Tony Stark woke up to find himself in a US Army base.
The first face he saw was Rhodey's familiar one.
"How was the ride in the Hummer, Tony? Next time, remember to ride with me, alright?"
Rhodey said with a smile.
God knows how much pressure he had been under this past month.
"Rhodey!"
Tony smiled knowingly and embraced his good friend.
"Qin, right, where's Qin?"
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Tony's expression drastically changed. He pushed Rhodey away and asked,
He looked around the room. Hawkeye, Black Widow, and even Yinsen were all in this room.
Only Qin Xiao was missing. Combining this with the situation before he lost consciousness, Tony immediately understood what had happened.
"Rhodey, go save him. Qin stayed behind to cover our retreat. Go save him!"
Rhodey clearly already knew what had happened.
He had also heard Tony talk about this Qin Xiao.
But regarding Tony's request to save him,
"I'm sorry, Tony. The military can take risks for you if there's a chance of success, but your friend... I'm sorry, Tony!"
"He saved me! He saved me, and I can't leave him there alone."
Tony Stark said, standing up agitated.
"Tony, listen to me. This is a border issue. We can't just charge into a Non-Allied Country for one person. I've already submitted an application, and I believe they'll be communicating with them soon."
Rhodey also stood up, grabbing Tony's arm to comfort him.
"By the time you submit the application and those people up top communicate, it'll take at least a few days. I know how those people operate. After all, it's not the famous Tony Stark in danger, but a nobody, right? Vice Captain Rhodey."
Hawkeye said sarcastically from the side, although he knew Rhodey was also very helpless.
But no matter who it was for, Qin Xiao had after all stayed behind alone, letting everyone else go first.
"Do you guys 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's planes denied our request, but our own Quinjet is on its way and should arrive in about twenty minutes."
Black Widow said calmly from the side.
At the time, the situation was such that Qin Xiao staying behind gave everyone the greatest chance of survival.
But this didn't mean Black Widow wasn't worried at all.
It's just that after Black Widow and Hawkeye showed their identification, the base commander refused to provide them with a plane.
They had no choice but to contact the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence office immediately and urgently dispatch a Quinjet.
Almost an hour had passed since they left Qin Xiao.
Even if Qin Xiao was a super soldier, Black Widow was starting to get anxious.
As for Qin Xiao, he had no idea what was happening with Tony.
Even if he did know, he wouldn't care much right now.
Because the person in front of him had completely blanked his mind.
"It's you?"
A surprised shout.
It made the traveler's face show a mix of surprise and confusion, but mostly fear.
"You know me?"
Know him? Qin Xiao definitely recognized him, he just never expected to meet him in this place.
"When I was in university, there was a photo of you on the lab wall, hanging alongside Marie Curie, Dr. Bruce Banner."
"It's an honor to meet you here!"
Qin Xiao opened the car door and got out, tossing a bottle of water towards Banner.
"Drink some water, judging by your appearance, your supplies must be used up."
While speaking with Dr. Banner, Qin Xiao looked behind him to see if anyone was catching up.
His mind was frantically searching through the movie The Incredible Hulk, which he had watched long ago.
The Marvel movie timeline is only an approximation. For example, the plots of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, and the final battle should all be in 2008.
But the "before" and "after" of that, I don't know.
Qin Xiao remembered that after Bruce Banner had just transformed into the Hulk and escaped General Ross's pursuit,
his first escape was to Brazil, where he met a teacher who taught him to control his heartbeat.
Later, in order to meet Mr. Blue, whom he had been communicating with online, he risked returning to the United States.
Ultimately, he disappeared after a battle with the Abomination.
According to later events, he should have gone to the Arctic Circle and attempted suicide, but failed. Finally, he appeared in India during The Avengers.
So, it seems that the battle with the Abomination has already passed.
This period should be the journey between Banner's suicide attempt and his arrival in India.
Just didn't expect to meet him here.
After mentally reviewing the timeline, Qin Xiao spoke.
"Are you hitchhiking, Doctor? Don't worry, I'm not a bad guy. I bought this car from a Militant for thirty thousand dollars."
"You know, this is the Middle East!"
Qin Xiao shrugged, trying to sound as casual as possible.
It wasn't that he specifically wanted to travel with Bruce Banner.
It was just that the System had issued a new mission as soon as they met.
Gain Bruce Banner's trust, become his friend, and help him escape the US Army's pursuit.
"System, isn't it a bit too weak for me to be involved in the situation between Banner and the military right now? Should I postpone this mission for later?"
Qin Xiao questioned in his mind.
"This System only randomly issues missions based on the people and events the host encounters. It does not force the host to complete them. However, the Marvel world is full of dangers. By obtaining more points, the host can unlock the shop sooner and gain more powerful abilities."
Although as the System said, his missions were quite laid-back, with no penalties.
But the points were indeed very helpful to him. Qin Xiao gritted his teeth and accepted the mission.
If things really went south, he could just protect himself first. After all, there was no time limit, right?
So Qin Xiao got out of the car and casually explained why he was driving an armed vehicle.
Because he knew that Banner was quite resistant to people from the US Army.
This was also one of the reasons he chose to come to Asia. Compared to the Americas and Europe, Asia was undoubtedly where America's influence was weakest.
Hearing Qin Xiao's words, Bruce Banner looked troubled.
The weapons on Qin Xiao's car did indeed put pressure on him. It wasn't that he was afraid of what others would do to him, but that he was afraid of causing casualties to others after transforming.
However, if he didn't get in the car, he didn't have much supplies right now in the desert. If he waited until his body couldn't hold on, he would still transform automatically.