A week after completing their research, Liang En and his team of twelve people flew from Dublin, crossing the Atlantic to La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City.
Unlike previous trips where there were only two or three people, this time the team included Liang En, Fan Meng, and Joan of Arc, as well as an eight-person armed group hired from a security company in France responsible for their protection.
This was mainly because, unlike places Liang En had been before, Guatemala had very poor security conditions, so he spent considerable effort finding a reliable security company.
Initially, Liang En planned to use personnel from a newly established security company at the mines on the Sinai Peninsula, as they were absolutely reliable compared to others, especially being Copts. However, after inquiring, he reluctantly had to abandon this plan.
Since their mission was located in the tropical rainforests of Central America, the Copts, who were more accustomed to deserts and cities, could not utilize their strengths in such an environment.
After thorough selection, he chose a security company recommended by Fan Meng, whose main personnel were retired soldiers from the French Foreign Legion, many of whom were close comrades of Fan Meng.
Liang En, through discreet inquiries via butler Lubson’s channels, confirmed the reliability of this security company, which fully met his requirements.
According to the information organized by butler Lubson, this was a small-scale security company founded by a captain of the French Foreign Legion and had been established only three to four years ago. Its primary scope of work involved security tasks in South America.
In fact, security companies with a French military background mostly operate in Central and South America, West Africa, or North Africa, areas that overlap with France’s former colonies and areas of special interest.
However, the company called White Knights had been experiencing modest growth, mainly because an early mission resulted in the deaths of four of its members, and the company faced significant financial strain due to compensations paid for these casualties.
This is the nature of the industry: one slow step leads to continuous slowness. Therefore, the scale and strength of White Knights hadn’t grown much since its establishment, and it could only take on smaller jobs.
Thus, hiring one-third of their combat personnel for this operation was a big deal for them, and for this reason, the company sent an elite team to join the operation.
This decision by Liang En to hire these individuals as his security personnel was also because employing people with morals and standards as bodyguards provided a sense of security.
However, it should be noted that many of the big deals in this industry operate on the fringes of legality, and it is indeed difficult to find suitable work for a security company with its own standards.
Through the airplane window, Liang En saw the ground change from the ocean to lush forests, indicating that they were about to land. Indeed, the flight attendants began distributing immigration forms and customs declarations to everyone.
As everyone was nearly done filling out these forms, the plane smoothly landed on the runway. Stepping out of the cabin, they were immediately hit by a wave of hot air, as if entering a steam room.
"Why is this place so humid?" Joan of Arc wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief as they lined up for customs clearance. "It feels like I'm soaked in water."
"This season is considered the local dry season, which should be the least humid," Liang En shrugged and replied. "Of course, this 'not humid' is relative to their rainy season."
For some reason, the customs officers moved extremely slowly, not just compared to China's customs, but even slower than those in European countries.
Fortunately, even at a snail's pace, there always comes a time when checks are completed. Soon, they collected their luggage from the conveyor belt and headed together out of the terminal towards the parking lot.
White Knights Security, having business in the region, had arranged a pickup days earlier. Exiting the parking lot, they quickly connected with a local contact with brown skin.
"First, we'll go to a safe house in the suburbs to pick up weapons, then rest for a day before heading out early tomorrow morning to the upper Motagua River valley," Louis, the security team leader, turned from the passenger seat to explain. "By the way, can you ride horses?"
"We both can, and we also know how to shoot," Liang En pointed at Joan of Arc and spoke, "but we're not skilled in navigating or surviving in tropical rainforests, so we might need your help."
"If that's the case, good, because the latter part of the journey to your destination is very tough, even impossible for cars to pass through. Much of the time, the only means of transportation will be mules and horses," Louis nodded and explained.
Guatemala’s infrastructure is extremely poor, having endured a 36-year civil war from 1960 to 1996, which resulted in 200,000 deaths and millions
displaced, with the aftermath of the war lingering to this day.
For example, the overall infrastructure is terrible, with only the main roads between large cities being paved, and even those are poorly maintained and full of potholes.
The destination planned by Liang En is in a remote area, with the nearest village accessible only by a clearly unmaintained dirt road, barely passable for vehicles considering the tropical rainforest climate.
The second half of the journey involves entering the tropical rainforest. Although the map indicates a road, it is only passable by foot or horse, and not by vehicles.
In such conditions, being able to proceed on horseback is naturally much better than walking, not only in terms of speed but also in carrying capacity.
Soon, the car sped along a highway, flanked by dilapidated shacks, housing people who appeared very disorganized.
Fortunately, they soon left the unsafe-looking slums behind as they drove onto a dirt road. Despite some bumps along the way, they finally left the precarious area.
"This is the fifth most dangerous city in the world, and the slums are the most dangerous part," Louis sighed with relief after leaving the city. "Aside from districts 10, 11, 14, and 15, other areas pose lethal threats."
For the security personnel, passing through such dangerous areas without guns in hand always caused anxiety. Unfortunately, they had no other route, but thankfully, no incidents occurred.
They were able to pass safely by keeping all windows closed and not stopping the car, as local personnel knew safer routes. After passing a checkpoint guarded by police in black uniforms and soldiers in green camouflage, they drove through a tunnel and up a mountain road into a courtyard halfway up the mountain.
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