Chapter 114- repaying the kindness
Early morning. Outside, the noise of the day began to rise.
Hunter's biological clock woke him up after five hours of deep sleep.
"Mmm."
Waking from his slumber, Hunter slowly opened his eyes.
He was about to stretch, but immediately felt his arm trapped in softness.
His senses and memory returned as he fully woke.
The soft sensation against his arm and the scent of cheap body wash filled his nose.
Hunter instinctively looked to his side and saw a sleeping face.
He remembered then. He seemed to have collected an "extra reward" last night.
"Although your life has been rough and your background tragic..."
"You are a good girl."
Hunter gently tapped Teri's cheek.
Then, he carefully tried to extract his arm from her embrace.
Unfortunately, he underestimated Teri's vigilance.
The moment his arm moved...
Teri, who had been sleeping soundly, reacted as if sensing danger.
She woke up with a start. Her eyes opened blankly at first, then darted around warily.
During this, she unconsciously hugged the arm surrounded by her softness even tighter.
Only after realizing where she was, and seeing Hunter lying beside her...
Did Teri seem to remember. She quickly looked at Hunter.
After locking eyes with him for a moment, the memories of their madness last night flooded back.
Her face, now washed clean of makeup and revealing a hint of childish innocence, turned bright red.
"Morning."
Seeing that he had woken her, Hunter smiled and greeted her.
"Morning, Hunter."
Last night, she had learned his name in this life.
She looked at Hunter quietly, her eyes practically melting with affection.
Hunter moved his arm again, accidentally brushing against her softness.
Her face turned redder, and she subconsciously loosened her grip.
Hunter took the opportunity to free his arm. He reached out with his other hand.
From a blind spot Teri couldn't see, he pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his Personal Inventory.
"Mind if I smoke?"
Hunter shook the pack. The Camel logo was conspicuous.
Teri shook her head. "Can I have one?"
Hunter raised an eyebrow and looked at her face, which still held traces of youth.
He refused. "Forget it. Smoking isn't good for you."
Last night, Hunter learned that Teri had just passed her sixteenth birthday.
In the US, this was the age of consent in some states.
While relieved by that legal technicality, Hunter felt even more pity for the girl.
She had been snatched by bad men at seven or eight years old.
Sold to the Russian mob in Boston. Turned into a tool for making money.
Thinking of how this girl endured the world's most disgusting and cruel torture at an age when she should have been loved by her parents...
Even Hunter, who didn't hold strong concepts of good and evil...
Felt an uncontrollable urge to kill the Russian mob that had plagued Boston for years.
"Wait until my stats improve a bit more."
"Then I'll follow the example of Robert, the protagonist of The Equalizer."
"I'll storm Moscow Nights alone. I'll kill the mastermind, Slavi, and every single one of his gang members with my own hands."
In his heart, Hunter reaffirmed this decision.
As for attacking now? He was confident, but not blind.
Robert McCall, the black protagonist of The Equalizer, was a top-tier agent.
He had served in top US special forces and later in intelligence agencies for years.
His marksmanship, killing skills, and combat experience...
Were far beyond what Hunter—a transmigrator who was powerless just three months ago—could currently match.
But Hunter wasn't discouraged. He knew...
Surpassing Robert was only a matter of time and money.
Hunter now had over $30 million in assets. Even if he didn't spend it all on leveling skills...
Just spending one-tenth of it would likely raise many of his skills by three or four levels.
And it wouldn't take long.
So, avenging Teri and wiping out the Russian mob wouldn't be a distant dream.
"Three months..."
"No, two months."
"I will return to Boston in two months and completely dismantle that Russian mob."
He made a silent vow.
Hunter lit his cigarette, took a drag, and blew out a smoke ring.
He looked at Teri, who was leaning on his shoulder, and asked, "Teri, do you remember any relatives?"
"I can send you to them to start a new life."
Teri's body trembled violently.
After a long silence, she shook her head and whispered, "I don't know. Maybe I do, maybe they're gone..."
"I have nowhere to go now."
"After escaping... I suddenly realized I don't know where to go."
Teri didn't remember much before she was seven or eight.
