Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The arrival of the police brought Li Du some trouble. However, he did not regret using
his taser gun. After Princeps was taken away, it was peaceful around Li Du and he felt
more at ease.
As they did not manage to find the taser gun and because it was not a serious issue,
the policemen only gave Li Du a warning before they left, telling him not to make trouble
by the border.
They were now almost exactly at the border. A few hundred meters away was a long
and high iron fence. That was the infamous ‘US-Mexico Iron Wall’. It was known as
North America’s version of the Berlin Wall.
That iron fence was unlike those at sports fields or around houses. The fence was
fundamentally a row of straight, vertical steel columns. The end of the fence could not
be distinguished as the row went down too far to be seen.
Looking at the steel fence, Li Du sighed. “It is just like a huge harp, but it does not play
beautiful music.”
Hans said, “Just like a harp? The way I see it, it looks like a steel cage. It feels like it is
keeping things like Godzilla or dinosaurs on the other side, and we are in the Jurassic
world, right?”
Godzilla said, “I have indeed been detained there.”
Hans started to laugh. “Ha, I’m not talking about you.”
Godzilla shrugged. The other side of the steel fence was where he came from.
He walked towards the fence. On the opposite side, there was a desert, yellow sand
covering the land in front. A sense of melancholy was in the air.
A piece of wood was attached to the fence not far from them. With some difficulty, one
could make out the words, ‘The US-Mexico border, the United States of America.’
Li Du thought that the fence looked like there was no end to it. It was the strangest
border in the world and looked very rigid.
Moreover, could this fence stop people from sneaking over? Anyway, after Li Du saw it,
he had an impulse to try and go over to the other side.
Seeing that Li Du was inspecting the steel fence, Hans asked, “Do you want to take a
look on the other side? You haven’t been to Mexico, right?”
Li Du shook his head. “Never been there, but I have no interest in breaking the law.”
Hans started to smile. “There’s no need to sneak over, we can go to the border custom.
You just have to produce your visa and you can stay in Mexico for some time.”
Li Du was surprised. “That can be done? I have no green card.”
Hans said, “You can go through with a visa. If you have a green card or local driver’s
license, or an insurance card, you can go through even more easily.”
Not even a student visa was required. One could visit both America and Mexico with
just a tourist visa.
However, the more important task at hand was for them was to check out the items in
the warehouse. The border warehouse was huge and took up dozen of hectares. There
were many houses within that territory, large and small, and they were all warehouses.
Compared to the business warehouse companies, the management at the smuggler
warehouse was much stricter. There were border inspectors patrolling with guns in their
hands.
When Li Du and his group came near the warehouse, they received warnings from the
police. “Do not come near, this is not a tourist site, get further away!”
Hans bore no fear against the police. Raising both his hands, he said, “We are not
planning to get in. We are just walking around this area. Can’t we do that? And also,
how can you treat taxpayers this way?”
The policeman stared at him coldly but did not say more. He did not stop them from
going closer to the warehouse either.
Hans shrugged and said, “I don’t think we can get in. Buddy, let’s call it a day and go
have a meal in Mexico.”
Li Du said, “If we can’t get in, then let’s just walk around the outside. Just now Princeps
and his people must have also been loitering outside.”
“Up to you,” Hans walked back to the car by himself.
The warehouse occupied a large area. Li Du released the little bug for a look inside.
There were dozens, perhaps hundreds of warehouses inside the enclosure.
A few electric trucks were parked inside the guarded area and the warehouses were all
labeled with numbers. Li Du urged the little bug to get closer for a look.
The first warehouse he saw was not the first one on the auction list. The warehouse
nearest to him was warehouse number 65.
The little bug flew in and nothing caught its eye. However, there were some brownish-
yellow wooden blocks that had been wrapped in cloth and placed together.
After some thinking, Li Du decided that those were no regular wooden blocks.
Otherwise, they would not have been wrapped up so neatly.
Hence, he used Time Travelling to learn more about these blocks.
Starting from that warehouse, Li Du speedily checked out the insides of the other
warehouses and noted down the ones that he thought might be worth acquiring.
He checked out the warehouses from noon until sunset and managed to cover a total of
fifty-five warehouses. However, there were still more than a hundred that he had yet to
see.
It would be a big-scaled event where almost all the warehouses inside would be up for
auction.
It was just like the custom and border inspection bureau. Once they decided to hold an
auction, it would definitely be a big one.
Li Du could not go on checking out more warehouse any longer. The little bug had
expended too much energy. He was now hungry and exhausted and needed a lot of
rest.
The rest of the warehouses would have to wait until tomorrow or the day after. Since the
auction would take place for over four to five days, at least he would have the time to
browse through them slowly.
Hence, although he did not manage to check out all of the warehouses, he did not
regret it. He was not sorry he had not come to Nogales earlier. He had spent the past
few days with Sophie, and compared to that, even the most valuable warehouse could
not measure up.
Walking wearily back to the car, Li Du gulped down two cups of hot chocolate.
“It’s cold, right?” Hans asked.
Li Du shook his head. “Not cold, but I’m tired.”
Hans could not understand. “You were just loitering there, why would you be this tired?”
Li Du pushed him and said, “Go out there and try yourself. Then you would know how
tiresome it is. Besides, I still have to expend my secret skills to check out the value of
those warehouses.”
Hans smiled as he started the car and they left the warehouse area.
Instead of returning to the hotel, they drove towards the border inspection bureau.
There was a Mexican town by the side, with many delicacies they could try.
Hans said, “I will treat you to the most authentic Mexican fare.”
When they arrived at the customs, they were informed that the highway was temporarily
closed. A bunch of volunteers in uniforms were busying around and Li Du heard
someone ask, “Have you found it?”
“Yes, found it, but it’s too late,” an old volunteer lady said solemnly.
“What’s up?” Li Du asked.
There was someone speaking in Spanish. After listening for some time, Godzilla said,
“A pair of siblings wanted to sneak into America from Mexico. They wanted to go
through the wall but were spotted. To avoid being caught, they ran towards the desert.”
“The volunteers have been trying to locate them, not because they wanted to capture
them, but because they knew the danger of the desert. Now they have been found.”
“Are they okay?” Li Du asked.
Godzilla shook his head. “They were found four days after they ran into the desert. They
found only the corpses. The elder sister was fourteen and her brother was six years
old.”
“Shit!” Hans scolded solemnly.
Such unexpected incidents made Li Du’s heart heavy. That was just life. Some people
at the bottom had to put in their best efforts to survive, and hope for good luck.
