American homeless people, surviving in the city

Could those strangely dressed people we just met actually be members of a human trafficking criminal organization?

After hearing what old James said, Lynch felt a chill run down his spine and a sense of dread.

No wonder his intuition told him that the group's eyes held ill intent.

Even with a gut feeling, it was still hard for Lynch to believe, based solely on Old James's words, that these strange men who dared to stand openly on the street and scrutinize everyone were actually human trafficking suspects from a few years ago.

"They...are they really criminals? But what are they doing here? There weren't any children in the line that seemed like they could be trafficked, were there?"

Old James remained silent, while Raul gave a cold laugh and slowly spoke:

"Boss, do you really think they only traffic children?"

"For them, people are probably the most valuable commodity."

"Given the right opportunity, strong laborers like you and me, young girls, and even middle-aged women who are still capable of having children can all become their prey."

"I'm afraid only people at least James's age would look down on them!"

"You brat...!"

Old James made a few symbolic retorts, then sighed resignedly:

"Yes, at my age, this body isn't worth much anymore. But you young people better be careful lately... If I'm not mistaken, the appearance of this group means things won't be peaceful here..."

"If I ever find your fragments on the street one day, I'm not going to waste my time collecting your corpses, you little brats!"

"Yes, yes! Sir, don't worry, we'll be fine." Raul was still smiling, then stood up and dusted himself off.

"Alright, I have to go to work. If I'm late again, I'm afraid that jerk of a boss at the factory will dock my entire month's salary!"

See you tonight!

He said goodbye to the two men and then got into a bus that had just stopped at the station.

Through the glass, watching Raul's figure gracefully disappear into the back of the car without stopping, Lin Qi immediately realized that he hadn't paid the fare.

Seeing Raul leave, old James turned to look at Lynch:

"This curly-haired young man is not bad. I've met him a few times before. He's a decent guy. You should be relatively safe hanging out with him."

"As for you, a newbie who's just fallen on hard times, what are you planning to do next?"

The moment James asked the question, Lynch's answer came out without hesitation:

"I want to climb up and get rid of my homeless status."

Old James did not comment on the answer, but calmly continued to press for answers:

"This is your goal. But what exactly are you planning to do to achieve it?"

Lin Qi was stunned.

Seeing that Lynch seemed to be deep in thought, old James, as if he had expected this, slowly said:

"In all my years of living on the streets, I've seen at least eight or ten newcomers like you."

"Every time I meet you newcomers, I can't help but say a few words, hoping to help you avoid some detours and live a little longer."

"But in my experience, not many new homeless people actually survive."

As he was speaking, old James suddenly started coughing violently, and it took him a while to catch his breath again.

"Are you... alright?" Lin Qi asked with some concern.

"No, nothing, just a little cold, maybe. Don't you dare worry about me, I'm not going to die," Old James replied, grumbling as he casually wiped his mouth with his dirty sleeve.

He then continued with the previous topic:

"You can probably imagine that no homeless person who has just fallen on hard times is willing to remain homeless for the rest of their life."

"Among the newcomers I've met, almost every one of them, when they first fell on the streets, told me that they wanted to climb up and reintegrate into society."

"But not many people can do this. And even fewer can do it without the help of relatives and friends."

"So, since you also have this idea, I can use my experience to help you sort out your thoughts and analyze what you need to reintegrate into society and what difficulties you will have to overcome."

Old James chuckled as he spoke, "Consider it a thank you for the hamburger you gave me yesterday."

Seeing that old James was willing to lend a helping hand, Lin Qi naturally had no reason to refuse and nodded hastily.

So, old James posed his first question:

"First, the number of difficulties you will face depends mainly on your personal physical condition and social environment. Let's talk about you first: what is your physical condition like? Do you use any enhancement drugs?"

Lin Qi quickly shook his head: "I don't use any enhancement agents. Although my body isn't particularly strong, I don't have any diseases."

What a joke! As a native of Dongda University, he deeply abhorred enhancers and could not understand the Americans' laissez-faire attitude and abuse of them.

The majority of the day he had spent since transmigrating was enough for him to confirm that his current body did not have any withdrawal symptoms from the enhancement agent.

This can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Old James nodded almost imperceptibly:

"Very well, the second question is, are you an American citizen or an undocumented immigrant?"

This question left Lin Qi speechless. He had transmigrated here and knew absolutely nothing about the identity of this body!

After a few seconds of contemplation, he decided to find a relatively reasonable explanation for his past.

So, after pretending to think for a moment, Lin Qi suddenly clutched his head in anguish.

Having seen all sorts of strange and unsavory characters on the street, old James remained remarkably calm about Lynch's sudden outburst. He waited until Lynch slowly lowered his hands before leisurely asking:

"You don't seem to be feeling very well. Headache?"

"No, it's not just a simple headache." Taking this opportunity, Lin Qi slowly revealed the excuse he had just made up, "I... I actually have amnesia."

"When I first ended up on the streets, a group of thugs ambushed me, robbed me of all the things I had, and beat me up badly."

"Since then, I have lost my memories of the past. Whenever I try to recall the past, I feel a sharp pain in my head."

"My past memories... are all blurry."

Lynch knew, of course, that amnesia was a ridiculous excuse, but that was the only answer he could give to James’s question.

Amnesia sounds more plausible than time travel.

Moreover, his story wasn't entirely a lie. Although the amnesia was faked, he genuinely didn't know the body's past identity, and he was indeed beaten up and robbed of everything he owned when he first transmigrated!

Therefore, when he heard Lynch say "amnesia," old James immediately glared at him in surprise.

But after a brief silence and reflection, old James finally just sighed, said nothing more, and murmured:

"Oops, this is troublesome."

He raised his head, staring intently into Lin Qi's eyes, his gaze growing increasingly serious:

"If you're white, this might not be too difficult."

"If you are a native-born American and are unable to reclaim your identity due to amnesia or lack of social connections, you can first submit an application to your current community center. After obtaining permission, you can go to your local government to check your records with the help of volunteers from the community. Only after going through these procedures can you possibly reclaim your identity."

"All of this is contingent on you having American citizenship and a fixed place of residence."

"But you happen to be Asian, and a homeless person at that."

"And for a homeless person like you, no community will respond to your application!"

"Politically speaking, your status is worse than that of an illegal immigrant—"

"You have no identity whatsoever!"