Chapter 359
2-in-1-Chapter
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"At the end of the day, no matter how hard you try, the truth is that you can only take care of the people you can see. As for those beyond your reach, you cannot help them."
Leo noticed the middle-aged white man’s face growing darker, so he added, "Don’t misunderstand . I’m not targeting you, I’m simply stating an objective fact."
"As long as Bolivia’s situation remains unchanged, as long as so many factions exist within its borders, the number of civilians needing your aid will only increase, and you will never be able to save them all."
He stepped forward and lightly patted the man’s shoulder.
"In my city, there is a saying: ’You can’t defeat your enemy unless you first survive yourself.’ If you adapt that saying, it applies to you as well."
"Only if you protect yourselves first and secure your own safety will you be able to help more people."
The middle-aged man fell silent for a long ti. At last, he was persuaded.
"I suppose you’re right."
Just as their exchange ended, Lucy, leaning against the massive wheel of a truck, suddenly shouted.
"Leo, movent!"
Hearing her voice, Leo quickly reassured the man, then strode over to her side.
"What is it?"
Lucy turned her laptop toward him.
On the screen was the feed from a drone several kiloters away, showing a large group of ard fighters moving toward their position.
Leo imdiately recognized them as anti-governnt militia.
His brow furrowed. Judging by their heading, they were coming directly for the camp.
What puzzled him was how they knew where the camp was. But this was no ti to linger on the question.
Lucy’s face was tense. "Leo, should we tell everyone to pull out?"
"What’s coming can’t be avoided," Leo shook his head. "Go tell the international relief personnel to rally here, and don’t forget the arms dealer and his three bodyguards."
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It didn’t take long for the people he’d summoned to arrive.
The middle-aged man spoke first. "Mr. Leo, what’s happening?"
"There’s a large anti-governnt militia force advancing toward us. They’re only a few kiloters away."
The arms dealer was the first to panic.
"Then what are we waiting for? We need to grab everyone and run!"
Leo glanced at this defeatist strategist with irritation. Always the sa—wanting to scatter at the first sign of trouble.
He ignored him and turned to the middle-aged man. "What do you think?"
"They look like they’re coming straight for us. I doubt we can just outrun them."
That was Leo’s thought as well. He nodded.
"They’re not here with good intentions. We take them out and leave one alive to interrogate. That’s my plan. Who’s with ?"
The international relief workers followed the middle-aged man’s lead. Since he had chosen to fight, they would not shrink back. They might be dics who saved lives, but that did not an they would stand idle and offer the other cheek after being struck.
Even missionaries carried both the Bible and the musket when preaching to the flock. And only hours ago, these very sa people had nearly lost their lives to the militia.
Now, they were eager to return the favor.
The three bodyguards behind the arms dealer remained silent, and the arms dealer himself wore a grim expression.
Even so, Leo could guess what he was thinking.
"If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. You and your people can take the car and go."
The arms dealer gave a cold laugh. "And then, when my back is turned, you put a bullet in ? That’s your ga, isn’t it?"
"You’re paranoid. Why would I bother to shoot you in the back? If you don’t want to stay, I have no reason to force you. You’re afraid I’ll shoot you in the back, and I’m just as wary you’ll do the sa to ."
Leo spread his hands. "So since no one trusts each other..."
The arms dealer stared into his eyes. "You’d really let walk away?"
"Take a good look at yourselves. You’re only four people. Why would I force you to stay? If you want to remain, fine. If you want to leave, go."
The arms dealer hesitated, uncertain of Leo’s true motives. In the end, he stayed—not because he trusted Leo, but because he had no better option.
This was militia territory. If he and three bodyguards could simply march to La Paz through enemy lines, he would have done it already. The fact that he had been trailing Leo spoke for itself.
His bodyguards were skilled cyberrcs, but not strong enough to treat hostile territory like open ground. And after watching Leo briefly, he realized Leo was not the type to risk himself for others.
