Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt

Chapter 314 - 154: Never Ceasing

Drivers started their engines, and black smoke billowed out.

They honked their horns, celebrating this hard-won victory.

Pittsburgh. The South District construction site.

Bulldozers roared to life again, and cranes began to turn once more.

The entire Rust Belt, thanks to the order lifting the freeze, had come back to life.

Pittsburgh City Hall. The Mayor’s Office.

Leo Wallace sat behind his desk, looking at his computer screen.

The crisis was over.

Ethan, standing to the side, let out a long sigh of relief.

"God bless," Ethan said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "I really thought we were done for this time. I didn’t expect Washington to react so quickly. It seems they got scared after all."

"Scared?"

Leo shook his head.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of celebration on his face, not even a smile.

"They aren’t scared, Ethan."

Leo pointed to the numbers on the screen.

"They’re just doing the math."

"When Monroe’s actions started to threaten their votes, things like laws, rules, and audit procedures all had to make way."

"That’s their bottom line."

Leo waved a hand at Ethan.

Ethan took the hint and left, leaving Leo alone in the room.

The taut string in his mind finally relaxed.

’Actually, as long as the freeze is lifted, that’s all that matters.’

Leo stood up and walked to the window.

"Mr. President."

Leo suddenly found himself saying things to Roosevelt that he would never have said before.

"In this closed political system, the total amount of power is constant."

"If someone wants to rise, someone else has to fall. If someone wants an extra piece of meat, they have to snatch it from someone else’s plate."

"Murphy wants to climb. He wants the Senator’s seat, but there’s only one."

"Monroe wants to climb, too. He’s also eyeing that position."

"I’m fighting, too. I’m fighting for control of this city, for a voice in Pennsylvania."

"We’re all fighting for those limited resources and space."

Leo’s fingers tapped lightly on the windowsill.

"As long as we’re in this game, the struggle will never stop."

"Even if Murphy becomes a Senator one day, he’ll still have to fight for a committee chairmanship."

"Even if I climb to a higher position one day, even if I end up in the Oval Office at the White House, I’ll still have to fight with Congress, with the courts, with those unseen special interest groups."

A deep sense of exhaustion suddenly washed over him, stronger than what he had felt during any previous crisis.

It was a fear of the future.

Not a fear of failure, but a fear of this endless attrition.

"Mr. President," Leo’s voice was a bit low, "I’m full of fighting spirit right now because I’m still at the foot of the mountain. I still have my anger."

"But I worry about the day that comes."

"Maybe in five years, maybe in ten."

"I’ll grow weary of it all."

"Staring at these endless documents, at that insatiable greed, and suddenly feeling like it’s all meaningless."

"I’ll want to go play basketball, to sunbathe at the beach, to find a comfortable position to just lie down in this damned meat grinder."

"I’ll become the very person I used to hate the most—a bureaucrat who only wants to hold onto his position and couldn’t care less about anything else."

"When that happens, who will fight for these people?"

"That’s perfectly normal, Leo," Roosevelt said.

"It’s a part of human nature. Everyone craves comfort, craves an end to the race."

"But I’m telling you, you won’t stop."

"Why?" Leo asked.

"Because it is a curse, and also a gift."

Roosevelt’s voice grew impassioned.

"In this world, the vast majority of people are weak. Life has worn them down, bills have shackled their hands and feet, and fear has constricted their throats. They can only go with the flow and pray for fate to be merciful."

"But there are a rare few who are born with a certain kind of strength."

"You have the insight to see through any situation, the eloquence to stir people’s hearts, the wisdom to find a path to survival in a desperate plight, and the ruthlessness to weigh your own soul on a scale."

"That is your power."

"A person with this power is destined never to know peace."

"That is why I chose you."

"When you see injustice, your instincts will drive you to draw your sword. When you see an obstacle, your intellect will compel you to break through it."

"You cannot tolerate lying there like a useless bum, watching people less capable than you give a clumsy performance on stage, watching the benefits that should belong to the public be carved up by greedy fools."

"That kind of pain is more unbearable to you than any exhaustion."

Roosevelt paused.

"Moreover, it is a responsibility."

"The responsibility of the strong."

"Since fate has given you this sword, you must wield it."

"For yourself, to satisfy your inexhaustible ambition, to stand at the pinnacle of power and look down upon all others."

"And also for those who have no sword."

"They need a champion, they need a villain, they need someone who can fight the Demon on their behalf to snatch back their bread."

"You are that person."

"As long as you still have breath in your body, as long as your mind can still turn, this instinct to fight will push you ever forward, until you fall on the path of the charge."

"This is our destiny, Leo."

"The fight is not for victory. The fight itself is the proof of our existence."

Leo listened to these words.

The bone-deep weariness seemed to dissipate somewhat.

’Yes.’

’He couldn’t stop.’

’From the moment Roosevelt appeared in his mind, he was destined to spend his life in a storm.’

’In that case, let the storm rage even more fiercely.’