Chapter 137 Wandering

"well……"

Lyon also sighed.

But he didn't let this oppressive mood continue to spread. He cleared his throat forcefully, pulling Alex back from his half-dead, pessimistic state.

"Alright, wipe your tears first."

Leon looked at Arthur, who was lying unconscious on the gurney, and said, "You're somewhat of an expert, look at his condition, what medicine can bring him back to life?"

As he asked the question, Leon had already summoned the long-lost system store in his mind, and his thoughts quickly searched through the daily necessities and medical categories.

In this magical America, you can easily buy lethal doses of heroin, fentanyl, or all sorts of new synthetic drugs for ten dollars on the street.

But what if you have an inflammation or infection and want to buy a box of antibiotics that can actually cure your illness and save your life?

Sorry, not a chance.

You have to make an appointment with a doctor, pay a hefty consultation fee for a prescription, and then go to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine.

If they took Arthur directly to the emergency room of a public hospital right now, given his status as a homeless man and his lack of health insurance, the nurses there would definitely leave him on a bench in the hallway to wait in line.

Queues aren't calculated by the hour, they're calculated by the day or month.

Arthur will most likely die from a high fever and infection on the hospital corridor floor before he can even finish the tedious form-filling process.

"We need strong, broad-spectrum antibiotics, preferably cephalosporins or azithromycin, and also antipyretics like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. We need to act quickly."

Alex sniffed, regaining some of his composure:

"This old man can't stay here. Give me a hand, let's push him and the bed out and get him onto my refrigerated truck. It has air conditioning and is much cleaner than here."

"Going to the hospital is definitely not an option. Let's just drive back to my dorm."

"When I first came to the United States, I was worried that the medical care here would be terrible, so I packed a lot of antibiotics and cold medicine from China in the bottom of my suitcase. I originally kept them for my own survival, but now I'm giving them to him first."

Hearing Alex's words, a warm feeling suddenly welled up in Leon's heart.

He recalled his past life in the East.

Even late at night, you can easily buy life-saving antibiotics and cold medicine by simply going downstairs and finding any street-side pharmacy with a green cross sign. For just a few dozen yuan, you can find such items.

No need for appointments, no need to be driven bankrupt by bills, and no need to wait to die in a dilapidated church on a rainy night.

The East is truly wonderful.

Lyon silently sighed to himself, his longing for his distant homeland reaching its peak at that moment.

"Wait a moment."

He pulled himself together and called out to Alex, who was about to push the hospital bed.

"I'm going to say hello to Pastor Thomas. You wait here for me."

With that, Leon turned around and strode toward the old pastor who was feeding water to a patient at the other end of the hall.

At the same time, he quickly locked onto his target in the system's online store.

【Amoxicillin Capsules (500mg*24 capsules)】: 1 Justice Point.

Cefixime Dispersible Tablets: 2 Justice Points.

[Aldaminophen tablets]: 0.5 justice points.

These things might be hard to come by in the real United States, but in Lyon's system store, they are the most basic civilian supplies, ridiculously cheap, and you can get a whole bunch of them for just a few Justice Points.

Without hesitation, he spent less than 10 points to exchange for a large number of various antibiotics and antipyretics, and then stuffed them all into his pockets under the cover of his large protective suit.

"Pastor Thomas."

Leon walked up behind the old man and patted him on the shoulder.

Thomas turned around, his eyes filled with exhaustion: "What's wrong? Arthur...?"

"We're taking him away."

Lyon interrupted him, then reached into his pocket and pulled out seven or eight boxes of prescription antibiotics and fever reducers, which are strictly controlled in America, and shoved them into Reverend Thomas's arms without saying a word.

Thomas instinctively caught it, then looked down at the name of the medicine on the packaging. His cloudy eyes widened instantly, and his breathing became rapid.

"This...this is..."

The old pastor stared in disbelief at the medicine box in his hand, his hands trembling violently.

This is fate! These few boxes of medicine can at least bring back a dozen or so homeless people in the lobby who are hovering on the brink of death!