She only vaguely remembered that she should be American. That her father might have been a cop. And that she had a younger sister.
The nightmare began the night intruders killed her mother and took her.
She described the auction, the man with the paddle, and being brought to Boston.
" Moscow Nights looks like a hotel, but it's really a nightclub," Teri said softly.
"The boss is named Slavi, a Russian immigrant."
"He has at least seven or eight hundred thugs under him. All Russian immigrants. I heard many are veterans from the Soviet era."
Hunter listened patiently, then fell silent.
He could tell Teri didn't want to leave him.
This was completely different from what he had seen in The Equalizer movie.
"Robert saved her, and she thanked him profusely before leaving for a strange city to chase her dreams."
"I saved her, and she seems to be sticking to me like glue."
"What is this?"
Hunter's mind inexplicably recalled a joke he had read on the internet in his past life.
When a hero saves a beauty:
If the hero is ugly, the beauty says: "Thank you, sir, for saving my life. I have no way to repay you, so I will work like an ox or horse in my next life to repay your kindness."
But if the hero is handsome, the beauty says: "Thank you, sir, for saving my life. I have no way to repay you, except to give my body to you in marriage!"
Hunter felt that the difference between Robert and himself... was exactly this.
Chapter 115- return to Los Angeles
Two days later, Los Angeles Union Station.
Hunter walked out of the train station with Teri.
"Is this Los Angeles?"
Teri followed behind him, limping slowly, her eyes fixed on him with intense affection.
"Yeah."
Hunter rubbed his lower back, grimacing slightly. His mind, however, was focused on getting Teri settled so he could go upgrade his skills and boost his stats.
Two days ago, after a brief stop in Springfield...
They had bought long-distance train tickets straight to Los Angeles, preparing to cross the United States.
Anyone who has taken a train in the US knows the drill: delays, slow speeds, frequent accidents... a laundry list of problems.
Since the privatization of the rail system and the dominance of the airline industry, maintenance had slipped year by year with few upgrades.
Freight rail was decent, but passenger rail? It was hard to describe.
Hunter, for one, didn't plan on taking it a second time.
However, the reason he was rubbing his back right now had little to do with the train's suspension.
Since Teri had no ID to prove her identity, and to avoid exposure...
Hunter had to buy train tickets to get her to LA.
The trip from Springfield to Los Angeles spanned almost the entire continent.
So, he had purchased a sleeper cabin, which was reasonably comfortable.
The cabin wasn't big; it only had one bed.
And on a train, there was almost nothing to do.
Coincidentally, the passengers in the adjacent cabins were also... "busy."
The result was predictable.
During the two-day journey, aside from visiting the dining car for meals...
Hunter and Teri spent almost the entire time in the cabin.
Hunter had stored a few boxes of "raincoats" (condoms) in his Personal Inventory previously.
Over the last two days, he had used up almost all of them.
There's a saying: "There are only exhausted oxen, no plowed-out fields."
Hunter used to be skeptical of that phrase.
Now, he believed it.
At first, Teri clearly couldn't keep up with him.
But after a continuous marathon over several days, even his physical constitution—twice that of a normal man—started to feel the strain.
Though, to be fair, Teri didn't look like she had an easy time of it either.
"We're in LA. Since you haven't decided where to go yet..."
"I'll rent a place for you first. Rest for a while."
"Later, I'll arrange a surgery to remove the tracker implanted in you."
Hunter hadn't fully decided how to handle Teri long-term.
He had saved her.
But after saving her, he realized she was also a bit of a burden.
Teri had no professional skills. She mentioned wanting to be a singer.
She hadn't received professional training, but she was young, so there was room for growth.
However, art schools in the US were notoriously expensive.
Without any skills, Teri definitely couldn't afford the tuition on her own.
Moreover, Hunter worried that if she actually became famous, it would bring trouble.
Even if he wiped out the Boston mob...
There were plenty of perverted tycoons and politicians who might target her, and their methods could be even nastier and harder to deal with.
For the moment, Hunter was stuck on what to do with her.
Teri, however, wasn't thinking that far ahead. She had finally escaped Moscow Nights and Boston.
