American homeless people, surviving in the city

As dusk settled over Seattle.

After the ferocious "war elephants" were gone, the green belt under the overpass, while not exactly quiet again, was at least a bit less noisy.

Seeing that Lynch seemed to have lost interest in talking, Raul had already returned to his tent. A small lamp was lit inside the tent, and it was unclear what he was doing there.

Lynch leaned against a small tree next to his tent and, using a lighter he had borrowed from Raul, lit a few dry branches in a gasoline can in the camp.

While warming themselves by the fire, they watched the sunset slowly descend.

The first day after I transmigrated into the body of a homeless person has come to an end.

What awaits us next is the unknown, dark night.

As night fell, many homeless people gradually returned to the small campsite in the green belt.

But in Lynch's observation, even someone like Raul was considered a respectable person among the homeless.

At least I can still have a set of clothes that don't let in the wind, I don't have any disabilities, and I can still have a job that, although the salary is meager, is still relatively stable.

Many of the other homeless people in the camp looked clearly abnormal.

Many people cannot afford winter clothes and wear only a single layer of clothing in the night wind, while others have obvious disabilities, and some even have difficulty walking.

Just looking at those empty and numb eyes, Lin Qi felt an overwhelming chill.

Continuing to wander outside and observe the lives of other homeless people would only worsen his mood. Lynch simply retreated into his tent, hiding in the free sleeping bag given to him by the white woman at the secondhand store, and began to plan his next move.

First of all, although being reborn as a homeless person is already a hellish start, he absolutely cannot just let himself go and wallow in depravity on the streets like an ordinary homeless person.

Otherwise, those people Lin Qi just saw would have ended up like him.

However, he doesn't yet have any ideas on how to get rid of his homeless status.

After an ordinary American is "killed," it is extremely difficult for them to climb back into normal society on their own. They often need to rely on their past social connections, obtain external assistance, and have a bit of luck to have any chance of reintegrating into society.

Compared to the difficulty of advancement for ordinary Americans, the difficulty for undocumented immigrants is much higher. Without U.S. citizenship, undocumented immigrants have no chance of obtaining legitimate employment and are relegated to the lowest-paying, most physically demanding labor-intensive jobs.

With the rise of the "milk dragon" (a derogatory term for a certain type of immigrant), ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has become increasingly strict in its management. Many illegal immigrants have no chance to live a life of wandering; they are either deported back to their home countries or die tragically in their American dream due to various accidents.

But at least they still have their own social connections, can seek help from their compatriots in a foreign land, and at least they still have their hometown.

Lynch's current situation is arguably worse than that of the average undocumented immigrant homeless person.

He has no memories of this body's past, and doesn't even know what this body is called!

When he arrived from another world, the homeless people nearby called him "Lin Qi," but this word could be his first name, his last name, his Chinese name, or just a nickname, and it was almost impossible to use it to find out the past of this body.

He was an anonymous person completely detached from society and received almost no help from anyone.

Everything, including personal identity, has to be started from scratch.

Faced with this hellish start, Lin Qi could only rely on his good mindset, extensive wilderness survival knowledge, and forensic knowledge, as well as the system.

Thinking of this, Lin Qi activated his system panel and checked his current status:

[Viability: 43/85]

Hunger level: 51/100

SAN value: 63/100

[Constitution: 2/3]

Intelligence: 6/7

[Willpower: 7/8]

Compared to when he first transmigrated, Lin Qi's life and hunger levels have both recovered, and his physique has begun to gradually recover. This is obviously because he had a hearty meal of hamburgers and was now able to curl up in a fairly warm sleeping bag.

However, his sanity score dropped by nearly 10 points, indicating that just half a day of homelessness had caused significant damage to Lynch's mental health.

Just half a day later, Lin Qi couldn't help but miss his friends, his food, his warm home and comfortable bed, and the leisurely days after work when he could play a game of Golden Shovel and Delta, and then lie in bed and browse Douyin and Bilibili.

