Finch stared at the word.

Resilience.

It was a very popular buzzword in Washington and academia. Slap that word on any grant application, and it would sail through the approval process.

"Alright..." Finch wiped the sweat from his brow. "If you insist on classifying it as a public safety facility, then it does indeed meet the criteria for issuing general obligation bonds."

"The third one."

"Subsidies for repairing the homes of low-income households. That sounds like we’re just giving money directly to private citizens, doesn’t it?"

"Obviously," Finch said. "That’s against regulations. Public funds cannot be used for the appreciation of private property."

"No, we’re not repairing houses."

"This is an ’energy efficiency and carbon emission optimization retrofit for existing housing stock.’"

Leo pointed at the line, his tone quite serious.

"We are answering the Federal Government’s call for green energy and carbon neutrality. We are replacing the insulation in these old houses and installing energy-efficient windows. The goal is to reduce carbon emissions and improve the city’s energy efficiency."

"This falls under environmental infrastructure development."

"Furthermore, after the houses are repaired, their property values will rise, and property taxes will increase accordingly."

Three hours passed.

Finch looked at the bond proposal in front of him, which had been revised beyond recognition.

All the original, simple, and direct terms—cafeteria, training, house repairs—were gone.

Now, what appeared on the paper were phrases like ’human capital investment,’ ’resilience nodes,’ ’carbon emission optimization,’ and ’asset value-added closed-loop’...

Finch found it absurd.

In essence, it was still just using money to feed the poor, fix their houses, and help them find jobs.

But he had to admit that, in terms of legal theory and accounting standards, this new draft was somehow completely compliant.

"Mr. Mayor."

Finch rubbed his tired, aching eyes.

"You’re a natural-born bureaucrat. You’re even better at these word games than the people sitting in offices in Washington."

"Thank you for the compliment, Blake."

Leo closed the file, showing not a hint of smugness on his face.

He knew this was just the first step.

Redefining the terms was just to give this money a legal justification, to allow it to pass the review of the legal counsel and the state’s department of development. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

But to actually secure the funds, he still needed to deal with the biggest obstacle.

The city council.

Moretti still held the most power in the city council.

If he didn’t solve this problem, no matter how beautifully this document was written, it would be nothing more than a pile of scrap paper.

"Alright, Blake."

"Now that we’ve established the legality of this five hundred million US Dollar bond and confirmed its project titles..."

"Now, I need you to perform one final step."

Finch picked up his pen. "Go ahead. Which special fund should I list it under? The Special Capital Projects Fund or the Emergency Development Fund?"

"No."

Leo shook his head.

He stood up, leaned forward with both hands on the desk, and stared into Finch’s eyes.

"I want you to take the revenue from this planned five hundred million US Dollar bond issuance and, as projected revenue, incorporate the full amount directly into this year’s ’Draft of the Annual Operating and Capital Budget for the City of Pittsburgh.’"

CLACK.

The pen in Finch’s hand fell onto the table.

He shot to his feet, the movement so abrupt he nearly knocked over his chair.

"Mayor! Are you insane?"

"That’s the operating budget! That’s the money used to pay salaries, cover utility bills, and maintain the daily operations of the government!"

Finch’s composure completely shattered.

"Mayor, have you really thought about the consequences of this? Once this draft is submitted, this bond issue is no longer an independent financing project. It becomes the pillar supporting the entire annual budget."

"What if the city council ultimately rejects the bond issuance? What if they just want to delay it a little?"

Finch jerked his head up.

"The moment they dare to say no to the bonds, it’s tantamount to pulling the foundation out from under the annual budget. The entire balance sheet will collapse instantly, leaving a massive five hundred million US Dollar shortfall."

"According to the city charter, the council absolutely cannot pass an unbalanced budget. So, rejecting the bonds means rejecting the entire annual operating budget! It means they’d be personally vetoing the police officers’ salaries, the gas for the fire trucks, even the coffee money for their own offices!"

"In that case, we’ll face a total shutdown! If the budget can’t pass, city hall won’t even be able to pay tomorrow’s electricity bill!"

"You’re gambling with the fate of the entire city! You’re putting a gun to everyone’s head!"

Faced with Finch’s furious outburst, Leo remained exceptionally calm.

"That’s the point, Blake."

"I want you to tie this money to the police officers’ salaries, the civil servants’ pensions, and the life-saving funds for our citizens."

"I’m going to make this five hundred million US Dollars the very oxygen this city breathes."

Leo walked over to Finch’s side.

"Councilman Moretti loves to play his approval games. He thinks he can take his sweet time, review it slowly, and drag my project to its death."

"Now, I’m not giving him that chance."

"I’m going to make him understand that when this budget draft lands on his desk, he’s no longer facing a choice between ’approve the bonds’ or ’reject the bonds.’"

A ruthless glint appeared in Leo’s eyes.

"I’m giving him only one option."

"Either he passes this new budget, which includes the bonds, and everyone gets a piece of the pie. His district gets its roads repaired, my workers get jobs, and the police get paid."

"Or, he rejects the budget."

"And lets the entire Pittsburgh government shut down tomorrow."

"Let the garbage pile up in the streets, let emergency calls go unanswered, let the schools close, let the hospitals stop admitting patients."

"Since he likes to create bottlenecks, I’ll let him put a chokehold on the entire city."

"We’ll all go down together."

Finch looked at the young mayor before him and felt a shiver run down his spine.

In his life, he had seen many politicians—some greedy, some foolish, some arrogant.

But he had never seen a madman who would dare to hold the entire city’s population hostage to play this kind of "game of chicken" with the council.

This was a poison pill potent enough to kill the entire city.

Leo had stuffed this poison pill into the budget draft and was now holding it to Moretti’s lips.

"Mayor..." Finch’s voice trembled slightly. "Are you sure you want to do this? This could ruin your political career. If the government really does shut down, the voters will kill you."

"The voters might kill me, but before they do, they’ll tear apart the one who refused to sign."

Leo adjusted his collar.

"Besides, I have faith in Moretti."

"He’s a smart man, a man with vested interests. And what people with vested interests fear most isn’t compromise; it’s mutually assured destruction."

"He won’t dare to make that bet."

Finch looked into Leo’s unwavering eyes.

He knew he couldn’t talk this young man out of it.

Besides, technically speaking, as long as the Mayor confirmed that this income was "highly likely to be realized," including it in the projected revenue didn’t violate accounting standards. It was just extremely risky.

As a subordinate, since the Mayor had given a direct order and the procedure was technically compliant, he had no choice but to obey.

"Very well, Mayor."

Finch took off his glasses, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"I’ll rework the budget draft tonight."

"And I’ll work... this five hundred million US Dollars... into it."

After saying this, Finch closed his eyes.

"May God save Pittsburgh."

Leo nodded and turned toward the door.

"Thank you for your hard work, Blake."

Leo’s hand gripped the doorknob.

"You’ll find that this will be the most brilliant budget you’ve ever worked on in your career."

Leo walked out of the Office of Management and Budget.

This time, he was certain of victory.