At two o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh City Council was holding its regular meeting.

A massive crystal chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling, illuminating the enormous horseshoe-shaped oak conference table below.

According to the Pittsburgh City Council’s charter, the Mayor was not obligated to attend routine bill review meetings like this one.

He could have just waited for the results in his office, like Carter Wright would have.

But Leo had come anyway.

He had to face it all head-on.

He had to watch with his own eyes as the key to power passed from the hands of the citizens, through his own, and into the hands of an oligarch.

’He needed to remember this feeling, to remember the weight of this betrayal.’

Leo sat in the Mayor’s seat.

The symptoms of his fever had not yet completely subsided.

Two strong cold-medicine pills suppressed his shivering, but they couldn’t stop the chill seeping from the marrow of his bones.

He pulled his dark gray wool suit tighter around himself, his hands folded on the table, fingertips ice-cold.

Ethan sat on a bench behind him, a black briefcase resting on his lap.

Inside the bag was a document fresh from the printer.

It was a three-hundred-page administrative bill, filled with obscure technical jargon, complex legal citations, and mind-numbingly dull data tables.

Its full name: The Pittsburgh City Strategic Logistics Unified Management and Regional Ecological Consolidation and Development Bill.

Known for short as the Strategic Logistics Unified Management Bill.

This was the Trojan horse Leo had personally concocted to fulfill the promise he’d made at the summit club.

"The current agenda is..."

The clerk of the Pittsburgh City Council, a heavy-set woman in her sixties, pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and read in a monotone voice.

"Regarding the proposal to review the Strategic Logistics Unified Management Bill. Proposer: the Mayor’s Office."

Leo stood and gave a slight bow from his seat.

"Mr. Speaker, members of the council."

"This bill aims to integrate Pittsburgh’s currently fragmented logistics resources. By introducing unified, modern management standards, it will enhance our city’s competitiveness within the Great Lakes Region supply chain. The bill also includes several supplementary clauses regarding the ecological protection of the Allegheny River Basin."

"The specific details and technical parameters have been distributed to each of you."

With that, Leo sat down.

He had packaged this bill—one that would determine the fate of Pittsburgh’s economic lifeblood for the next fifty years—as a thoroughly uninteresting administrative adjustment.

’That was the point.’

’Only boredom could conceal the crime.’

’Only tedium could cause those greedy eyes to lose focus.’

In their seats, the nine council members were flipping through the thick stack of paper before them.

In truth, the detailed contents of the bill had been delivered to each of their desks days ago.

They had already conducted several rounds of informal discussions and horse-trading by then.

Although a few council members had raised questions about certain clauses, and some had even complained in private phone calls that the arrangement was too aggressive, the bill had still been pushed through step-by-step onto today’s agenda by various unseen forces.

This current perusal was merely a formality to complete the final procedure. Or perhaps, it was a way to calm their own nerves with a semblance of diligent review.

Gavin Stone sat in his place. He was Morganfield’s eyes and ears on the council.

His fingers flipped through the document, skipping straight past the first two hundred pages of nonsense about "environmental protection" and "administrative restructuring."

His eyes stopped on page 214.

Under Chapter 7, "Operational Franchising and Consolidated Management," Section 12, Article 3, there was a paragraph of dense fine print.

"...To avoid the waste of public resources caused by disorderly competition, the municipal authorities are hereby specially authorized to implement a ’sole-operator franchise system’ for core logistics nodes. The franchise term is set at fifty years and is exclusive and irrevocable..."

And in the addendum on page 218, within the clauses on "General Developer Qualification Certification," the strict requirement of "must possess no less than 500 acres of existing railway transshipment yards" was quietly buried amidst a pile of requirements concerning "environmental ratings" and "fire safety."

Stone closed the document.

He looked up at Leo.

He blinked slowly, a signal only the two of them understood.

’Deal confirmed.’

’The payload is correct.’

"Mr. Speaker."

Stone was the first to press the button to speak.

"I have studied this bill carefully."

"I believe this is a very timely and professional document. Pittsburgh’s logistics system has been chaotic for too long. We need this kind of consolidated management approach. It is in line with the trend of modern urban governance and is also a demonstration of our responsibility to the taxpayers."

"I fully support it."

Stone was the voice of the business community; his stance represented the direction of capital.

Thomas Moretti, sitting in the central block of seats, was idly tapping his pen on the table.

He couldn’t even be bothered to flip through the document.

The night before, he had already received a "hint," along with a detailed appropriations plan for the renovation of a main thoroughfare in his district.

Five hundred million US Dollars in bonds were already on the way.

Since he’d already gotten his piece of the pie, he had no reason to obstruct a bill that, on the surface, was just about "administrative management."

Besides, he could also see Morganfield’s shadow in this. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

And in this city, simultaneously offending the new Mayor and the old oligarch was definitely not a wise choice.