This place was already very close to the border, and there was a US military base over in Afghanistan.
He did not believe a big shot like Tony Stark would have no military support waiting for him. Once they reached the border, it meant they would lose Tony Stark, that mobile super-arsenal, forever.
So when he heard there was no one left here, his first reaction was that they had begun retreating as soon as he moved out.
He hurriedly ordered everyone to pursue them northwest.
Meanwhile, after buying them more than ten minutes, Qin Xiao really wanted to call and ask whether Tony and the others were out of danger.
Unfortunately, the satellite phone Black Widow had left behind on the ground had been hit by a bullet at some point.
It had probably happened when the two vehicles facing them had fired a few scattered shots this way earlier.
"Just my fucking luck!"
Qin Xiao gritted his teeth. Having come this far, he might as well see it through. He climbed into an off-road vehicle and sped northwest at full throttle.
Over on the bearded man's side, he had received his subordinate's report.
A convoy of vehicles raced northwest.
After four or five minutes of driving, the bearded man's phone rang again.
There was no telling who had called this time, but the bearded man's face was grave after he finished the call.
He spoke straight into the radio.
"Retreat! The target has been picked up by the US military. Retreat immediately!"
In the desert, more than a dozen vehicles turned around at once and began retreating the way they had come.
As for Qin Xiao, although he heard what was said over the vehicle's radio,
they were speaking some language from an Arab country.
Qin Xiao could not understand a single word.
Fortunately, the system's notifications sounded just in time.
"Congratulations, host. The mission to rescue Tony Stark has been completed. Reward: 1,000 points." "Congratulations, host. You have befriended Hawkeye, one of the original Avengers, and left a deep impression on him. You have earned 500 points." "Congratulations, host. Black Widow's favorability toward you has increased significantly. You have earned 200 points." "Congratulations, host. Iron Man's favorability toward you has increased significantly. You have earned 200 points." "Congratulations, host. Hawkeye's favorability toward you has increased significantly. You have earned 100 points."
Notifications sounded one after another. He had completed the mission, but he had not expected to also earn points for further improving his relationships with key characters. Those probably counted as hidden rewards.
They had faced life and death together, after all. Sure enough, that was a fast way to grind favorability.
He just did not know why Hawkeye only gave him 100. Was it because they were not as close as he was with the other two, or because Hawkeye himself had less of a presence?
But Qin Xiao had no time to think about all that now. Since the mission was complete, there was no longer any need to keep chasing after the Ten Rings.
If he kept going, he might run into them. Although Qin Xiao was now a super soldier and wore protective clothing supplied by the system,
he was not immortal. If a large-caliber bullet hit him in the head, or he encountered heavy weaponry, such as a few rockets, Qin Xiao would not be able to take it either.
He could put his life on the line, but taking pointless risks would hardly be worth it.
There was nothing for it. He could only avoid them for now and wait for Tony and the others to rescue him. If only the satellite phone had not been shot to pieces.
After a moment's thought, Qin Xiao immediately turned around and drove back the way he had come.
Meanwhile, the bearded man, who had already begun retreating, felt increasingly that something was wrong.
The number of vehicles did not add up. He had clearly checked the count at the start.
He had even made a point of checking again at the end. Apart from the two vehicles blown up head-on, there should have been no further casualties.
But if they had been blown up head-on, how had those people escaped his blockade?
It made no sense that after all that chasing, the man had simply been rescued by the US military.
If that were the case, he should have encountered the Americans too.
The more he thought about it, the less it added up, especially when he considered the sharpshooting archer in their group at the beginning.
In the final exchange, there seemed to have been only gunfire. That archer had never appeared again.
No!
I've been fooled. They left someone behind to cover their retreat!
That would explain why the vehicle count doesn't add up. Those two vehicles that went over were probably ambushed.
Damn it!
So many of his men had died, and he had expended so much effort, only to get nothing.
On top of that, they had actually played him for a fool.
The more the bearded man thought about it, the angrier he grew. He picked up the radio and issued orders to his men.
Qin Xiao, meanwhile, had no idea that the bearded man had begun hunting him across this desert.
He was simply heading back the way he had come to avoid risks.
As Qin Xiao saw it, regardless of when support arrived, to be on the safe side,
he should keep retracing his route, then head straight south toward Pakistan once he had gone far enough.
As long as he entered a city in Pakistan, he would be completely safe.
But Qin Xiao had overlooked one thing. The bald man who had kidnapped Tony had his camp inside Pakistan.
Although they had wiped out that camp, not only was the bald man still alive, but he also had more than this one group in the area.
Qin Xiao knew nothing about any of that, including all the different factions within the Ten Rings. He only knew that his mission was complete.
He had also picked up so many extra points for free. By his count, he had earned a total of 3,000.
He was only 2,000 points away from unlocking the level-two shop.
The vehicle had plenty of fuel, and he had even found a pack of cigarettes inside. Right now, he was happily driving south with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
As he drove along, he suddenly spotted a small black dot ahead.
It looked like a person.
One person naturally posed little threat to Qin Xiao, so he drove toward the figure without a care.
To his surprise, when that person heard the engine, he turned around and gestured to Qin Xiao for a ride.
"You've got guts. In a place this chaotic, you even dare flag down what's obviously a militant's vehicle."
Qin Xiao glanced at the heavy machine gun still mounted on the vehicle's frame and could not help admiring how unconcerned the man was.
He figured that in this vast desert, the pursuers behind him might not catch up.
Besides, if he left this man here and the terrorists behind him spotted him, they might well kill a civilian to vent their anger.
With the idea of doing his good deed for the day, Qin Xiao swung the rear of the off-road vehicle around in a stylish skid and brought it to a stop.
He stopped beside the traveler.
"Well? Need a ride?"
The traveler wore a baggy pair of suit trousers and a blue shirt with both sleeves rolled up.
A filthy scarf was wrapped around his face to keep out the wind and sand, and he looked thoroughly down on his luck.
The man was delighted to see Qin Xiao stop and pulled off his scarf.
"Could you take me to the nearest town? Thank you!"
The man gave him an honest, good-natured smile, while Qin Xiao,
upon seeing the man's face clearly, looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"It's you???"