It was important to note that the border was very close, and there was a military base on the Afghan side.
He couldn't believe that someone as important as Tony Stark wouldn't have military support. Once they reached the border, it would mean they had forever lost Tony Stark, the mobile super armory.
So, upon hearing that there was no one left, his first reaction was that as soon as they started moving, the others must have begun to retreat.
He quickly ordered everyone to pursue in the northwest direction.
Meanwhile, Blake, who had been delaying for over ten minutes, wanted to call and check if Tony and the others had escaped danger.
Unfortunately, the satellite phone Black Widow had left was on the ground, and at some point, it had been hit by a bullet.
It must have been from the sporadic shots fired by the two vehicles earlier.
"Damn it!"
Blake cursed under his breath, deciding to go all the way and got into an off-road vehicle, flooring it toward the northwest.
As for the bearded man, he received a report from his men.
A convoy of vehicles sped towards the northwest.
After four or five minutes, the bearded man's phone rang again.
This time, who knows who was calling. After answering, he wore a serious expression.
He spoke into the radio, "Retreat, the target has been taken by the U.S. military. Retreat immediately!"
In the desert, a dozen vehicles turned around simultaneously, heading back the way they came.
Blake, despite hearing the conversation on the vehicle's radio, couldn't understand a word because they were speaking in some Arabic dialect.
Fortunately, the system prompt sounded in time.
[Congratulations, host, for completing the mission to rescue Tony Stark, earning 1000 points.]
[Congratulations, host, for befriending the original Avenger, Hawkeye, and leaving a deep impression, earning 500 points.]
[Congratulations, host, for greatly increasing Black Widow's favorability towards you, earning 200 points.]
[Congratulations, host, for greatly increasing Iron Man's favorability towards you, earning 200 points.]
[Congratulations, host, for increasing Hawkeye's favorability towards you, earning 100 points.]
The prompts kept coming. Completing the mission and unexpectedly improving relationships with key figures, earning extra points, seemed like hidden rewards.
It seemed that going through life and death together boosted favorability quickly.
However, Blake wondered why he only got 100 points from Hawkeye. Was it because he wasn't as familiar with him, or because Hawkeye had less presence?
But Blake didn't have time to think too much. With the mission completed, chasing the Ten Rings was unnecessary.
If he advanced further, he might encounter them again. Although he was now a super soldier wearing system-provided protective gear, he wasn't invincible. A headshot from a high-caliber bullet or an encounter with heavy weaponry, like a few rockets, would still be fatal.
Risking his life was one thing, but unnecessary risks were not worth it.
With no other choice, he decided to avoid them and wait for Tony's rescue. It would have been better if the satellite phone hadn't been destroyed.
After a moment's thought, Blake turned back in the direction he came from.
On the other side, the bearded man, who had ordered the retreat, began to feel something was wrong.
The number of vehicles didn't match. He had checked the numbers initially.
Besides the two vehicles that were destroyed upfront, there hadn't been any other casualties later on.
But if those two were destroyed, how did they escape his net?
It didn't make sense that after all the chasing, they were just taken by the U.S. military.
If that were the case, he should have encountered the Americans too.
The more he thought about it, the more it didn't add up. Considering the sharpshooter in the opposing team, the last wave only had gunfire, and he didn't see the archer again.
Something wasn't right!
They were tricked! They left someone behind to cover their retreat!
Otherwise, the number of vehicles would match. The two vehicles that went past must have been ambushed.
Damn it!
So many of his men were killed, and so much effort was wasted, all for nothing.
To top it off, he was played for a fool.
The more the bearded man thought about it, the angrier he became. He picked up the radio and issued orders to his men.
Meanwhile, Blake had no idea that the bearded man had started hunting him in this desert.
Blake, thinking only of minimizing risk, was heading back the way he came.
In Blake's mind, regardless of when support would arrive, it was safer to backtrack for now. Once he had covered some distance, he planned to head south towards Pakistan.
As long as he entered a Pakistani city, he would be completely safe.
However, Blake overlooked one detail: the bald man who kidnapped Tony had his base within Pakistan.
Although that base had been destroyed, the bald man was still alive and had more than one team in the area.
Blake didn't know about these complexities, including the various factions within the Ten Rings. He only knew that the mission was completed.
He had also gained a lot of points, bringing his total to three thousand.
He was now only two thousand points away from unlocking the level-two store.
The vehicle had plenty of fuel, and he even found a pack of cigarettes inside, which he was happily smoking while driving south.
As he drove, he suddenly noticed a small black dot ahead.
It looked like a person.
A single person posed no threat to Blake, so he drove towards them casually.
To his surprise, when the person heard the sound of the engine, they turned around and made a hitchhiking gesture towards Blake.
"Pretty gutsy, stopping a vehicle that clearly belongs to armed militants in such a chaotic place," Blake thought, noticing the heavy machine gun mounted on the vehicle.
Feeling confident that his pursuers wouldn't catch up in the vast desert and not wanting to leave this person to potentially be killed by terrorists, he decided to do a good deed.
With a stylish maneuver, Blake brought the off-road vehicle to a stop beside the traveler.
"Need a ride?"
The traveler wore baggy suit pants, a blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and had a dirty scarf wrapped around their face to protect against the sand. They looked quite down-and-out.
