Smuggling

His predecessor had gone to sea with his elders 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 percent of the world's drugs.

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

Anyone who 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.

If even government officials were treated like that, ordinary people were worth less than grass, slaughtered by drug traffickers like pigs and dogs at the slightest provocation.

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

Because one of them had practiced Eastern martial arts and possessed the wisdom of an Easterner, he had no choice but to become a major drug lord's bodyguard and adviser.

Later, he died protecting that drug lord.

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

As he lay dying, he made one final request of the drug lord: that his child be allowed to leave the organization and live like an ordinary person.

Whether to win people's hearts or out of underworld loyalty, the drug lord allowed Apocalypse, who was only in his teens, to leave.

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

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

Apocalypse had once 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 a little longer."

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

Given the chaos in the City of God, for an ordinary person to run a small shop, harassment and extortion were the least of their troubles. 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. Whenever petty thugs extorted him, he treated it as paying money to avert disaster.

Over the years, the drug lord had come to see him several times.

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

His elder had known the drug lord, and Apocalypse himself lived within the territory under the drug lord's control.

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

Was it out of consideration for his dead elder, or to win people's hearts and show that he valued loyalty?

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

This is bad!!!

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

She had come here with a purpose.

He immediately opened his phone and saw a local news headline in blood-red letters:

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

The accompanying photo was of Hawkeye's elder, who had come to drink at the wedding banquet yesterday!

However, Apocalypse did not feel much sadness.

After his elder died, Flying Eagle had seen him a few times. He claimed it was to look after him, but more likely, he had wanted to see whether Apocalypse knew martial arts.

If he had known 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 any great fortune. That truly was the wisdom of an Easterner.

A tree that rises above the forest will be felled by the wind; lush weeds, on the other hand, live long.

Furthermore, Apocalypse came from the East and loathed drug traffickers. Naturally, he could not have any unrealistic feelings toward 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.

The flowers might not have enchanted her, but she had enchanted him. His predecessor had merely been an ordinary man; how could he possibly resist Black Widow's assault of beauty?

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

After just one week, they decided on a shotgun wedding and invited friends and family to witness their "love."

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

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

Although Flying Eagle had been cautious and had not drunk any wine from the banquet, how could he possibly escape Black Widow's methods?!

As for why she had wanted to kill Flying Eagle, and why she had dispatched an ace agent like Black Widow to do it.

Apocalypse did not know, nor did he need to know. A major drug lord was not worth investigating, no matter how he died.

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

A sheet of white paper lay on the table, with elegant english handwriting on it:

"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" photo of Black Widow and Apocalypse together.

Ding!

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

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

Apocalypse froze for a moment. Luckily, his transmigration benefit had arrived with him.

Otherwise, how was he supposed to survive in a world where superheroes walked the streets and villains were everywhere?

However, the Recovery Potion he had been given 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.

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

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

And there was also the ultimate boss, Thanos, who would wipe out half the life in the universe with a snap of his fingers!

Surviving 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 man now, but the Marvel Universe was full of opportunities. With his foreknowledge of the plot, he might not lack a chance to grow stronger.

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

But what stage was this now?

How long until Thanos, that ultimate boss, arrived?

Judging from the fact that Black Widow had spent half a month laying 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 possessions.

Originally, he had planned to apply for a tourist visa to the United States.

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

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

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

Drug trafficking was simply too rampant in God's Country, leaving the United States border authorities overwhelmed. They would deny entry at the slightest suspicion.

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

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

In other countries, Snakeheads kept a low profile. Here, they openly operated storefronts in busy downtown areas, and every local knew about them.

The snakehead was a burly brown-skinned Westerner.

He glanced at Apocalypse. "An Easterner? That's rare. Pay 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."

Just as Apocalypse was about to say something, the snakehead impatiently snapped, "Pay up or get lost!"

Apocalypse knew the snakehead was gouging him, but in his urgency, he only thought that once he became stronger in the future, what would this little money matter?

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."

A few hours later, the sun set.

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

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

The snakehead said, "Package inspection. This is smuggling, do you think you're sightseeing? Throw away all this useless junk. Also, to make sure you're not a police informant, we need to search you."

Ignoring Apocalypse's objections, several burly men seized his backpack, then pinned him against the wall and searched him.

Apocalypse immediately understood. They had gotten greedy after seeing his money.

In his previous life, Apocalypse had come from a peaceful and prosperous era. He had also been a homebody, someone who understood plenty of principles in theory.

But he had only just transmigrated into this world and had not yet experienced its dangers. He had not been vigilant enough.

He had only wanted to find an opportunity in the plot to grow stronger. He would rather be overcharged than delayed.

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

The snakehead quickly found the remaining ten thousand dollars on Apocalypse. He scattered his luggage all over the floor, and only after confirming there was nothing else to take did he shove Apocalypse back into the crowd in satisfaction.

Without any strength at the moment, Apocalypse did not dare show any extra reaction.

He could only return to the crowd and coldly memorize the snakehead's face.

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

The gap in wealth between the two countries was as vast as heaven and earth. One side was rich beyond measure and called itself Earth's hegemon.

The other was covered in slums, overrun by drug traffickers, with ordinary people never knowing whether they would live to see tomorrow.

Therefore, countless people smuggled themselves into the Eagle Empire in search of a better life.

Of course, even more of them were "mules" transporting drugs.

At midnight, a large cargo truck packed to the brim came to pick up Apocalypse and the others.

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

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

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