What the hell is the "kill line" when you're in America?

"Wait a minute," Li Ang said.

Derek looked at him.

"These goods must be sold discreetly; don't sell them to too many people at once," Li Ang advised.

[Mission: The Devil is One Step Ahead]

[Task Requirement: Sell "Elysium Pill" to 1/10 of the target population]

The system's prompt was clear: ten different "customers" were required.

"What?" Derek exclaimed, "Why? I'll pay! Double the price!"

Li Ang shook his head.

"My rule is that a customer can only buy three at a time."

This rule was something he had just come up with.

Derek couldn't understand this operation at all.

Why wouldn't you make money when you can?

"What...what do you mean by this?"

"What I mean is, I need ten clients." Li Ang looked at him. "You have the channels, don't you?"

Derek's mind raced, and he instantly understood Li Ang's intention.

This is to make him a distributor, and a strictly controlled one at that.

"You want me to help you find someone?"

"It's not about helping me," Li Ang corrected. "It's about you developing your own network."

"For every new customer I acquire, I offer a free first-time pickup when they come to pick up their goods in person."

"After that, he'll get the goods from you, and you'll set the price."

Derek's face lit up with joy upon hearing this.

He understood.

This allows him to quickly establish a sales network.

And he is the agent for this network.

"What...what's in it for me?" Derek asked with a grin.

"The price can't be too high, the revenue will be split 50/50, and you'll get three more items for every new customer you sell to." Li Ang threw out the real bait.

Derek felt an indescribable joy at that moment.

He himself is an addict; nothing is more attractive than the goods themselves.

"I'll take this job!"

After Li Ang finished speaking to Derek, he turned and left, leaving Derek alone at the alley entrance.

......

After receiving the money, Li Ang did not return to the dilapidated alchemy room.

He needs a cell phone.

Without a mobile phone, one can hardly move an inch; all information is connected to it.

He walked into an electronics store that was still open.

The store was deserted, with only a young Chinese man wearing glasses yawning behind the counter.

[Criterion for elimination: Middle-aged (academically excellent, but family in debt, future uncertain)]

Li Ang's gaze swept across the counter, finally settling on the cheapest smartphone.

"How much is this?"

"One hundred and twenty-nine dollars, sir." The clerk pushed up his glasses, his tone professional but distant.

Li Ang pulled two hundred-yuan bills directly from his pocket and slapped them on the counter.

The clerk's expression changed slightly when he saw the cash, but he didn't ask any further questions.

"Do you need to apply for a card? We have special offers."

"The cheapest one, as long as it can make and receive calls and access the internet, is fine."

"it is good."

Li Ang walked out of the store with his brand-new phone in his hand.

He found a secluded corner and awkwardly turned on the computer and started setting it up.

However, he quickly regained his ability to use the phone.

When his phone lit up and connected him to the world's information, Li Ang felt as if he were in another world.

He immediately opened his browser, but instead of typing in entertainment news or how to make money, he typed in...

He didn't rush to contact anyone, but instead opened his browser.

In the search bar, he typed "China" letter by letter in broken English.

Numerous related news articles and pictures popped up on the screen.

Skyscrapers stood tall, and traffic flowed busily, creating a prosperous scene that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him.

Li Ang stared at the screen, looking at each photo and each news item.

He saw his hometown province and the city he had left a year ago.

The changes are too great.

Everything was completely different from what he remembered.

He then searched for "how to return to China from America".

The result that popped up on the screen made him frown.

"Flight Information", "Visa Application", "Passport Requirements".

Each word was like a wall, standing in his way.

He had no identity, no passport, and not even a legal name.

He is like a ghost, existing in this world, yet not recognized by it.

The road home was much more difficult than he had imagined.

Li Ang closed the browser, leaned against the wall, and sighed helplessly.

The surroundings were sparsely populated and filled with countless pieces of garbage, constantly reminding him of the reality he was in.

His neighborhood, Block 12, was dirty, dilapidated, and filled with despair.

Not far away, a gaunt man was huddled in a tattered newspaper box.

Above his head, the light screen displaying the message "[Kill Line: Nearly Dangerous]" was dim and could go out at any moment.

The tops of their heads are a gray color that falls between "endangered" and "low".

This country confines all those who have fallen to the bottom of society to this forgotten land, leaving them to fend for themselves.

The affluent area is separated from this place by only a bridge and a grove of trees, yet they seem like two completely different worlds.

Li Ang gripped his phone tightly.

He wants to go back.

No matter the cost, he had to go back.

Perhaps money can pave a way home.

He needs more money.

He put away his phone and gathered his thoughts.

The most urgent task is to solve the mystery of key number "42".

That may have been the key to him obtaining his first real seed money.

Li Ang started walking towards the direction where Jerome's RV was located.

The streets were more chaotic under the cover of night than during the day, and bursts of gunfire could be heard from some areas not far away.

The area was filled with homeless people who were high on drugs, and the sound of crying could be heard from some unknown corners.

Li Ang walked through these noisy streets.

We arrived at an open space where several dilapidated RVs were parked.

Jerome's RV was lit by a dim, yellow light.

Li Ang approached and knocked on the car door.

The car door opened a crack, revealing Jerome's wary face.

When he saw that it was Li Ang, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door completely.

"Oh, what brings you here, buddy?"

Li Ang stepped into the RV; Anna was already asleep.

"She's much better today." Jerome looked at his daughter, a hint of relief in his voice. "I used the money you gave me to buy some better food."

Li Ang nodded, his gaze falling on the table.

There was an old map of Seattle spread out on the table, with several circles drawn on it in red pen.

"Any news?" Li Ang asked directly.

Jerome's expression turned serious.

"I paid some well-informed guys to investigate and check every place in Seattle with the number '42' on the map."

"Bank safe deposit boxes require identification, so that can be ruled out first."

"Most self-storage lockers use electronic lockers, so that's ruled out as well."

"Finally, I narrowed it down to a few places." Jerome pointed to a red circle on the map. "Here, there's an old pawnshop in the west of the city. Their lockers still use old-fashioned brass locks."

He then pointed to another circle.

"And this place used to be a transit warehouse for a logistics company. It's been abandoned for a long time, and there are many numbered lockers inside."

Looking at the map, Li Ang saw that the two places were far apart, one in the slums in the west of the city and the other on the edge of the industrial zone in the east.

"The scope is still too large," Li Ang said.

"I know." Jerome rubbed his hands together, his face beaming with excitement. "But! I heard something from a thief who specializes in stealing from abandoned warehouses."

"He said that the rusty gang has been loitering around that abandoned logistics warehouse lately."

"It looks like they're looking for something."