The things Mike needed to prepare were quite trivial, mainly guns, ammunition, clothes, and tools for wilderness and desert survival.
Skye followed Mike to the underground Base and watched him pack things into a duffel bag one by one.
Skye asked curiously, "I didn't expect there to be such an underground space. Did you dig it?"
"No."
Mike replied, "It was originally there, probably used for drug manufacturing. I expanded, reinforced, and renovated it a bit."
Skye said, "Aren't you afraid I'll expose your secret Base?"
Mike looked at Skye strangely, "Didn't I say, I trust you. Besides, this Base only holds guns, ammunition, and tools, nothing important. If you want to expose it, go ahead. You look a bit strange."
"Strange how?"
"Strangely cute."
"At a time like this, you're still using such an old joke." Skye made to kick Mike, "Where's your team?"
"I work alone."
"Alone?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah my foot!" Skye was furious, "Going to Central Asia alone to fight Terrorists, are you crazy?!"
"Not crazy, and the hardest part of this mission is finding Stark's location..."
Before he could finish speaking, Skye hugged Mike and murmured, "I lied to you about some things, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Ah, you mean that. I know."
"You know?"
"No matter how you look at it, I'm an experienced mercenary. The employment information you filled out was obviously fake."
Skye bit Mike on the shoulder and said resentfully, "So all this time you've been watching me perform like a Joker?"
"No, no, absolutely not." Mike denied it repeatedly.
In fact, what Skye mainly concealed was her experience, family information, and hacker identity. For Mike, this was no big deal, as long as she wasn't a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. Who doesn't have some secrets and untold difficulties?
Skye looked up, stood on tiptoe, and clumsily pecked Mike on the lips, then said with a red face, "Don't overthink it, this is a kiss of friendship, and also, you must come back safely."
Without waiting for Mike to say anything, Skye, expressionless, turned and left.
Mike touched his lips and smiled, "Mint lip balm, the taste is... okay."
Outside the supermarket, Pepper thoughtfully arranged a Chevrolet SUV and a driver.
The driver drove Mike to Kennedy International Airport in Queens, where Stark's private jet was parked.
While no one was paying attention, Mike put his duffel bag into the system space to avoid security checks.
All the crew members were in place.
The flight attendants curiously snuck glances at Mike, wondering about his relationship with Stark. Seeing Mike's face and physique, one flight attendant stopped wondering and secretly unbuttoned one more button. Another flight attendant smiled, silently cursing her colleague a "bitch," then tucked her skirt up five centimeters.
It must be said that Stark had excellent taste; the flight attendants he chose were all beautiful and charming, each with her own unique style.
Thinking of Skye's fleeting kiss earlier, Mike suddenly felt dejected.
If a seed was developing in his heart, how would he face the entire forest later?
No! Absolutely not!
People cannot easily give up their dreams, otherwise what's the difference between them and a salted fish?
"I'm not influenced by Skye; I just genuinely don't want to explore the caves Stark might have delved into. Yes, that's it!" Mike found a reasonable explanation, and immediately, a sage-like aura emanated from him.
Red-faced skeletons,
Bones and flesh,
All dharmas are empty, everything is an illusion!
"A glass of red wine, dim the lights, and play some soft music." Under the flight attendants' watery gazes, Mike added, "Don't disturb me unless necessary, I need to rest."
The two flight attendants were dumbfounded.
Originally, after exchanging glances and negotiating, they were ready for a two-on-one approach.
And then this?!
"Could it be that he's not capable?" The two flight attendants thought with ill intent.
After sleeping, Mike took out his tablet and studied the location of the cave where Stark was imprisoned.
As Mike told Skye, finding Stark was the key and most difficult part of this mission.
First, in order to quickly hide after the attack and not be found immediately, the place where Stark was imprisoned would not be too close or too far from the attack site.
Mike drew a circle with a radius of 50 kilometers, centered on the attack site—Area A.
Secondly, according to the movie's description, the cave where Stark was imprisoned was in a mountainous area with a desert nearby.
Afghanistan has an area of nearly 650,000 square kilometers, with plateaus and mountains accounting for 4/5, but the desert is located in the southwest.
Mike's gaze fell on the Hindu Kush mountain range.
The Hindu Kush mountain range is the largest mountain range in Afghanistan, and it has a large area of overlap with the circle Mike drew earlier—Area B.
The scope was narrowed again.
Finally, there were many teams searching for Stark, including the U.S. Military, the Afghan Military, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Stark Industries mercenaries.
The Stark Industries mercenaries were Obadiah's subordinates, and their mission was to find Stark before anyone else, then eliminate him along with the Terrorists.
The search mission was divided by region, with each party responsible for an area according to their strength, without interfering with each other.
Obadiah's side undoubtedly understood Raza the best, and the area they were responsible for was very likely where Stark was held, while keeping other rescue teams isolated.
The intersection of Obadiah's side and Area B—Area C.
As for whether Stark was imprisoned in Area C, Mike could only say the probability was relatively high.
Next, Mike further subdivided Area C and formulated a grid search plan.
Over a dozen hours of flight, there was no "air combat," only unfathomable depths and a whip that couldn't reach.
Due to the time difference, Afghanistan was more than eight hours ahead of the U.S., so by the time the plane arrived at Bagram Air Base, it was close to midnight.
The pilot who picked him up was Sergeant Reina, a burly Black man, very enthusiastic and talkative. He introduced Mike to some basic information and precautions.
First, the Air Base built a temporary camp for the mercenaries involved in the search and rescue, with armed soldiers standing guard around it. Unless under special circumstances, mercenaries could only operate within the temporary camp area.
Mike's expenses at the Base were not free, but covered by Stark Industries. He was assigned a single room, not large, but fully equipped with a TV, a fan, and so on.
The bed was a hard board with a mat on it.
Reyna told Mike that the Base's hygiene was handled by a third-party private contractor, including the soldiers' clothing.
It was very characteristic of the U.S. Military.
At three o'clock in the morning, Mike heard the assembly whistle, and some soldiers began their day's training. At five-thirty, Reyna appeared at Mike's door, fully dressed.
"How did you sleep?"
"Not bad."
Soul energy had been continuously transforming Mike's body, probably already surpassing Captain America's, and one to two hours of sleep per day was enough to keep Mike in peak condition.
Breakfast was a relatively traditional American breakfast, with options including oatmeal, boiled eggs, sausages, bacon, toast with peanut butter and jam, waffles, pancakes, grilled meat, juice, milk, etc., very rich, but mercenaries could only dine in the temporary camp.