts to the administrative budgets of bloated departments, and certainly won’t have to offend Morganfield to pass the wealth tax you want."

"They’ll get comfortable, lying on the bed of federal funds you procured, and continue to maintain their corrupt network of interests. They might even laugh behind your back, calling you a fool who works for them at your own expense."

"So, Leo."

"If you want to truly control this city, you have to go after that money."

"It’ll be hard. It’ll require you to fight with these deeply entrenched local forces over every single cent and to balance countless greedy appetites."

"But this is also precisely your opportunity to engage with these various factions and build your own system of checks and balances."

"Don’t let them get too comfortable."

"You need to reach into their pockets. Make them feel the pain. Make them scream. Force them to sit down at the table and renegotiate according to your rules."

"Leo, we need to create pressure. We need to create a crisis."

Roosevelt’s strategic intentions were finally laid bare.

"We’re going to put ’Revitalization Plan Phase II’ into the annual budget, and we’re going to deliberately create a massive funding gap."

"We will use this mandatory spending gap as a crowbar to pry open that rigid City Council."

"Force them to make a choice: either agree to cut spending in useless bureaucratic departments to scrape the money together, or agree to levy higher taxes on big corporations like Morganfield. Otherwise, they’ll have to face all the citizens and bear the infamy of ’obstructing the city’s revitalization’ and ’disregarding the workers’ livelihoods.’" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Don’t give them an easy way out."

"Use this necessary expenditure as a lever to reform the entire fiscal system."

Leo took a deep breath.

He looked up at an expectant Ethan.

"No."

Leo spoke. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was exceptionally firm.

Ethan froze, his hand holding his phone suspended in mid-air.

"No?" Ethan asked, confused. "Are you saying we’re not applying for the federal funds?"

"That’s right. We’re not applying."

"Why?" Ethan couldn’t understand at all. "That’s tens of millions of US Dollars! With Senator Sanders’ help, it’s practically a done deal. Why would we give up a resource that’s within our grasp?"

Leo stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Ethan.

"Ethan, if we take Washington’s money, what will those people in the City Council do? They’ll approve our proposal and then continue with their lazy, wasteful, and even corrupt methods of budget allocation. They won’t have to pay any price."

"I’m going to use this funding requirement to force them to reform."

Leo turned around, his gaze burning as he looked at his chief of staff.

"We are going to draft a completely new city budget proposal."

"We’ll list ’Revitalization Plan Phase II’ as a core annual expenditure, but the money must come from Pittsburgh’s own finances."

At first, Ethan hadn’t processed it. His eyes were filled with confusion, his brows furrowed tightly.

Using Washington’s money for Pittsburgh’s business was a win-win, good for both image and substance. It was the choice any normal politician would make. Why was Leo refusing?

But after he followed Leo’s line of thought and turned the logic over in his mind a couple of times, he understood.

He snapped his head up to look at Leo, his eyes no longer filled with confusion, but with terror.

He finally understood.

Leo was even more radical, more insane, than he had ever anticipated.

A moment ago, Ethan had suggested purging the old guard of bureaucrats. It sounded harsh, but it was a legal power granted to the Mayor by the Pittsburgh City Charter. It was an operation within the safe zone, a blood transfusion at most.

But what Leo was planning to do now was completely different in nature.

He was actively provoking a civil war within Pittsburgh City Hall. He was going to touch the pie of vested interests that had been solidifying for over a decade.

Not taking the Federation’s money meant he had to use the city’s finances.

The city’s finances had no money, which meant he had to cut the budgets of the old powers or force the vested interests to pay up.

He was snatching food from the tiger’s mouth.

Ethan sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, his voice cracking.

"Leo, do you have any idea what this means?"

"The city treasury doesn’t have that kind of money. If you insist on doing this, we’ll have to cut other departments’ budgets or raise taxes."

"That’s the lifeblood of those old geezers."

Ethan stared at Leo, speaking rapidly.

"According to the Pittsburgh City Charter, all annual budget proposals must be reviewed and approved by a vote in the City Council."

"You’re forcing them into a fight to the death."

"This will be a war. A legislative war more brutal than the election campaign."

"Come on, Ethan." Leo pointed to the still-visible writing on the whiteboard. "Compared to your ’Urban Wealth Fund’ and ’Social Restructuring’ you were just drawing up there, my plan is pretty much on the same level, isn’t it?"

"What, have you run out of revolutionary courage already?"

Ethan’s face flushed red in an instant.

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue something—like the difference between a "theoretical model" and "political suicide"—but he found he couldn’t get a single word out.

After all, half an hour ago he had been waving a red pen, eager to reshape Pittsburgh, and now he was scared witless by a budget proposal. It was, admittedly, a bit hard to justify.

Seeing Ethan’s deflated expression, Leo let the smile fade from his face.

He walked back to his desk, pulled out his chair, and sat down, his expression turning serious again.

"I know it’s hard, Ethan, and I know what it means."

"But I don’t have a choice."

"If I really want to change the power structure of this city, I can’t let them live comfortably on a pile of Federation money. I need to make them hurt. I need to force them to move."

Leo looked up at Ethan.

"Go make the preparations, Ethan."

"Next, let’s talk about the City Council."