Early in the morning, Hunter slowly opened his eyes.
As his consciousness returned, his heightened five senses rapidly came online. His slightly groggy brain quickly recalled the wild events of the previous night.
He remembered returning to the Toretto house around nine o'clock, four approved bail applications in hand.
The sexy, captivating mixed-race beauty had been so overwhelmed with relief and excitement upon seeing her long-lost lover return with good news that she had exploded with surprising passion.
The result? She was still sound asleep. It seemed she was genuinely exhausted.
Hunter's biological clock had already adjusted; he slept five or six hours a day at most.
Seeing the light outside the window, he checked the time. It was just past six.
Although it felt early, Hunter decided to get up.
Without disturbing the sleeping Mia, he quietly slipped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He had been too tired to shower last night, and waking up sticky was never comfortable.
Los Angeles in June was already heating up. Being a coastal city, the constant sea breeze and humidity made it more bearable than inland cities at the same latitude, but the breath of summer was undeniable.
Hunter took a refreshing cold shower, feeling the chill invigorate his entire body.
In his past life, he only enjoyed hot baths in winter. But now, whenever the weather was warm, he preferred cold showers. He let the icy water cascade over him, washing away the fatigue.
As he scrubbed, Hunter reviewed his gains from the past few days.
"Saving Dom this time should thaw the ice significantly," he mused.
"Except for Vince and maybe a few others, the rest of the crew shouldn't be hostile toward me anymore."
"However, since I personally handled the lawyer and the bail, the FBI will likely take notice of me soon. I need to lay low for a while."
"When I pick Dom up this afternoon, I need to remind them to seriously consider leaving town."
"At the very least, they can't pull any jobs for the foreseeable future."
After showering, Hunter retrieved a clean towel from his Personal Inventory and dried off. He then pulled out a fresh set of clothes.
As his Inventory space expanded, Hunter had developed a habit of stuffing it with supplies.
Now, his storage was filled with everything from changes of clothes and toiletries to tools, firearms, canned food, fresh ingredients, and spices. It was a mobile survival warehouse.
The only reason he hadn't stockpiled even more was his lack of funds.
Having lived through a three-year pandemic in his past life, Hunter—like many Chinese people—had become a hoarder of essentials and medicine. It was practically instinctual.
Plus, time stasis meant nothing in his Inventory would ever spoil.
The only thing holding back his hoarding instinct was his empty wallet.
Dressed and refreshed, Hunter went to the kitchen.
He took out some ingredients and seasonings from his Inventory and whipped up a simple rice bowl for breakfast.
While waiting for Mia to wake up, Hunter pulled a book on computer programming from his Inventory and began to read earnestly.
This was a triple threat: it leveled up his [Reading], [Computer Science], and [Foreign Language]skills simultaneously.
It was strange, really.
In his past life, Hunter wasn't stupid—he was actually quite sharp. When a boss targeted him unfairly, Hunter had slashed all four of the guy's tires without getting caught, despite the surveillance cameras. But he had hated studying. He barely scraped by with a vocational degree, graduated, and suffered through low wages and hard labor.
Even after transmigrating, he still didn't technically love studying.
But the moment he thought about his cheat—the Proficiency System—everything changed. Seeing those skill bars fill up, knowing that leveling them enhanced his physical stats and expanded his Inventory... it was addictive.
The guy who used to hate books now found himself possessing endless patience for grinding XP.
Many of the skills he triggered were highly technical and incredibly boring to level up. They required serious study and time investment.
Yet, Hunter enjoyed it tirelessly.
He flipped through the pages, quickly immersing himself in the world of code.
However, what Hunter didn't know was that his actions had consequences.
Because he had preempted Charlie Croker and robbed Steve first, the Butterfly Effect was beginning to manifest.
While Hunter was studying peacefully at the Toretto house, over a hundred kilometers away, Stella Bridger was going about her morning routine.
She washed up, ate breakfast, changed her clothes, and grabbed her purse, preparing to meet Charlie.
Charlie had been investigating Steve for some time. They were planning a test run to infiltrate Steve's villa soon.
To facilitate this, Handsome Rob, the team's driver and resident charmer, had used his skills to seduce a female employee of a cable TV company. He had not only slept with her but also swiped her ID badge.
The plan was for Stella to disguise herself as a cable technician. They would engineer a small glitch in Steve's service, allowing Stella to enter his home legitimately and scope out the interior.
Today was the day the operation was supposed to begin.
But Stella didn't know that the moment she walked out of her apartment and took out her car keys...
She was already being watched.
Several burly men in suits were waiting.
Seeing her approach her car, they exchanged a glance.
Instantly, a black sedan accelerated, screeching to a halt right in front of her, blocking her path.
"Hey! You..."
Stella was startled. Before she could shout, the car doors flew open and the men surrounded her.
She opened her mouth to scream, but stopped when one of the men pulled a gun from his jacket and aimed it at her stomach.
"Miss Bridger," the man said coldly. "Our boss would like a word."
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