Anthony was a unique mayor of New York City: before him, there had never been a mayor who truly ca from the working class.
The closest one to this was a mayor during World War II, who had been a translator before entering politics, and his wife was an authentic garnt worker; the couple t during a protest.
Anthony’s political career also ca unexpectedly: he was pulled by Lille onto the small boat fighting against sinister forces and then, step by step, went with the flow until Lille pushed him to this position.
"If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know how to respond to that guy," he said.
After the speech, the two of them got into a stretch business van.
Such vehicles were not cheap, with bulletproof bodies and windows, a reinforced chassis...
And a unique electric drive system.
That’s right, this was the first-generation electric vehicle developed by Atlas Group.
Although the energy density wasn’t exorbitantly high, the strength of the graphene solid-state batteries, when stacked, could rival that of dium-grade bulletproof steel plates and could fully replace a substantial amount of structural parts to so extent.
Using Dr. Tums’ design, these batteries worked in conjunction with certain components to exhibit astounding strength performance, even better than that of original ultra-high-strength steel.
After all, these were the designated batteries for Octopus Arm, so it was only natural that they were highly impact-resistant.
This was also one of the reasons why Lille chose this technology as an energy currency: the lower density could allow it to fly under the radar in Night City and establish so trading habits at the grassroots level first.
Lille’s current requirent for these batteries was to balance safety and durability; as long as the energy density was sufficient, it was acceptable.
Part of the reason was that in the Marvel World, he might use a lot of electric equipnt to replace traditional fuel equipnt.
As for the issue with energy density, that was sothing for Dr. Otto to figure out how to improve.
The vehicle itself was very stable,
"Read more books," Lille suggested. "Now that you’re the mayor, you can’t solve problems just by going on tours everywhere.
Understand your citizens, understand the history of this city and the country; it will make your job much easier."
"You’re right," Anthony nodded earnestly, "Sotis I really wish there were 48 hours in a day, so I could set aside a whole day to read."
Lille was more satisfied with his humility and sincerity than with Anthony’s talent for speaking.
Satisfaction with his job and appreciation for life kept this man in his forties, even if his mind had aged sowhat, persistent in learning and not making excuses.
Positive life motivation drove him, and would inspire other nationals...
One could only hope.
The New York outside the window was more orderly than a year ago, and although the economy was still in a difficult period, the rise in unemploynt among the working class had been largely contained.
Financial professionals, on the other hand, continued to be unlucky, which was good news for Lille.
The assets they released would be absorbed by Martin’s financial company and eventually integrated into the entire interest group.
From the political to the economic sphere, and down to the labor base, New York City had already highly unified, making it difficult for any politician to find a flaw to exploit.
However...
Lille suddenly thought of a question and asked, "How is United Construction Company doing these days?"
The owner of United Construction Company was Kingpin, and ever since Lille drove him out of his own street, he hadn’t paid attention to this gangster boss anymore.
"This company... is about to go bankrupt, and their directors seem to be trying to transfer their business to other cities," Anthony replied.
Lille had a reason for suddenly asking about Kingpin.
Anthony only knew that United Construction Company was involved in the underworld, but as for how deep it went...
It could be said that so had seen a pig run, but that was all they had seen.
Before this, Anthony was a down-to-earth working-class man, and the most thrilling mont of his life was when he was chased once with Lille while organizing a community group.
Even then, it was just about running for their lives, and in his life, he had never hard anyone, never deliberately hurt anyone.
Now that he was the mayor, he had to learn how to slaughter.
Concerning this company, his expression beca sowhat cold—his driver, who was also Lille’s driver and forr neighbor, John, shared a life-and-death friendship with him.
Both were attacked on the van, and while Anthony was luckier, John had nearly died with a tal spike piercing his throat.
This was a very suitable emotion, Lille noted silently with a nod.
Just in ti, as Night City has upgraded its firepower, we also need to do the sa.
"Atlas Group will soon develop a new batch of police combat exoskeletons, and I hope that in the future, the NYPD will have an equipnt rate of 20% within its ranks.
Then have the NYPD organize organized cri eradication campaigns, with you nominally in command throughout."
"? I..."
"Yes, you will be fully involved. You need to show the citizens of New York City your deep abhorrence for the criminal underworld. Seize every clue, read out their charges, and send them to court—
If anyone resists, let the NYPD execute them on the spot.
The disruption of society by the underworld is no longer ordinary cri; it must be t with a heavy hand.
Finally... rember that you are not only a mayor but also an ordinary person. United Construction Company once sent assassins to threaten you; in the political arena, there are those who look down on you.
You must seek vengeance and learn to fight for respect; as a mayor, handle things both sharply yet asuredly, ferociously but not to the extent that people think you’re a mad dog—
At least not over a re gang leader."
Anthony paused for a mont before nodding, "I understand. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, in the future the old official vehicles at City Hall should be replaced with Atlas’s electric vehicles.
In addition, the municipal power grid needs to be upgraded to reduce energy loss and improve power supply stability.
Large-scale infrastructure construction will help to employ workers; after employnt, investnt in worker protection should be increased, and a minimum wage should be implented—
The amount will be analyzed and adjusted through Bloom Company’s ctOS system using big data, to achieve the best level."
"Actually, I have a question. So council mbers have expressed that businesses are struggling now. If labor costs continue to rise, they might lose competitiveness; and if businesses close down..."
"Then let them lose competitiveness; the ctOS system will quickly reassign work to the unemployed."
"The finances of City Hall might not be very optimistic."
"Then issue bonds. Let Martin handle it. It won’t be long before New York City is completely revitalized. Those who have issues with the policy now will shut up."
"I understand... Are there any risks?"
"There are." Lille did not intend to hide anything from Anthony. "If the new President in the future decides to launch a large-scale war and causes losses to the Atlas Group, New York City might not be able to repay its debts and could even go bankrupt."
Although Lille was his benefactor and major financial backer, Anthony still wanted to clarify the risks out of his responsibility for New York.
But he did not expect Lille to be so straightforward: the risk was that New York City could go bankrupt.
He did not know how this conclusion was reached, nor could he imagine how the world’s most prosperous city could go bankrupt...
But Lille’s honesty only ant one thing: at least Lille did not treat him as a puppet or a fool.
The subtext was: you can choose for yourself whether to continue standing with , as the Mayor of New York City.
Anthony suddenly felt a wave of emotion.
Because he realized that whether out of mayoral responsibility, personal feelings, or current circumstances...
He had no reason to refuse Lille.
He had read quite a few books; he knew many politicians who used deception as a ans of survival and that in the political arena, it didn’t seem to be sothing despicable—instead, it appeared more like a job skill.
But truly great statesn, they might have flaws, despicable actions, and even be despised by later generations for certain matters.
However, in the most glorious years of their career, at that crucial mont that mattered most to the voters and even to the entire world, not one of them achieved their greatest accomplishnt of their lives through pure deception.
Perhaps in the eyes of this young man... himself, as the Mayor of New York City, still had much to learn.
So Anthony answered, "I understand."
"Then get ready for the first big move of your term."
Lille spoke encouragingly and patted his shoulder.
He suddenly thought of a question: the Marvel World was clearly going through a period of rapid change.
Anthony Flor was just a character too minor to be present in any works of Marvel World, let alone becoming mayor.
So, combining the intelligence he had, the one who was supposed to beco mayor during this period...
Seems to be Kingpin, who’s about to be beaten up, right?
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