The Italian Job, Arthur's Scheme
After Charlie Croker and Arthur Sterling finally reached a firm, binding agreement, the older man's sharp eyes lingered on the young mechanic for a brief moment.
Charlie quickly reached into his tailored jacket, pulled out a heavy brass key to the massive warehouse, and tossed it to Arthur.
Without another word, Charlie turned on his heel and walked out into the blinding California sun.
He left with the highly detailed, complex list of mechanical parts he desperately needed to purchase for the impossible build.
The heavy steel door slammed shut behind him, the echoing thud violently sealing Arthur alone inside the cavernous, dusty space.
The air inside was thick and stagnant, carrying the sharp, metallic tang of old engine oil, rusted iron, and forgotten industry.
Arthur did not immediately rush to touch the massive Dodge Ram 3500 van sitting in the center of the concrete floor.
Instead, he moved with the silent, predatory grace of a seasoned professional, carefully and meticulously inspecting every single dark corner of the warehouse.
He checked the high steel rafters, the dusty ventilation shafts, and the grimy electrical boxes.
Only after absolutely confirming there were no hidden surveillance cameras or listening devices did he finally relax his tense shoulders.
Standing completely alone in the shadows, he casually waved his hand, accessing his invisible dimensional private space.
A heavy, perfectly organized set of professional-grade pneumatic tools and steel wrenches instantly materialized in his grasp.
He dropped the heavy tool bags onto the concrete with a loud, satisfying clatter.
Even with his supernatural abilities, modifying this massive vehicle entirely alone, strictly according to Charlie's extreme, combat-ready requirements, was still an incredibly difficult, grueling task.
Arthur had confidently promised to finish the entire, impossible car modification within a single, backbreaking day.
Of course, the absolute only reason he had taken the bold initiative to aggressively suggest finishing it in twenty-four hours for an extra five thousand dollars...
...was absolutely not just to earn a quick, extra stack of cash from Charlie's deep pockets.
Earlier, sitting in the bright, plastic booth of that fast-food restaurant, when he first locked eyes with Charlie, Arthur's enhanced mind had flared with warning.
He felt a profound, undeniable sense that this middle-aged, charismatic white man looked incredibly, dangerously familiar.
When the man smoothly revealed his first name was Charlie, that nagging sense of familiarity violently crystallized into absolute certainty.
As a dedicated movie enthusiast, Arthur's absolute biggest, most relaxing hobby in his exhausting previous life was watching a few blockbuster movies after a grueling day at work.
It was precisely thanks to that deep, ingrained cinematic knowledge that he was able to instantly realize something world-shattering the moment he woke up in this universe.
He had realized early on that he had miraculously transmigrated straight into the high-octane, dangerous world of the Fast & Furious movie series!
But now, through his careful, calculated probing of Charlie, the scope of this reality had violently expanded.
Although Arthur had not completely, undeniably confirmed it yet, he had flawlessly narrowed down Charlie's true identity based on the specific, heavy modifications the man had demanded.
There is an incredibly high probability that this Charlie guy is none other than Charlie Croker, Arthur thought, his heart hammering a wild rhythm against his ribs.
The legendary, undisputed mastermind and gold thief from The Italian Job. Arthur leaned his muscular back against the cold steel of the van, a sharp, calculating smile slowly spreading across his handsome face.
If it really is him, then I absolutely need to plan my next moves flawlessly to see if I can seamlessly join their elite team.I need to extract the absolute maximum amount of wealth and benefits from this looming, explosive conflict. The overarching plot of The Italian Job was not overly complicated, but it was filled with lethal tension; Charlie Croker was a globally renowned master thief.
At the very start of the cinematic story, he successfully led his highly specialized team to the beautiful, winding waterways of Venice, Italy.
Their target was a heavily fortified, secret Mafia stronghold.
Using superb, unparalleled techniques, high-tech hacking, and precise, flawless planning, they managed to pull off the impossible.
They successfully managed to steal a massive, staggering haul from that secret Mafia base.
They took pure, glittering gold bricks worth over thirty-five million dollars at the time, weighing exactly one ton of dead, glorious weight.
Afterward, Charlie and his adrenaline-fueled team, still riding the massive high of their successful operation, celebrated briefly in the freezing Alps and prepared to leave the country.
They planned to quietly find an underworld channel to fence that massive ton of gold bricks, wash the money, and then split the unimaginable wealth among the crew.
However, they absolutely did not expect the devastating, bloody betrayal lurking within Charlie's own tight-knit team.
A ruthless, arrogant crew member named Steve had become violently greedy, secretly planning to execute them all and keep every single ounce of the gold for himself.
So, when the mission ended and everyone was happily preparing to celebrate their newfound wealth, the trap was violently sprung.
Steve aggressively led his own heavily armed mercenary crew to corner them on a snowy mountain pass, brutally stealing the gold.
He even ruthlessly rammed Charlie and the others' getaway vehicle straight off a cliff, sending it plunging into the freezing, icy depths of a glacial lake.
Worse still, Steve had personally, coldly shot and killed John Bridger.
John was an older, wise friend who had worked closely with Charlie for many loyal years and was incredibly close to him, acting almost like a surrogate father.
John was also an undisputed master thief in his own right, exceptionally skilled and globally respected for his supernatural [Lockpicking] abilities.
All sorts of precise, modern electronic vaults and ancient, complex mechanical safes could be quickly and flawlessly opened by his steady, calloused hands.
Years ago, John had tragically been caught for grand theft and spent many long, agonizing years rotting in a federal prison.
After finally getting out, he had successfully collaborated with Charlie many times on the black market.
