Chapter 1373 - 446: Three Battlefields (2)

Chapter 1373: Chapter 446: Three Battlefields (2)

"They’re just the eyes and ears sent over by those party hacks in Congress. If I really trusted these people, they’d bury me under endless paperwork, fob me off with meaningless crap, trap my voice inside this office, alter what I write, twist my orders, and steer public opinion to tear me apart.

Best case, I get nothing done. Worst case, they do shit under my name, drag me through the mud, dump all the filth on me."

"In the end, either they grind me down until they think I’m no threat and then toss me out, or they let this department rot day after day, turn it into a ruin with zero real power, gathering dust and rust in some corner."

If Europe is the war of economics and Cuba is the war of armies, then this place is the war of politics.

You could even say the cruelty of political struggle far surpasses the first two.

But Lin Miao has to be here, because military victory is, at its core, just piling up chips for the political bargaining table. Only politics can cash those chips out into real interests; otherwise all that fighting is for nothing.

You can’t wage war for the sake of war. Even militarism goes to war for profit.

His initial plan was to operate in the Western Free States—those states have pathetic influence and weak economies, perfect for Lin Miao to buy up as his base.

But now Miles has dragged him into the White House, cranking the risks and rewards up by orders of magnitude.

"Then why the hell did you wade into this cesspit?"

Pan’an figures this is probably the most reasonable, most tolerant she’s been in her whole life—actually sitting here calmly talking with a corpo dog who’s also a new United States Government official. Even Sol never got that treatment.

Because Lin Miao is the benefactor of the entire Adcardo clan; he’s helped Pan’an way too much.

And his people in Cuba are practically knocking European brains out onto the pavement.

"There are things a corporation simply can’t do. You need a banner, you need legitimacy. That title of Minister of the Efficiency Department in this government is going to help me a hell of a lot."

"And I also need a group of people who can actually get shit done for me. Pan’an, I need you all to help me win this war. As long as we win it, Miles, the New United States Government, the State Government, Military Technology—they’ll all become historical footnotes. The United States will become great in the hands of everyone."

"Don’t start preaching that big-picture crap at me."

Pan’an waves her hand, signaling Lin Miao to cut the bullshit. She doesn’t understand that stuff.

"Just tell me what you want done. Adcardo helping our own doesn’t need a reason."

Lin Miao says sincerely,

"I want you to join the Efficiency Department as the contact between me and Adcardo. I need a whole bunch of people working for me—lots and lots of people—and they have to be loyal enough."

On the surface, Lin Miao’s ties with Adcardo are minimal; his power base is all in Night City. That’s exactly why Miles yanked him out of Night City and dragged him all the way out here to Washington.

Because here, he can only rely on Miles, become her dog, obeying her every word.

But in reality, Lin Miao has a large group of people who are willing to help him and who know every corner of the United States like the back of their hand.

The nomad clans.

This bunch has always wandered outside the power centers of North American cities, a hidden card sitting squarely in those people’s blind spot.

And now, it’s time to flip that card over.

Pan’an shakes her head again and again.

"No way. Just seeing that pack of idiots makes me sick. You know what those city fucks call us? Uneducated Wildmen. Sitting next to them would be worse than killing me."

"You’re not sitting next to them. You’re sitting next to me."

Lin Miao stresses,

"I’ve already talked this through with Sol. All you have to do is follow me—be my assistant and half my student."

Hearing that, Pan’an curses in her head,

Fuck me, that son of a bitch Sol sold her off without even talking to her.

Just imagining herself in a suit makes Pan’an shiver. It’s disgusting as hell.

"Assistant I can understand. But student, what the hell is that? Learn to do business with you? Spare me."

"Pan’an, learn politics."

Lin Miao hops down from the table, walks over to his own body that’s still jabbering away, pledging its loyalty to the New America, and looks at Pan’an.

"Sol has high hopes for you. He wants you to become a qualified leader and successor. But as a leader, guts and drive aren’t enough. You have to learn politics."

"Politics?"

Pan’an’s voice jumps up a notch, and she springs up from her chair.

"Like that Lucius Laine in Night City? You might as well kill me. I’m not turning into that kind of clown."

"If you don’t care about politics, politics will still care about you."

Lin Miao’s data avatar sits down in the chair, overlapping perfectly with his body, but the two talk separately and move differently, giving off an eerie feeling.

"If you don’t read contracts closely, don’t study law, don’t study math, you won’t even know how they’re screwing you. Then what kind of resistance are you talking about?"

"Violence can only be the last resort. Most of the time it just escalates conflict and gets weaponized by your enemies."

"Look at the current situation of your Adcardo. Driven out everywhere by the corps, accepted by no one. Even when you enter the city, you get played in circles, despised as Wildmen. That’s the price of not learning. Haven’t you all paid enough already?"

Nobody knows their own shit better than themselves. Pan’an is painfully aware of how much Adcardo has suffered over the years.

If someone else had said this, Pan’an might have jumped up and decked them, thinking they were mocking her. But her relationship with Lin Miao tells her he’s dead serious.