"Besides, you actually know better than I do that the real problem has never been whether America has the ability to deal with Saionji."
The person across from him looked back down at the photograph on the desk.
"If the entire United States truly decided to treat Saionji as an enemy, it would not last long."
"As long as we press all our strength in the same direction, no matter how rich Saionji is, it is still just a company."
The man behind the desk did not refute this.
"But the question is, when will such an 'entire United States' ever appear?"
The other person spread their hands.
"Wall Street is making money off her, Texas wants her to continue investing, some military-industrial enterprises want her capital, and some tech companies want to use her to enter Asia. Behind everyone on Capitol Hill are their own constituencies, donors, and interests."
"Sir, the United States possesses enough power to kill Saionji."
"Yet you simply cannot guarantee that these forces are willing to be used on her all at once."
When he reached this point, his tone carried a hint of sarcasm.
"Unless one day we simply announce that Saionji is hoarding 'weapons of mass destruction', then tell the nation this is an imminent national security threat, and then drive the army over to flatten it."
"Otherwise, you would first have to convince every single person in Washington why they should give up the benefits they are currently getting from Saionji just to eliminate Saionji."
Hearing this, the man behind the desk raised his eyes to look at him.
"This joke is not funny."
"I also hope it will forever remain just a joke."
The other person smiled.
"That is why I said, what America truly lacks is not power."
The office was quiet for a moment.
He waited a moment before continuing:
"More importantly, the foundation America possesses is much stronger than Saionji's."
"In our military industry, capital markets, universities, computer technology, and military system, not a single field needs to envy Japan. The real problem is that these capabilities have always been scattered in the hands of different people."
"The Pentagon considers the budget, military-industrial enterprises consider orders, Wall Street looks at returns, and tech companies eye the market. As for Congress—"
He smiled when he reached this point.
"Congress also has to consider the next election."
The man behind the desk looked up at him.
"You can say this set of talking points here with me, but you had better change your tune when you get to Capitol Hill."
"Of course."
The other person answered quite naturally.
"I will tell them that after the defense budget drops, a large number of military-industrial departments will be cut, factories will close, engineers will become unemployed, and my plan can keep a portion of them and provide jobs."
The man behind the desk looked at him for two seconds, unable to help shaking his head.
"You certainly know what they want to hear."
"I just respect what everyone truly cares about."
"Including me?"
"Especially including you."
This time, the other person looked directly at the photograph of Satsuki on the desk.
"To members of Congress, I talk about jobs and factories in their constituencies; to Wall Street, I talk about those undervalued defense assets after the end of the Cold War; to the Pentagon, I talk about cutting fixed expenditures while preserving the strategic capabilities built over decades."
"As for you—"
His gaze fell back onto the face of the man behind the desk.
"I talk about Saionji."
"Because in all of Washington, very few people are clearer than you about how much trouble it causes when an organization that was originally supposed to be just private capital genuinely starts linking funds, technology, corporate relations, and political influence together."
The smile on the face of the man behind the desk faded.
Lowering his head to flip through a few pages of the proposal, after a long while, he asked:
"I have heard enough theory."
"Where do you plan to start?"
This time, the other person put away the smile on their face.
"Acquisitions."
"Eastern Europe has changed, the Warsaw Pact will not last much longer, and Moscow's own problems are growing increasingly serious. No matter what form the Soviet Union continues to exist in ultimately, the United States cannot possibly maintain the defense expenditures of the 1980s anymore."
"Military electronics, communications, maintenance, base support, overseas logistics, and some small companies holding special technologies and government qualifications—these are the things most worth buying in the first stage."
The man behind the desk looked at him.
"You plan to swallow all of them?"
"My appetite is not big to that extent."
The other person smiled.
"The first step is only to buy the parts that can be pieced together."
"A single military communications contractor does not hold much meaning, and a single overseas logistics company cannot change anything. But if communications, electronics, maintenance, transportation, and base support enter the same system, what the government buys in the future will no longer be five or six fragmented contracts."
"Instead, it will be a complete capability."
Saying this, his finger landed on the three letters CSS.
"Once the first system is up and running, government contracts will give it credit; credit can be exchanged for financing from banks and capital markets, and then that money can be used to acquire the next batch of assets."
The man behind the desk already understood.
"Government contracts support financing, financing continues acquisitions, and after acquisitions, you go after bigger contracts."
"Pretty much."
