Finally Seeing Civilization

"Quick! We need a shelter!" After successfully pressing the final button to launch the missile, Tony frantically patted the two people beside him.

"?Why?" Fang Bie asked, somewhat confused. They were on the verge of a great success; what kind of maneuver was this?

"What I just activated was a Jericho Missile. It releases countless small shrapnel upon launch, piercing the entire space. If you don't want to be shredded into pieces, you'd better move fast!" Tony said, his face trembling slightly.

"What!" Fang Bie and Yinsen were instantly thrown into a panic. Without even having time to properly reinforce their defensive structure, they pulled out their iron pickaxes and began digging downward frantically.

Tony did the same. As the creator of the weapon, he knew exactly how terrifying it was, so he swung his pickaxe even more vigorously than the other two.

Under the desperate efforts of the three, a hole five or six meters deep appeared beside them just as the missile's countdown came to a sudden halt.

The gunfire had ceased, and the sound of chaotic footsteps reached their ears. Fang Bie was still placing the final stone block when he was yanked down by Tony from below.

"Cover your ears!" Tony said, covering his own ears first and crouching tightly in the corner.

Fang Bie followed suit, crouching down beside him. The three of them sat in that cramped, four-meter-square space, covering their ears in a rather comical fashion.

Above them, in the defensive chamber they had just built, a group of strange-looking men stormed in. They first sprayed the area with gunfire, and upon seeing no one, they looked up and spotted the missile mounted on the stone.

"Bang!" Someone couldn't resist firing a shot at the missile. The projectile, which was supposed to perform precision strikes across the entire valley under guided control, was hit by that single shot and suddenly detonated!

There wasn't even a scream; everyone seemed to have been hit by a mute button, leaving only the sound of dust kicked up by the explosion swirling through the desert.

Because the entire space had been completely sealed off, there wasn't a sliver of light, and they could only hear the incessant, deafening roar outside.

Fang Bie even shivered slightly. He hadn't felt the heaven-and-earth power like a tidal wave as before, but inside this underground space, he could feel the surrounding earth shaking incessantly.

After this one missile was destroyed, the remaining missiles launched successfully, following their pre-set paths and bouncing continuously throughout the valley.

The Jericho Missile was created for the purpose of "clearing the ground." Tony had said as much: under such a missile attack, there would be no survivors at all.

Precisely because of this, the desert region, which had already been washed over by a flood, underwent another baptism of missiles. These guys were pulverized into the intense sandstorm, leaving not a single trace behind.

"Tony, you almost got us killed!" Fang Bie said with some anger. His ears were still ringing, and he didn't seem to be feeling particularly well.

Tony looked at the two of them apologetically. "Sorry, I should have explained it to you."

Only after the noise had completely died down did the three dare to emerge from that stuffy area.

Although a Minecraft hole wouldn't suffocate anyone, the gases produced by the three of them were enough to make the small space foul and unbearable.

A thick stench of blood and gunpowder assaulted their noses, even worse than before. However, the gunmen who had been holding weapons, along with their firearms, had all been reduced to fragments by the massive bombardment.

"Alright, mission accomplished. Let's go!" Tony said with his signature shrug.

He was wearing a jacket he had found somewhere from those people. Although it didn't fit perfectly, it gave him an unexpectedly roguish air.

"Where are we going now?" Even as a master of theory, Fang Bie knew nothing about the actual situation. The other two also knew he wasn't a native of this world, so they pondered his question.

"Hmm?" Tony just gave a look to Yinsen, and the bald doctor spoke up very quickly.

"We are currently in the Central African desert. If we head north, we'll encounter some villages and towns; if we head south, we'll find some U.S. military bases. As for which way, you'll have to ask Tony."

Yinsen pointed out the directions and pushed the question back to Tony.

"That goes without saying, we're heading south!" Tony immediately decided their direction. With his relationship with the military, he certainly didn't have to worry about being treated unfairly like those refugees.

"Don't look at me, you two. I'll just follow you." Seeing them looking for his input, Fang Bie shrugged like them. "I have no one here, no family or anything, so of course I'll just tag along with you!"

"Hahaha! No problem, follow me, and you'll be safe and sound!" Tony laughed and patted his shoulder, seemingly very satisfied with his answer.

The three were now walking across the vast, endless desert. If they didn't know they were on the right path and didn't possess infinite water and sufficient food, anyone would have felt despair at the current scene.

Those who have never been to a desert can hardly understand the despair of looking around and finding nowhere to land, nor can they understand the loneliness that stems from that despair.

In such an area, there is no wind and no water; there is only light and heat. But once night falls, the biting cold erodes your body, making your already exhausted and dehydrated frame even more fragile.

Unlike the original story, Iron Man, who was supposed to stay in the cave for three months, had only been missing from the world for a month and a half, excluding the month he spent injured.

So, after walking through the desert for half a day, the three of them faintly heard the sound of a vehicle.

Those U.S. soldiers hadn't given up on searching for him. Tony even saw a familiar vehicle not far away—a military jeep. The reason he recognized it was, naturally, because of the person sitting in it.

"Hey!!!" He shouted at the vehicle, quickly drawing the attention of the people there. Fang Bie and Yinsen stood beside him, joining in the shouting and waving.

The civilized world they had been away from for so long—their richest man had returned!

The corners of Tony's mouth curled upward. The playboy aura that had faded during his arduous trials was being reclaimed in this atmosphere.

After all, he hadn't experienced life-and-death partings, so his mindset was different from the original. Now, he was just a traveler who had endured risks and hardships, returning dusty and weary!