Having escaped that hellhole, her heart was filled with joy.
Los Angeles was effectively Hunter's base of operations in this parallel world.
He had spent most of the last three months here.
So, he was quite familiar with the neighborhoods and streets.
He had considered her housing situation on the train and asked for her opinion.
In the end, Hunter rented a small, 40-square-meter apartment for Teri in Chinatown.
The layout was similar to his own building, but the environment here was nice and much safer.
Plus, it was only a ten-minute bike ride from his own apartment.
Since Teri had no money, Hunter paid three months' rent upfront. He needed time to figure out a long-term plan.
Once he had a plan, he would consider the next steps.
Incidentally, Hunter planned to ask Lyle for help.
Lyle was a top-tier hacker capable of breaching federal agency intranets.
Hunter remembered Teri mentioning vague memories of her family. She recalled her father being a police officer.
And a younger sister a few years her junior.
Unfortunately, it had been too long, and she was too young when she was taken.
She couldn't remember which city they lived in, or even her parents' and sister's names.
But, adopting the mindset of "seeing the job through to the end"...
Hunter decided to help her one more time.
He wanted Lyle to hack into the national police database to search for missing person reports that matched Teri's description.
There was a chance Hunter could help Teri find her parents.
He spent a day getting Teri settled.
He paid out of pocket to buy her necessary appliances, furniture, clothes, and cosmetics.
He even stuffed her fridge with groceries.
Finally, he took out $3,000 in cash for her spending money.
"Alright, Teri."
"You stay here for now."
"I live nearby, but I have some things to handle in the coming days."
"I might not be able to visit you for a few days."
"For safety's sake, it's best if you don't go out."
"The fridge has enough food for a week. If you can cook, make something yourself."
"If not, order delivery for a few days."
"And remember: cut down on the sweets and greasy food."
Having finally settled Teri, Hunter prepared to leave.
He hadn't lied to her; he had a lot to do.
He planned to visit Dom Toretto.
And see Mia. Strictly speaking, that mixed-race beauty was his official girlfriend.
After that, he needed to visit Slater's Locksmith Company (Likely a reference to Stella Bridger's shop) to see the beautiful master safecracker with whom he'd had a brief fling.
With the $30 million in assets acquired from Steve's two safes...
And the $600,000 earned from smuggling cargo to Boston for Dom...
Hunter now had enough money to splurge on upgrading his skills.
In the coming days, he expected his strength to skyrocket.
Chapter 116- surveillance camera
Having settled Teri, Hunter returned to the vicinity of his own rented apartment, only to sense something amiss.
His memory was now far superior to that of an average person. In that instant, he felt something was subtly off.
He pretended to stop, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
Hunter took one out, lit it slowly, and stood by the street, smoking leisurely.
His gaze seemed to wander casually around his surroundings.
Soon, Hunter's eyes paused slightly as they swept over a corner diagonally across from the apartment building.
There, a surveillance camera had been installed.
That camera hadn't been there before. He didn't know when it was put up.
Hunter was certain of this.
Ever since he discovered that his rented apartment was in the same building where Léon (from Léon: The Professional) and the little girl Mathilda lived...
He had been extremely cautious coming and going.
He had even scouted the area around the apartment early on.
He had planned multiple escape routes in case of danger.
In the future, Mathilda's father would greedily steal drugs from Stansfield—the corrupt DEA agent who confiscated drugs only to resell them.
Stansfield would then send his men to massacre the family.
This apartment building would become a major conflict zone.
Hunter believed in being prepared.
Especially that night when he went to rob Steve's villa...
He had run into Stansfield's men coming to Mathilda's apartment.
Hunter guessed they were delivering drugs.
The plot of Léon: The Professional should be kicking off in a little over a month.
It had been about twenty days since Hunter went to Steve's villa and stole the two safes.
By his calculation, the plot of Léon was about to begin.
After locking onto the camera, Hunter discreetly glanced at it a few more times.
Once he confirmed that its angle perfectly covered the entrance to his apartment building...
Hunter frowned almost imperceptibly.
"Did Stansfield have his men install that camera?"
