American homeless people, surviving in the city

After hanging up the call and putting down his phone, Lin Qi slumped into his car, remaining silent for a long time.

The surroundings were eerily quiet. He could clearly hear his own breathing, and even feel a vein throbbing in his temple.

Those large bank drafts, and the photos of the powerful, wealthy, and celebrities in that album, all weighed heavily on Lin Qi's chest like a stone, making him feel like he couldn't breathe.

Before hanging up the phone, Chen Kelei left behind a half-spoken sentence:

"We may have already stepped onto the last red line before we cross this net, so..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Lin Qi understood the meaning behind the rest of his words, which were hidden in silence.

Chen Kelei was frightened and cowered.

The reason why Lin Qi was able to guess Chen Kelei's thoughts was because he felt the same way.

However, no matter what, Chen Kelei was at least a respectable policeman with a well-off family to back him up. As long as he wasn't too unlucky, he wouldn't become a target of a cult.

He has room to back down.

But Lynch didn't. There were plenty of homeless people missing on the streets, and no one knew if they would be the next.

Fortunately, Chen Kelei didn't reveal the second half of his statement this time, indicating that his determination and conscience were still keeping him going in the investigation, and Lin Qi hadn't yet lost this valuable partner.

But after only one day of investigation, the two had already discovered that this cult had such a background...

Lin Qi couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

Should I really continue the investigation?

But if they were to give up this rare opportunity to investigate, they would be even less able to guarantee their own safety while on the street.

Although he found some clues, Lin Qi felt as if he had found a loose thread in the dark and was pulling the other end outwards.

But what was pulled out of the darkness was not the expected ball of yarn, but an indescribable monster hidden in the darkness.

Realizing this fact, fear involuntarily crept into his heart. So much so that Lynch even began to consider more extreme possibilities.

Would leaving Seattle be a better option?

Now that I have a car, I can leave this city full of monsters and demons, move to another city, and maybe escape the clutches of this cult.

But upon closer examination, this idea is almost impossible to achieve.

Not to mention that all of Lynch's current assets and capital are based on his job in Seattle, the network of contacts he has built also brings him great convenience in life.

Take his car, for example. Although it's so dilapidated that it's hard to say how much further it can go, it is still the property of the Seattle Police Department.

If he really does drive away, Kayla Gleeson will probably be the first to put him on the bounty list.

Another option is to ask Chen Kelei to drive him away.

But this option was somewhat embarrassing, and Lin Qi really didn't want to do it unless absolutely necessary.

This will make his relationship with Chen Kelei very awkward.

As for other modes of public transportation in the United States... they are all irrelevant to Lynch without legal status.

After much deliberation, if Lynch truly wanted to escape Seattle, he only had one option left:

Gangs.

If Lynch wanted to escape Seattle, he couldn't do it on foot alone. Without any public transportation, perhaps only a gang could take him somewhere else.

But do we really want to get entangled with the Razor Gang any further...?

Lin Qi's mind was filled with a jumble of thoughts, yet he couldn't find the answer; or rather, his mind was so chaotic that he couldn't even grasp the nature of the problem he was facing.

Torn between fear and confusion,

A sudden feeling of being watched came from somewhere unknown.

The feeling of being watched sent chills down Lin Qi's spine, as if countless eyes were peering at him from somewhere.

Lin Qi was startled and sat up straight in his car seat as if ejected. He didn't know where the feeling of being watched came from, but it made him feel like he had a thorn in his side.

He couldn't help but gasp for breath, frantically looking around.

It was nearly dusk, and the setting sun was low in the sky. Through the dusty, blurry car window, Lin Qi could only see the dilapidated car parked on both sides of the gravel road, with the dense bushes casting shadows in the slanting rays of the setting sun.

I can't see where anyone is.

However, the feeling of being watched persisted. Lin Qi could only feel his breathing quickening and his heart beating faster and faster. The unease felt like countless fine needles piercing his skin at the same time, making him restless.

He tried to force himself to calm down and discern whether this feeling of being watched was a dangerous premonition brought about by the "Rat's Senses".

But in his panic, he was completely unable to make a judgment. The drawbacks of the Rat's Sense of Danger were finally exposed at this moment. "Intuitive sense of danger" is something that is easy to distinguish in normal times, but once Lin Qi was already uneasy and suspicious, he could not tell whether the source of this unease was the feedback of the skill or his own illusion.

He knew this might be a hallucination caused by his anxiety. The persistent stomach pain was also a physical reaction to his excessive tension.

There have been so many chaotic events in the past two days—from the frequent disappearances on Third Avenue, the skinning murders in the Lakeside area, to locked rooms, cults, the police's attitude, the disappearance of Sylvia, the death of the security guard, and countless photos of wealthy people with cult members.

Everything felt like a stone, piled up on top of each other, making it hard for Lynch to breathe.

In his panic, Lin Qi even began to wonder if the cultists had seen him through the miniature camera at the door the moment he arrived at the villa. Had they realized he had discovered the secret room and were already plotting something new against him? Had Sylvia already been murdered? Was the security guard's death related to him?

The more I think about it, the more confused I get; the more confused I get, the more afraid I become.

A sharp pain in his stomach made Lin Qi unable to straighten up for a moment. He slumped over the steering wheel, gasping for breath, feeling nauseous. But the weaker he felt, the more afraid he became of the inexplicable feeling of being watched, fearing that someone might be lurking somewhere, ready to take his life while he was weak.

No...this can't be...this shouldn't be happening!

Although he lost the ability to move due to temporary physical symptoms, Lin Qi's remaining rationality was still desperately trying to think of a way out of the predicament.

Suddenly, an experience from a few days ago flashed into his mind and gave him inspiration.

At that time, he was ambushed by DeShawn and Martin on Third Avenue when he happened to accept a system mission.

At that time, the system not only predicted the danger he was about to encounter, but also thoughtfully issued relevant tasks, giving Lin Qi a way to break the deadlock.

Now, he might be able to do what he did back then and use the system to determine whether the problem was with him or if someone was actually hiding in the nearby bushes!

The moment he thought of this solution, Lin Qi used the last bit of rationality that hadn't been consumed by anxiety to call upon the system!

The next second, the system pop-up window, just like countless times before, appeared steadily in front of him:

[Ding~ You have used one of your daily application attempts.]

[A new task has been released: Peace of Mind. Task objective: Restore a stable mindset.]

[The survivor has been detected to be in a complex and dangerous environment. Their mental defenses are about to collapse, and their sanity (SAN) value is about to drop below the red line.]

[Survivors are urged to adjust their mindset and regain composure as soon as possible; otherwise, panicked survivors have virtually no chance of surviving in the dangerous wilderness!]