America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 128 Beasts!

Zhang Ailun received the money and receipt from Old George, bringing his total net worth to $29831. His backpack was bulging with cash, and he was considering opening a bank account.

After leaving the pawnshop, he drove his pickup truck back to the bridge camp.

While waiting at a traffic light intersection, Zhang Ailun saw a street band and immediately recognized the lead singer, Sandy, who had dyed her hair in azure blue, was sitting on a suitcase with a dog tied to her.

He leaned against the window and waved to the other person. The other person noticed him, smiled, and nodded in greeting.

Zhang Ailun didn't linger. As soon as the light turned green, he stepped on the gas and left the street.

When they were two blocks away from the camp, Jennifer sent him a message.

Jennifer: The drug addicts from the next camp came looking for you. They said they want to talk to you about something.

Zhang Ailun: What is their attitude?

Jennifer: They're doing fine. But they don't seem to be doing so well, like they've been beaten up.

Zhang Ailun: I'll go back right away.

Within minutes, they were back at their base camp under the bridge, where they parked the pickup truck on the side of the road.

After getting out of the car, I saw a familiar figure appear at the campsite. Jennifer was sitting under the awning of the RV, wearing a cool short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with her legs crossed, wearing sunglasses, holding a magazine in her hand, and there was also a chilled plum juice on the table next to her.

"You're doing well, aren't you?"

She looks so relaxed, she doesn't look like a homeless person at all, but more like she's on vacation in a campervan. She exudes the lazy and languid star quality of a rich and beautiful woman! Some people are just born beautiful.

It took Zhang Ailun a while to recognize which one in the crowd was Faith Modern.

They were all bruised and battered, so badly beaten that even their mothers couldn't recognize them.

Faith Modern's legs were wrapped up so tightly he looked like a mummy. He was slumped on a stretcher and had to be carried around. Even so, he never left Ye Zi's side.

Isn't this the leader of Camp 9 under Bridge? He's gotten so sluggish after just a few days?

Faith Modern, cigarette dangling from his lips, took a deep breath, feeling a bit tipsy, and waved with his only movable hand, "Hey! Man! How's it going?"

"Great, I've been making money every day since I took over your territory. How about you? What's the situation now? You don't seem to be doing so well."

Zhang Ailun didn't know why this guy, who had been beaten up, would seek help from his old rival.

The two sides are clearly competitors, and the Beggars' Sect even seized their territory a few days ago, yet this guy doesn't seem to care at all. Is he that careless?

This might be the ultimate level of giving up. West Coast fun-loving guy.

"It wasn't just bad, I almost didn't see you again, buddy! Those Mexicans were inhuman. I was doing business with them, and they tried to outsmart me. They not only robbed me of my goods, but also beat us up because they outnumbered us!" Faith immediately started venting his grievances in a rap style.

"Boss, we've been following you, and we're always getting beaten up, aren't we?" The white homeless man next to him, sporting a black eye, pointed to the scar on his ear. "Look, I just got my earring done a couple of days ago, and they ripped my earlobe off because I lost a fight with them!"

"..."

Zhang Ailun watched them chatter on and on, feigning sympathy, but his mood remained unchanged; he even felt a little amused.

"What are you doing here? Faith Modern, we may be in the same line of work, but you're not exactly a saint. Coming to my territory without permission, I have every right to beat you up again." Zhang Ailun showed no mercy for his miserable state.

"Please! I can barely walk in this state! How could I possibly cause you any trouble!" Faith Modern said with a bitter expression. "I was already a cripple, and now, to make matters worse, I've broken another leg. I'll be in a wheelchair for the next two months. Thankfully, I have painkillers and some leaves to comfort me!"

"As far as I know, you were the ones who broke the rules first. You sold your cheap ice on the street without the Mexicans' permission, dragging your competitors down with you. You deserved to be beaten up. If it were me, I would have thrown you into a blender and ground you up, then used that as fertilizer for the farmland in the countryside!"

Zhang Ailun directly exposed his lie.

Seeing that playing the victim wasn't working, Fies regained his serious demeanor and said, "I want to do some business with you."

"Drugs are out of the question."

Zhang Ailun pulled up a chair and sat down.

Fies paused for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts, before saying, "Hampshire Juan King, don't you want to dominate the streets of Fifth District and become the undisputed boss of the scavengers?"

