America 2009: Survival of the Underclass

Pastor Cole's mind inexplicably flashed through the fates of several colleagues who had slept with men, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his whole body froze.

Looking at Karen's sweet yet chilling face, he finally broke down completely, letting out a suppressed sob as tears streamed down his face, soaking the sofa.

"Ms. Smith, stop teasing this coward. That's enough. Let God rest too."

Li Ang rested his elbow on the back of the sofa, fiddling with the toy in his hand, and teased Karen, who was leaning over him.

"After all, God probably needs to take a break from that 'descent of the Holy Spirit' scene just now."

"Hahaha!" The three of them burst into laughter.

Karen wiped her eyes, straightened up, looked down at Cole, and said softly, "If you don't recover in ten seconds, you can expect to be tied to a log by the believers and made into Texas barbecue tomorrow."

Three seconds, no, to be precise, 2.7 seconds later.

The four of them stared blankly at Cole, who sat upright with a solemn expression as if he were attending a state funeral.

Leon nearly dropped the precious item in his hand. He looked at Karen, then at Ramon and John, and finally stared at Cole. After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Jesus... this guy's skin is probably harder than steel."

"Of course, those people who keep talking about sacred things are the best at putting on airs."

Karen's lips curled into a wicked smile, her eyes full of mockery, and she deliberately dragged out her words.

"Otherwise, why would so many self-proclaimed saints flock to the pursuit of fame and fortune?"

Cole's lips twitched slightly, but he pretended not to hear the sarcastic remark.

Li Ang laughed heartily, glanced at John and Ramon who were trying not to laugh, walked over and patted Karen on the shoulder: "Hahaha, alright, joke time is over."

After he finished laughing, he turned and looked down at Cole, who was trying to appear calm, and softened his tone:

"I won't let you do anything dangerous, but you have to be obedient, okay, Cole?"

Cole's Adam's apple bobbed a few times, he remained silent for a few seconds, and finally nodded resignedly.

Li Ang pulled a Rolex Datejust 36 from his jeans pocket, bent down, grabbed Cole's right hand, shoved the watch into his palm, and forcibly closed his fingers.

He looked into Cole's confused and bewildered eyes, and spoke earnestly:

"We are equal partners. I don't want to use leverage against you to force you to work for free; that's something only thugs do, understand?"

Cole looked down at his right hand, which was being held by both hands, feeling the coolness of the metal in his palms, and nodded heavily: "OK! I'll be good."

Li Ang straightened up, exchanged a glance with Karen, and said:

Are there any church shelters left?

Cole breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly: "We just finished a batch of emergency shelters today, the upstairs is all empty."

"Give us two rooms, and..." He paused, pointing to Ramon, "Besides him, the three of us also need the status of 'rescue commissioners,' not subsidies, just the title."

"Okay! No problem." Cole's face relaxed, and he readily agreed.

Li Ang counted out $150 from his pocket and handed it to Ramon, nodding and saying, "Not bad, buddy."

Ramon happily accepted the money and counted it: "Thank you, boss. Remember to call me if you need any work in the future." After saying that, he tactfully turned and left.

After the door was closed, Li Ang looked at Cole: "Now take us to our room. Get our identities sorted out by tomorrow morning."

Cole nodded, put the Rolex in his trouser pocket, zipped up his pants, tightened his belt, and stood up.

He led the three of them up the stairs to the second floor on the right side of the reception hall, turned on the corridor lights, and pointed to the cubicles that occupied nearly a third of the second floor, saying, "This is the public restroom. There is shampoo, shower gel, laundry detergent, and a washer-dryer combo. It can accommodate five people at the same time. I'll bring you toothbrushes and towels later."

The three nodded. Cole then led them to the two innermost cubicles: "Numbers 9 and 10, the bedding was just changed during the day, and the rooms have been cleaned."

Karen pushed open the white wooden door to cubicle number 10, turned on the light, glanced around the room, and turned to say, "Not bad, Mr. Smith."

