172: Alright, stop lamenting!

The Mexican government's reputation plummeted, and they became an international laughingstock.

Drug cartels across the country that had been lying low saw new hope; like sharks smelling blood, they surfaced one after another.

And their first choice was to contact the arms dealer who could provide all these 'miracles.'

"Hello? Is this Mr. Ismael?"

"I want the same package Ernesto got! No! I want double!"

"Money is no object! I want the big stuff that can blow Government Army tanks into the sky!"

Ismael, David's head of operations in the Americas, had his satellite phone ringing off the hook these past few days.

He leaned back on a comfortable sofa.

He elegantly swirled the red wine in his glass, listening to the excited, greedy, and frantic voices on the other end of the line.

"Don't worry, gentlemen."

"There is plenty of stock; everyone gets a share."

"Please list your requirements, and my assistant will provide you with the most professional service."

The situation in Mexico had spiraled completely out of control.

Drug cartels that had acquired new weapons were no longer satisfied with small-scale skirmishes.

They openly occupied cities, established their own armed forces, and drove out police and government officials.

Massive quantities of drugs were flooding into Eagle Country to the north through various channels with unprecedented efficiency.

Some drug cartels even used newly purchased armored vehicles, loaded with illegal immigrants, to ram directly into the border wall.

Inside Eagle Country, social unrest was frequent, and public security deteriorated sharply.

The high-ranking officials of Eagle Country were furious, lambasting the Mexican government for its incompetence on one hand...

...while urgently providing military aid and even sending advisory groups on the other, attempting to help the Mexican government combat the cartels.

But the results were negligible.

The military equipment they took pride in gained no advantage against those elusive, heavily-armed drug cartel forces.

The entirety of Mexico had turned into a massive war quagmire.

Meanwhile...

In Bolivia, South America, far from the smoke of Mexico.

In the remote, sparsely populated deep mountains and old forests.

A drilling team controlled by Yunhan Group was working intensely.

The team leader, Roslavmons, a dark-skinned, sturdy man, was staring intently at the exploration data monitoring screen in front of him.

He was a veteran David had transferred from Africa, incredibly experienced.

"Captain, the depth has reached 3,500 meters!" a team member reported.

Roslavmons waved his hand, signaling him to be quiet.

Some abnormal fluctuations appeared on the geological structure analysis map on the screen.

His heart began to beat faster.

"Pull the drill bit up! Slowly!"

The massive drilling rig roared, and the alloy drill bit, carrying soil and rock debris, was slowly hoisted up.

When the drill bit completely left the ground, everyone crowded around.

"Eh? What's this?"

A sharp-eyed team member pointed at some golden substance in the gaps of the drill bit and asked a question.

Roslavmons' pupils constricted suddenly; he lunged forward and carefully pinched a bit of powder with his fingers.

He placed it in his palm; it had a heavy texture.

Under the sunlight, it shimmered with a dazzling luster.

He took out the professional analytical instrument he carried with him and added a reagent.

On the instrument's screen, the value for the chemical symbol 'Au' went straight off the charts!

It was gold!

And it was of extremely high purity!

Roslavmons' brain buzzed; he immediately realized that what they were standing on was no ordinary mineral vein.

It was a giant gold mine with reserves that might be beyond imagination!

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the wild joy and excitement in his heart, and his face returned to its usual seriousness.

"Attention, everyone!"

Roslavmons' voice wasn't loud, but it was filled with unquestionable authority.

"Lock down the site! From now on, no one is allowed to leave the camp, and all external communications are to be cut off!"

"If anyone dares to leak a single word about today's discovery..."

He scanned the surrounding team members, his gaze becoming incredibly sharp.

"...be prepared for the consequences."

"Mr. President."

"It seems we've struck a mountain of gold."

Mirza Beg's voice came through the satellite phone.

David was sitting in his office at La Paz Air Force Base.

Hearing this, his hand holding the cup remained steady as a rock, and there wasn't even much change in his expression.

"Mm, I see."

Mirza Beg on the other end of the line was stunned.

"Boss... aren't you surprised?" Mirza Beg couldn't help but ask.

David set down his coffee cup.

"Why should I be surprised?"

"Didn't I send you there precisely to dig for gold?"

"Isn't it only natural that you've found it now?"

That one sentence completely silenced Mirza Beg.

Oh, my boss, the way you say it... How could he know that the reason David was so calm was that all of this was already within his expectations.

One could even say this was a masterpiece directed by his own hand.

In his past life, the news of the discovery of a giant gold mine deep within the Colanga Silver Mine in Oruro Province, Bolivia, had once shocked the entire mining industry.

That old silver mine had been silent for many years.

No one would have thought that beneath its barren lead-zinc ore layers lay buried a gold mine with staggering reserves and extremely high grade!

Moreover, because the upper mineral veins had been mined for many years, the geological structures and passages leading to the depths were relatively clear.

The mining difficulty and cost were far lower than those of primitive mineral veins that required exploration from scratch.

When David originally dispatched the drilling team to Bolivia, his target was crystal clear.

It was aimed straight at Colanga!

"Enough, stop being so emotional!"

David tapped on the desk, as if he could see Mirza Beg's dumbfounded expression through the phone.

"Make arrangements immediately; I want to go to the site and see for myself."

"Also, have the person in charge of La Paz Air Force Base get ready; two apaches will escort me the whole way."

"Yes! Boss!"

Mirza Beg's voice instantly became spirited.

Half an hour later.

A Bell 429 luxury helicopter soared into the air from La Paz Air Force Base.

The three aircraft formed a standard 'V' formation and roared toward the deep mountains of Oruro Province.

Inside the cabin.

David and Mirza Beg sat opposite each other.

Mirza Beg's face was still flushed with excitement.

He held a briefing that had just been faxed over, excitedly reporting to David.

"Boss, according to Captain Roslavmons' preliminary exploration, the gold grade of the mineral vein beneath our feet is terrifyingly high!"

"In many places, it's almost a mixture of gold nuggets and high-purity gold dust!"

"Preliminary estimates suggest the reserves might be calculated in 'thousands of tons'!"

David merely nodded.

"Right now, what we need to do isn't to be happy."

"But rather how to turn this mountain of gold into money in our pockets, safely and securely."

The helicopter slowly landed at the drilling team's camp.

Roslavmons, who had been waiting there for a long time, stepped forward quickly with several core team members to greet them.

"Boss! Mr. President!"

Roslavmons' dark face was written all over with excitement.

"How is the situation?" David asked, jumping off the helicopter and getting straight to the point.

"Reporting to the Boss! The site has been completely locked down, all communications cut, and all team members are on standby in the camp!"

Roslavmons straightened his back and reported loudly.

He pointed to the massive drilling rig not far away, as well as several boxes of core samples placed beside it.

"We extracted samples from different depths; the analysis results are all out, and the purity is extremely high!"

"This is absolutely a world-class super-giant gold mine!"

David walked to the sample boxes and casually picked up a piece of dark brown rock.