America: Starting from collecting corpses, leveling up to godhood

"Get in the car."

Watching Marcus scramble up into the back of the truck, Sofia in the passenger seat sighed.

"I knew it. You guys would be completely captivated as soon as you hear words like 'deformed' or 'abnormal'."

"This is respect for science."

Chen Ming started the engine in a good mood.

"And it is indeed very valuable."

……

The massive Ford, like a black rhinoceros, rolled over bullet-riddled road signs and tattered barbed wire along Long Beach, finally coming to a stop on a desolate riverbank.

This is the industrial buffer zone in northern Long Beach, next to a tributary of the Los Angeles River.

The car headlights pierced the darkness, illuminating the enormous concrete monster before Chen Ming's eyes.

A typical old American storm drain—more like a concrete highway laid on a dry riverbed than a drainage ditch.

The 50-meter-wide river channel is completely covered with concrete, and the revetment extends all the way to the riverbed. Only in the very center is there a small amount of stagnant black water with an oily sheen flowing slowly.

Everywhere there were dried-out garbage, unidentified animal bones, and layers upon layers of gang graffiti that resembled ancient totems.

In Hollywood movies, this place is usually where criminals speed on motorcycles or where sports cars race to their finish line.

But in reality, this is the city's drainage outlet.

"Is this the place you brought us to?"

Sofia shivered as the cold wind blew out of the car door.

"It looks like the sewer entrance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"For some people, this is home."

Chen Ming jumped out of the driver's seat and turned on his flashlight.

This storm drain system, built in the 50s, is so vast it's like an underground labyrinth. It's warm in winter and cool in summer, and there's no police interference...

Aside from the occasional flood that sweeps people into the Pacific Ocean to feed the fish, it is indeed a decent free apartment for the homeless.

"Where exactly?"

"It's just ahead... inside the largest culvert."

Marcus pointed to the pitch-black opening in front of him, which was three meters in diameter.

"Let's go."

Chen Ming picked up the body bag, gave each person a mask, and then fastened the Glock to his waist. The three of them trudged through the wet, slippery moss into the culvert.

Within the first hundred meters, you can see cardboard huts and tents set up by homeless people, hear the sound of radios, and smell the familiar stench of urine.

But Marcus didn't stop; instead, he walked straight through the "living area" and continued into the deeper, darker place.

The further you go in, the more humid the air becomes, and the stench of household garbage gradually disappears, replaced by the earthy smell and the putrid stench of stagnant water.

"Not here yet?"

After walking for a full ten minutes, the surrounding area was completely deserted, with only the echo of water droplets falling on the concrete.

Sofia felt like she was stepping on a landmine with every step she took, her face filled with regret.

"I take back what I said earlier, even a tortoise wouldn't want to live in this godforsaken place..."

"Almost there, just at the fork in the road ahead," Marcus whispered.

"Ordinary homeless people don't dare go there; they say it's 'the appendix of hell,' and only freaks like 'rats' would build their nests there."

After walking a few hundred meters, the main pipe came to an end, where a rusted iron pipe appeared on the wall, just wide enough for one person to bend over and pass through. Next to it was a conspicuous skull and crossbones symbol and the word "DANGER".

"...This is it."

Marcus stopped in front of the dark, gaping iron pipe.

"This used to be an industrial sewage ditch, long abandoned. 'Rat' lives on the innermost platform; he says it's quiet there, and he can't hear the cars above."

Chen Ming shone the flashlight beam inside.

The inner walls of the pipe were covered with a nauseating green slime, truly resembling an intestine leading to another world.

"You certainly know how to pick a spot; there's no one to bother you here."

Chen Ming, on the contrary, became interested.

Such extreme reclusive behavior often indicates that the other person has some kind of physiological or psychological defect that makes it impossible for them to integrate into human society.

"Just wait outside."

Chen Ming slung the body bag over his shoulder and glanced back at Sofia, whose face was full of resistance.

"No problem, if you don't come out, I can call the police for you..."

Chen Ming waved to Sofia and bent down to crawl into the industrial pipeline.

After walking about fifty meters, Chen Ming suddenly stopped, and the beam of his flashlight shone on Marcus's back.

"You know him, and you're quite familiar with him, right?"

"Most people wouldn't remember such a maze-like route even if they passed by... but you didn't hesitate at all when you turned the corner."

"You've been here many times."

Marcus's back stiffened for a moment, but he didn't hide it.

"...Three years ago, I made a bet with some friends to come here to explore, but my flashlight ran out of power."

The boy's voice sounded somewhat muffled.

"It was completely dark, pitch black. I was terrified. I wandered around this maze all day, starving and thirsty. I thought I was going to die here..."

"The 'mouse' found me."

Marcus turned around, the flashlight illuminating his youthful yet complex face.

"Although he looked like a monster and couldn't speak, he gave me half a bottle of water and then led me out like a puppy..."

"My savior?"

Chen Ming raised an eyebrow.

"So in return, you're going to sell his body to me for six hundred dollars?"

"I didn't want to... but he's already dead!" Marcus suddenly became agitated.

"When I visited him last week, he had a high fever, his leg wounds were festering, and he even coughed up black blood clots..."

"I want to help him, but what can I do? Steal antibiotics from the pharmacy, or carry him out and take him to the emergency room? I have no health insurance, no money, the hospital will just throw me out and then take him for research!"

Marcus was breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot.

"I wouldn't want to do this if I could, so I didn't tell you in the first place."

"But I also need to eat, and my mom still needs to pay rent... Anyway, he has no relatives, so if he dies and rots here, he'll just be feeding the rats..."

"How about we get something more useful? Lead the way."

Chen Ming picked up the conversation but didn't dwell on the moral dilemma.

After walking for about five more minutes, a huge circular sedimentation tank appeared at the end of the pipe. The concrete platform was piled with plastic sheeting, old newspapers, and moldy cotton wool, resembling a giant rat's nest.

Where are they?

Chen Ming swept his flashlight across the empty platform.

"Impossible...he must be here!"

Marcus panicked and frantically kicked away the surrounding trash.

"Rat, it's me, Marcus! Don't hide, I... I brought medicine!"

Only echoes reverberated in the empty pipes.

"Damn it..."

Marcus was sweating profusely and was about to crawl into another small hole nearby to search.

"rustle--"

Chen Ming suddenly raised his hand and turned off the flashlight.

"Shut up."

As darkness fell, Marcus immediately fell silent in fright.

Then, the sound of a sharp object scraping against a pipe came from above.

Chen Ming suddenly raised his hand and turned on the flashlight.

Above the two people, on the rusty pipes, a pale, thin figure hung upside down like a monkey.