Back to Base

The Ten Rings leader watched the departing jeep, his fury soaring as he shouted, "Go after them!"

"Boss, all the vehicles in our camp were blown up," one of his underlings hurried forward and said.

The Ten Rings leader shot the underling a vicious glare, then looked at the people gathering around him and cursed, "Are you all pigs? A living person slipped in, and none of you noticed!"

Everyone avoided his gaze, too afraid to answer while he was raging. One of the minor leaders spoke up. "Boss, Tony Stark has escaped. Once he notifies the U.S. military, we'll be in danger."

Suppressing his anger, the Ten Rings leader ordered, "Notify the sentries outside. If they spot that jeep, blow it up with rockets. Have the others drive vehicles to the camp. Pack up and prepare to relocate."

The jeep sped through the desert. Sitting on the roof, Meng Zu tossed a pair of night-vision goggles to Tony. "Turn off the headlights. There are still Ten Rings sentries outside. With the lights on, we'll be spotted easily."

Tony put on the night-vision goggles and switched off the headlights. Following Meng Zu's directions, he drove toward the U.S. military base. Meng Zu had already put his M4 automatic rifle back into his storage space and replaced it with an M99 sniper rifle.

Meng Zu knew they were still within the Ten Rings sentries' surveillance range. The enemy definitely had rocket launchers and the like. A car driving through such open terrain was extremely conspicuous and would easily become a target. Even though it was nighttime, they could still be found if the enemy had thermal imaging equipment.

After half an hour of driving, Meng Zu's danger sense suddenly reacted. Looking in the direction of the warning, he raised his rifle and saw a flaming missile streaking through the night sky toward their vehicle.

Meng Zu held his breath and steadied the sniper rifle. Calculating the missile's trajectory, he pulled the trigger. Boom! A burst of fire lit up the distant sky. Through the scope, he then saw two blurry figures on the ground carrying something on their shoulders.

Bang! Bang!

Meng Zu fired twice at the two figures without hesitation. Both collapsed to the ground. Not far behind them was the sentries' station. It was a shame Meng Zu had not brought a rocket launcher, or he would definitely have sent a round their way.

Once his danger sense calmed, Meng Zu lowered the M99 sniper rifle. Tony, who was driving, asked, "What happened? Did someone come after us? I heard a rocket explode."

Sitting on the roof, Meng Zu replied, "It's taken care of. Go left now. There's another sentry post ahead on the right."

Because they avoided the sentries' positions, they did not encounter any more attacks from the Ten Rings. After driving for nearly another half hour, Meng Zu found that his phone finally had a signal. He could not help grumbling, "The Ten Rings really installed a lot of signal jammers."

Meng Zu immediately called Colonel Rhodey. The call connected before long, and Rhodey's first question was, "Did you find Tony?"

"Colonel Rhodey, I've rescued Tony Stark from the Ten Rings camp. We're heading toward the U.S. military base. Send someone to pick us up quickly."

"What? Are you sure you're not joking?" Rhodey asked in disbelief. The U.S. military had searched for so long without finding any trace of Tony, yet Meng Zu had set out for only one day and had not only found Tony, but rescued him as well.

"Of course I'm not joking. I'll let Tony Stark talk to you." Meng Zu leaned down and held his phone through the car window. "Colonel Rhodey's on the line."

Tony Stark did not immediately take the phone from Meng Zu. Instead, he said, "Throw it in. I'm not used to taking things people hand to me."

"Huh? What a weird habit!" Meng Zu froze for a moment, then tossed the phone straight into Tony's lap.

Tony drove with one hand and picked up the phone with the other. "Hey, Rhodey. Miss me?"

Hearing Tony's frivolous voice, Rhodey instantly relaxed. He laughed and cursed, "How was the sightseeing ride? Next time, you bastard, could you ride in the same car as me?"

Tony smiled. "Sure. Rhodey, can you prepare a few burgers for me? I want burgers."

Hearing Tony's request, Rhodey smiled helplessly. "There are no burgers here. You can have burgers once you're back in New York. Don't hang up now. I'll have someone locate your position, then we'll come pick you up right away."

An hour later, the sound of helicopters came from the sky. Meng Zu looked through his scope and saw that they were U.S. military helicopters. He knew Colonel Rhodey had arrived.

Meng Zu patted the edge of the car window and shouted, "Stark, the U.S. military is here. You can turn the headlights on now."

Tony had heard the helicopters too. At Meng Zu's words, he took off the night-vision goggles, turned on the headlights, and gradually slowed the vehicle.

The moment the headlights came on, the helicopter immediately spotted the car's location. It adjusted course and flew toward the jeep.

The jeep stopped. Meng Zu jumped down from the roof, while Tony and Ethan got out of the vehicle as well. Before the helicopter landed, Meng Zu took out a potion and removed the human-skin masks from his and Tony's faces. He pretended to tuck them into his clothes, but actually returned them to his storage space.

The helicopter landed not far from the vehicle. Colonel Rhodey, dressed in combat gear like the soldiers beside him, stepped out of the helicopter. Seeing Tony and the other two standing in the headlights, he hurried over at a jog.

The soldiers wore night-vision goggles and held their guns as they vigilantly watched the surroundings. Tony opened his arms toward the approaching Rhodey, and Rhodey stepped forward to embrace him.

"Tony, this outfit really doesn't suit you." Rhodey teased him before sighing. "Man, I really thought I'd never see you again."

Tony lightly punched Rhodey's shoulder and said with a smile, "I'm Tony Stark. I'm not dying that easily."

"Hey." Rhodey shook his head and smiled helplessly, then turned to Meng Zu. "Mr. Meng Zu, thank you so much for this."

Meng Zu shrugged. "It was nothing. Just work."

Tony pointed at the helicopter and asked, "Rhodey, this is all the people you brought?"

"Of course not. I came ahead to pick you up. The others are behind us. Let's fly back first."

Meng Zu and the other two boarded the helicopter with Rhodey and flew toward the U.S. military base. On the way, Meng Zu learned that the U.S. military had mobilized a large force. Besides retrieving Tony Stark, they intended to take the opportunity to wipe out the Ten Rings. After all, the Ten Rings had openly attacked the U.S. military two months ago, which was a direct slap in their face. And over the past two months, the U.S. military had received no shortage of pressure from American conglomerates.

Although Tony Stark was the only one who had been kidnapped, it had happened in an area managed by the U.S. military. That made the other conglomerates distrust the U.S. military's security capabilities, so naturally they had applied pressure. The U.S. military was full of pent-up resentment and needed an outlet.

After learning the location of the Ten Rings camp from Meng Zu and the others, the U.S. military headed there. They did not know that the Ten Rings had already relocated, so their trip would ultimately be in vain.

On the helicopter, Rhodey also learned how Meng Zu had rescued Tony. "Mr. Meng Zu, that was far too risky. You should have notified the U.S. military immediately."

Naturally, Meng Zu would not admit that he had wanted to earn more Contract Points. He explained, "I had no choice. First, I needed to get inside and confirm whether Stark was really there. I hadn't checked my phone the whole time. Who knew the Ten Rings had signal jammers installed? I could only take the risk. Otherwise, once dawn came, the Ten Rings would have discovered me, and it would have been even more dangerous then."

When the helicopter reached the U.S. military base, Rhodey first took Tony and Ethan to the infirmary for examinations. Since Meng Zu could not wander around the base, he had no choice but to follow them. After the examinations, Rhodey arranged accommodations for the three of them and brought them clean clothes to change into.

Rhodey told the three of them to rest first. Once dawn broke, they would fly back to New York.