Just as Lynch was reminiscing about the food at Dongda University, his hunger level dropped by 1 point again.

A hunger level of 50/100 might have just reached the threshold for the system to issue tasks, and the system window popped up again:

With water supplies secured and a sturdy shelter already built, hunger will be the final, fatal hurdle for survivors!

[New Mission: Obtain Food. Mission Objective: Obtain enough food to meet your daily calorie needs.]

[A plea to the living: Unless it is an emergency, never eat wild plants of uncertain toxicity, or contaminated, rotten, or spoiled food! Food poisoning will weaken your body much faster than you imagine!]

Although the system's prompts were still almost completely unrelated to his current life, the appearance of the new task still improved Lin Qi's mood considerably.

After all, the task wasn't difficult, and he could easily get enough food after dawn tomorrow.

And as long as you can complete the task, it means you can get a new reward!

After what happened today, Lin Qi has come to realize that without the system, he would be unable to move an inch on the streets.

No matter what kind of future he wants, he has to rely on the rewards he earns from completing tasks to gradually build the foundation for his progress!

Perhaps I should add some physical fitness enhancements to make it easier to do basic manual labor? No, I already have a system; it's too pathetic to still be stuck at the bottom of society, honestly doing manual labor...

Maybe I should rummage through the trash, or become a "clean freak" and start begging to accumulate start-up capital? But will this wilderness survival system really give me begging skills...?

Lost in thought, Lin Qi gradually drifted off to sleep.

What he didn't know was that at the same time...

Several kilometers away, in a brightly lit burlesque club, in a private room...

The burly black man, Sanjar, and the Indian man knelt down together in front of a man.

This was a man with short blond hair, wearing a Hawaiian-style polo shirt, which was open, revealing a thick patch of chest hair.

The blond man was enjoying the striptease performance by scantily clad women on stage while swirling a small glass of martini in his hand, listening to Sanjar's report:

"You mean, you thought you saw that Chinese martial artist today, the one who parted ways with the Gongma Gang three days ago due to ideological differences and disappeared since?"

“Yes, boss,” Sanjar replied in a deep voice. “We saw it with our own eyes. That unfamiliar young Chinese man remained completely unfazed when facing our group. Even when I tried to put pressure on him, he didn’t back down an inch.”

"Furthermore, his stance is clearly the starting position for some kind of martial art. Based on this, I guess he is the Chinese martial arts master who left the horse caravan!"

"Hmm, what you said might have some merit." The blond man stroked his stubble-covered chin, his tone still somewhat doubtful. "But how could such a martial arts master end up on the streets, a homeless person in that dilapidated greenbelt?"

Sanjar was at a loss for words to explain this.

Instead, the Indian man behind him hesitated before speaking up: "Uh, this isn't unusual here, is it? For example, he might have an ex-wife or something..."

The blond man and Sanjar were speechless for a moment.

The situation described by the Indian is indeed not uncommon in the United States. Many men, due to divorce, have to give their ex-wives large sums of assets and pay hefty alimony payments every month. Once the financial chain breaks, these men can easily end up homeless.

Seeing that the blond man still seemed somewhat incredulous, the Indian quickly added:

"Boss, it's not just his calm demeanor in the face of danger, but even his overall aura feels very familiar!"

As he spoke, he became lost in his memories:

"More than a decade ago, I witnessed one of the most spectacular matches of my life in Mumbai. In that match, a seemingly frail young man from China defeated four British strongmen in succession using only his bare hands!"

"That martial artist's demeanor is exactly the same as that of the young Asian man we see today! I swear!"

Seeing that the two men spoke with such conviction, the blond man had no choice but to nod obediently.

"Alright, since you've all said that, then, Sanjar, go back and assign some people to keep an eye on that Asian for me for a while longer."

"If he really is that martial arts master who left the horse caravan..."

The blond man waved his hand:

"In order to gain the upper hand over the Horse Gang in the boxing match, we must bring them into our hands!"

"Yes, boss!"