Once the deal was struck, Charlie handed Hunter a warehouse key.
Then he left with the parts list in hand.
Hunter stayed behind, giving the warehouse a careful once-over.
Certain there were no cameras, he pulled a toolkit from his private space.
Doing the whole rebuild solo by Charlie's deadline wouldn't be easy.
He had to finish the job in one day.
Of course, he'd offered the extra five-thousand-us dollar one-day rush not just for the money.
Back in the fast-food joint, the instant Hunter saw the middle-aged white man he'd felt a jolt of recognition.
When the man said his name was Charlie, the familiarity hit even harder.
A movie buff, Hunter's biggest pastime in his previous life had been catching a film after work and before bed.
That habit had let him realize, the moment he woke here, that he'd landed in the world of fast & furious.
Probing Charlie earlier had given him enough hints to pin down the man's likely identity.
"There's a solid chance this Charlie is Charlie Clock, the gold-heist mastermind from The Italian Job."
"If it really is him, I'd better figure out how to join the crew and cash in on the action."
The Italian Job's plot is straightforward: Charlie is a legendary thief.
At the start he leads his team into Venice, Italy.
Using slick skills and a flawless plan, they slip inside a Mafia safe house.
In the end they walk out with exactly one ton of gold bricks worth thirty-five million us dollar.
After the heist the crew celebrate and prepare to leave.
They'll fence the gold and split the fortune.
But one member—Steve—gets greedy and decides to keep it all.
While everyone's toasting success, Steve and his men ambush them and steal the bullion.
He even rams their van into a lake.
And personally guns down John, Charlie's veteran partner and close friend.
John is a master lock-picker; no safe is too tough for him.
Years earlier he'd been caught and did a long stretch in prison.
After release he and Charlie worked together many times.
Just as John planned to go straight, Charlie asked for one last job.
John agreed, helping to plan the Venice score.
Three months of intel work and meticulous planning followed.
Yet the moment they succeed, John is murdered by the traitor Steve.
Haunted by guilt, Charlie spends a full year hunting for Steve.
At last he learns Steve is living in Los Angeles under the alias 'Frazelli'.
Once Steve's whereabouts were confirmed, Charlie would definitely take revenge. He would avenge his old friend John and reclaim the full ton of gold from him.
Hunter quickly replayed the plot of *The Italian Job* in his mind.
Over the past while he had already discovered the benefits of raised intelligence.
As long as Hunter wished, he could instantly recall movies he'd watched in his previous life—or even scraps of news and knowledge he'd glanced at.
That was why the moment he met Charlie, Hunter had roughly pinned down the man's identity as the gold-heist legend 'Charlie Clock'—all from a name and a few hints about a customized car.
And now Charlie had shown up in Los Angeles.
He was already contacting people to modify vehicles for him.
Which meant Charlie had located the traitor Steve and was preparing his revenge.
Hunter didn't care about the grudges between Charlie and Steve.
What truly intrigued him were the gold bricks—an entire ton of them—in Steve's hands.
Although more than a year had passed since the original start of *The Italian Job* storyline, Steve must have sold some gold to fund his current millionaire lifestyle.
Still, it was certain he held plenty of bullion left.
After all, while gold is easy to unload, off-loading large amounts in peacetime—privately, and with looted, black-market bars—was anything but simple.
In the film, the haul Charlie ultimately snatched back was worth nearly twenty-eight million us dollars.
If Hunter could claim that fortune, he had no doubt every skill that cost money to level up would skyrocket.
And with them, his attributes and the size of his private space would surge.
Hard not to be tempted.
Besides the gold, Hunter was also interested in Stella Bridger, the heroine of *The Italian Job*.
Setting aside that she was a stunning blonde, Stella was the top lock-picking expert in Los Angeles—maybe the whole US.
Inheriting her father John Bridger's genes, Stella possessed uncanny talent and instinct for cracking locks.
Even vaults designed by the world's leading security firms she could open in minutes.
For these two reasons alone Hunter wanted to meet her.
He meant to apprentice himself to her and rapidly raise his own Lockpicking Skill.
At the same time, he wouldn't mind some deeper interaction with the blonde beauty—ideally of the soul-to-soul variety.
Therefore Hunter deliberately chatted up Charlie, offering to finish modifying the man's Dodge Ram 3500 van within a day for an extra five grand.
He needed Charlie to see his mechanical skills so he could join the crew.
After all, Steve was sly and slippery; in the plot Charlie's first schemes were nearly all seen through.
Later they would need more customized vehicles.
Only by proving his ability could Hunter secure an invitation—then find a chance to approach Stella… and maybe even steal the gold himself.
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