Taking the Initiative
After seeing off the wildly enthusiastic neighbor's wife, who had come over again with incredibly good intentions to offer him some intense late-night warmth, Arthur Sterling lay lazily on his messy bed.
He stared up at the peeling paint on the ceiling, listening to the faint hum of the city traffic drifting through the open window.
Over the past week or so, his daily life had been surprisingly dull and simple, falling into a quiet, undisturbed rhythm of relentless training.
Even though everything was currently going exactly his way, Arthur inevitably felt a bit bored and restless after living like this for too long.
"On Charlie Croker's side, it seems they haven't fully realized exactly how difficult and paranoid Steve really is yet," Arthur muttered quietly to himself, crossing his muscular arms behind his head.
"With Charlie's inherently calm, meticulous personality, I am afraid the complex preparation for the heist alone will take quite some time."
"I showed a highly decent, undeniable ability to modify heavy combat cars before."
"If he desperately needs more vehicular help later for the crew, he should definitely contact me again."
Arthur shifted his weight on the mattress, his thoughts drifting toward the beautiful blonde locksmith he had been trying to track down. "As for Stella Bridger's high-end locksmith company, I genuinely cannot find its exact location for the time being!"
"Her security company should undeniably have a highly sophisticated level of professionalism."
"The primary clients are probably the Los Angeles Police Department, or even elite California state agencies and federal banks."
"So that specific side of the plan can be safely put on hold for now."
His sharp mind then smoothly transitioned to the silent, deadly neighbor living just down the hall. "I still haven't seen Léon actively taking contracts yet, so the bloody hitman's plot from Léon: The Professional should still be quite some time away from officially starting."
"Next, it seems I absolutely need to take the firm initiative and violently resolve the lingering issues on Dom's side first."
It had been well over a full week since Arthur had successfully warned Dom that the FBI was actively keeping a close eye on his street racing crew.
He had also long ago told Mia Toretto his exact, secure current address via encrypted email.
But over the past long week, the beautiful Mia hadn't taken the brave initiative to call Arthur even a single time.
Let alone coming all the way over here to see him in person, or even staying the night to rekindle their passionate romance.
Arthur genuinely couldn't be entirely sure of the tense, paranoid situation currently unfolding on Dom's side of the city; he had simply been far too busy relentlessly upgrading his physical skills for the past few days to actively spy on them.
Seeing that things over on Dom's turf weren't proceeding exactly according to his initial, manipulative plan.
Arthur deeply felt it was absolutely necessary for him to take the aggressive initiative and force the issue.
Brian O'Conner, who had already gone deep undercover near Dom and was currently waiting for a golden opportunity to get close to the elusive crew.
Should also finally fulfill his unintended duty as a convenient stepping stone for Arthur.
As for any possible, aggressive investigation or violent retaliation from the FBI afterward, Arthur genuinely wasn't worried about federal heat at all.
Just looking at his rapidly rising, supernatural attributes lately was more than enough to completely put his racing mind at ease.
[Host: Arthur Sterling.]
[Lifespan: 18/72.]
[Intelligence: 20.]
[Strength: 17.]
[Agility: 17.]
[Constitution: 17.]
[Endurance: 17.]
[Unallocated Attribute Points: 0.]
[Current Skill List] -
[Driving] LV4 (762/10000): Should you consider driving a tank?
[Lockpicking] LV2 (72/500): You can now pick locks with a steel wire.
[Culinary Skill] LV3 (43/2000): Master the major global cuisines; you won't have to worry about going hungry anywhere in the world.
[Reading] LV3 (17/2000): Is knowledge the ladder of progress now?
[Repair] LV4 (2275/10000): Most things can be fixed by you.
[Swimming] LV2 (430/500): You are a free fish.
[Running] LV2 (229/500): Life doesn't stop, movement doesn't stop.
[Shooting] LV3 (871/2000): Under the AK, all beings are equal.
[Card Skill] LV2 (114/500): Maybe it's time to try computer matches.
[Drawing] LV2 (53/500): You can already set up a stall on the roadside to help people draw sketches.
[Intelligence Gathering] LV2 (112/500): The more you know, the greater the chance of success.
[Mechanical Engineering] LV2 (13/500): Complexity and variability are the charms of machinery.
[Mathematics] LV2 (229/500): The end of the universe is mathematics.
[Disguise] LV2 (411/500): You can make yourself look not so much like yourself.