"There are now named scavenger teams on the streets. You've already absorbed one, crippled another, and there's still a bunch of short-tailed dogs living in unfinished buildings, as well as those small teams that only control a few blocks. Don't you want to take their territory too?"

"I don't want to. My territory is big enough already," Zhang Ailun said against his will.

"No! Buddy, think about it! You'll do it sooner or later! Because I've never misjudged anyone! Those homeless people who can't even get enough to eat and spend all their time on the streets can't resist your temptation. You're not doing it now only because your income doesn't entirely depend on the cans on the street. What depends on the cans are the people under your command. You know exactly what kind of people they are and why they've fallen to this state. Just give them a little something they need, and they'll be willing to follow you," Fis said incisively.

Zhang Ailun raised an eyebrow slightly.

You can even guess the leader's thoughts?

This child must not be allowed to live!

"Let's get straight to the point! This slum area, Slump Street, isn't huge, but it's not small either. It's got all sorts of scum—drug dealers, smugglers, prostitutes, scavengers. You're the toughest one I've ever met, the most qualified and the most prestigious to unify Fifth District. Because the rules you set are the most effective and get the most support. You're not greedy, but you're also incredibly greedy!"

Faith said, "The last one was Modern Brothers at their peak, when nobody dared to say no to us on the street! But now we're finished, I've even lost my legs, but you still have hope."

"You want to use me to help you get revenge and teach those Mexicans a lesson? I wonder how much you can offer? I only accept cash," Zhang Ailun said, not taking the flattery to heart.

"Don't be so quick to deny it. I know you don't want to commit a crime, so I won't ask you to work on some drug-related projects. But what about gold? No one in the world can resist gold," Faith said.

"If you had gold, you wouldn't be sitting under a bridge on the street," Zhang Ailun scoffed.

"But what if I knew where I could get a shipment of gold? At least $50,000 worth of it," Fies said confidently.

$50,000 worth of gold? Zhang Ailun fell into deep thought. Today's gold price is $71 per gram. That means the gold weighs 705 grams, equivalent to 1.41 kilograms.

It turns out that the "gold project" doesn't mean what it sounds like.

"If it's someone working in a bank, there's no need to say anything more," Zhang Ailun shook his head.

"No, do you know anything about discarded cell phones? There's gold in the chips inside cell phones, but you can only extract a maximum of 0.02 grams of gold from a single cell phone. A few years ago in San Francisco, there was a group of scavengers who stockpiled a batch of cell phones and bought a second-hand filtration machine and chemical equipment. They successfully extracted $100,000 worth of gold from discarded cell phones!"

"But before they could even divide the loot," Faith said, "they were arrested and locked up by the police because of the murder. Now I have chemical apparatus that can filter out gold, and I also know where a batch of smuggled used mobile phones from overseas secondhand markets is stockpiled. You should know what I mean, right?"

"Are those phones still usable?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"It was still usable, but the ship responsible for smuggling had an accident in the port, causing the container to capsize and fall into the sea. It was no longer usable after it was salvaged."

"Nobody wants that batch of goods now, even if we sell them at a low price," Fies said. "They're just sitting in warehouses in the port area. We just need to give the security guards there a little tip, and we can get the goods out of there."

"I see. Thanks for the information, Faith Modern! That shipment arrived just in time."

Zhang Ailun suddenly realized what was happening and felt pleased.

So, it turns out we'll be opening blind boxes in containers at Luonan Airport Port! I know that place well; there used to be warehouses and even airplanes stored there.

Faith Modern's expression froze, and he asked suspiciously, "What do you mean? I didn't tell you which warehouse that shipment was in. Are you confident you can find those discarded phones? Okay, even if you can find the container and the phones, how are you going to filter out the gold?"

"Don't you have the alchemical equipment and chemicals you have? This stuff isn't that hard to handle, is it? A quick online search will turn up all the tutorials. I have no shortage of talent." Zhang Ailun smiled at him.

"..."

Fies stared at him blankly, then suddenly realized what he meant and couldn't help but burst out cursing, "I'm already in such a sorry state, and you still want to double-cross me? Steal my chemical apparatus?"

"Including your suburban cabin," Zhang Ailun added earnestly.

He thought it was a place with excellent feng shui last time. Look at you, you insisted on coming and offering it to me, it would be inappropriate for me to refuse.

You... are you even human?

The people of Fes were all numb.

I'm starting to feel mentally broken.

