You must understand—this place is very close to the border. On the other side of Afghanistan lies a U.S. military base.
He did not believe that someone as influential as Tony Stark would lack military support. The moment they reached the border, it would mean losing Tony Stark forever—this mobile super-weapon arsenal.
So when he heard there was no one here, his first thought was that the moment he made a move, they would begin retreating.
He immediately ordered everyone to pursue toward the northwest.
Looking at Qin Xiao again, more than ten minutes had already been wasted. He desperately wanted to call Tony to ask whether they had escaped danger.
The satellite phone Black Widow had left behind was helplessly struck by bullets and fell to the ground.
It must have been the two vehicles ahead—just now they had fired a few stray shots in this direction.
"Damn bad luck!"
Qin Xiao gritted his teeth, sent the Buddha westward, and jumped into an off-road vehicle, speeding northwest in pursuit.
Let's turn to the situation on the bearded man's side and listen to the reports from his subordinates.
A convoy of vehicles sped northwest through the desert.
Four or five minutes later, the bearded man's phone rang again.
He didn't know who was calling this time. After answering, his expression immediately grew serious.
He spoke directly into the radio:
"Retreat! The target has been discovered by U.S. forces. Retreat immediately!"
In the desert, more than a dozen vehicles turned around at the same time and began withdrawing along the path they had taken.
As for Qin Xiao, although he heard the voices coming from the in-car radio, they were speaking Arabic.
He couldn't understand a single word.
Fortunately, the system notification sounded in time.
"Congratulations, Host. The mission to rescue Tony Stark has been completed. Reward: 1,000 points."
"Congratulations, Master. You have met one of the founding Avengers, Hawkeye, and left a deep impression on him. Reward: 500 points."
"Congratulations, Master. Black Widow's favorability toward you has increased significantly. You have gained 200 favorability points."
"Congratulations, Master. Iron Man's favorability toward you has increased significantly. You have gained 200 favorability points."
"Congratulations, Master. Hawkeye's favorability has increased greatly. +100 points."
One notification after another rang out—the mission was complete.
Unexpectedly, growing closer to key characters also awarded points. This could be considered a hidden reward.
Life-and-death situations really did accelerate affinity gains.
Qin Xiao didn't understand why Hawkeye only gave 100 points. Was it because he wasn't as close to the others, or simply because his presence was weaker?
But Qin Xiao had no time to think about that. The mission was complete—there was no need to continue hunting the Ten Rings.
If he pushed forward, he might still encounter them. Although Qin Xiao was now a super-soldier wearing system-produced protective gear, he was not invincible.
A headshot from a large-caliber bullet or a heavy thermal weapon—like a rocket—would still kill him.
Going all out was possible, but the risk was unnecessary.
With no other choice, he decided to avoid them and wait for Tony's rescue. If only the satellite phone hadn't been destroyed.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Xiao turned the vehicle around and drove back the way he came.
Meanwhile, the bearded man—already retreating—began to feel that something was wrong.
The vehicle count didn't match.
He had checked carefully from the beginning. Aside from the two vehicles that were destroyed earlier, there should not have been any further casualties.
But if they had been attacked head-on, how did they break through the encirclement?
After a long, fruitless pursuit, the target was ultimately rescued directly by U.S. forces.
If that were the case, he should have known some Americans.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it became. The enemy team had a master archer at the beginning.
Yet in the final wave of attacks, there were only gunshots—the archer never appeared again.
Wrong!
They had been fooled. Someone had been deliberately left behind as a decoy.
Otherwise, the vehicle count wouldn't add up. Those two passing vehicles might have already been attacked by them.
Damn it!
So many lives lost, so much effort wasted—and nothing to show for it.
He had been played like a fool.
The bearded man grew angrier by the second and grabbed the radio, issuing new orders to his men.
Qin Xiao had no idea that the bearded man had already begun chasing him through the desert.
He was simply choosing the safest route, heading back the way he came.
In Qin Xiao's mind, any moment he could receive support was a safe window.
Returning along the original path, he planned to head south toward Pakistan once he reached the area.
As long as he entered a Pakistani city, he would be completely safe.
But Qin Xiao overlooked one thing.
The bald man who had kidnapped Tony—his camp was in Pakistan.
Although that camp had been destroyed, the bald man was still alive, and he was not the only survivor.
Qin Xiao knew nothing about this, nor about the internal chaos within the Ten Rings. All he knew was that the mission was complete.
All the extra points were tallied—the final total came to 3,000 points.
Only 2,000 more points were needed for the second shopping mall to open.
The fuel tank was full, and he even found a pack of cigarettes.
With a cigarette in his mouth and a cheerful mood, he drove south.
As he continued, he suddenly noticed a small black dot ahead.
It looked like a person.
One person posed no real threat to Qin Xiao, so he casually drove toward him.
Who would have thought that upon hearing the engine, the man would turn around and actually gesture for a ride?
"If you're brave enough to hitchhike in a place like this, you've got guts."
Qin Xiao glanced at the heavy machine gun mounted on the vehicle and couldn't help admiring the man's courage.
In this vast desert, the pursuers behind him might never catch up.
If this man were left here and the terrorists found him, they would surely kill a civilian to vent their anger.
With the belief of doing one good deed a day, Qin Xiao pulled the off-road vehicle—decorated with a sleek dragon-tail design—up beside the traveler.
"Are you okay? Need a ride?"
The traveler wore loose suit pants and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
His face was wrapped in a filthy gauze scarf to block the sand, making him look lonely and worn.
Seeing Qin Xiao stop, the man was delighted and pulled off the scarf.
"Could you take me to the nearest town? Thank you!"
He revealed a simple, sincere smile.
The moment Qin Xiao saw his face, it was as if he had seen a ghost.
"…Is that you?!"
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