Chapter 776 For the Foundation of the Empire

But only now did he realize the truth. In the face of Washington’s colossal war machine, his ten billion dollars in infrastructure, his Mutual Aid Alliance, and all his carefully laid schemes were nothing more than a sandbox game—one that could be crushed at any moment. When the gears of the state machine truly began to turn, a local warlord like him was less than an ant.

The Foreign Investment Committee’s investigation was just the first step. A far more violent storm was likely on the horizon.

“Have I lost?” Leo began to tremble.

This trembling wasn’t just fear for himself; it was the sheer terror of catching a glimpse of that massive state machine slowly grinding into motion. Between its turning gears, countless lives and immeasurable wealth were about to be fed into the grinder—along with everything he had painstakingly built in Pennsylvania.

War. The word echoed in his mind, carrying the weight of absolute destruction.

“I thought I was fighting greedy capitalists and hypocritical politicians,” Leo muttered to himself. “But I never expected to be fighting a nation preparing to launch a war. This is madness. Just for re-election, just to deflect domestic conflicts, they would start a war that could set half the world on fire?”

A profound sense of powerlessness washed over him.

“Leo.” Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind once again, as steady and deep as the ocean. “Do not be intimidated by the sheer scale of war.

“Though war is massive, the politicians who start it are still only human.

“As long as they are human, they have desires, calculations, and weaknesses.

“Fear won’t solve the problem. What we need to do is see through their hand and figure out their bottom line.

“Let’s break it down. Why Hormuz? Why now? Why does the President need this war so desperately?”

Entering the realm of international politics, Roosevelt began to lecture Leo at length for the first time in a long while. This was territory Leo had never set foot in.

“Let’s analyze this from the perspective of international politics,” Roosevelt said, unfurling a much grander geopolitical map within Leo’s mind.

“Leo, to be honest, I was a bit surprised at first,” Roosevelt continued. “There are six critical maritime oil chokepoints in the world. From Malacca to Suez, from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Panama.

“Yet, amidst such a complex and tangled geopolitical landscape, you managed to lock onto the Hormuz Strait in an instant.

“Was that rational analysis in a split second, or some innate political intuition?”

“Probably just instinct,” Leo replied.

“A very good instinct.” Roosevelt’s finger traced through the void, pointing to the map that existed solely in Leo’s imagination. “There are six oil chokepoints worldwide, but look closely. The Strait of Malacca may have higher traffic, but it is in the Pacific Ocean and jointly managed by three countries. Even if it were blockaded, ships could simply detour through the Lombok Strait. It would add a few days to the journey, but the costs would remain manageable.

“The Suez Canal is Egypt’s cash cow, and the el-Sisi government is practically joined at the hip with Washington. They wouldn’t dare make a reckless move.

“The Houthi forces in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait can cause harassment, but they lack a navy. They can’t completely seal off such a wide waterway.”

Roosevelt’s finger finally came to rest at the exit of the Persian Gulf.

“Only here, Hormuz,” Roosevelt said. “This is the earth’s jugular vein. Twenty million barrels of crude oil pass through here every single day, accounting for a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade. And its alternative routes are pitifully scarce.

“Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline and the UAE’s Fujairah Pipeline are the only two bypasses. Their combined alternative capacity is merely 2.6 million barrels a day—not even a fraction of what’s needed.”

Roosevelt’s voice grew lower, taking on a graver tone.

“For liquefied natural gas, the situation is even worse.

“Qatar, the world’s second-largest exporter of LNG, along with the entirety of the UAE’s LNG exports, must pass through the Hormuz Strait.

“There are no pipelines there. There is no backup plan. Once the strait is blockaded, the global natural gas supply will instantly go into shock.

“Furthermore, there is a most beautiful coincidence here.”

Roosevelt pointed to the shipping routes on the map.

“Eighty-four percent of the crude oil passing through the strait flows to the market in Asia. Meanwhile, the natural gas exported by the United States mostly takes the Atlantic Ocean route or ships directly out of the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing Hormuz entirely.

“This means that if the strait is blockaded, energy prices in Asia and Europe will skyrocket, while the energy exports of the United States remain completely unaffected. In fact, they would rake in massive profits from the global price surge.

“If you want to raise global oil prices by fifty percent, all you have to do is make the Hormuz Strait unsafe.

“And to do that, you only need one enemy—an enemy capable of blockading the strait.”

Roosevelt’s gaze locked onto the massive nation on the North Shore of the Persian Gulf.

“There is only one country in the entire world that meets both of these conditions. It controls the entire North Shore of the strait, and it possesses enough missiles and speedboats to cut off the shipping lanes. Furthermore, it has already been branded as evil, making a strike against it naturally politically correct.

“Iran.”

Roosevelt began to further deconstruct the war narrative.

“Going to war against it is practically a gift from God to the White House.

“First, it has a stranglehold on the world’s most important oil chokepoint.

“The moment a single shot is fired, oil futures will skyrocket like a rocket, instantly triggering an energy crisis.

“Second, it has sufficient military capabilities—missiles, drones, and proxy armed groups. It can make this conflict look highly dangerous, just enough to mobilize the patriotism of the American public.

“Yet, it is not powerful enough to pose a genuine threat to the United States mainland. Its navy is nothing but a toy in the face of the Fifth Fleet.”