He was sure there were no shops or businesses where the new camera was mounted.
And its field of view perfectly captured the apartment entrance.
He couldn't help but wonder if the corrupt cop Stansfield was behind it.
But thinking it probably wasn't targeted at him, Hunter stopped worrying about it.
Lost in thought, he finished his cigarette.
Hunter wasn't really addicted to smoking. Once finished, he stubbed it out and walked into the building.
He took the stairs up to his home on the sixth floor.
As he stepped out of the stairwell, he felt a familiar, cold gaze.
He knew it was Léon, the hitman living across the hall, peering through his peephole.
Accustomed to it, Hunter paid it no mind.
He took out his key and unlocked his door.
The moment he stepped inside, Hunter's expression turned grim.
"Someone has been in here?!"
The room looked much the same as when he left over ten days ago.
But with his five attributes at more than double the human average, Hunter possessed heightened smell, hearing, and observation skills.
His memory was also superhuman.
The instant he entered and turned on the lights, he scanned the room subconsciously.
In the small apartment, several details jumped out at him immediately.
There were subtle differences from when he left.
"The towel I threw on the sofa has shifted."
"There are wrinkles on the bed sheets that weren't there before."
"The cabinet is angled off by two degrees. The books on the TV have been moved slightly."
"Someone has been in my house!"
Hunter's heart sank, but he quickly controlled his expression.
He walked to the fridge first and opened it to inspect the contents.
There wasn't much inside—just a few drinks and some canned food.
Since he had his Personal Inventory to preserve fresh food perfectly, putting groceries in the fridge was unnecessary; it was basically a prop.
After a careful check, he confirmed the drinks and cans hadn't been tampered with.
But considering the intrusion, to be safe, Hunter quietly stored all the items into his Inventory.
He planned to dump them in a trash can later.
Then, he took identical items from his Inventory and replaced them in the fridge.
He grabbed a can of cola, opened it, and sipped it as he walked to the bathroom to get a broom.
Pretending to clean the house, he began a thorough sweep for bugs or hidden cameras.
He couldn't be blamed for being paranoid.
He knew exactly what he had done recently.
Illegally modifying cars and chopping/laundering stolen vehicles was minor stuff.
Secretly leaking the FBI's investigation into Dom Toretto, causing them to fail...
Smuggling millions of dollars worth of stolen electronics to Boston for Dom and fencing them... that was a serious crime.
If caught, US law would easily put him away for a few years.
And, of course...
The boldest thing he'd done in months was beating the master thief Charlie Croker to the punch.
Stealing over $30 million in gold bars and millions more in other assets from Steve.
That alone was enough to earn him twenty years in a US prison.
Although Hunter, as a transmigrator, didn't have strong concepts of good and evil...
That didn't mean he was willing to go to jail.
Whoever was targeting him, Hunter needed to identify them fast.
Then, either eliminate the person or eliminate the threat.
Hunter's good life was just beginning.
With a hint of unease and a surge of anger, he began to "clean" the apartment he hadn't visited in over ten days.
Chapter 117- speculation
The thorough deep cleaning of the apartment took Hunter nearly an hour.
However, the time wasn't wasted.
An hour later, Hunter went downstairs to throw away the bagged trash.
Upon returning to the apartment, his face remained calm and unchanged.
But inside, he was seething with rage.
"One camera, four bugs."
"I'm being watched. Who is it?"
During the hour-long cleanup, Hunter confirmed that his earlier suspicions weren't just paranoia.
His home had definitely been broken into within the last ten days.
And the intruder hadn't been there long.
Judging by the signs, it likely happened within the last two or three days.
While cleaning, he noticed the dust distribution on the floor and appliances. Some areas were thick with dust, while others were cleaner, revealing faint traces left by the intruder.
If Hunter guessed correctly, there was only one intruder, likely male.
He found two faint footprints in the dust—one under a cabinet and one under the fridge.
The footprint was about a size 44 (US size 10.5), significantly larger than Hunter's feet, and the tread pattern was different from any shoe Hunter owned.
Inside his home, an extremely inconspicuous camera had been installed, aimed at his living room.
