Chapter 351 Underground Black Market
At the same time, she was full of expectations for this trip. The United States is worthy of being the United States. No matter what she gains from this trip, at least she has never been abroad in her life. She never thought that she would be able to travel abroad in the apocalypse after her rebirth.
Here we have to mention the problem that the United States has a large land area but a sparse population. Neighboring Mexico has 120 million people, and Sacramento covers an area of 99.2 square miles, which is equivalent to a quarter of Hong Kong or ten Macaus. Even if more than 300,000 foreign populations flow in, the population is only 600,000, which is equivalent to one-third of the population of Ukraine.
Due to the Mediterranean climate, the first feeling when landing in Sacramento is that it is not as cold as Uber. The second feeling is that it is big, spacious and sparsely populated. At least here, apart from the bright lights and bustling city center, the rest of the surroundings are quiet. Occasionally there will be a rumbling sound, and then an earthquake will begin.
Natural disasters are affecting the entire world, and no one can escape them. Because of the earthquake, this place has become even more chaotic, and countless Mexicans flock to the city every day. However, Jingshu finally felt that the land under her feet and the exotic buildings were no longer China. She really crossed the ocean and came to the United States!
"It's 11 o'clock in the morning in the United States. I believe everyone has rested well on the plane. So let's start from now on. Look, my friend Xiao Hei is here to pick you up." Yang Yang waved at the oncoming truck. The truck turned around with a beautiful tail swing, and a dark-skinned American man got out.
"Oh, my dear Mr. Yang, I'm so glad to see you. My dear future mercenary friends, I'm very happy to meet you. You can just call me Xiao Hei from now on." Xiao Hei, who was as strong as an ox, hugged Yang Yang and greeted everyone. Xiao Hei spoke fluent Chinese, which solved the embarrassing situation of Jing Shu, a poor student who couldn't understand foreign languages.
So the two teams parted ways. The violent firepower crushing team composed of Tank, Snake Spirit, Lingling, Monkey and Jing got on Xiao Hei's big truck. The men could only squat in the truck. The two ladies, Jingshu and Lingling, sat in the co-pilot seat and followed Xiao Hei to the underground black market he mentioned.
Xiao Hei stepped on the accelerator and cursed, "Oh, this damn black market! Oil is getting harder and harder to get these days. I have to drive faster. The less time we have, the less oil we use. Ladies, please sit tight."
Jingshu: “???” I heard that foreigners are not good at math and can finish a pizza cut into six pieces, but cannot finish the same pizza cut into eight pieces. But isn’t fuel efficiency determined by constant speed when driving?
Jingshu and Lingling looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes. Lingling is a timid and shy girl, but she didn't know why such a girl dressed so revealingly and cutely.
Jingshu looked outside and listened to Xiao Hei explaining local interesting stories. The truck was speeding and the scenery on both sides was rapidly receding. This place was more like a large rural area. In some places, the water had obviously receded and silt remained. The houses were very sparse and dilapidated, and like China, they were covered with green moss. It was as scary as walking in a century-old ghost town in the early morning.
There were no signs of living people around.
"Oh, this damn earthquake!" Xiao Hei swerved the steering wheel to avoid the pothole, causing the entire car to sway from side to side. Xiao Hei continued to talk to himself, "Last year, half of Sacramento was flooded. Fortunately, the city center and a small part of the suburbs were not flooded, so some citizens moved to the city center. But since the government was driven out, the unscrupulous food monopoly merchants and arms dealers have enacted new apocalyptic rules. Those of us who can't pay taxes have no choice but to move to the slums in the suburbs. But thankfully, there's still the underground black market where we can mingle."
"What exactly is the underground black market like?" Jingshu asked.
Xiao Hei bit a cigarette and started smoking. Jing Shu couldn't help but sigh that something that was extinct in China could still be afforded by poor people in the United States. It seemed that it was just as the rumors said, there was a civil war in the United States every day, and they had no worries about food and clothing.
In fact, Jingshu was wrong. Although the United States is a developed capitalist country, the gap between the rich and the poor is too large. 15% of the people in the United States cannot eat a day in slums, and have no medical insurance and welfare. They are even worse off than the poor in China. China's poverty alleviation policies such as teaching farming, providing seeds, and recruiting workers in factories have enabled many poor people to have enough food to eat. As long as they work, they can get jobs and money.
Even if it is the end of the world, there is still government relief food. As long as you work hard, you can at least have a meal a day and not starve to death.
It’s different in the slums, the living conditions here are even worse.
"Oh dear Miss Jing, I heard that China abolished your currency and re-established a new one. Other countries changed their currencies due to economic inflation, but we in the United States still use rice and gold. The government even stipulated that we should buy food and oil at the original prices. But the problem is that rice and gold can't buy anything now. It's like stinking dog shit, it can't be used for anything. Now all places in the United States use food and supplies as hard currency.
The underground black market controls half of Sacramento's oil and grain. This is an 'aristocratic circle' composed of hundreds of middle-class families. They monopolize and produce for themselves, and they employ a large number of mercenaries and locals, forming a profit group.
Jingshu pointed to the distant city center and said, "Is that the place with all the lights on?" It looked very luxurious, and it was the place Jingshu longed for. She felt that it was the place where the United States was reported on TV every day. It would be great if the United States could travel there this time.
Xiao Hei made an exaggerated expression. "That place was originally part of the Sacramento government state, but was later occupied by gang arms dealers and their people. They have powerful firepower and recruited quite a few people in the first year of the apocalypse. They even formed an alliance with a famous grain merchant. They modified the new survival system, and the people living there are divided into different classes. The lower-class slaves are mostly refugees from Mexico, as well as some people of various nationalities. The middle-class free people are mostly wealthy local citizens. The upper-class are the arms and grain dealers and their teams. There was an earthquake these days, and many people came from Mexico, and half of them were taken in."
"Of course, many people have sneaked into the slums. Without a government, there is no food source and no law. These people are thinking about snatching food from others all day long. A gang has also formed in Mexico. Many times they specialize in robbing people who have food. Even women are in danger here. It has been very chaotic in recent days, so the black market has to recruit more capable mercenaries. But I heard that the higher-ups are preparing for a big event and they also want to recruit mercenaries to complete the task." Xiao Hei blew out smoke rings.
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