American homeless people, surviving in the city

Across the ocean, Seattle.

With the headquarters of numerous well-known companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Starbucks located here, Seattle has become a veritable technology city.

In mid-November, the early winter winds were howling through this seaside city.

Beneath the futuristic, circular building at Amazon's headquarters, busy white-collar workers were wearing cashmere overcoats today.

And not far from this bustling area, a few kilometers away on Third Avenue,

The streets were lined with messy tents, homeless people lay in contorted positions by the roadside, and excrement and urine were everywhere.

Lin Qi sat in a sheltered corner by the street, gazing blankly at the gray sky above.

Just a day earlier, Lynch was an ordinary wilderness survival enthusiast living at Dongda University, with a stable job as a forensic pathologist.

But overnight, he woke up from his sleep.

To my surprise, I found that I was no longer covered with a comfortable and warm quilt, but with a dirty and drafty down jacket.

The mattress beneath her was no longer a soft, comfortable Simmons mattress, but a damp, cold cardboard.

Lynch time-traveled, becoming a homeless man on the streets of Seattle.

According to surveys, the average lifespan of homeless people on the streets of America is 3 to 6 years.

Few homeless people live to a ripe old age.

Lynch had always viewed this data merely as a source of amusement for that seemingly glorious country across the ocean.

But one day, by some twist of fate, I found myself among the lowest strata of society.

To make matters worse, before Lin Qi could even process what had happened, he was brutally beaten by two scoundrel black homeless men and had his only woven bag stolen.

At this moment, besides a leaky down jacket, a short-sleeved shirt, ripped trousers, and bruises all over his body,

There's nothing there!

Lin Qi had no memories of the body he had transmigrated into.

Aside from recognizing himself as a disheveled young Asian man in the reflection of a puddle on the roadside, and knowing that several homeless people nearby still called him Lynch, he knew nothing else.

Worse still, Lynch not only had nothing,

He could also sense that the body he had transmigrated into was in very poor condition.

As he awoke from his dream, feelings of hunger, cold, nausea, and dizziness instantly flooded his mind.

Not only that, but there was also an unbearable itching in the crevices of his body, his cheeks and the backs of his hands were cracked, and his feet were both painful and itchy, clearly showing signs of infection and ulceration.

Compared to the sensations I felt, the beating I just took didn't hurt much at all.

What Lin Qi was facing was almost a hopeless situation.

Fortunately, despite the dire situation, Lynch maintained a positive attitude.

As a seasoned wilderness survival enthusiast, he knows that maintaining a survival mindset is the key to survival.

Lynch had a good education and spoke fluent English, so his first reaction was to ask those around him for help.

However, cold reality soon slapped him hard in the face.

Looking around, almost everyone you see on Third Avenue is homeless.

Occasionally, a passerby who looks normal walks by, but they all seem to be in a hurry.

As soon as Lin Qi tried to approach, passersby would let out a short gasp or squeeze out a disgusted "humph" from the bottom of their throats, then quicken their pace and hurriedly move away.

As for those homeless people

Some of them appeared to be dead or alive, lying motionless on the side of the street in contorted positions;

Some people gathered in small groups in a tattered tent, from which a foul smell emanated;

Some looked energetic, but they had tattoos, wore earrings and lip piercings, and looked like they were not to be trifled with.

As a forensic pathologist, Lin Qi knew, of course, that those people who had collapsed in strange positions by the roadside and those who had gathered in tents were all addicts of performance-enhancing drugs.

Those tattooed young men might be gang members.

Lin Qi didn't want to provoke any of these people!

Looking around, only a few homeless people, like Lynch, didn't have any unpleasant smells around them. They were just dragging a woven bag, or pushing a shopping cart that they didn't know where they had stolen from, listlessly rummaging through the trash cans, or sitting on the roadside with lifeless eyes.

Lin Qi, shameless as ever, walked up to a homeless man who seemed fairly honest.

This was a Black homeless man. Lynch couldn't quite tell how old the man was, but the tangled beard on his chin was quite white, indicating that he was not young.

An old Black man sat on the street, clutching a dirty canvas bag, trying to avoid the howling wind, his eyes numb.

Upon seeing Lin Qi approach, he simply shifted his body a few steps away from Lin Qi without uttering a word.

"Bro, could you lend me some food or some anti-inflammatory medicine? I'm feeling really bad right now," Lynch tried to negotiate with the other person.

Upon hearing this, the old black man's cloudy eyes darted around, sizing Lin Qi up and down.

After confirming that Lynch wasn't subtly robbing him, but genuinely seeking help, the old black man narrowed his eyes and let out a cold snort:

"If I had extra food or medicine, why would I be sitting here?"

"Don't you know that anti-inflammatory drugs are very precious? Painkillers, on the other hand, can be easily bought at any roadside pharmacy. Go buy them yourself!"

Seeing that the other party refused, Lin Qi didn't want to force them, so he could only turn around and leave awkwardly.

After all, this body still contained the soul of a civilized and polite student from Dongda University. Even though the other party was just a seemingly weak old man who appeared to be powerless, he never intended to force him.

However, Lin Qi had barely turned around when he heard the old black man's voice again behind him:

"Kid, you haven't been homeless for long, have you? If you're really hungry, you can try your luck at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Columbia Avenue. There's a food truck that distributes relief meals there, not far from here, and they might still be open for business."

"But you should know that if you want to receive free welfare benefits there, they will require you to register your personal information, which will make it difficult to find a proper job later!"

"...If I can have enough to eat, I don't care whether I register or not." Although he knew the old black man was advising him in good faith, Lynch really couldn't bear the torment of hunger anymore.

Although receiving the subsidy would result in a criminal record, he was indeed starving at that moment.

The old Black man shook his head slowly and sighed, "It's difficult. They'll only provide you with food that's barely enough to fill your stomach temporarily, mostly expired bread and cheap drinks that supermarkets can't sell. Even if you eat it all, in this cold wind, you'll feel hungry again in less than two hours."

"But they will not give food to the same homeless person twice."

"If you want to eat more, you'll have to go back and forth between several food trucks and distribution centers."

"But they're far apart from each other, and believe me, you don't have the physical strength for that in this awful weather."

"That's all I have to say, kid. If you want to survive, go ask for some food, then rummage through the trash cans, or beg. Don't just stand here like an idiot."

After the old black man finished speaking, he fell silent and continued to huddle by the roadside, staring blankly at the empty, gray sky.

Upon hearing the old black man's words, Lynch fell completely silent, a lump of pent-up anger rising in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Hunger, itching, and pain tormented him, making him increasingly frustrated.

Despite being located in the land of lighthouses, it is so difficult to survive at Xida University.

He was robbed and beaten by other homeless people, looked down upon by passersby, and even finding food was so difficult.

The only bit of kindness they received was a few words of advice from the old black man.

Everything he saw constantly reminded him that he was not in Seattle, the city known as the "Queen's City," but rather a cold, steel jungle!

Lynch's current situation is even more fatal than that of those Americans who have been "killed" by society!

Lin Qi's poor physical condition made it difficult for him to keep a clear head. He desperately tried to use the last bit of rationality he had left, but he couldn't think of any way out.

Just as he was about to give up thinking and prepare to go to the food distribution center the old black man had mentioned to get some food to temporarily eat and survive,

Suddenly, an unfamiliar electronic voice rang in his mind:

[Host detected struggling to survive in the jungle!]

[Current living environment severity: High!]

[Wilderness Survival System is now activated!]