[Strength up to 6]
[Stamina up to 7]
"Fucking cross-fit," Akashi groaned in pain.
In his shop, in front of him stood a line: two girls and two men, who happened to be his employees. He was paying them their salaries.
"Okay, Ryuk. You stole 200 Yuan. So, I'm taking that out of your salary. Next time, I'll arrest you," Akashi said to the man.
"But that's baseless. I didn't steal," he replied.
"I'm a sergeant. I used to catch people like you for breakfast. If you want, we'll go through the recipients and profit reports," Akashi argued.
"Sorry about that, boss," he made a cheeky smile before accepting the salary. "I won't steal from ya again."
Akashi sighed deeply.
He turned to the girls. "Anyone want a night job?"
"What kind of job?" one of them asked.
"Bartender. I got the stores next building, and I'm planning to do that," he replied.
Now that he was about to launder all of his money, he had considered becoming a serious entrepreneur.
"Hmm… how much is the payment?"
"1.5 times the minimum wage."
"Three times," one of the girls countered.
"Two times, take it or leave it," Akashi offered.
"I'll give it a try," one of them said.
"Me too… Me too…" the others chimed in.
Akashi sighed deeply when everyone left the coffee shop as he closed.
'Trying to find new employees. Fuck me,' he muttered to himself.
It had been almost three weeks since the Earth Kingdom envoys had been killed by him.
Although the case was big, carried heavy political weight, and got talked about by the media, Akashi was still off the radar of the Earth Queen.
That had made him feel a bit anxious. He feared that she hadn't gotten the book. He may have faith in his plans, but not in the delivery service.
But all he could do was have faith that the experience would come his way.
Anyway, the case was still open, and Akashi was the main investigator. But he had dismissed the case to someone else, despite his lieutenant begging him to take it, as Akashi was the famed best cop within the homicides department. But he had argued that he had a life, and he wouldn't waste time on a case that had thousands of suspects.
So, for the last three weeks, he had been working normally on other killers and doing his workouts, managing to save 3 points.
His arms were no longer skinny, and they had some tone to them. It now took him more effort to get exhausted. And with the higher stamina, a higher recovery rate followed. Akashi wasn't the only one who got happy with that, as the Police Chief seemed to be less stressed as well.
After Akashi finished faking the profit report, he grabbed a board.
With Tenzin not in the Republic City, he could just focus on his job while waiting for Korra.
Currently, he was tracing a serial killer, someone who was known to strike once every three years, targeting a bender in order: Water, Fire, and Earth.
The science of crime had yet to be recognized in this world. But for Akashi, spotting such a pattern was way easier than lifting his mug to drink the coffee. And so he did. He grabbed the mug of coffee while studying the patterns of a serial killer.
To him, hunting serial killers was something that he'd do even for free, for personal feelings. To Bob, he had a personal thing against them.
"The dates… moon days for waterbenders. Whenever there is a fire, the crime for a firebender. And whenever there is a building site, the target is an earthbender…. Unluckily, there's no hurricane." Akashi sighed deeply. "The next target is a waterbender, so let's wait for the moon. The killing method is a clean strike to the throat."
They also presented a challenge to be caught. Serial killers were smart, unethical, and empty of empathy. Their lack of emotion made most of their decisions rational… unless they were the crazy freaks type. But in this world, Akashi's detection methods weren't known to them, so he may have a very nice shot.
As he was musing, the radio next to him caught his attention with one particular news item.
"The Earth Kingdom has made a massive investment in the Sato company."
"The equalists movement is gaining momentum."
Two news items that rang the alarm in his head.
They had been distinct, but Akashi memorized both of them.
They may seem to be distinct, but they were very related.
The equalists movement began striking.
'Instead of fighting benders, they should be fighting bureaucrats.'
"And as for the Earth Kingdom making an investment in the Sato company, it's just another way to say that the Earth Queen had made a deal with them. And is using money to support them. With her funds, the company would have resources to make robots and weapons…
"Fuck this world, can make all of these weapons, yet no guns."
Akashi sighed, frustrated.
He ignored the serial killer for now.
'Amon is here. He may not care about me… or he may care. He'd definitely care about his little brother. Through him, he'd know that Tarrlok didn't kill the three, and they would suspect me. Amon, being the show-off, would try to get after me to take my bending away publicly when he gains more followers…
'Wonder if that would ever work? I have a system, regenerative HP, so any damage done to my body would be negated within 10 hours at best. Could increase that with a few points.
'But I'd still be alive in the worst-case scenario, since the Earth Queen wants me. That, or she wants to kill me since she read that book. Nah… she'd think that getting killed by an assassin is way too easy. If she wanted, she would have sent assassins directly to me. So, she would want me alive. But Tarrlok, still, would want me.
'As for Amon, he's a bloodbender, who can defeat me even if I make him shit. Tarrlok would want to kill me though, being the petty man he is.'
'I still have time, as the movement is still in its beginning and I would be the main course. Korra would arrive a couple of days later, and I will have to teach her airbending by then.'
Akashi made his analysis, and he had decided to prepare for the future based on them.
And the best way to prepare was to learn a sub-bending as well, something to counter a bloodbender with.