Cthulhu America, I can see the kill line.

Holding the new "Experimental Material Procurement Report," Kong Jiu excitedly drove the hearse towards the lower city.

It's done! It's done!

He knew that Jack was a heartless guy. If he just showed a little bit of his ability to determine the time of death and convinced him that he could get his hands on a fresh corpse, he would definitely approve the funding!

How was Kong Jiu able to predict the time of death of those who were about to die?

Because in these days, he has seen far too many people dying, collapsing in front of him on the verge of death!

These days, as he distributes mutton soup at the church entrance, he always squints and carefully observes the changes in the health bars of those who come.

Just like the skill descriptions in the system, that "Comprehensive Lifeline" includes calculations of various attributes.

Social status, physical health, and wealth all determine a person's ability to withstand risks and harm.

However, the statement "you will die if you fall below the total threshold" is somewhat vague.

If your health bar is above the kill threshold and doesn't glow red, it's considered a safe state.

If the health bar falls below the kill threshold, it will start to turn red.

This means that this person's life is entering its final countdown and they are approaching death.

This was not the Grim Reaper's scythe, falling with a slashing motion, bringing sudden death.

It's more like a swamp, slowly swallowing up the dying.

That is to say, there is no way to save oneself and crawl back from the brink of death.

Kong Jiu noticed that one of the people who came to receive relief was on the verge of execution just a few days ago.

But when I saw him again yesterday, his health bar was below the threshold and was glowing a glaring scarlet.

Kong Jiu took advantage of distributing relief food to get close to him and learned about his plight.

This person was under too much pressure from car and mortgage payments and was struggling financially. He was unwilling to pay an expensive lawn mowing fee, so the community assessment organization filed a complaint against him.

Upon learning of this, the company's HR manager immediately added him to the "high-risk" category in the credit score assessment and found an excuse to fire him, causing him to lose his job.

In Amerigo Veterinary Medicine, showing an indecent wound to someone is a major taboo.

Because of this, his health bar, which was still above the threshold yesterday and he was considered a middle-class man in the city center, suddenly turned into a scarlet "ready to be killed" state in just one day.

If I lose my job, I won't be able to pay off my car and house loans.

If you can't pay your car and house loans, you won't have enough credit points to rent a place.

Without renting a house and having a fixed place to live, it is impossible to find a job.

After this combo, forget about making a comeback; you'd be lucky to even make it to the chapel for warmth without needing any boosters.

The man beat his chest and stamped his feet as he poured out his grievances, which sent a chill down Kong Jiu's spine.

Once you fall below the death threshold, there's no way to save yourself.

He recalled a terrifying movie from a past life.

The Pursuit of Happyness

The living environment in Amerigo Vespucci is like a bizarre, uncanny place.

Once you fall into homelessness and need to find shelter from the wind and rain in a toilet, unless someone lends you a hand, you can only wait for the cold wind to kill you.

Unfortunately, Amerigo doesn't want you to get out of your predicament.

Kong Jiu was quite certain that the white gentlemen in the upper town would much rather see more material in the medical laboratory than one more person returning to the middle class.

This is still in the state of waiting to be killed.

There is another situation that comes even closer to death—

Near death.

That day, he brought the mutton soup into the church and delivered it to the refugees who were freezing and unable to move.

The weak and hungry refugees shuffled to the insulated pot, picked up the mutton soup with its strong, almost pungent smell, and slurped it up as if it were a delicacy.

There was only one girl with brown skin, her hair disheveled, curled up in the corner, motionless.

Kong Jiu noticed the girl, so he took the initiative to get a bowl of mutton soup and brought it over.

When he got closer, he noticed that the girl's health bar was glowing with the most glaring red light, and the white portion of the health bar was almost completely gone.

Moreover, there's a countdown timer.

As the scarlet countdown came into view, Kong Jiu instinctively felt a sense of unease.

His unease stemmed from his imagination; he vaguely guessed what the countdown meant.

He tried to wake the girl and put the warm mutton soup into her mouth.

But the girl remained half-asleep, and even when she opened her eyes and glanced at Kong Jiu, she would mutter something like, "Brother, you've come to pick me up," before drifting back to sleep.

Kong Jiu grabbed her hand and found that her body temperature was frighteningly low.

He quickly pulled the girl into his arms, checked her pulse, and tried to warm her with his own body heat.

Until the very last jump.

Stopped.

Her heartbeat stopped almost at the same time as the countdown above her head.

The health bar and countdown light flashed brightly red, then turned into specks of crimson and dissipated.

Dead people don't have blood bars on their heads.

The girl, whose fate was unknown, died in Kong Jiu's arms.

Kong Jiu had forgotten how he felt at that time; he only remembered holding the cold remains in his arms for a while.

From then on, Kong Jiu became extra sensitive to people who were near death and had countdowns appearing above their heads.

Unexpectedly, I was able to use this sensitivity to be of great help.

Quick! Quick, go to the Prophet's Church and see if there are any dying people there!

If you can find five or six fresh corpses, the money you get can buy a lot of supplies, enough to keep the starving and freezing refugees going for ten days or half a month!

The hearse sped along the narrow streets of the lower city, Kong Jiu's joy barely concealed.

As he approached the Prophet's Church, two familiar figures came into view.

It is Su Fu.

At the church entrance, the Mexican man he was talking to looked somewhat familiar.

He slowed down and came to a steady stop beside the two people from the church.

Old Mo and Su Fu clearly noticed the newcomer and turned to look.

Before Kong Jiu could speak, Lao Mo saw Kong Jiu in the driver's seat and spoke first:

"Kong, you've come at the right time. I have a message for the Bloodthorn Gang to convey."

Kong Jiu's heart skipped a beat.

Even though I made mutton soup myself, I still got into trouble.

The three moved to a small confessional room inside the church.

Kong Jiu nervously rubbed his fingers together, clearly somewhat uneasy.

The Mexican man who came was named Anderson, a minor leader in the Bloodthorn Gang in the lower city, and he carried some weight.

This man was as burly as Kong Jiu, with cold eyes, always giving off an expression that said, "If you say the wrong thing, I'll pull out a knife and bleed you."

The Bloodthorn Gang is considered one of the top five forces in the lower city. Kong Jiu has also collected a lot of corpses from them, so the two are acquaintances.

Therefore, it's quite respectful of the other party not to the point of disapproving of Kong Jiu's relief efforts and sending thugs to vandalize and loot. Sending Anderson to negotiate is already a sign of respect.

"Kong, how long have you been serving mutton soup at the Prophet's Church?"

Anderson didn't waste any words and went straight to the heart of the matter.

"Mr. Anderson, this is an advance payment for the mutton soup from our church, not a relief distribution from Mr. Kong."

Before Kong Jiu could speak, Su Fu calmly replied, his face showing no sign of lying.

Anderson frowned, said nothing, and reached into his pocket.

Kong Jiu was startled.

What is he going to take out?

"A tiger's claw?" He slapped himself across the face repeatedly, then slammed Kong Jiu's head onto the table, yelling, "Who paid for this?!"

A pistol? Pressed against his own forehead?

Or is it a small, gleaming knife?

To everyone's surprise, Anderson pulled out a wad of cash.

"It's too cold this winter. The eldest brother couldn't stand it and decided to provide some relief for a while."

Anderson's eyes remained cold, but what he said next completely surprised Kong Jiu.

"Kong, take this money. Starting tomorrow, make double the servings of mutton soup."