Stowaway

His predecessor had gone to sea with an elder to make a living when he was young.

They had come to the western City of God.

Too far from heaven, too close to the United States—this was God's Country, the City of God.

Because of the enormous demand in the United States, it consumed more than 60% of the world's drugs.

Drug dealers ran rampant in God's Country. Nearly everyone dealt drugs, and even the government forces could do nothing about them.

Whoever truly dared to ban drugs might find their corpse hanging beneath an overpass the next day.

There had even been a horrifying record of 118 elected officials assassinated in a single year.

Even government officials were treated like that. Ordinary people's lives were even more worthless, and they could be slaughtered by drug dealers like pigs and dogs at any moment.

Apocalypse did not remember why his elder had come to this place. He only knew that life had been hard after they arrived.

Having practiced Eastern martial arts and possessing the wisdom of an Easterner, his elder had no choice but to become a major drug lord's bodyguard and adviser.

Later, his elder died protecting the drug lord.

That drug lord was Flying Eagle, Hawkeye's elder, whom Black Widow had toasted at the wedding.

Before dying, his elder made one final request of the drug lord. He hoped his child could leave the organization and live like an ordinary person.

Whether the drug lord was buying loyalty or honoring the code of the underworld, he allowed the teenage Apocalypse to leave.

After Apocalypse left, he had neither the Eastern martial arts taught by his elder nor any other useful skills.

He could only open a flower shop to make a living.

Apocalypse had asked his elder why he would not teach him martial arts.

His elder had said, "Here, if you don't know martial arts and don't have money, you might live longer."

As for why they had come to this chaotic place when there were so many better places in the world, Apocalypse had asked, but his elder never answered.

With the chaos in the City of God, for an ordinary person to open a small shop, harassment and extortion were the least of their worries. One careless mistake, one offense against a gang, and they would be found dead in the street the next day.

Fortunately, Apocalypse had a mild temperament. When petty thugs extorted him, he treated it as paying money to avert disaster.

Over the years, the major drug lord had visited him several times.

He wanted to test his martial arts, but after confirming that Apocalypse had no special abilities, he never appeared again.

Because his elder had been acquainted with the major drug lord, and Apocalypse himself lived within the drug lord's territory.

For this wedding, Apocalypse had politely sent him an invitation. He had thought the drug lord would not come, but unexpectedly, he actually did.

Was it because of his deceased elder, or to win people's hearts and show how loyal and righteous he was?

At that thought, Apocalypse's heart skipped a beat.

This is bad!!!

Black Widow was beautiful, but she was no harmless woman.

She had definitely come here for a reason.

He immediately unlocked his phone and saw the local news headline written in huge blood-red letters:

"Flying Eagle, the largest drug lord in the City of God, died of a heart attack last night!"

The photo accompanying the article was of Hawkeye's elder, who had attended the wedding feast yesterday!

However, Apocalypse did not feel much sadness.

After his elder died, Flying Eagle had seen him several times. On the surface, it had been to look after him, but more likely, he had wanted to see whether Apocalypse knew martial arts.

If Apocalypse knew Eastern martial arts, he might have been used by Flying Eagle just like his elder had been.

As for whether Apocalypse was willing, that would not have been up to him.

No wonder his elder had never taught him martial arts or left behind a huge fortune. That truly was Eastern wisdom.

A tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be toppled by the wind; weeds grow wild and live long.

On top of that, Apocalypse came from the East and loathed drug dealers. Naturally, he could not have any unrealistic feelings for Flying Eagle.

"Sigh... the wedding really was fake." Apocalypse thought.

According to his predecessor's memories.

Half a month ago, Black Widow had come to the shop under the alias Roland to buy flowers.

Flowers did not intoxicate people; people intoxicated themselves. His predecessor had only been an ordinary man. How could he possibly resist Black Widow's seductive beauty?

With only a few tricks, she had made his predecessor fall in love at first sight, and the two had quickly fallen into a passionate relationship.

After only one week, they had decided on a whirlwind marriage and invited relatives and friends to witness their "love."

Clearly, Black Widow knew about Apocalypse's predecessor's connection to Flying Eagle and had calculated that Flying Eagle would come merely to make an appearance.

According to local custom, he had to accept a toast from the newlyweds.

Although Flying Eagle had been cautious and did not drink any of the banquet's alcohol, how could he possibly escape Black Widow's methods?!

As for why she wanted to kill Flying Eagle, and why Black Widow, an ace agent, had been sent for it.

Apocalypse did not know, nor did he need to. A drug lord's cause of death was not worth investigating.

A faint fragrance lingered on the blanket, bearing witness to last night's madness.

A sheet of white paper lay on the table, bearing graceful English handwriting:

" Tang, don't come looking for me. None of this was real."

A marriage certificate torn in half also lay on the floor. It bore a "happy" photograph of Black Widow and Apocalypse together.

