When Tony Stark woke up, he was already lying in a U.S. military base.
He opened his eyes to Rhodey's familiar face.
"How was the fun Humvee, Tony? Remember to ride with me next time, okay?"
Rhodey said with a smile.
Heaven knew how much pressure he had been under over the past month.
"Rhodey!"
Tony smiled knowingly and hugged his good friend.
"Qin! Wait, where's Qin?"
Suddenly seeming to remember something, Tony's expression changed dramatically. He shoved Rhodey away and asked.
He looked around the room. Hawkeye, Black Widow, and even Yinsen were all there.
Only Qin Xiao was missing. Combined with what had happened before he passed out, how could Tony not know what had happened?
"Rhodey, go save him! Qin stayed behind alone to cover our retreat! Go save him!"
Rhodey clearly already knew what had happened.
He had also heard Tony mention Qin Xiao before.
But as for Tony's request to rescue him...
"I'm sorry, Tony. When we have a reasonable chance of success, the military can take risks for you. But that friend of yours... I'm sorry, Tony!"
"He's the one who got me out! He saved me! I can't leave him there alone."
Tony Stark stood up and said agitatedly.
"Tony, listen to me. This involves national borders. We can't charge straight into a non-allied country for one person. I've already submitted a request. I'm sure the higher-ups will get in touch with their side soon."
Rhodey also stood up and held Tony's arm to reassure him.
"By the time you submit your request and the higher-ups finish talking, at least several days will have passed. I know what those people at the top are like. After all, the person in danger now isn't the famous Tony Stark, just some nobody, right, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes?"
Hawkeye said sarcastically from the side, even though he knew Rhodey's hands were tied too.
But regardless of whom he had done it for, Qin Xiao had stayed behind alone to cover their retreat and let everyone else leave first.
"Do you have any good ideas? If I remember correctly, you're agents, right? You should have some special methods or something."
Tony turned his gaze to Hawkeye.
"The military refused to let us use their aircraft, but our own Quinjet is on its way. It should arrive in another twenty minutes."
Black Widow said evenly from the side.
Under the circumstances at the time, Qin Xiao staying behind had indeed given everyone the best chance of survival.
But that did not mean Black Widow was not worried at all.
It was just that, after Black Widow and Hawkeye had shown their credentials, the commander of this base had refused their request for an aircraft.
With no other choice, they had immediately contacted the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence office and urgently requisitioned a Quinjet.
Almost an hour had passed since they had left Qin Xiao.
Even if Qin Xiao was a super soldier, Black Widow was beginning to grow anxious.
As for Qin Xiao, he knew nothing about the situation on Tony's end.
Even if he had known, he would not have paid much attention right now.
Because the man who had appeared before him had brought his brain to a complete halt.
"It's you?"
A startled cry.
It brought a mixture of surprise and confusion to the traveler's face, but mostly fear.
"You know me?"
Did he know him? Of course Qin Xiao did. He just never would have imagined running into him here.
"When I was in college, your photo was on the laboratory wall, right alongside Madame Curie's, Dr. Bruce Banner."
"It's an honor to meet you here!"
Qin Xiao opened the door, got out, and tossed Banner a bottle of water.
"Have some water. From the look of you, you must have run out of supplies."
As he spoke to Dr. Banner, Qin Xiao looked behind him to see whether anyone was pursuing him.
Meanwhile, he frantically searched his memory of The Incredible Hulk, a movie he had watched a long time ago.
The timelines in Marvel movies were only approximate. For example, the final battles in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk should both have taken place in 2008.
But he did not know which had come first.
Qin Xiao remembered that after Bruce Banner had first transformed into the Hulk and escaped General Ross's pursuit...
The first place he had fled to was Brazil, where he had met a teacher who taught him to control his heartbeat.
Later, he had risked returning to the United States to meet Mr. Blue, whom he had been communicating with online.
Finally, he had disappeared after his battle with Abomination.
According to the later storyline, he should have gone to the Arctic Circle and attempted suicide unsuccessfully, before eventually appearing in India in the first Avengers movie.
So it looked as though his battle with Abomination should already be over.
This should be the stretch of Banner's journey to India after his failed suicide attempt.
He just had not expected to run into him here.
After roughly sorting out the timeline in his mind, Qin Xiao continued.
"Do you need a ride, Doctor? Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy. My car broke down. I bought this one from a militant for thirty thousand dollars."
"You know, this is the Middle East!"
Qin Xiao shrugged and tried to sound as relaxed as possible.
It was not that he absolutely had to take Bruce Banner along.
It was just that the system had issued a new mission the moment the two met.
Gain Bruce Banner's trust, become his friend, and help him evade the military's pursuit.
"System, aren't I a little too weak to get involved between Banner and the military right now? Shouldn't this mission wait until later?"
Qin Xiao posed the question in his mind.
"This system only issues missions randomly based on the people and events the host currently encounters. It does not force the host to complete them. However, the Marvel Universe is fraught with danger. By earning more points, the host can unlock the shop sooner and obtain greater power."
Although, as the system said, its missions were very laid-back and carried no penalties...
The points really were a great help to him. Qin Xiao gritted his teeth and accepted the mission.
At worst, if it really doesn't work out, I'll prioritize protecting myself. There's no time limit anyway, right?
So Qin Xiao got straight out of the vehicle and casually explained why he was driving an armed vehicle.
Because he knew Banner felt considerable aversion toward anyone from the U.S. military.
That was also one of the reasons he had chosen to come to Asia. Compared with the Americas and Europe, Asia was undoubtedly where American influence was weakest.
After hearing Qin Xiao's words, Bruce Banner looked conflicted.
The weapons on Qin Xiao's vehicle did put him under pressure. It was not that he feared what others might do to him; he was afraid of causing casualties after transforming.
But if he did not get in, he had few supplies left out here in the desert. If his body reached its limit, he would still transform automatically.