There were also four listening devices: one in a kitchen cabinet, one under the fridge, one sewn into the sofa, and one taped under the bed slats in the bedroom.
The placement of these bugs was tricky—hidden, yet positioned in the best spots to gather intelligence within the apartment.
Whoever installed them was clearly a professional.
If Hunter's five attributes weren't more than double that of a normal human, and if he hadn't been searching so meticulously, he likely would never have found these hidden devices.
"Who could it be?"
After "cleaning" the house, Hunter sat down on the sofa—right on top of one of the bugs—and began to think seriously.
He had offended quite a few people in the past few months.
However, Hunter had always been cautious.
Although he had crossed several factions, the only ones who might suspect him were the FBI and the LAPD.
As for the Russian mob behind Moscow Nights in Boston... even if they knew what he looked like, they couldn't have found him this quickly.
When he went to Boston, he used fake identities for everything from plane tickets to hotel check-ins.
Even if the Russians suspected him, they couldn't have tracked him down here and installed surveillance so fast.
Besides, he didn't believe those Russians would use such "gentle" methods if they found him.
"So, the ones watching me must be the FBI or the LAPD."
"Planting cameras and bugs... that fits their modus operandi."
The reason the FBI and LAPD would target him undoubtedly had to do with Dom Toretto.
The only thing Hunter couldn't be sure of was Dom's current situation.
He realized he couldn't visit Dom for the time being. If he was being watched by the feds or the police, then Dom's crew was likely already fully exposed.
However, regarding the evidence the authorities wanted...
The shipment of stolen electronics Dom's crew had hijacked was already fenced by Hunter in Boston.
In the US, it was easy to convict the poor without much evidence.
But convicting the rich without solid proof was difficult.
Dom's crew wasn't short on money. So, without concrete evidence, even the FBI and LAPD would struggle to make charges stick.
Dom had been under FBI surveillance for a while.
And Hunter likely entered their radar when he posted bail for Dom's crew earlier.
Thinking about it this way, everything seemed to make sense.
But as his brain raced, another possibility suddenly struck him.
"I almost forgot!"
"There is one more possibility."
"Stella might have exposed me. Or maybe Charlie Croker and his crew suspect me!"
Hunter had been incredibly careful when stealing Steve's gold.
So careful that, for over ten days after the heist, Charlie and his team likely didn't even know someone had beaten them to it.
But later, driven by the desire to level up his [Lockpicking] skill—and lust for her body—he had saved Stella.
In doing so, he not only exposed himself but also let the beautiful safecracker know the truth about her situation.
During the ten days he spent with Stella, Hunter realized something.
Stella was indeed one of the world's top safecrackers, and she was smart.
But perhaps she spent too much time practicing locks and studying... she lacked street smarts.
After Hunter killed Steve and avenged her father...
When he faced the passionate Stella that night, he discovered she was still a "virgin" (inexperienced/pure).
Recall the plot of The Italian Job: Stella was easily manipulated by Charlie into joining his team.
Later, she was caught by Steve, exposing herself and Charlie's crew.
Hunter suddenly felt that after Stella returned...
If Charlie and his team found her and asked how she escaped Steve, they might have intentionally tricked the information out of her, inadvertently exposing Hunter.
Charlie had been stealing across the globe for decades.
He had only ever been outsmarted twice: once by his own man, Steve, and once by the transmigrator, Hunter.
Charlie was not only meticulous but brilliantly clever.
Then there was Handsome Rob from Charlie's team. That guy was an ace driver and pilot—cars, boats, helicopters, he could drive anything.
And Rob was a playboy, an expert at handling women.
With those two involved, Hunter wouldn't be surprised if Stella was tricked into revealing him.
So, after reviewing the suspects...
Hunter realized he had three potential targets monitoring him.
The most likely and dangerous was the FBI.
Next was Charlie Croker's crew.
Hunter didn't remove the cameras and bugs immediately, fearing he would alert the enemy.
But whoever was watching him, it wasn't good news.
He knew he had to identify the hidden observer quickly and eliminate the threat.
"Looks like I'll be busy for a while."
At this thought, Hunter felt an uncontrollable excitement rising in his heart.