Chapter 2: As Long As I Have No Money, No One Can Steal From Me

"Come to think of it, where did this initial seven dollars come from? I don't have any US dollars on me."

Ma Zhaodi carefully patted his pockets and suddenly realized that the fifty-plus yuan he had put there after buying cigarettes was gone.

"Fine, fine, fine. I thought it was a gift of starting capital, but it turns out the wool still comes from the sheep."

Still, looking on the bright side, at least his outfit of shirt, trousers, and jacket was decent enough in Gotham; there was nothing particularly eye-catching about it.

He sighed and casually purchased Basic English Proficiency and Local Identity. Without these two, with his current English level, he would be unable to move an inch in the city. He also bought Rapid Life Recovery and Save Point.

"Special Notice: Subsequent missions can unlock the Save Point Rewind function. Please do not be stingy with using Save Points. The 20 Save Point retrieval uses can be distributed across five different time points; please arrange them reasonably. The current time is a safe node; no danger will be encountered within the next half hour, and saving is not possible. Please do not worry."

Looking up at the sky, thick clouds obscured the sunlight. He could only tell from the dim light that it was night, but could not determine the exact hour. Ma Zhaodi had no choice but to head toward the station exit. He remembered seeing a clock tower on the train; perhaps once he left the station, he could find out the time.

Taking two more steps, his pace gradually slowed. A second ago, the cacophony of voices coming from all directions in the station was just inexplicable noise, but a second after purchasing Basic English Proficiency, these sounds transformed into fragmented conversations that the brain could naturally understand, just like the street sounds heard back home.

This novel sensation made Ma Zhaodi, who had barely scraped by with a Level 6 English certificate, feel very amused. He thought about some English learning content and felt his shoddy English being stitched up by the system, now resembling a broken bicycle that didn't work well but was strangely fast.

However, this was only because he wasn't quite adapted yet. In reality, his accent and writing were already fairly standard American English. Once he got used to it, the broken bicycle would upgrade into a convenient electric scooter.

Remembering he should also have a Gotham Local Identity, he searched his pockets again and found his pockets were as clean as his face.

He searched more carefully and discovered that his identity information and documents, including his driver's license and social security card, were stored within the Self-Made package. To take them out, he only needed to think of it; to put them back was the same.

"Finally, a touch of humanity."

Ma Zhaodi, who had never seen a foreign driver's license, reached into his jacket pocket. A few seconds later, he pulled out his driver's license, curiously flipped through it a few times, and then put it back. He now urgently needed to find a livelihood in Gotham; otherwise, before being killed by gangs, terrorist organizations, assassin groups, super-villains, or ordinary robbers and murderers, he would first starve to death from lack of food and water, or freeze to death on the streets from lack of shelter.

After all, he didn't know how homeless people in the US generally lived, and there certainly couldn't be harmless homeless people in Gotham City.

Of course, he might gradually get used to the life of a homeless person in the future. After all, he truly had no property here, so becoming homeless was not strange at all.

It is worth mentioning that although some homeless people can receive relief funds after submitting a federal income tax return and providing valid bank account information, unfortunately, although the system provided Ma Zhaodi with an account, he had never earned money, so he had never paid taxes.

Walking out of the bustling platform, Ma Zhaodi finally saw the close-up view of this city.

Fine drizzle fell from the sky, covering the city in the dark night with a thin, misty veil. On the colorful streets, vehicles and motorcycles sped by from time to time. The lower parts of the surrounding dense skyscrapers were shrouded in the city's light and shadow, while the upper parts were lost in the night, with only a few floodlights faintly illuminating the square corners of the buildings.

Thick smoke rose from factories in the distance, right next to low-lying slums. Among the patches of dirty and chaotic buildings, there was almost no light, only the occasional sound of sobbing, beating, and gunshots coming from the alleys. Homeless camps were generally located here, where dirty crowds living in makeshift tents used abandoned factories, bridge underpasses, and other derelict buildings as shelters, burning old newspapers or tattered books in discarded oil drums for warmth.

Ma Zhaodi looked up at the distance. Between the flashing screens and signs, the clock tower showed the time as 9 PM. It was obvious that he wouldn't find a job today; he had to last until the next morning.

"This start is freaking ridiculous."

A gust of evening wind blew, carrying the chill of icy mist. Ma Zhaodi shivered and stumbled, instinctively shoving his hands back into his jacket pockets. He curled up, trying hard to think, but couldn't figure out where to spend the night. The overly bustling streets would surely drive him away, but overly desolate corners were easy places to run into danger.

"Could there be no other way at all?"

He carefully browsed the system and found it had a Mall. Upon opening it, he could find almost everything that could be bought and things that couldn't be bought, ranging from small daily necessities like food and knives to special abilities and supernatural items. As for things further down, Ma Zhaodi didn't look; he couldn't afford them anyway.

There were only three US dollars available in the system. Judging from the current situation, he would most likely have to sleep on the streets tonight.

Ma Zhaodi walked while browsing the cheaper items in the Mall, then suddenly realized the driver's license in his pocket was gone.

"?"

He was certain he hadn't put the driver's license away, so that thing should still be in his shirt pocket.

"Are you there?"

Ma Zhaodi turned his shirt inside out with both hands, but still couldn't find his driver's license. He was so anxious he almost started cursing. Just then, his hand suddenly touched his pants pocket.

"?"

"Are you here?"

It took him a few seconds to understand what had happened. He had just arrived in Gotham City, and within the short hundred-meter distance from exiting the station to here, he had been pickpocketed by a local thief.

Then, the thief found his pockets and face as clean as each other, so he casually put his driver's license back into his pants pocket.

Laughing to death; the entire theft process didn't trigger any of his awareness.

But then again, this served as a reminder. A skilled thief might steal money from a wallet, a watch from a wrist, or a phone from a pocket, but obviously, he couldn't steal money from a penniless person.

As long as he kept himself penniless, he would be invincible.

If he encountered someone robbing him, maybe after seeing his pockets, the robber would out of sympathy take out a few dollars to buy him something to eat.

(End of Chapter)