When he was genuinely preparing to wash his hands of the criminal underworld forever, no longer daring to engage in the dangerous business of high-stakes theft, Charlie had approached him.
Charlie desperately asked his old mentor to help him successfully pull off one absolute last, glorious job.
John affectionately agreed and helped Charlie map out the flawless heist.
In the end, they spent over three grueling months carefully gathering intelligence, bribing guards, and formulating various, overlapping escape plans.
But ultimately, right after the impossible plan had gloriously succeeded, John died bleeding in the snow at the hands of the cowardly traitor, Steve.
Because of this bloody, preventable tragedy, Charlie was entirely consumed by a suffocating, crushing guilt.
He spent an entire, agonizing year utilizing every single underworld contact he had, relentlessly searching everywhere across the globe for Steve's hidden whereabouts.
Finally, his massive network paid off; he found out that the paranoid Steve was actively using the fake alias 'Frazelli' and had permanently settled in a heavily fortified mansion in Los Angeles.
Once Steve's exact whereabouts were solidly confirmed, Charlie would definitely, violently take his revenge.
He would ruthlessly avenge his murdered old friend John, and he would completely reclaim the full ton of stolen gold from his treacherous hands.
Arthur stood up, his mind snapping back to the dusty reality of the Los Angeles warehouse.
He quickly and flawlessly replayed the entire, complex plot of The Italian Job in his mind.
Over the past short while, he had already clearly, undeniably discovered the massive, terrifying benefits of his supernaturally raised Intelligence attribute.
As long as Arthur consciously wished it, he could instantly, perfectly recall every single detail of the movies he had casually watched in his previous life.
He could even recall tiny scraps of mundane news and dense mechanical knowledge he had merely glanced at years ago.
That was exactly why the absolute moment he had met Charlie, Arthur had roughly and accurately pinned down the man's identity as the gold-heist legend 'Charlie Croker'.
He had deduced it all flawlessly from just a simple first name and a few highly specific hints about a heavy, combat-ready customized car.
And now, the legendary Charlie had physically shown up right here in the sprawling underworld of Los Angeles.
He was already actively contacting shadow mechanics to heavily modify combat vehicles for his crew.
Which absolutely meant Charlie had successfully located the traitor Steve and was actively preparing his explosive, high-speed revenge.
Arthur, however, genuinely did not care at all about the personal, bloody grudges between Charlie and Steve.
What truly, deeply intrigued him were the glittering, heavy gold bricks—an entire, staggering ton of them—currently sitting in Steve's fortified safe.
Although more than a full year had passed since the original, bloody start of The Italian Job storyline, Steve must have definitely sold some of the gold to fund his current, lavish millionaire lifestyle.
Still, it was absolutely certain he held plenty of the heavy bullion left in his vault.
After all, while pure gold is relatively easy to melt and unload, secretly off-loading massive amounts in peacetime—privately, and with looted, highly recognizable black-market bars—was anything but a simple task.
In the cinematic film, the massive haul Charlie and his crew ultimately snatched back was still worth nearly twenty-eight million dollars on the open market.
If Arthur could somehow manage to ruthlessly claim that massive fortune for himself, he had absolutely no doubt about his future.
Every single powerful system skill that cost an exorbitant amount of money to rapidly level up would skyrocket instantly.
And with those rapid level-ups, his physical and mental attributes, along with the dimensional size of his invisible private space, would surge exponentially.
It was incredibly hard for a man armed with a proficiency system not to be completely, overwhelmingly tempted by such a massive prize.
Besides the glittering lure of the gold, Arthur was also deeply, profoundly interested in Stella Bridger, the fierce, brilliant heroine of The Italian Job.
Setting completely aside the undeniable fact that she was a stunning, breathtaking blonde beauty, Stella was the absolute top lock-picking expert currently operating in Los Angeles—and perhaps the entire United States.
Inheriting her murdered father John Bridger's flawless genetic talent, Stella possessed an uncanny, almost supernatural instinct and delicate touch for cracking the world's most complex locks.
Even massive, multi-ton steel vaults designed by the world's leading, state-of-the-art security firms could be opened by her sensitive fingertips in mere minutes.
For these two massive reasons alone, Arthur desperately wanted to meet her.
He fully meant to smoothly apprentice himself to her, using her vast, inherited knowledge to rapidly and flawlessly raise his own [Lockpicking] skill to the absolute maximum level.
At the exact same time, he certainly would not mind some much deeper, passionate interaction with the stunning blonde beauty—ideally of the deeply intimate, soul-to-soul variety.
Therefore, Arthur had deliberately and strategically chatted up Charlie in the diner.
He had boldly, arrogantly offered to completely finish modifying the man's heavy Dodge Ram 3500 van within a single, grueling day for an extra five grand.
He desperately needed Charlie to clearly witness his terrifying, impossible mechanical skills firsthand so he could smoothly join the elite crew.
After all, the traitor Steve was incredibly sly, paranoid, and slippery; in the cinematic plot, Charlie's very first infiltration schemes were nearly all violently seen through by Steve's heavy security.
Later on, as the heist inevitably escalated, they would desperately need far more customized, high-performance getaway vehicles to navigate the chaotic city streets.
Only by definitively, undeniably proving his supreme ability right now could Arthur securely secure a coveted invitation into their inner circle.
From there, he could effortlessly find the perfect chance to approach the beautiful Stella... and maybe, just maybe, execute his own flawless scheme to steal the massive mountain of gold for himself.
Arthur cracked his knuckles, the loud pops echoing in the empty warehouse, and turned his intense, burning gaze toward the massive Dodge Ram.
It was time to get to work.