Chapter 664 - 312: Who Are Our Friends

The rain in Washington D.C. had stopped.

Inside a private club, three blocks from Capitol Hill.

Sterling sat at the head of the table, with Leo across from him.

"Mayor Wallace, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in days. I’ve been running myself ragged for you."

Leo ignored his complaint and cut straight to the point. "Have you reached a decision?"

"We’ve made some headway." Sterling’s expression turned serious as he looked at Leo. "However, you might not like our terms."

"Let’s hear them." Leo leaned back in his chair, folding his hands. "I came here to listen to what you have to say."

’For a politician, there’s nothing they’re unwilling to hear, as long as the price is right.’

Sterling nodded. He appreciated Leo’s direct, cut-to-the-chase style.

"Mayor Wallace."

"I admit, your proposal is highly inflammatory. Cutting off Washington’s power to teach those arrogant bureaucrats a lesson—I’ll grant you, it sounds satisfying."

"And the massive infrastructure projects you’ve launched in Pennsylvania have certainly given a few of our member companies a taste of the profits."

"But that’s not enough."

"Not nearly enough."

"You want us to go to war with the pharmaceutical giants based on the pie-in-the-sky promises you’re offering about the future of industrial development. That’s not going to fill our stomachs. The increased power consumption from restarting the steel mills will, at best, make our annual financial reports look only slightly better."

Sterling shook his head.

"The risks and rewards aren’t proportional. Leo, we’re businessmen, not revolutionaries. You’re under siege and want to use us as your weapon. That’s fine, but you have to be able to afford the price to make that weapon fire."

"Name your price."

Leo showed no sign of panic. He didn’t even shift in his seat.

He knew Sterling would jack up the price. This part of the negotiation was expected.

"I want to see real money." Sterling tapped the table. "Or something more valuable than real money."

"Such as?"

"For example, exemptions from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency," Sterling said. "A permanent safe harbor from carbon taxes. The right to dig wherever and however we want on your turf, without anyone buzzing in our ears."

Leo smiled.

He stood up, walked over to the room’s liquor cabinet, and poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"It seems we’re on the same page, Sterling."

Leo turned around, glass in hand, and leaned against the liquor cabinet.

"You want a safe harbor? Then I’ll build you one."

"I promise that once this crisis is over, I will push for legislation to designate all critical energy facilities within Pennsylvania—gas wells, coal-fired power plants, oil pipeline hubs—as state-level strategic economic protection zones."

"This means that within these protection zones, Pennsylvania state law will have final jurisdiction."

Leo said.

"I will use state legislation to implement deregulation policies in this area."

"As for the federal carbon emission quotas that have been tying you down, we will establish a set of state-level offset standards to absorb your emissions directly within the state."

"Those surprise inspections from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency you’re so worried about? They will never happen again. Because that area will now be a state-level strategic restricted zone. Without the Governor’s signature, even federal agents will have to wait at the gate."

"What I’m giving you is a legal safe harbor."

"While the rest of America is caught up in green radicalism, Pennsylvania will become your only paradise. Your production here will have the lowest compliance costs and the highest efficiency in the entire country."

Sterling’s hand trembled slightly.

It was indeed a massive temptation.

If this could really be achieved, Pennsylvania would become the Cayman Islands of the energy industry.

"But that’s still not enough." Sterling suppressed his excitement and pushed further. "This only protects our current livelihood. You know fossil fuels have an expiration date. Those guys on Wall Street look at us like we’re dinosaurs. Our valuations are in a free fall."

"Which is why I’ve prepared a second gift for you."

Leo revealed his ultimate goal.

"A Computing Power Special Zone."

"Do you know what consumes the most electricity right now? It’s not steel furnaces. It’s AI. It’s those data centers that are expanding like crazy."

"The tech giants in Silicon Valley are scouring the globe for power. They need massive amounts of cheap electricity to feed their models, but they’re constrained by grid transmission bottlenecks and exorbitant electricity prices."

"In the heartland of Pennsylvania, I have planned a mega-cluster of AI data centers."

"I will mandate that all computing centers setting up in this Special Zone must sign a preliminary vertical integration agreement with local energy providers."

Sterling was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"It means you won’t just be selling electricity anymore."

Leo stared into Sterling’s eyes.

"I will support you in crossing over into a new industry. I’ll give you the land and the administrative green light to build data centers right next to your power plants. The electricity generated won’t go to the national grid; it will go straight to the servers."

"You will transform from mere fuel suppliers into wholesale computing power providers for the smart era."

"You’ll no longer be selling electricity for a few cents per kilowatt-hour, but computing power for several dollars per second."

"This is a leap up the industry chain, Sterling. This is a chance for you dinosaurs to grow wings."

Sterling’s mouth fell open.

He had originally planned to haggle for a few extra percentage points in electricity subsidies in this room, or get Leo to promise certain tax exemptions.

But he never expected Leo to redraw the map, revealing a landscape he had never seen before.

In this country’s traditional narrative, energy companies have always had a dirty, downtrodden image.

They were the destroyers of the environment, an old guard abandoned by the times, an obsolete capacity destined to be swept into the trash heap of the green transition.

But Leo’s computing power integration plan gave them the ability to tell a new story on the capital markets.

Once those massive natural gas wells and power plants become the fuel for the AI era, once they control the distribution of computing power, they would no longer be mere coal peddlers.