He didn't question where the drugs came from. After all, in his view, since they came with people from Alex's bioresource company, it was perfectly normal for them to obtain these strictly controlled drugs through some shady channels.

"priest."

Lyon, observing the old man's excited expression, spoke calmly:

"You are a person of faith."

"Coincidentally, I am also a person of faith."

"Although we may not believe in the same things, and we may walk different paths, the rest of the way in this church, and the lives of these people, ultimately depend on you to persevere and keep going."

"But in times like these, I'm willing to offer you a little help. Take it, go and save people first."

Pastor Thomas held the medicine boxes tightly, as if they were priceless treasures.

He looked up and gave Lyon a deep look.

He subconsciously interpreted the word "faith" in Lyon's language as some other religious belief. Perhaps the young man was a devout Muslim, a Jew, or some other non-Christian pagan.

But none of that matters anymore.

Thomas took a half step back, did not make the sign of the cross, but bowed his head deeply and said devoutly:

"No matter what name your Lord exists in, no matter what name your truth calls upon..."

"May the Supreme Being who created all things protect your mercy."

"May your path always be filled with light, and may you never lose your way in the darkness. Thank you, stranger, brother."

Finally, he gave Lyon one last deep look, then turned and ran toward the several homeless men who were on the verge of collapse, his steps much lighter than before.

……

A few hours later.

It was completely dark when the streetlights came on in Seattle.

On a secluded street outside the University of Washington, Lyon's Ford Explorer and Alex's refrigerated truck were parked one after the other in the shade of trees.

The explorer's back seat was laid flat, and Arthur was lying on it.

"Here, old man, swallow this. This is my most treasured life-saving medicine."

Alex held a bottle of mineral water, carefully cradled the back of Arthur's head, and stuffed a few peeled antibiotic and fever-reducing pills into the old man's mouth, then fed him water little by little to help him swallow them.

After confirming that Arthur had swallowed the pills, Alex grabbed a spare blanket from the passenger seat and covered the old man completely.

After finishing, Alex straightened up, rubbed his sore neck, and turned to look at Leon, who was leaning against the car door smoking.

"The patient's condition has stabilized for now. As long as the fever goes down, his life will be saved."

Alex wiped his face and sighed:

"But you have to take this person back. I definitely can't; I'm still living in the student dormitory, a four-person room."

"There's a black guy who's always smoking marijuana and growing mushrooms, and a white guy who's not very bright."

"If I bring a half-dead homeless person back, I won't be able to hide him at all. If the dorm supervisor finds out tomorrow morning, I'll be sleeping on the street."

"No problem, I'll take it back."

Lyon casually exhaled a smoke ring.

"I just fired a shot. According to regulations, I am currently on administrative leave during the Ministry of Internal Affairs' investigation period. I don't need to clock in at the branch office for the next few days, so I have time to keep an eye on him."

"you……"

Alex's eye twitched when he heard the words "administrative leave".

He opened his mouth, intending to hurl a sarcastic remark: "How the hell are you on vacation every day? Do you think police officers are just going to resorts to clock in?"

But when he saw Leon's matter-of-fact expression, he swallowed his words back.

"well……"

Alex sighed deeply: "Forget it, I'm too lazy to complain. I can't control your mess."

He glanced around to make sure there was no one else on the road besides the two of them, and his expression gradually became serious.

He took half a step forward and lowered his voice:

"Let's get down to business."

"I've already made contact with the East."

Upon hearing this, Leon immediately threw the half-smoked cigarette on the ground and stomped it out, straightened up, and his eyes became focused.

"Go on. What did they say?"

"I've already sent that hard drive containing the raw data via... well, a special physical method. I don't know if the other side has received it yet."

Alex carefully chose his words, trying not to reveal any details about the dead mailbox:

"As for old Bill, and your plan to build the passage... the other side's message is to wait and see. They need time to observe and assess."

After listening, Lyon frowned slightly and thought for a moment.

"No, we can't afford to delay."

Leon shook his head, his tone becoming resolute:

"You need to go and relay a message to them again. This matter must be finalized as soon as possible; the sooner we establish the first substantial interaction, the better."

