Chapter 741: An Unexpected Green Light

“Mr. Crassus, it’s me, Leo Wallace.”

Crassus, on the other end of the line, was clearly prepared for the call. His tone was almost overly enthusiastic.

“Leo! I was just about to call you! You’ve heard about the nuclear power bill, haven’t you? The Party has reached a consensus. We’re going to give it our full support. We’ve seen everything you’re doing for Pennsylvania.”

“Thank you.” Leo’s voice was devoid of emotion. “But one bill alone won’t be enough.”

Crassus was taken aback for a moment. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m coming to the Democratic National Committee Headquarters tomorrow morning,” Leo said. “I need to sit down with you and have a serious talk about a comprehensive strategy for Pennsylvania’s future.”

Crassus hadn’t expected Leo to pull a move like this. This time, his silence lasted even longer.

“All right.”

After a long pause, Crassus replied with difficulty.

Leo hung up. His stance was clear.

‘Since you’re afraid I’ll flip the table, I might as well raise the stakes.’

He decided that before going to settle the score with the energy companies, he would first squeeze something more out of his own party’s pocket.

「Washington D.C., Congress Street, Democratic National Committee Headquarters.」

The office of Chairman Marcus Crassus was spacious and bright, with enormous floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire Capitol Hill area.

Leo Wallace pushed the door open and entered.

His steps were heavy and hurried. His face wore an expression of rage that, despite his best efforts to conceal it, was still palpable. He looked like a hot-headed kid who had been wronged back home and had come running to his parents to complain.

SMACK!

Leo slammed a thick folder down on Crassus’s desk.

“Marcus! Do you have any idea what Sterling and his people are doing?”

Leo’s voice was loud, filled with unconcealed frustration and anger.

Crassus was sitting in a large leather chair, holding a freshly brewed cup of Earl Grey tea.

He showed no surprise or anger at Leo’s outburst.

He didn’t even put down his teacup.

“They signed a deal in Houston behind our backs!” Leo leaned forward, planting his hands on the desk as he accused furiously, “They’re planning to export Pennsylvania’s natural gas to Europe on a massive scale to profit from the price difference! To guarantee the construction of their export pipeline, they actually colluded with the Republican Party to delay the approval of our nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania!”

Leo pointed at the folder on the desk.

“I went to see Sterling myself. And you know what he said? He admitted it to my face! He’s only responsible for his shareholders’ profits. National strategy and industrial revival are worthless in his eyes.”

“This is blatant betrayal! This is treason!”

Leo gasped for breath. Crassus listened quietly until Leo’s tirade was over.

He took a slow, deliberate sip of tea and gently placed the cup back on its coaster.

Then, he leaned back in his chair, looked at Leo, and the corner of his mouth curved into a smile he was trying his best to suppress.

“Leo, calm down.”

Crassus’s voice was gentle. He leaned back, studying the breathless young man before him, a flicker of doubt crossing his mind.

“You’re the Mayor of Pittsburgh now, an important political figure in Pennsylvania. Don’t just shout slogans like a college freshman at an environmental protest.”

Crassus put down his teacup, his gaze profound.

“I remember when we first spoke, you were remarkably calm and restrained. That composure made me think you were a seasoned veteran who’d been navigating politics for thirty years. How have you become so easily agitated now?”

“The Republican Party is infuriating,” Leo answered coldly, his teeth clenched and his chest heaving. “The Republican Party wants to sell Pennsylvania’s future to the Europeans for votes.”

“Leo, that’s not how a mature politician behaves.” Crassus sighed. “Flying into a rage over an opponent’s betrayal? That’s as common as breathing in Washington. This emotional volatility isn’t what you expect from a leader.”

Leo fell silent for a moment. He pulled out a chair and sat down, his eyes revealing a kind of reckless savagery.

“Because they’re selling out the country.”

Crassus watched Leo.

For the first time, he felt this young man was a bit more real.

People aren’t precision-calculating machines; they’re bound to have emotional fluctuations.

This occasional display of temper and urgency from Leo actually diluted that unsettling, unnatural quality about him.

A politician who could get angry, who could lose his composure out of frustration—though a bit volatile—was at least someone who could be seen through, who could be predicted.

‘Now *that’s* more like a young man,’ Crassus thought to himself.

He liked this authenticity.

This authenticity meant weakness, and weakness meant he was someone who could be dealt with.

Crassus took a cigar from the humidor on his desk and clipped the end.

“Sterling is a businessman.”

“And businessmen, well… it’s only natural for them to complain in private that capital has no country, or to say some crude, profit-driven things.”

Crassus picked up a lighter and slowly lit his cigar.

“They pursue profit. They sell natural gas where the profits are highest. That’s the basic logic of a free market.”

“If they don’t make money, if their financial reports look bad, who’s going to donate campaign funds to our super PACs? Who’s going to pay for all those expensive TV ads?”

Leo stood before the desk, looking at the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

His anger had been an act, but the moment he heard those words, a genuine rage surged within him.

He had always known that the upper echelons of the Democratic Party had countless ties to Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

But he had thought that the chairman of a party that prided itself on representing the working class would, when faced with a multinational corporation sacrificing domestic infrastructure and draining local resources for the sake of exorbitant overseas profits, at least feign some indignation or pay lip service to condemning corporate greed.