Seeing Blake stop, the person was delighted and quickly pulled off the scarf.
"Can you take me to the nearest town? Thanks!"
The person smiled warmly, but Blake, upon seeing their face, reacted as if he had seen a ghost.
"It's you???"
*******************************************
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If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170
Guess who is the one asking for lift?
(Pretty obvious from the Chapter's Name)
---
When Tony Stark woke up, he found himself lying in a U.S. military base.
The first thing he saw was Rhodey's familiar face.
"How was the taste of that wild ride, Tony? Next time, remember to share a car with me, okay?" Rhodey said with a smile.
God knows the immense pressure he'd been under this past month.
"Rhodey!" Tony smiled warmly and hugged his good friend.
"Blake, right, where's Blake?" Suddenly remembering something, Tony's expression changed dramatically, and he pushed Rhodey away to ask.
Looking around the room, he saw Hawkeye, Black Widow, and even Yinsen, but Blake was nowhere to be seen. Recalling the events before he lost consciousness, Tony realized what had happened.
"Rhodey, go rescue him! Blake stayed behind to cover our retreat. Go save him!" Tony demanded urgently.
Rhodey already knew what had happened. He'd heard about Blake from Tony before.
But regarding the rescue, he said, "I'm sorry, Tony. The military is willing to take risks for you, but your friend, I'm very sorry, Tony."
"He saved me. I can't leave him behind!" Tony Stark stood up, agitated.
"Tony, listen to me. This is an international border issue. We can't just storm into a non-ally country for one person. I've already submitted a request, and I'm sure they'll communicate with the other side soon," Rhodey said, trying to comfort him.
"By the time they approve the request and communicate, it'll take several days. We all know how slow the bureaucracy is. After all, it's not the famous Tony Stark in danger now but an unknown person, right, Colonel Rhodes?" Hawkeye said sarcastically, although he knew Rhodey was in a tough spot.
Regardless of who it was for, Blake had stayed behind to ensure everyone else's escape.
"Do you have any good ideas? If I'm not mistaken, you guys are agents, right? You should have some special means or something," Tony said, looking at Hawkeye.
"The military refused to provide a plane, but our own Quinjet is on its way and should arrive in about twenty minutes," Black Widow said calmly.
Under the circumstances, leaving Blake behind had been the best chance for the group's survival. But that didn't mean Black Widow wasn't worried.
However, after showing their credentials, the base commander had refused to provide a plane. They had no choice but to contact the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence office and urgently request a Quinjet.
It had been about an hour since they left Blake.
Even though Blake was a super soldier, Black Widow was starting to get anxious.
Blake, on the other hand, was completely unaware of Tony's situation. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care much at this moment.
Because the person in front of him had left his mind reeling.
"It's you?" he exclaimed in surprise.
The traveler looked surprised and confused, with a hint of fear.
"You know me?"
Know him? Of course, Blake knew him. He just never expected to meet him here.
"There was a picture of you in my university lab, hanging next to Marie Curie's. Dr. Bruce Banner."
"It's an honor to meet you here!" Blake opened the car door and got out, tossing a bottle of water to Banner.
"Drink some water. Judging by your appearance, you're probably out of supplies," Blake said while scanning the rear to see if anyone was following them.
In his mind, he was frantically recalling scenes from the movie "The Incredible Hulk". Marvel's movie timeline was never strictly linear, but key events like those in "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" both took place in 2008. However, which one came first was unclear.
Blake remembered that after Bruce Banner first transformed into the Hulk and escaped General Ross's pursuit, he fled to Brazil, where he met a teacher who taught him to control his heartbeat. Later, he risked returning to the U.S. to meet his online contact, Mr. Blue. After battling the Abomination, Banner vanished.
According to the storyline, Banner then was next seen in India during "The Avengers". So, this encounter likely took place after his battle with the Abomination and before he went to India.
After sorting out the timeline in his mind, Blake continued speaking.
"You need a ride, Doctor? Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy. My car broke down, so I bought this one from a militant for $30,000."
"You know, this is the Middle East!" Blake shrugged, trying to sound relaxed.
It wasn't that he particularly wanted to bring Bruce Banner along. It was just that as soon as they met, the system issued a new task: [Gain Bruce Banner's trust, become his friend, and help him evade military pursuit.]
"System, isn't it a bit too much for me to get involved between Banner and the military right now? Can't this task wait?" Blake asked internally.
[This system only issues tasks based on the people and events the host encounters. Completion is not mandatory, but the Marvel world is fraught with danger. Earning more points will help the host unlock the store and gain more powerful abilities sooner.]
Though the system's tasks were laid-back with no penalties for failure, the points were indeed highly beneficial. Blake gritted his teeth and accepted the task.
At worst, he could prioritize his own safety if things got too dangerous. There was no time limit on the task, after all.
Blake then casually explained why he was driving a militant vehicle. He knew that Banner harbored a strong aversion to the U.S. military, which was one reason he chose to come to Asia. Compared to the America and Europe, Asia was where the U.S. had the least influence.
Hearing Blake's explanation, Bruce Banner looked troubled. The weapons on Blake's vehicle did intimidate him, but not because he feared being attacked. He worried about causing harm if he transformed. Yet, without getting in the car, he was low on supplies and might transform due to physical exhaustion.
*******************************************
You can get access to early chapters on patr*on.
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170
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