Chapter 373c
2-in-1-Chapter
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To his surprise, Leo’s people did not stop him.
Others, seeing this, began to build up their courage.
They watched their companion devour the food ravenously, and could no longer hold back their own hunger, saliva pooling in their mouths.
At last, a second laborer moved.
And with a second, there would naturally be a third, a fourth.
Hesitation faded.
Thinking ceased.
People follow crowds. Even if it meant torture, abuse, or execution—there was some comfort in dying together.
As the laborers gorged themselves, Leo contacted Saul in the rear, instructing him to send people to take over the gold mine. At the same time, he asked Vik and Gloria to come as well.
Leo didn’t plan to force the laborers to work for him, but before letting them go, he wanted Vik to examine them.
Of course, they wouldn’t be charged for any of it.
Just then, one of the laborers stepped forward and began walking toward Leo.
He was immediately intercepted, warned not to proceed further.
The Aldecaldos beside Leo tightened their grips on their weapons.
One wrong move, and the man would be dropped instantly.
But Leo waved his hand, signaling for them to let him through.
"Is there something you want to say to me?"
The laborer glanced nervously at the Aldecaldos surrounding Leo. "Honored sir... may I ask—are you with the government forces?"
"No. We’re from Aurora Private Military Company."
"Aurora... Private Military Company?" the man echoed, blinking in confusion. He tried to recall something, then shook his head. "I’ve never heard of that."
"That’s fine. You don’t need to know the name. All you need to know is that this gold mine now belongs to me. And no—I’m not a bandit. The President of Bolivia personally granted it to me."
"Then... may I ask, honored sir, what will you do with us? Are you going to force us to work for you?"
"That won’t be necessary. If you want to leave, you’re free to go right now. Though I would recommend you wait a little longer."
Leo paused, then continued: "My medical team is already en route. They’ll examine your health and treat any illnesses you may have."
The laborer said, "We don’t have any money."
"That’s not a problem. It won’t cost you anything. It’s free."
The laborer froze.
His eyes turned once again to Leo.
He noticed that Leo’s expression bore no trace of mockery or casual amusement—nor did the faces of those standing beside him.
After a pause, he hesitated and asked, "Forgive me for speaking frankly, sir, but... what is your purpose in doing this?"
The purpose, of course, was simple: to have them spread the name and reputation of Aurora Private Military Company far and wide—that was Leo’s goal.
But such a thing couldn’t be said openly to a laborer.
Without thinking, Leo answered, "There is no particular purpose. I just believe it’s something that ought to be done."
The laborer didn’t understand the reasoning, but he was deeply moved.
After much internal struggle, he finally reached a decision.
"Sir, your generosity commands admiration. If you would allow it, we are willing to serve under you."
Having secured and settled the laborers at this gold mine, Leo next led his people to seize control of a second gold mine and a copper mine.
Once both locations had been taken, he stationed personnel to protect them and deployed patrol units to maintain the transportation routes linking all three mining sites with the capital, La Paz.
The importance of a supply line was self-evident—without one, these mines would be nothing more than isolated dead zones.
The three sites needed more workers. Since manpower was limited, Leo chose to recruit laborers from nearby villages—not through forced conscription like the government troops or rebel forces, but through paid employment.
To be fair, the wages Leo offered were only slightly above the standard in Night City, but to the locals, they were more than generous.
Compared to the dire wage levels in Bolivia, even Night City’s exploitative pay scale seemed decent. And Leo was offering more than that.
This approach rapidly spread the reputation of Aurora PMC throughout the surrounding villages.
It didn’t take long before most of eastern Bolivia had heard of a "great benefactor" who was willing to pay fair wages for honest work.
The term "great benefactor" was used ironically by Leo himself—after all, he believed paying people for labor was the natural order of things.
But the locals truly saw Leo and his company as messengers sent from the heavens.
After securing the three mining sites and stabilizing the transit lines, Leo and Saul held a series of discussions and decided to strike while the iron was hot. They would expand further, rather than remaining limited to just those three resources.
Thanks to their methods, local civilians welcomed their arrival and even volunteered intelligence on enemy positions.
.........
....
.
Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, Aurora PMC had been operating in Bolivia for an entire year.
Within that time, the company had fully established its footing in the region.
The original few hundred personnel were no longer enough to maintain control over their expanding territory.
As a result, Leo began recruiting large numbers of local youth with passion and conviction.
Now, Aurora PMC’s total fighting force exceeded thirty thousand.
And these thirty thousand were not disorganized militias like those of the rebel forces—they were trained warriors, disciplined under the guidance of the Aldecaldos and the cyber-mercenaries who had followed Leo from Night City.
Every one of them had undergone strict selection, with loyalty being the most critical requirement before joining the company.
All were equipped with standardized, high-grade weapons and modern cyberware.
Some might ask: how could Leo afford to provide cyberware for thirty thousand soldiers? Could gold mining really fund that?
The answer was no. Gold mining alone couldn’t possibly support such extensive spending.
However, prior to this, Leo had finalized a significant deal with the Republic of Texas.
Previously, the Texan weapons procurement liaison in Night City, Lester, had reported Leo’s combat-assist modules to the government.
After extended negotiations and political delays, the Texan Congress finally approved a military budget to allow the Ministry of Defense to purchase 3,500 combat-assist modules at a unit price of 650,000 eurodollar.
That’s right.
Not three thousand, but three thousand five hundred units.
A total deal valued at 2.275 billion eurodollar.
The plan was to expand Texas’s original "Shadow" special forces unit from 1,500 personnel to 5,000.
Of course, while these combat modules could elevate ordinary individuals to special forces level, giving them to already trained soldiers yielded far greater results.
So the additional 3,500 troops recruited were already strong candidates from within the Texan Army.
Over the course of that year, Aurora PMC developed at astonishing speed.
The company purchased grain and provisions from local civilians at Night City market rates—which, while already exploitative by most standards, were still better than Bolivia’s extreme poverty pricing—and they paid in eurodollar, not the nearly worthless "Bolivianos" that barely functioned as currency.
Furthermore, local civilians could seek medical treatment at clinics established by Aurora PMC. These clinics were not free, but patients were allowed to receive treatment first and pay later, with repayment plans requiring only ten percent of their monthly income to cover costs.
With just these two policies—fair grain prices and deferred medical billing—Aurora PMC earned immense support from the local population.
The people here didn’t understand concepts like democracy or liberty; many couldn’t even read or write.
But they knew how to "vote with their feet," and they chose to support Aurora PMC.
With public backing secured, Saul led his forces to take the initiative, launching a full assault on the rebel forces entrenched in eastern Bolivia—and crushing them completely.
From training, discipline, equipment, cybernetic enhancements, morale, and cohesion, the rebel militias were utterly outclassed by Aurora PMC.
Now, with the support of the civilian population added to their advantages, the rebel forces had no leverage left.
These anti-government militants had been entrenched in eastern Bolivia for years, resisting all attempts by the Bolivian army and the president to remove them.
But what the government couldn’t achieve in years of bitter struggle, Aurora PMC accomplished in just a few months—completely clearing eastern Bolivia of insurgents, leaving no trace behind.
And after seizing control of the eastern territories, Aurora PMC did not hand them back to the government.