Chapter 394
2-in-1-chapter
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The reality was undeniable—Bolivia's citizens hadn't received a single benefit from it all.
Even though Captain Cuatro's personal assets had grown to the point that he no longer dared deposit them in Swiss banks—fearing corporations would take notice and freeze his accounts—he never distributed a cent to the people.
Instead, he secretly constructed several hidden vaults across remote parts of the country.
After his death, investigators searching the presidential compound discovered that Captain Cuatro had commissioned the construction of an entire auxiliary building just to store his immense wealth. And even then, popular rumor claimed that this was merely a fraction compared to what lay hidden in his secret treasuries.
Unfortunately, ever since his death, none of the succeeding presidents, the various insurgent groups, or even the territorially entrenched Shining Group had managed to locate these secret vaults.
In fact, during the years immediately following Captain Cuatro's death, waves of people from Europe and North America poured into Bolivia—some as part of organized expeditions, others as individual treasure hunters drawn by local legends.
They had all come in pursuit of Captain Cuatro's mythical treasure vaults.
It was a scene reminiscent of the American Gold Rush.
But none ever found the vaults, and many lost their lives in Bolivia's dangerous terrain.
The country was anything but safe, especially after the collapse of central authority following Cuatro's death.
While he had lived, despite the oppressive military regime and the threat posed by the Shining Group, Bolivia had at least remained unified. Though the people lived under authoritarian pressure, war was not a daily fear.
It couldn't compare to the conditions in Cerys, Japan, or the stable European nations, but it was significantly better than most of the Latin American region, where poverty and internal conflict were rampant.
Bolivia was poor, yes—but it was, at least, not in chaos.
That changed the moment Cuatro died.
The military government collapsed immediately afterward. Although a new president was democratically elected and a civilian cabinet was formed, the country's weakened military was unable to contain its opposition.
The opposition seized the opportunity to form insurgent forces and split the country.
From that moment on, Bolivia fell into prolonged civil war—brother against brother, communities turned against one another.
The hope for unity and peace was buried in years of darkness. Endless warfare consumed the nation, and the people saw no end in sight.
Displacement, ruined homes, shattered families, and widespread suffering became daily realities.
Until Aurora PMC arrived.
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It was precisely because of the legend surrounding Cuatro's hidden vaults that members of Bolivia's elite class had used that secret as a bargaining chip—offering it to the Shining Group in exchange for support in seizing power.
This was one of the pieces of intel extracted from the neural link of Flores.
And even more was recovered from the neural link of Yanan.
As the Shining Group's second-in-command, Yanan had access to a level of intelligence that surpassed what someone like Gustavo, who only held a quasi-senior rank, could ever obtain.
In fact, Yanan's neural records included the locations of every secure house used by Shining's top leadership.
Leo now had the opportunity to wipe them all out in a single operation.
But after careful consideration, he made the opposite choice.
Instead of launching a broad strike, he instructed Goro Takemura to lead an elite squad to eliminate only the Shining Group's top figure at their safehouse.
The reason was simple: according to Yanan's memory, the only individuals in Shining who possessed both intelligence and strategic vision were the group's first and second leaders.
That explained why such a high-ranking figure had been sent to negotiate directly with Bolivia's elite on behalf of the organization.
The rest of Shining's leadership was not up to the task.
Given that, Leo concluded that there was no need to eliminate the entire upper echelon.
It would be far more advantageous to assassinate the leader, create a power vacuum, and let the remaining senior members fight each other for control.
During this internal chaos, Aurora PMC could strike decisively at the insurgent forces and eliminate them completely.
Once Shining was fractured and scattered, dealing with them would be far easier.
As for whether the rest of Shining's leadership would fall for the trap—or unite and retaliate against Aurora—Leo judged the risk to be minimal.
As long as Aurora didn't make the first move or display overt hostility, it was unlikely the remaining leaders would come together to resist them.
More importantly, history and reality both demonstrated that division was far more common than unity.
Even when a nation stood on the brink of collapse, people often failed to put aside personal grudges and unite against a common enemy.
Shining, after all, was not a nation.
It was merely a criminal syndicate focused on producing and trafficking drugs.
A disorganized, self-interested collective—hardly a unified front.
If they didn't start fighting over the vacant leadership seat, that alone would be surprising.
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The news that Shining's leader had been assassinated in his own safehouse spread rapidly across the territories under Shining control—like wings carrying whispers from city to city.
The second-in-command had been captured by the Free Bolivian Alliance Forces—what remained of the insurgents—while negotiating at a port in Chile that had been leased to Shining.
This left the rest of Shining's leadership scrambling for answers, many suspecting that the insurgents had orchestrated the assassination of their boss.
But the insurgents couldn't prove otherwise.
Meanwhile, Aurora PMC, which had remained inactive since securing the capital, suddenly launched a fierce offensive—targeting insurgent positions in northern and western Bolivia.
Thanks to their meticulous governance of eastern Bolivia, Aurora PMC had earned strong civilian support. As a result, many citizens living under insurgent rule openly welcomed them, offering food, drink, and intelligence to aid the advancing forces.
Militarily, the insurgents were already no match for Aurora PMC.
Now, with local civilians actively supporting Aurora—some even volunteering to guide them through hostile terrain—the insurgents collapsed quickly and catastrophically.
Entire units of militia fighters surrendered en masse.
Ironically, among them were former government soldiers who had defected to the insurgents only two weeks prior—and were now surrendering once again, this time to Aurora PMC.
What surprised many observers was how Aurora handled its prisoners. They neither executed them all nor absorbed them indiscriminately into their ranks.
Instead, they transported every prisoner to the capital to stand public trial.
Many of the insurgents had committed serious crimes, with blood on their hands, yet Aurora still insisted on due process.
Some viewed it as a mere formality.
But in truth, that formality made all the difference.
It clearly marked Aurora PMC as fundamentally different from both the defunct government forces and the insurgents. There would be no executions of prisoners without trial.
While Aurora PMC was delivering heavy blows to the insurgent forces, the situation on the Shining Group's side was developing exactly as Leo had anticipated.
At first, several senior figures within Shining suspected that this was nothing more than a "set the tiger against the wolf" maneuver—that Aurora was trying to manipulate them into fighting the insurgents, only to profit from the ensuing chaos as the sole beneficiary.
But Aurora did not turn its guns on Shining. On the contrary, it took the initiative to strike directly at the insurgents, as if to say clearly: we're not interested in you.
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