"You plan to roll the company up relying on this?"
"When the Soviet Union vanishes and the Cold War ends, that will be the cheapest time."
The other person said.
"Over the past forty years, the United States spent who knows how much money just to nurture today's defense industrial foundation."
"I just feel that rather than discovering a few years down the line that these capabilities need to be built all over again, it is better to take over the parts that are truly valuable right now."
The man behind the desk flipped a few pages further.
The first batch of target sectors was already listed on it, along with rough valuations, government contract statuses, and technological directions marked beside them.
This document had clearly been prepared for a very long time.
"Yet even if I am willing to speak up for you, you are still a long way off."
He said.
"Buying these things requires capital, government contracts have to go through the Department of Defense, and many acquisitions will also involve Congress and existing military-industrial enterprises. Those people are not going to be willing to help you build a company that might compete with them in the future just because you show up at their door with a proposal."
"That is why I am going to see them one by one."
The other person answered very calmly.
"If people on Wall Street care about returns, I show them asset prices; if the Department of Defense cares about budgets, I let them see how much money outsourcing can save; if members of Congress care about whether factories will close, I tell them which production lines can remain."
After finishing, he looked at the man behind the desk.
"You are just one of them."
This sentence was spoken very directly.
Hearing this, the man behind the desk laughed instead.
"I thought I would be a bit special."
"You are indeed special."
"How so?"
"Most other people require me to explain why Saionji is worth worrying about."
The other person also laughed.
"You do not need it."
The atmosphere in the office finally relaxed a bit.
The man behind the desk picked up the CSS proposal again, flipping through a few pages from the beginning once more.
He was well aware of the danger posed by the person before him.
This person had the ability to turn their own visions into reality step by step, and also knew how to get different people to join in.
When facing different people, he could always come up with the narrative that the other party was most willing to hear.
Facing the Pentagon, he could package ambition as efficiency; facing Wall Street, it was simply a well-timed acquisition opportunity; arriving at Capitol Hill, it would turn into employment and the industrial foundation.
As for when he was sitting here.
His reason was called Saionji.
Such a person might truly have the possibility of making what was on paper a reality little by little.
He closed the document again, pressed his palm against the cover to think for a moment, and ultimately spoke up:
"I will talk with them."
The person opposite did not seem surprised, merely smiling and nodding.
"That is enough."
"Do not celebrate just yet."
The man behind the desk looked at him.
"What I promised to do is merely deliver this material in front of a few people worth looking at. As for whether they are willing to support it, or whether I will ultimately support your entire proposal, that remains to be seen."
"I understand."
"There is one more thing."
The man behind the desk put the CSS proposal aside and picked up the Tokyo materials once more.
"And do not talk about Saionji as if America can only rely on nurturing another monster to solve it."
The other person looked at him.
"You still believe in the original methods?"
"I believe the tools available are far more than what you described."
The person behind the desk tidied up the pages of materials again.
"Assassination is only one of the choices. This time it failed, and subsequent matters will proceed based on the premise that Saionji Satsuki is still alive."
"She has money, enterprises, technological investments in the United States, and increasingly complex interest relationships. Each additional asset means one more place where influence can be exerted."
"Financial regulation, foreign investment reviews, strategic technology restrictions, and the conflicts of interest among her partners in the United States—all of these can continue to be used."
His tone sounded very calm.
"Over the past few years, she has indeed made us suffer a few losses, but that only shows the people using these tools previously were not good enough, and does not prove that the tools themselves have lost their efficacy."
After hearing this, the other person's smile returned to his face.
"Naturally so, sir."
He stood up from the sofa and picked up the felt hat placed beside it.
"If you can prove that the old methods are still sufficiently effective, I will not stubbornly demand that America accept a higher-cost and riskier proposal right now."
"Rebuilding a system is expensive, after all."
Saying this, he put on his hat, straightened his collar, and walked toward the door.
His hand was already resting on the doorknob when he stopped again.
"And—"
The man behind the desk looked up.
The other person turned around and removed the felt hat he had just put on.
"When it comes to how to deal with Saionji, all of Washington truly cannot find many people more experienced than you."
The person by the door placed the felt hat in front of his chest and bowed slightly toward the desk.
When he raised his head again, his face still carried that smile which made it hard to truly understand.
"Then, I shall await your good news."
"Your Excellency, the Special Assistant to the President, Mr. Arthur Vance."