I never expected that after I sincerely came to rely on you, bringing you money, business opportunities, and warmth, you would turn around and kill the one who made the difference? And then devour everything for yourself?

You can't act like that!

You'll easily end up with no friends!

"Mr. Kim! Boss! Please, please leave me some food to eat!"

Stop messing around, boss. I've already given in to you. If I didn't have legs, I would have knelt down and begged you to take me in. Just give me some food, okay?

As the boss of the partners, if your underling gets beaten up by outsiders, you have to step in, right? Your inaction is just a pretext to make a move.

I've delivered all my provisions and a set of riches to your doorstep, and even found you an excuse to march south. After joining the team, you'll surely become a core member of our Beggars' Sect, right?

Fez has basically planned everything out; he's a master strategist and can be considered the smartest guy on the West Coast!

But I never expected to run into someone who doesn't play by the rules; he's an absolute beast!!

Zhang Ailun waved his hand, "I don't take in drug addicts here."

"I'll quit!!"

After saying this, Fiss couldn't even believe his own lies, and gave a sheepish laugh: "It's impossible for me to quit drugs; I'd rather wait until I'm dead. But at least I can provide you with technical support for alchemy! It's a technical job! From now on, you can give me any discarded circuit boards and cell phones you find!"

The chemicals used in alchemy are toxic.

Are you trying to fight poison with poison?

Ouyang Feng, the drug addict on the West Coast?

After careful consideration, Zhang Ailun felt that one shouldn't be too ruthless or selfish, otherwise no one would want to hang out with them in the future.

One must possess great virtue to bear great responsibilities!

"Let me help you cause trouble for the Mexicans. First, you have to take me to get that shipment. I can provide you with manpower. If that shipment doesn't yield $50,000 worth of gold, I'll chop you up and use you as fertilizer in the fields! Got it?" Zhang Ailun said.

"OK!!" Fiss breathed a sigh of relief, finally achieving his goal. It was really tiring to have to negotiate cooperation with others while feeling inferior.

He chuckled and lit a leaf. "Guys! How about we throw a party tonight? Let's celebrate our amazing partnership, shall we?"

"Yay!" the other underlings cheered.

Jennifer scoffed, "There are only seven or eight of you, not even a gun. What kind of cooperation are you talking about? You need to know your place; you're just working for our boss! Just behave yourselves!"

"I'll rise to power sooner or later!!" Fies retorted defiantly.

"Oh, yeah, just like your mouth is always much harder than your penis," Jennifer mocked.

Fies felt a chill run down his spine, but dared not retaliate. Why was this woman as prickly as a hedgehog?

Did I offend you? I just teased you a little.

Or you could say it's a West Coast rose. It's pretty and fun, but it's prickly.

It was evening.

My friends have all come back.

Zhang Ailun also told everyone about this. They weren't very interested in the new partner, but when they heard about the lucrative project, they all perked up.

"There's no need to cooperate with them. If you ask me, we should just drive them away and do it ourselves."

"Can you trust what a drug addict says? Simone's ex was a drug addict with a terrible temper, and now he's dead."

"Let's just report him and send him to jail for life. With Dave involved, I don't believe we can't dig up some dirt on him. He'll at least get a hundred-year sentence!"

Fez lay paralyzed on the stretcher, listening to their devilish pronouncements. The group trembled, pitiful, weak, and helpless.

"Sig, prepare the car. We'll go get that shipment first, and then we'll go to Short-tailed Dogs' territory and talk to them."

After discussion, Zhang Ailun decided to stay in Fes, to retrieve the discarded cell phones as quickly as possible, and to have a friendly discussion with the Mexicans about the territory issue.

Sig and his Beggars' Sect disciples prepared their guns and ammunition, and then followed Zhang Ailun directly into the car.

Faith, who was leading the way, was lifted into the car and stubbornly said, "It's a deal. I'll take you to retrieve that shipment, and you have to make those Mexicans pay! The Modern Family is not someone to be trifled with!"

"Get to the back." Sig glanced at him. "Is there any room for you here, you slut?"

Having learned his lesson last time, Fez didn't dare to be defiant this time, even though he was under someone else's protection, and obediently ran to the back.

A group of people drove to the port of southern Los Angeles using a map navigation system. After getting out of the car, they found that the area was full of shipping containers and large storage warehouses.

"Which warehouse is actually responsible for that batch of goods?"

(End of this chapter)