[Foreign Language] LV2 (417/500): Mastering more languages, at least you don't have to worry.
[Reproduction] LV3 (11/2000): Enjoy life, nurture life.
[Boxing] LV2 (417/500): Fists defend peace!
[Computing] LV2 (27/500): Computers aren't just for playing Spider Solitaire and Minesweeper, are they?
[Electrician] LV2 (13/500): No more spending money when the home circuits have problems.
[Carpentry] LV1 (2/200): Look at this stool; isn't it better looking than the last one?
[Climbing] LV0 (44/100): Want to be like a spider? Work hard!
Lately, through intense, dedicated effort across the city, Arthur had successfully triggered many brand-new, highly practical skills in rapid succession.
Some of the older, foundational skills he had triggered earlier had also smoothly leveled up again during this productive downtime.
So, even though Arthur didn't seem to have done much heavy lifting or engaged in any bloody combat during this quiet period.
In absolute reality, he had gained a staggering sixteen more free attribute points than he had a mere week ago.
Similarly, these highly precious sixteen free attribute points.
Were all meticulously and evenly added to the five major physical and mental attributes by Arthur's calculating hand.
Now, not only had his various physical and cognitive attributes greatly, supernaturally surpassed those of ordinary adult men.
But his invisible dimensional private space had also massively increased to a sprawling fifty-four cubic meters as a direct, rewarding result.
Moreover, Arthur's baseline combat strength and survival capabilities would only continue to grow exponentially as he organically triggered more skills and ruthlessly leveled them up.
So right now, he genuinely didn't really care about being quietly watched or investigated by the FBI anymore.
As long as he could successfully get his calloused hands on that massive, glittering batch of gold from The Italian Job that Charlie Croker was currently investigating.
Arthur absolutely wouldn't have to worry about cold hard money for a very, very long time to come.
By then, with his financial freedom totally secured, he would have infinitely more free time, boundless energy, and unlimited money to properly, systematically enhance his raw strength.
However, there was still absolutely no concrete news from Charlie's side of the city for the time being.
So, while patiently waiting for the massive heist plot to unfold.
Arthur firmly decided to completely resolve the lingering, tense matter with Dom and his crew first.
He genuinely didn't care about Dom's criminal life or his ultimate death on the asphalt, but he absolutely had to ensure Mia's personal safety in the upcoming crossfire.
The very next day, the bright California sun streaming through his blinds, after waking up and eating a heavy breakfast.
Arthur quickly drove his roaring, perfectly modified motorcycle straight to the massive parts store he had visited before.
He boldly walked the wide aisles and purchased several more heavy-duty repair tools, meticulously making the expensive collection of steel tools in his private space more and more complete.
By the way, Arthur also casually looked around the busy shop floor, his sharp eyes scanning the employees, but to his absolute surprise, he didn't see the undercover Brian O'Conner anywhere.
He politely asked a busy retail clerk on duty that day a few casual, probing questions about the blonde newcomer.
Only then did he finally realize he had come at an incredibly inconvenient time, because today miraculously happened to be Brian's scheduled day off from his retail cover.
So today, the federal agent simply didn't come into work at all.
But even though he completely missed seeing Brian in person, firmly confirming that the undercover agent was indeed still actively working here was more than enough tactical intel.
So, after quickly leaving the bustling parts store with the newly purchased, heavy steel tools.
Arthur found a quiet, secluded alleyway completely devoid of surveillance cameras and smoothly stuffed all the newly purchased tools directly into the void of his private space.
After doing this seamless maneuver, he immediately kick-started the heavy motorcycle and headed directly toward Dom's sprawling neighborhood residence!
When he had safely dropped Mia off last time after their passionate night together, Arthur had already perfectly memorized the exact layout and location of Dom's house.
He wasn't entirely sure if the handsome Brian was currently sitting inside Mia's family coffee shop, desperately looking for an organic chance to flirt with her and get close to Dom's inner circle.
Arriving silently near Dom's weathered, two-story house, Arthur found a relatively hidden, heavily shadowed spot beneath a large oak tree and turned off the rumbling engine.
Arriving silently near Dom's weathered, two-story house, Arthur found a relatively hidden, heavily shadowed spot beneath a large oak tree and turned off the rumbling engine.
He leaned back against the brick wall of an adjacent building and began to wait patiently, his enhanced senses sweeping the quiet suburban street.
Soon, the bright afternoon sun slowly faded, and it gradually became completely dark across the sprawling city.