They would become the primary wholesalers of the smart era.

This leap across the industry chain meant a trillion-dollar revaluation.

"You... you’re serious?" Sterling’s voice was a little dry.

"I never write bad checks," Leo replied.

Sterling was somewhat shaken, so Leo decided to fan the flames.

"Sterling, don’t you see the situation clearly yet? Who are your friends? And who are your enemies?"

Leo stood up, walked over to Sterling, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The pharmaceutical giants, the insurance companies, those fund managers on Wall Street—they survive by monopolizing patents, playing with financial leverage, and sucking the lifeblood out of old assets."

"They don’t need massive amounts of electricity or vast infrastructure. In their eyes, you are just sources of pollution, an obsolete capacity that deserves to be eliminated."

"But we’re different."

Leo pointed to himself.

"We are the producer class."

"You need factories; I need jobs. You need to sell electricity; I need manufacturing."

"The tech companies desperate for computing power, the manufacturing capital desperate for cheap electricity to return to the United States—those are our real allies."

"We will form an ironclad alliance."

"An Industry-Energy-Steel Alliance."

Leo’s tone grew heavy.

"Look at the United States now. Besides Pennsylvania, what other state can offer you terms like these?"

"California’s electricity prices are absurd, its environmental regulations are a dime a dozen, and it takes three years of hearings just to build a substation."

"Texas has an independent and fragile power grid that collapses at the first sign of a blizzard."

"Only we, only Pennsylvania, have the audacity to build a Computing Power Special Zone right next to gas wells and nuclear power plants."

"AI is the future, Sterling. Training every large model consumes the electricity of a small city. And that future is built on a foundation of energy. Without you, Silicon Valley’s dream is just a castle in the sky."

"What’s more, we will also strongly support nuclear power."

"You know the way the wind is blowing in Washington. To meet the 2035 goal for carbon-free electricity, they’re desperately trying to deregulate nuclear power."

"They need a model, a prototype that can both meet industrial demand and reduce emissions. Pennsylvania will be that model."

Leo looked at Sterling, his eyes burning with intensity.

"We need to use capital. Or rather, financial capital should have been serving us from the very beginning."

"We’re going to show Wall Street that they no longer define our value. We will decide their survival."

Sterling looked at Leo.

He saw a kind of presence he had never seen in any other Politician—an arrogance that aimed to wield the entire industrial system as a weapon to shatter the existing rules of distribution.

But he liked this arrogance.

Because behind that arrogance lay tangible interests that would make the patrons backing him go wild.

"Join me, Sterling."

"We are going to build a regime for the producers."

"And drive out those bloodsucking parasites for good."

There was a bewitching quality to Leo’s voice.

"An Industry-Energy-Steel Alliance."

Sterling repeated the concept in a low voice, his initial hesitation gradually replaced by the exhilaration of taking part in history.

Leo sat opposite him, watching the shifting expressions on Sterling’s face, and realized he had successfully lit a fire beneath that thick layer of calculated self-interest.

This power of persuasion didn’t stem from data or simple promises of profit.

So-called calmness and rationality in this world are, in fact, an extremely cheap disguise.

People only pretend to weigh pros and cons because the ideal presented to them isn’t grand enough.

Or rather, the ideal hasn’t yet precisely struck the deep-seated hunger in their souls.

When a destined ideal appears.

When a narrative that can redefine the heights of one’s own life is laid before them.

Anyone, even the most profit-driven capitalist, can become a fervent idealist in an instant.

People like Sterling have their own ideal of a "Kingdom of Capital."

In that ideal, he wasn’t a target for Washington bureaucrats to tax, nor a polluter scorned by environmental groups.

He was the wellspring of civilization’s power, a Prometheus who controlled the flame.

Sterling looked at Leo.

The greed, suspicion, and calculation in his eyes finally melted away, replaced by a fanatical sense of agreement.

He had been thoroughly convinced.

This persuasion was based not only on future profits, but also on a class narrative.

He yearned to return to that golden age of towering smokestacks, roaring machinery, and the absolute dominion of energy.

Leo had given him that chance.

"Is this the world you want, Leo?" Sterling asked.

"No, this is the world *we* want," Leo corrected him.

"Alright," Sterling said. "I’ll take your words back with me."

"But I trust we won’t need to meet again."

"I hope to see good news in the press."

Sterling didn’t answer. Leo remained seated, watching him leave.

Watching his retreating back, Leo felt a truth reaffirmed within him.

In this laboratory called power, human nature is the most malleable of fluids.

As long as the vessel you provide is large enough, and the future you promise is enticing enough.

Even a Demon will fight to pull your chariot.

’Mr. President,’ Leo thought to himself.

’Is this how you felt back then?’

Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind.

"Yes, Leo."

"You have just single-handedly created a monster."

"This is your very own military-industrial complex."

"Industry itself possesses immense power. It is heavy, massive, and slow. But once you give it a brain and point it in a direction, it can crush anything that stands in its way."

"Before, it was a tool for the capitalists."

"Now, it is your weapon."

"You have forged energy, computing power, manufacturing, and administrative authority into one."

"This is a war chariot."

"And now, you are finally worthy of sitting in the driver’s seat."

Leo looked around the empty room.

’Then let’s run them over.’

Leo stood up.

’Crush the old world.’

’And build a new Rome.’