"I'm too famous now. The mayor and the media are watching me, and the remnants of the Blood Gang may also be looking for me."

"I'm not very confident that we can keep living people like old Bill and Arthur hidden forever."

"If the FBI or the Department of the Interior discovers that I have two military engineers hiding in my home in Seattle, I will be completely at a disadvantage."

Alex listened to Leon's words and hesitated.

He certainly knew that things could go wrong if he waited too long.

Rationally, he should strictly adhere to the domestic directive of "no contact for now, observe first".

But emotionally, looking at the old engineer in the back seat who had just been pulled out of the dilapidated church by Leon and was almost dying of illness, he really didn't think Leon was a treacherous entrapment agent.

Furthermore, the domestic emails did indeed grant him authorization to "explore motives within an appropriate scope."

Alex gritted his teeth and decided to lay his cards on the table.

Alex gritted his teeth and decided to lay his cards on the table.

"Dude, it's not that they don't want to speed things up over there."

Alex stared into Leon's eyes, his expression complex, and said:

"It's because your identity is too strange."

"Domestically, your identity is considered extremely sensitive, and you are currently in the rising phase of your career, where you can be said to be reaping both fame and fortune."

"They can't understand why a promising white American police officer like you would risk your life to live in the East."

"You need to explain this to me clearly. If I can't convince them, or if you can't provide a logical driving force, then this matter will definitely be delayed indefinitely."

"They won't risk taking in someone whose motives are unclear."

Lyon was stunned after hearing these words.

He blinked, his expression one of utter confusion, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

"Isn't this just common sense?"

Leon spread his hands, his brow furrowed. "What's so strange about that?"

"Of course?" Alex was dumbfounded.

"yes!"

Lyon pointed somewhat irritably to the shadowy area at the end of the street:

"Look at this utterly awful place! Drug dealers everywhere, you might even get robbed by homeless people while buying a hamburger! You have to be constantly on guard against stray bullets shooting you in the head while walking down the street!"

"The public facilities are so dilapidated that they look like they come from the last century. A single freezing rain can paralyze half the city's sewers."

"The healthcare system is even worse. Calling an ambulance can bankrupt a middle-class family, and getting pneumonia means you can only wait to die in a run-down church!"

"The diet is all high in sugar and oil, and it's more expensive to eat normal vegetables than meat."

Lyon found the story increasingly absurd, and his speaking speed increased:

"He's a rotten person too."

"The happy education system has turned the lower class into a bunch of idiots who can't even do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The streets are full of LGBT people waving rainbow flags and doing nothing but figuring out which of the ninety-seven genders they belong to every day."

"Politicians are hypocritical, and police are corrupt."

Leon looked at Alex and retorted confidently:

"As a mentally sound person who wants to live a few peaceful days, I want to make some money quickly, escape this garbage dump, and go to the East to live a normal life..."

"Isn't this just what's right and logical?"

"..."

Alex stood there, stunned.

As the night wind blew by, he felt his head buzzing, and a thousand curses ran through his mind.

That sounds... so damn reasonable!

Every word hit him right where it hurt; these were exactly the things he usually complained about on domestic video websites!

but……

Damn it, for an American to say this is just too jarring!

For the vast majority of Americans, shouldn't shootings, drugs, expensive medical care, and political correctness be part of their daily routine?

Shouldn't they consider this the price of freedom and accept it willingly?!

Alex opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

Finally, he could only rub his face dryly and let out an extremely powerless sigh:

"You...you make a lot of sense."

"I was utterly speechless."

Alex sighed and waved his hand.

"Alright. Since you put it that way, I'll find a way to convey your heartfelt words verbatim. As for whether they believe it or not, that's up to fate."

"Take your men back and wait for news. I'll contact you again once I get a reply."

"walk slowly."

Leon nodded and didn't say anything more.

He opened the driver's side door of the Ford Explorer and got in.

Alex also turned and walked towards his refrigerated truck.

The two cars started up in the darkness, drove in opposite directions into traffic, and quickly disappeared into the streets of Seattle.