Upon hearing this, Cole's expression shifted slightly.

Li Ang nodded to him: "Cole, go and get our identities sorted out now."

"Okay, I'll go down and get the registration form and vest." Cole readily agreed and turned to leave.

"Lazybones, go back to your room." Li Ang turned and scolded John, who was about to follow him in.

"Okay, boss!" John slapped his forehead and replied cheerfully.

Li Ang put his arm around Karen's shoulder and walked into the room. His gaze swept over the cheap plastic Jesus statue on the wall, and he felt quite satisfied.

It's alright. The wardrobe, bedside table, and bed almost fill the space, it's a bit cramped... but it's still much better than that shabby warehouse.

Safety is the most important thing.

Looking at the little Jesus's bowed head, Li Ang couldn't help but smile.

No matter how crazy or powerful GD is, he is ultimately just a low-level street gang.

They dared to send gunmen to storm the church center and kill people?

Or should we kill him, who is about to don the guise of "church relief specialist"?

They're really asking for trouble, wanting to experience the iron fist of the National Guard!

In this country, no matter how loudly freedom and democracy are proclaimed, religious sectarians still firmly occupy high positions in the federal government and hold a massive number of votes.

Even the president has to take an oath according to the Bible when he is in office.

Slogans are just slogans; they're just for show.

Does America really dare to go against God under the guise of freedom and democracy?

Leaving aside the reaction in Europe, the home base, just in the southern states of the country—that is, the country bumpkins in the Bible who spend their days tending farms and raising livestock—they would be ready to pick up guns and start another civil war at any moment!

No! The Civil War was a conflict of interests between agricultural and industrial states, and it could ultimately be resolved!

It should be an irreconcilable holy war that no one can stop!

After all, once those soldiers in the army take off their uniforms, aren't they just those country bumpkins from the Bible?

The believer's son, for the sake of Satan who destroys the world, went to fight his own believer father who protects the faith and saves God.

The only possibility is that the son is reading the "Satanic Bible"!

So all they could do was stand shoulder to shoulder, pat each other on the back, and happily shout, "For God!"

Singing the gospel all the way, I traveled to Washington, D.C., and purified all those damn devils in the White House who dare to demand freedom and democracy into filth to offer to God, and then evenly smeared the waste on the White House!

No! From now on, it should be called the Red Palace!

Washington has become the New Jerusalem! America can truly be called the New Rome!

Believers in the European heartland must give a thumbs up and acknowledge this new Rome and new Jerusalem!

The dream that the nouveau riche of the New World had been chanting for hundreds of years has come true!

You can freely joke about how many troops the Vatican leaders have, but never test how many divisions "God" can actually command in the Christian world!

"You still need to be careful out there."

Karen's voice interrupted his thoughts.

She sat on the edge of the bed, looking at him earnestly: "GD won't dare touch you near the church, but if you're really out in the middle of nowhere, he'll give you a few shots with his Ghost Gun—"

She paused, then put her arm around Li Ang, whose face was slightly gloomy, and joked with a smile, "Those fat, mad dogs on the West Coast who only know how to eat donuts and prepare for the 'Biggest Loser' competition, they'll never find out who did it in their next life."

Li Ang's fingers, which had been unconsciously tapping the edge of the bed, suddenly stopped. He then slammed his hand on the edge of the bed and muttered, "These bastards! They've been chasing me all the way to Los Angeles. One day, I'll send all of GD's gang into the crematorium, burn them to ashes, and send them to their archenemy, BD!"

"BD must be ecstatic, mixing something in and then feeding it to the street drug addicts?" Karen replied quickly, a wicked smile flashing in her eyes. "Once they're done and have their business done on the street, these bastards will have 'returned' in another way—back to the streets they loved to hang out in their lives, dying a worthy death."

"Hahaha! Ms. Smith, aren't we being a little too kind?"

"Hahaha……"