If Leo was choosing to stay and fight, it ant he was confident of winning.
That alone was reason enough not to leave.
"If you’re staying, I expect you to contribute," Leo said flatly. "It’s in your own interest as well."
The arms dealer snorted. "If we’re staying, we’ll do our part."
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Night fell over the wilderness.
A column of nearly a hundred militia advanced through the tall brush, the stalks whispering and rustling against their bodies.
At the front strode a towering Latino man, a gold tooth glinting in his mouth, a scar running down his cheek. In his cybernetic eyes glowed a yellow icon, fixed on a point a few hundred ters ahead.
He grinned cruelly. These foreigners had no idea of the rules of this land. They thought all those they aided were worth saving, blind to the fact that so of those civilians were militia informants.
The order he had received was simple: kill everyone and bring back the target.
At first, he had worried they might keep moving through the night, which would have made pursuit more difficult. But to his delight, they had camped.
He ordered his n to dismount and proceed on foot. He imagined them now, resting and eating by the fire, and he looked forward to the shock on their faces when the militia appeared like ghosts in the dark.
Yet just as he savored that thought, the target ahead, which had remained motionless on his HUD, suddenly began to move.
His face darkened.
"Damn. They’re escaping."
Goldtooth waved his arm sharply, ordering his n to quicken their pace.
He didn’t know how the enemy had detected them from such a distance, but he knew if they delayed, the target would slip away, and failure would an ruin.
That thought alone sent a shiver down his spine.
They pushed forward two or three hundred ters before the sound split the night—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
From the thick undergrowth erupted a storm of gunfire.
The dozen militian at the front dropped like stalks of wheat.
Goldtooth froze for an instant, then understood: an ambush.
He threw himself to the ground imdiately.
The others were slower. Another volley cut down a dozen more before the survivors finally ca to their senses and dropped as well.
Bullets poured in from the front and both flanks.
But the brush was too tall and the growth too dense. They couldn’t even see where the enemy was.
Pinned to the ground, the surviving militia could only fire blindly in the direction from which the bullets were tearing through them, screaming as they shot.
Their rounds were wild and ineffective. The enemy, by contrast, struck as though running with wallhacks enabled, always knowing exactly where they were, and unleashing overwhelming heavy firepower that left them battered and broken.
The militia squad didn’t even last half a minute before they were overrun.
Big Goldtooth tried to escape, but a sniper round from V shattered his thigh, dropping him in the dirt.
Sweat poured down his face as he spun around and emptied a magazine into the brush behind him.
There was nothing there. He was fighting phantoms.
Only when the mag clicked empty did V step out from the foliage. She kicked the rifle from his hands, drove her boot into his chest, and pressed the muzzle of her Nue sniper rifle against his cheek.
Big Goldtooth froze.
Leo erged from the brush, speaking calmly over the comms to the middle-aged white man. "Call your people back. Stop chasing. It’s over."
Half the militia were already lying dead. The rest had panicked and broken. Lucy finished them with strafing runs from her drone overhead, until there was no one left standing.
The middle-aged man gave the order and then approached Leo, glancing down at the captive pinned under V’s boot. "Do we take him along to chase the others?"
Leo shook his head. "We question him here."
He crouched slightly, his voice steady. "Don’t bother with your na—I don’t care. I just want to know why you were hunting us, and how you knew where we were."
"Why should I tell you?" Big Goldtooth sneered, his nasake glinting in the light. "Don’t try to fool . I know you won’t let live. If I’m dead either way, why should I say anything?"
Leo shook his head slowly.
"Because I can make sure your death is quick. Refuse, and we’ll spend the whole night listening to your screams. I think it’ll be beautiful."
Big Goldtooth’s eyes narrowed, sliding sideways until he caught sight of the middle-aged man erging from the brush.
A mocking smile crept onto his face. "They’re with an international relief group. They won’t let you torture ."
Leo tilted his head. "Is that so?"
He turned toward the man walking up to him. "Do a favor, would you?"
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