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

"Long time no see," he greeted.

The man looked Li Ang up and down, and seemed even more surprised.

It's only been a few days since we last met, but the person in front of me seems like a completely different person.

The last time I saw him, he pretended to be calm, but the confusion and wariness deep in his eyes were impossible to hide.

But seeing Li Ang again now, this feeling...

He couldn't think of a suitable word to describe it.

It was as if he had completely adapted to the jungle and even found his place.

His clothes were ordinary, but clean and of good quality.

He finally spoke, asking, "Did you find a job?"

"I guess so," Li Ang said noncommittally.

"That's good." He nodded. "It's fate, I suppose."

He extended his hand to Li Ang and said, "I thought we'd never see each other again, hahaha... My name is Alex."

"Alex?" Leon muttered to himself.

Alex looked at him and pointed to a coffee shop on the street corner.

"Do you have time? I'd like to buy you a coffee."

Li Ang did not refuse, after all, he still had to wait to do what he needed to do.

The two went into the coffee shop and found a seat by the window.

Alex ordered two of the cheapest Americanos.

"Sorry, it's almost the end of the month, and I'm a little short on cash." He smiled somewhat sheepishly.

Li Ang didn't speak, he just looked at him.

"You left in such a hurry last time, there are still some things I want to say to you."

Alex took a sip of coffee, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

Do you have proof of identity now?

Li Ang shook his head.

"That makes things a bit complicated." Alex frowned.

"In this country, without identity, you can't get anywhere."

"You can't find a decent job, you can't rent a decent place, and you might even be refused treatment at the hospital if you're sick."

"You're like a ghost, not recognized by society."

Li Ang had already heard these words from Jerome.

"I know," Li Ang said.

"So what are your plans?" Alex asked, looking at him.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Never trust those in the church, especially white people..." Alex said in Chinese, not afraid of being overheard, "especially organizations like the Sacred Heart Charity. They have a good reputation, but behind the scenes..."

"Anyway, we also receive quite a few Gundams from the church." Alex shrugged after saying this and didn't continue.

He took a sip of his coffee and kindly suggested, "Go to the mosque."

"A mosque?" Li Ang was somewhat surprised.

"Yes." Alex nodded, his expression serious.

"Don't go to places run by Arabs or Turks; go to places run by Persians or Afghans."

"Although they may seem difficult to deal with, they are actually much more reliable than those white pastors who spout platitudes about morality and righteousness."

"They can provide you with shelter as long as you're willing to pay."

"They have their own communities, their own armed forces, and even their own 'laws'."

"The police don't dare to provoke them easily."

"Moreover, they don't care who you are or what you've done."

"They only care whether you have a heart of gold."

When Alex said "heart of gold," he held up his fingers and made a counting motion.

Li Ang understood instantly.

The so-called "heart of gold" does not refer to kindness, but to money.

"As long as you give them enough money, they don't care who you are; they'll just treat you as one of their own."

Alex leaned back in his chair.

"Of course, this is only a last resort."

"If you can find a way back to China, you'd better try to go back."

"This place... is not suitable for people like us to stay for too long."

His tone carried a deep weariness and helplessness.

Li Ang looked at him.

This man seems to have an extraordinary understanding of the dark side of this country.

Would an ordinary forensic doctor really know so many underground rules?

"You seem to know a lot about these things," Li Ang asked tentatively.

"The more you see, the more you'll understand."

Alex chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"My daily job involves dealing with corpses."

"Gang members caught in a firefight, drug overdoses, homeless people being disposed of like trash..."

"I've seen too many people die with their eyes wide open in disbelief."

"Each of them has a tragic story."

"And most of these stories point to the same ending."

He picked up his coffee cup and drank the now-cold coffee in one gulp.

"In this country, the lives of the poor are worthless."

"So, if you want to survive, you have to make yourself valuable," Li Ang said calmly, looking out the window.

"valuable?"

Alex was taken aback; he didn't quite understand what Li Ang meant.

"Yes." Li Ang turned his head and looked at him.

"When you are valuable enough, the rules will make way for you."

"When you become valuable enough, you can even set the rules."

Alex looked at Li Ang, unsure of what to say.

This young man's ideas are too... too extreme, but he likes them.

It felt as if he wasn't stating a crazy idea, but rather a truth he had witnessed and even practiced firsthand.

Alex opened his mouth, expecting Leon to say something like, "America is a beacon of freedom," or "This is a civilized society that values ​​rules."

But he ultimately said nothing.

The cold corpses he faced every day were the loudest slaps to those beautiful words.

"Your idea..." Alex gave a wry smile and shook his head, "It's dangerous, but... I fucking think it makes a lot of sense."

He relaxed completely, perhaps because he had been suppressing his emotions for too long, and he was unusually talkative today.

"You know, when I first came here, I was just like you, thinking that as long as I worked hard and followed the rules, I could live a good life."

"I attended a fairly good university, and thanks to a professor's kind offer, I got a job..."

"I never imagined... that America would be like this."

"I understood from that day on."

"The rules of this country are like a giant spider web; they only work on us little insects."

"But those real behemoths can easily tear it apart; in fact, they are the web weavers themselves."

Alex's gaze became somewhat unfocused.

Li Ang listened quietly without interrupting.

He looked up at Alex's head.

It was completely empty there.

There is no "endangered", no "low" status, nothing at all.

It's as if this person is outside the rules of this "kill line".

"So, you're right, but I'm doing alright... I started live streaming, earning money from several sources, and I also have a business."

"Yes, I want to get out of the killing range..."

"The kill line?" Alex was stunned. He interrupted Leon before Leon could finish speaking.

But Alex keenly caught the fleeting search in the depths of Leon's eyes.

This word must have had a special meaning for him.

"I just feel that everyone's fate is connected by an invisible thread," Li Ang said calmly, putting down his coffee cup.

"Some people have long lines, some people have short lines."

"When your value drops to a certain level, this line will break."

"Then, you will be 'killed'."

"By the rules of this world, in all sorts of ways."

Li Ang spoke slowly, but he did not tell Alex that he had a system and could even see the term "kill line" in others.

Those thugs caught in gang fights, drug addicts who overdose, homeless people disposed of like garbage...

What do they have in common?

It has no value.

It is garbage that can be "disposed of" at any time in this society.

Their deaths will not cause any ripples, and no one will investigate.

Their "line" was pitifully short from the very beginning.

And what about those who have fallen from the middle class? They become meaningless just the same.

What about the "connections" of those congressmen's sons and big company bosses?

It stretches as far as the eye can see.

They can act recklessly and disregard human life.

Kill threshold...

Li Ang casually uttered a word that only appears in games.

Alex seemed to understand something; he looked at Li Ang with shock and curiosity in his eyes.

He looked more like a seasoned veteran who had spent half his life navigating this dark world than he did.

"I have to go now."

Li Ang stood up.

"Thank you for the coffee."

"Wait!" Alex stood up as well. "Can we see each other one more time?"

"Maybe." Li Ang left those words behind, turned and walked out of the coffee shop, his figure quickly disappearing around the street corner.

Alex sat alone by the window, only three words remaining in his mind.

The kill line.