"Ding!"

"Player has been bound in marriage to the superhero Black Widow. Their fortunes are linked. Fortune value +60."

"First successful binding with a superhero. One Recovery Potion awarded."

Apocalypse froze. Thankfully, the benefits of transmigration had arrived with him.

Otherwise, how was he supposed to survive in a world where superheroes were everywhere and villains were as common as dogs?

However, the Recovery Potion he had received was also the cheapest item in the game.

In the game, people usually bought them by the dozens or hundreds. If they were injured or afflicted by some negative magic, drinking one would immediately restore them to full health.

But in the real world, one Recovery Potion was equivalent to having an extra life.

But that was all.

A Recovery Potion could not give Apocalypse enough of a sense of security.

Looking across the entire Marvel Universe, supervillains were always trying to conquer the world or destroy planets.

And later, there would be the ultimate Boss—Thanos, who would wipe out half the life in the universe with a snap of his fingers!

Living in this world, one extra life was hardly much protection.

Picking up the marriage certificate, Apocalypse smiled faintly. "You think you can run after becoming my woman? It won't be that easy?!"

He was an ordinary person now, but opportunities were everywhere in the Marvel Universe. With his foreknowledge of the plot, he might not lack chances to grow stronger.

Many major events in the Marvel Universe happened within the United States. If he wanted to seek opportunities, he could only go to the United States nearby.

The only question was, what stage was this?

How long before the ultimate Boss, Thanos, arrived?

Judging from Black Widow spending half a month setting a trap just to lure in a mortal drug lord, the great superhero battles probably had not begun yet.

After thinking briefly, Apocalypse put away the marriage certificate, then sold the flower shop and liquidated his belongings.

He had originally intended to apply for a tourist visa to the United States.

But in the City of God, bribery was rampant and administrative efficiency was low.

A legitimate passport and the relevant documents often took months to process.

Even if he got them, the United States border could deny his visa at any time without reason.

Drug trafficking was simply too rampant in God's Country, leaving the United States border guards constantly on alert. Any hint of suspicion would result in rejection.

He submitted an application, slipped some money to the clerks, and waited several days, but there was no news of his tourist visa.

Apocalypse did not want to waste any more time. Gritting his teeth, he sought out a local human smuggler.

In other countries, human smugglers stayed hidden. Here, they openly ran storefronts in busy districts, and every local knew about them.

The smuggler was a burly brown-skinned Westerner.

He glanced at Apocalypse. "An Easterner? That's rare. Ten thousand dollars."

Apocalypse said, "Wasn't it one thousand dollars?"

"You're an Easterner. You stand out too much, so you need to pay more."

Apocalypse had just been about to say something when the smuggler impatiently snapped, "Pay up or get lost!"

Apocalypse knew the smuggler was raising the price on the spot, but in his urgency, all he could think was that once he grew stronger in the future, what would this little money amount to?

So he took a thick bundle of cash from inside his clothes and handed it over.

"Go wait over there. Don't leave. We depart tonight."

Several hours later, the sun set.

The smuggler called to Apocalypse, "You, come out."

Apocalypse sensed something was wrong. "What is it?"

The smuggler said, "Package inspection. This is illegal border crossing, not tourism. Throw away all this useless junk. And to make sure you're not a police informant, we need to search you."

As he spoke, several burly men ignored Apocalypse's protests, snatched his backpack, and pinned him against the wall to search him.

Apocalypse immediately understood. They had gotten greedy for his money.

In his previous life, Apocalypse had come from a peaceful and prosperous age. He had even been a shut-in, and while he understood plenty of things in theory.

He had only just transmigrated into this world and had yet to experience its cruelty. He had not been vigilant enough.

All he had wanted was to find opportunities in the plot and become stronger. He would rather be overcharged if it meant getting there faster.

In his haste, he had violated the taboo of flaunting his wealth.

The smuggler quickly found the remaining ten thousand dollars on Apocalypse. After scattering his luggage all over the floor and confirming there was nothing else worth taking, he shoved Apocalypse back into the crowd with satisfaction.

Without any strength right now, Apocalypse did not dare show any unnecessary reaction.

He could only return to the crowd and silently memorize the smuggler's face.

The United States, also known as the Eagle Empire, took the eagle as its totem and lay north of God's Country.

The gap between the two countries' wealth was as vast as heaven and earth. One was rich beyond measure and called the world's dominant power.

The other was filled with impoverished people and rampant drug dealers, where ordinary people could barely survive from one day to the next.

Thus, countless people illegally crossed into the Eagle Empire in search of a living.

Of course, even more of them were drug-running "mules."

In the middle of the night, a large truck packed to the brim picked up Apocalypse and his group.

From afar, they could still see the lights of the United States border checkpoint.

Under the smuggler's guidance, everyone quietly entered an underground tunnel.

When they emerged, they were already inside the United States.