Even as he wore the national jersey, Arjun's mind wandered beyond cricket.
Guntur was not just home. It was a training ground for patterns, systems, and influence. He had begun to catalog the town's informal economy:
Routes taken by trucks delivering goods
Timing of shipments, high-demand cycles
Influence of key vendors, local politicians, and logistics hubs
He had realized something simple yet profound: if you could predict human behavior and control systems, you could control outcomes on a scale far beyond cricket.
One evening, after training, Arjun accompanied his father to the Guntur wholesale market. He observed the vendors arguing over chili prices, cotton bales, and small-scale textile shipments. The conflicts were minor, almost comical, but the underlying patterns were invisible to most: who influenced whom, how small nudges could reroute entire supply chains, and which people acted predictably under pressure.
Back in his room, Arjun sketched diagrams—not cricket nets this time, but flowcharts, mental maps, and influence chains. He realized that the same principles he used on the pitch—timing, observation, anticipation—applied to markets, business, and human networks.
He began imagining:
How a local chain of shops could be quietly integrated into a larger distribution system
How small investments in communication infrastructure could multiply influence over regions
How early control of strategic points—ports, warehouses, media—could allow him to manipulate outcomes with minimal visibility
The seed of an empire had begun to grow. Cricket was training him for discipline, patience, and strategy. Business was training him for leverage, timing, and influence.
And in Guntur, in his quiet room, Arjun Verma—the Devil—began to see the blueprint for a life that would combine sports, finance, and unseen power.
It was still years away, of course. But the foundations were already laid. Every match, every observation, every small interaction in cricket and life added to a growing pattern he could already manipulate in his mind.
The Devil had been named. The empire had begun. And Guntur, quiet and underestimated, was the perfect den from which to start.