Chapter 361: Chapter 361
Chapter 361
2-in-1-Chapter
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After arranging everything, Leo returned to his own vehicle, lowered the seat, and lay down to rest. He was responsible for the second half of the night, and if he did not sleep now, there would be no chance to rest once his watch began and through the following day.
In truth, he had never intended to use Diego as a way to approach the president of Bolivia. When he had rescued the international aid workers and civilians from the rebel encampment, the thought had crossed his mind to propose cooperation to the president. Yet even then, he had not considered exploiting Diego.
The saying held true: anyone who took others for fools was a fool himself. A man who could rise to the presidency of a nation was no simpleton. If Leo tried to use Diego as an intermediary, the president would see it instantly, and if he concluded that Leo had only approached him through Diego, there was a real chance he would reject the proposal out of hand.
That would be a loss, not a gain.
And the truth was, Diego was not necessary. Leo believed that the proposal he carried would likely pass on its own. Of the three powers locked in conflict, the government forces were the weakest. That intelligence had come from the arms dealers, but whether they exaggerated or not made little difference—because the fact remained that the army could neither defeat the rebels nor destroy the Shining spoke for itself.
Therefore, the president could not turn down the package offered by Aurora Private Military Company: training programs for his army, the supply of heavy firepower, and armored vehicles. These were measures to strengthen the government forces, and there was no reason to refuse. Leo had no need for schemes beyond that.
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From above, a convoy could be seen crossing the wilderness, several rebel pickups chasing behind it.
Even at a distance, the militia riding in the beds of the trucks opened fire with their weapons, bullets whistling through the air. This was not the work of spies or infiltrators. It was simply that they had run into a rebel patrol. The region was still rebel territory, and everywhere rebel patrols roamed—like mobs scattered across the map of an old war game.
For Leo’s purposes, a few technicals were nothing. He ordered the international aid trucks and civilian transports to accelerate, while he himself drove the heavy truck at the rear to cover the retreat.
The truck lacked an automated weapon station, but against a handful of pickups it was more than enough. Leo, V, and Lucy were calm, showing no emotion as rounds sparked off the road far behind. Firing from moving vehicles at that distance was a waste. Hitting anything was next to impossible.
When the range closed to five hundred meters, the rebels fire began to find its mark.
Thoom-thoom-thoom—
Leo rose halfway out of the roof hatch, bracing the mounted Militech MK.31 heavy machine gun. The stream of large-caliber rounds cracked through the air like a steel whip, slamming into a pickup approaching on the right. The truck’s frame was riddled with holes and exploded in a burst of flame as it hurtled forward.
A sniper round followed from the bed of Leo’s truck, punching through the skull of another pickup’s driver. The vehicle veered and smashed into a third truck. Both rolled over in the dirt.
The remaining pickups returned fire, but the militia’s aim was poor. Most shots flew wide. A handful struck the heavy truck, gouging dents and pits into its armor.
Leo swung the MK.31 again, stitching three more pickups into burning wrecks, then tossed a grenade. The metal sphere clattered beneath another truck before erupting, flipping it onto its side.
The last vehicle tried to bring up a rocket launcher, but V’s shot rang out first. Her round pierced the militiaman’s skull. His twitching finger triggered the launcher anyway, sending the rocket straight into his own engine block. The blast ripped the truck apart.
The pursuing rebels were annihilated.
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Wave after wave of rebel militia attempted to stop them, but Leo’s group cut through every encounter without losing a single civilian.
At last, they crossed into government-held territory.
And it was here that Leo saw firsthand why the army could not win against the rebels.
First, the quality of their men was abysmal. It had been obvious already that the rebels were poor shots, hardly trained at all. But the government troops, supposedly a regular army, were no better—if anything, they were worse.
Back in rebel territory, patrols had been everywhere, with checkpoints, outposts, and camps scattered thick across the land. Here in government territory, soldiers were almost nowhere to be seen. Only in the most vital positions—strategic strongholds, towns, or cities—could troops be found, and even then they were few in number and looked listless, without energy or morale.
Second, the disparity in equipment was glaring. The rebels had their share of smuggled or black-market arms, but the government forces relied almost entirely on the cheapest, most basic weapons: Nokota pistols, Darra Polytechnic rifles, Rostović shotguns, and similar budget firearms.
They were hopelessly outclassed.
On the side of the anti-government fighters, the situation was roughly the same. Their weapons came mainly from scavenging and smuggling, though every so often, a Midnight Arms rifle, a Malorian handgun, a Militech design, or even a Constitution Arms weapon would show up in their ranks.
They had no infantry fighting vehicles, no combat helicopters, but heavily modified pickup trucks were common.
The government troops, by contrast, had hardly even pickups to rely on, most of them moving on foot with whatever they carried.
It left Leo wondering how the government forces had managed to hold out until now without being crushed by the insurgents.
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Later, at one of the government army’s forward positions, Leo led Diego forward and directly sought them out, requesting that they escort the boy to La Paz.
He had no expectation that these soldiers could contribute much in actual combat. The point of contacting them was simply to avoid unnecessary trouble. They were already inside government-controlled territory; it would not do to act as they had in insurgent zones, where a disagreement could end in blood. With the government army clearing the way, many complications could be avoided.
At first, the soldiers did not believe they were looking at the president’s missing son. It was only after the major in command recorded Diego standing before him and sent the footage to his superiors that they received confirmation: the boy really was the president’s child.
From that moment, things went much more smoothly.
The major immediately ordered more than two hundred men to join Leo’s party as an escort on the road to La Paz.
From there, the journey met with no further obstacles.
They entered the Bolivian capital without incident.
La Paz was the nation’s capital, but it hardly looked the part. Its development seemed closer to one of Night City’s outer districts, something like Heywood.
The civilians who had been part of the convoy were not allowed into the presidential palace. They were taken elsewhere. Only Leo, the representatives of the international aid organization, the arms dealer with his three bodyguards, were admitted inside.
In the palace, Leo’s group finally met the president himself, Antón Castillo.
After a short and emotional reunion between the president and Diego, Antón ordered a steward to take his son away. He then had the aid workers and the arms dealer with his escorts shown to quarters where they could rest.
Leo alone was left behind in the reception hall.
When the two men sat down across from each other, the president opened directly. "What reward do you want?"
It was clear he was trying to present himself as generous. Yet from everything Leo had seen on the way here, he knew that Castillo could not possibly offer much. The government forces barely held a defensive ring around the capital. They were cut off from outside supplies, unable to acquire weapons, ammunition, or any other essential materials. Even a payout of a few million eurodollars was beyond their means.
Leo shook his head. "I want no reward."
To his surprise, the president answered, "The things that come for free are always the most expensive. If you say you don’t want a reward, it only means what you are truly after must be greater."
Whatever else might be said of him, this president’s perspective was not entirely narrow.
Leo thought for a moment, then decided not to play at pretenses. He spoke plainly.
"I want cooperation. Let me introduce myself properly. I am Leo, director of Aurora Private Military Company. We provide weapons, instructors, and the training of troops to our clients. From what I have seen, if your country truly wishes to reunify, you will need help from outside."
"You have come prepared," Castillo sighed. "As you can see, if you open your mouth too wide, I cannot possibly pay. For returning Diego to me, I could perhaps scrape together a few million eurodollars from different places, but I will not.
"My son is important, but not important enough for me to pay millions."