Two days later, Los Angeles Union Station.
Hunter walked out of the train station with Teri.
"Is this Los Angeles?"
Teri followed behind him, limping slowly, her eyes fixed on him with intense affection.
"Yeah."
Hunter rubbed his lower back, grimacing slightly. His mind, however, was focused on getting Teri settled so he could go upgrade his skills and boost his stats.
Two days ago, after a brief stop in Springfield...
They had bought long-distance train tickets straight to Los Angeles, preparing to cross the United States.
Anyone who has taken a train in the US knows the drill: delays, slow speeds, frequent accidents... a laundry list of problems.
Since the privatization of the rail system and the dominance of the airline industry, maintenance had slipped year by year with few upgrades.
Freight rail was decent, but passenger rail? It was hard to describe.
Hunter, for one, didn't plan on taking it a second time.
However, the reason he was rubbing his back right now had little to do with the train's suspension.
Since Teri had no ID to prove her identity, and to avoid exposure...
Hunter had to buy train tickets to get her to LA.
The trip from Springfield to Los Angeles spanned almost the entire continent.
So, he had purchased a sleeper cabin, which was reasonably comfortable.
The cabin wasn't big; it only had one bed.
And on a train, there was almost nothing to do.
Coincidentally, the passengers in the adjacent cabins were also... "busy."
The result was predictable.
During the two-day journey, aside from visiting the dining car for meals...
Hunter and Teri spent almost the entire time in the cabin.
Hunter had stored a few boxes of "raincoats" (condoms) in his Personal Inventory previously.
Over the last two days, he had used up almost all of them.
There's a saying: "There are only exhausted oxen, no plowed-out fields."
Hunter used to be skeptical of that phrase.
Now, he believed it.
At first, Teri clearly couldn't keep up with him.
But after a continuous marathon over several days, even his physical constitution—twice that of a normal man—started to feel the strain.
Though, to be fair, Teri didn't look like she had an easy time of it either.
"We're in LA. Since you haven't decided where to go yet..."
"I'll rent a place for you first. Rest for a while."
"Later, I'll arrange a surgery to remove the tracker implanted in you."
Hunter hadn't fully decided how to handle Teri long-term.
He had saved her.
But after saving her, he realized she was also a bit of a burden.
Teri had no professional skills. She mentioned wanting to be a singer.
She hadn't received professional training, but she was young, so there was room for growth.
However, art schools in the US were notoriously expensive.
Without any skills, Teri definitely couldn't afford the tuition on her own.
Moreover, Hunter worried that if she actually became famous, it would bring trouble.
Even if he wiped out the Boston mob...
There were plenty of perverted tycoons and politicians who might target her, and their methods could be even nastier and harder to deal with.
For the moment, Hunter was stuck on what to do with her.
Teri, however, wasn't thinking that far ahead. She had finally escaped Moscow Nights and Boston.
Having escaped that hellhole, her heart was filled with joy.
Los Angeles was effectively Hunter's base of operations in this parallel world.
He had spent most of the last three months here.
So, he was quite familiar with the neighborhoods and streets.
He had considered her housing situation on the train and asked for her opinion.
In the end, Hunter rented a small, 40-square-meter apartment for Teri in Chinatown.
The layout was similar to his own building, but the environment here was nice and much safer.
Plus, it was only a ten-minute bike ride from his own apartment.
Since Teri had no money, Hunter paid three months' rent upfront. He needed time to figure out a long-term plan.
Once he had a plan, he would consider the next steps.
Incidentally, Hunter planned to ask Lyle for help.
Lyle was a top-tier hacker capable of breaching federal agency intranets.
Hunter remembered Teri mentioning vague memories of her family. She recalled her father being a police officer.
And a younger sister a few years her junior.
Unfortunately, it had been too long, and she was too young when she was taken.
She couldn't remember which city they lived in, or even her parents' and sister's names.
But, adopting the mindset of "seeing the job through to the end"...
Hunter decided to help her one more time.
He wanted Lyle to hack into the national police database to search for missing person reports that matched Teri's description.
There was a chance Hunter could help Teri find her parents.
He spent a day getting Teri settled.
He paid out of pocket to buy her necessary appliances, furniture, clothes, and cosmetics.
He even stuffed her fridge with groceries.
Finally, he took out $3,000 in cash for her spending money.
"Alright, Teri."
"You stay here for now."
"I live nearby, but I have some things to handle in the coming days."
"I might not be able to visit you for a few days."
"For safety's sake, it's best if you don't go out."
"The fridge has enough food for a week. If you can cook, make something yourself."
"If not, order delivery for a few days."
"And remember: cut down on the sweets and greasy food."
Having finally settled Teri, Hunter prepared to leave.
He hadn't lied to her; he had a lot to do.
He planned to visit Dom Toretto.
And see Mia. Strictly speaking, that mixed-race beauty was his official girlfriend.
After that, he needed to visit Slater's Locksmith Company (Likely a reference to Stella Bridger's shop) to see the beautiful master safecracker with whom he'd had a brief fling.
With the $30 million in assets acquired from Steve's two safes...
And the $600,000 earned from smuggling cargo to Boston for Dom...
Hunter now had enough money to splurge on upgrading his skills.
In the coming days, he expected his strength to skyrocket.
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