America: Starting from collecting corpses, leveling up to godhood

Chen Ming tried to move.

He was in excruciating pain in his chest and abdomen, and his legs were trapped by the deformed vehicle.

He and Sofia were like two sardines forced into a can, unable to move except for their mouths.

"God...is this hell?"

A weak groan came from the back seat.

Professor Evans woke up with his forehead bleeding.

Before he could even figure out what was going on, he witnessed a truly shocking scene in the front row.

One of his students was pressing his face against his informant, forming a rather awkward pose that could only be viewed by paying users on OnlyFans.

The old man stood there stunned for a full two seconds before he remembered to take out his phone and dial 911.

Hearing the alarm from the professor in the back seat, Chen Ming breathed a sigh of relief and, under SpongeBob's gaze, awkwardly cleared his throat.

"So... do you need me to try moving to the left a little? Maybe it will make you feel better."

"Save your energy... just don't flick your tongue when you speak."

Chen Ming wisely kept his mouth shut.

Fortunately, the awkwardness didn't last long.

A few minutes later, the piercing sound of sirens tore through the rainy night, followed by a face as big as a door appearing outside the broken car window.

The duty sheriff in the jurisdiction is Miller.

He shone his flashlight, first looking at the scattered black riders, then at the two people in the car who were like conjoined twins, and whistled loudly.

Wow, young people these days really know how to have fun.

With the help of his companions, Miller ripped off the mangled car door and gave Chen Ming, whose face was covered in blood, a thumbs-up.

"Speeding while working hard? Kid, this is only possible in Los Angeles. In Texas, I'd be issuing you a public indecency ticket right now..."

Fortunately, although the front of the Dodge was completely wrecked, American muscle cars are indeed quite safe.

Aside from soft tissue contusions, all three miraculously escaped serious injury.

After completing the questioning process first, Bai Nan and Evans were temporarily placed on a bench in the police station corridor.

After a long silence, the old professor broke the awkward silence first.

"Thank you, Chen. If it weren't for you tonight, I don't know what would have become of me."

Evans sighed, his tone sincere.

"From now on, I'll give you a perfect score in every class you attend, and I'll even write you a letter of recommendation..."

"I appreciate it, Professor."

Chen Ming shook his head with a wry smile.

"Recommendation letters... I probably won't need them."

"Not needed?"

Evans paused, then frowned.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Your grades aren't bad. If you keep it up, you can go to Mayo or Johns Hopkins... What, do you think I'm not qualified to be your professor?"

"No, it's because I'm dropping out of school."

Chen Ming leaned back in his chair, his tone calm.

"Six months ago, my parents were in a car accident and both died. The driver was a drug addict who had no will to live and couldn't pay a single penny in compensation, so the bank seized all of my family's belongings..."

"All I have left is that beat-up Corolla and a mountain of unpaid federal student loans. I can't even afford to pay the registration fee for next semester."

How big is the gap?

Evans stared at Chen Ming's oil-stained sneakers.

"I want to pay the late fees and tuition, and then get a decent place to rent after passing the background check..."

"At least $50,000."

Upon hearing this number, Evans's originally straight back hunched over slightly.

"I'm sorry... if this were last year, I could write you a check right now."

The old professor's voice was dry.

"But now... I'm sorry, Chen. My good-for-nothing son of mine got involved in things he shouldn't have, and the rehab center is like a bottomless pit."

Chen Ming nodded upon hearing this, without saying anything.

Unexpectedly, it makes sense.

In the United States, the difference between being middle class and bankruptcy is often just a serious illness—or a loved one becoming addicted to drugs.

"It's okay, Professor, I was just venting."

Chen Ming was about to get up and walk around when his clothes were grabbed.

Evans looked around to make sure no police were watching before whispering in Chen Ming's ear.

"Actually, there's another way, although it's riskier, but the returns are much higher."

"I have private collaborations with several large pharmaceutical companies and some laboratories, regularly providing them with special biological samples..."

"These samples cannot be found in normal hospital wards; they only exist in the festering wounds of the city."

"Tent cities where homeless people gather, sewer slums, and chaotic neighborhoods controlled by gangs... Sofia is actually my informant in the neighborhood, and she provides me with information."

"I need you to go to these places, retrieve my belongings, and I'll pay you accordingly."

Chen Ming gasped after hearing this.

Rumors about "corpse brokers" weren't exactly a secret within medical school circles, but no one expected that Professor Evans, a highly respected figure, would actually be a middleman in this gray industry chain...

Everything suddenly made sense.

No wonder Evans' anatomy class was the most "generous" in the entire department, always in pairs, or even single-person with their own anatomical doll.

The dissected samples are often very "fresh", and there is no trace of freezing.

Chen Ming naively thought that the school had allocated sufficient funds... Now it seems that they were probably just collected from the streets.

Is this... some kind of corpse collector?

"I can do it."

Chen Ming answered crisply and decisively, without any unnecessary thought.

For someone starving to death on the streets of Los Angeles, let alone smuggling "samples" from the slums, even if he were to sign a contract with the devil, he would worry about whether there's enough ink in the pen...

Evans hadn't expected Chen Ming to agree so readily. Just as he was about to say something polite about being careful, the interrogation room door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.

"Damn the LAPD... From now on, I'll fight anyone who mentions women's power to me!"

Sofia came out cursing and squeezed next to Chen Ming.

"They actually sent a middle-aged woman who had just gone through menopause to interrogate me... That old-fashioned woman was completely unyielding, she wouldn't even let me smoke!"

"If it were a male police officer, I could finish in three minutes and get some fresh air."

Evans ignored her complaints, glanced at his watch, and then spoke.

"Sophia, there's something I need to tell you... From today onwards, you'll handle all business matters with Chen Ming. He will act as my representative."

"ha?"

Sophia's face stiffened upon hearing this, and she looked at Chen Ming as if he were an alien.

"You're sending this bookworm who's never even touched a gun to the streets? Old man, have you hit your head? He'll be stripped naked and hung on a lamppost!"

"There's one more thing."

Evans ignored the protests and dropped a second bombshell.

"Make room in the second bedroom of your apartment, and he'll move in tonight."