Chapter 584 - 273: Prisoner’s Dilemma

Pittsburgh City Hall, the Mayor’s Office.

On the screen, a press conference from the Governor’s Office in Harrisburg was being broadcast live.

Aston Monroe stood behind the lectern.

He had changed into a dark blue suit, his tie impeccably knotted.

As the new Governor of Pennsylvania, he wore an expression of profound anguish.

"Citizens, Pennsylvania is bleeding."

Monroe’s voice carried a carefully rehearsed solemnity.

"The situation in Pittsburgh is out of control. Certain politicians with ulterior motives are inciting riots for their own personal ambition, destroying the industrial foundation we hold so dear."

"To restore order and protect the safety of three million families."

Monroe picked up a document from the table. It was the Governor’s Order for a State of Emergency.

"I have decided to immediately declare a level-one state of emergency in Pittsburgh."

"I will authorize the National Guard to assume administrative control of Pittsburgh and freeze all assets of the Industrial Revival Alliance until the investigation is concluded."

Monroe picked up his pen.

The moment that pen touched paper, everything Leo had worked so hard to build would be snatched away.

Ethan stood before the screen, the coffee cup in his hand trembling.

"He’s going to sign," Ethan said, his voice dry.

Leo sat on the sofa.

He wasn’t looking at the screen, but was carefully wiping his fountain pen with a velvet cloth.

"What’s the rush?"

Leo blew a speck of dust from the nib.

"Let him sign."

「Harrisburg. The Press Conference Hall.」

The tip of Monroe’s pen had just touched the paper.

Suddenly, a reporter in the room gasped.

Then a second, and a third.

Phone notifications began to chime one after another.

Monroe frowned. He hated being interrupted.

"Please remain quiet," Monroe said. "This is a solemn moment."

But no one paid him any mind.

The very reporters who had just been aiming their cameras at him were now all looking down, staring at their phone screens with expressions of utter disbelief.

A reporter from Fox News shot his hand up, not even waiting to be called upon.

"Governor! Just a minute ago, the Republican National Committee released a three-hundred-page investigative report!"

The reporter’s voice was shrill with excitement.

"The report indicates that during your time as Vice Governor, you laundered over twenty million US Dollars in campaign funds through four shell companies in Philadelphia! The money was funneled directly into your overseas accounts!"

Monroe’s hand jerked.

Ink bled across the State of Emergency Order, leaving a large stain.

"Nonsense!" Monroe roared into the microphone. "This is slander! This is a political witch hunt!"

"And there’s more!"

Another reporter, this one from CNN, stood up and spoke rapidly.

"The FBI has just confirmed they received an anonymous tip containing call recordings between you and the CEOs of three health insurance companies."

"In those recordings, you explicitly promised that once you took office, you would use your executive power to block the Medicine Benefits Transparency and Fairness Bill. In exchange, they would provide you with a five-million-US-Dollar political contribution!"

"Does this mean that your current state of emergency declaration is nothing more than a quid pro quo?"

Monroe’s face instantly turned ashen.

He looked down from the stage at his chief of staff, Turner.

Turner was frantically on the phone, drenched in sweat. He looked at Monroe in terror and shook his head.

RUMBLE—

A tremendous noise came from outside the window.

Monroe instinctively glanced out the window.

A convoy had appeared on Harrisburg’s main thoroughfare.

It was a convoy of several dozen heavy-duty trucks.

The trucks parked side-by-side, blocking every intersection leading to the State Government complex and turning the entire administrative center into an isolated island.

The drivers jumped out, took their keys, locked the doors, and then stood on the roadside, arms crossed, staring coldly at the State Capitol Building.

The traffic was paralyzed.

Then, the emergency hotline in the Governor’s office rang.

"Governor! We have a major problem!"

The voice of Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Transportation Department was filled with panic.

"Logistics are cut off statewide! Erie, Scranton, Alondon... all the truck drivers have killed their engines at the exact same time!"

"The railroad Union just announced a major safety inspection. All freight trains are stopped on the tracks!"

"The Pittsburgh Inland Port has cut off the coal supply to Harrisburg!"

"Also... the power company says that due to a technical failure, the State Government building will lose power in ten minutes!"

Monroe stood frozen at the lectern, phone receiver in hand.

This was a coup.

Leo Wallace was using this extreme and direct method to demonstrate to everyone the depth of his control over Pennsylvania.

This control was no longer limited to votes or slogans.

It had infiltrated every cable, every foot of railroad track, and every power substation in the land.

If Leo so wished, he could send Harrisburg back to the age of candlelight in an instant.

This grip on power was more tangible than any executive order, and far more suffocating.

The lights in the press hall flickered violently twice.

CLICK.

All the lights went out at once.

The microphone let out a piercing screech of feedback, then fell silent.

The emergency lights kicked on, casting a ghastly red glow on Monroe’s bloodless face.

In the darkness, the reporters frantically snapped photos, the camera flashes like bolts of lightning, stripping away Monroe’s last shred of dignity.

He stood there like a clown stripped bare.

The phone in his pocket began to vibrate.