The God of Wealth starts with doing whatever you want

It was five o'clock in the morning.

On the edge of the desert, the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

The Kurdish guide, named Hassan, was a veteran in his fifties who had participated in the Iran-Iraq War and knew the border terrain like the back of his hand.

He was driving a dilapidated Soviet-made Ulyanovsk off-road vehicle, which was well-stocked with food, water, and fuel.

"The mountain road is bumpy, but safe."

Hassan said in heavily accented English, "Neither the government forces nor the Desert Eagles will take this route because it's too dangerous."

Xu Yun helped Natasha into the back seat.

After a night of travel, her face was even paler, but her eyes remained sharp.

Hassan glanced at her wound, took a simple first-aid kit from the car, and said, "My wife is a nurse and taught me some things. Let me see."

Natasha hesitated for a moment and looked at Xu Yun.

Xu Yun nodded and said, "Let him take a look; the wound needs to be treated again."

Hassan's technique was surprisingly skillful.

He first carefully cleaned the area around the wound with alcohol, and then applied a light green ointment.

"This is a local herb, and it's very effective at reducing inflammation,"

He explained, "My wife arranged it."

The ointment had a cooling sensation after being applied, and Natasha's furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

Hassan then re-bandaged the area with clean bandages, his movements gentle and professional.

“You’re very professional,” Natasha said in Russian.

Hassan smiled, revealing a tooth missing from his front, and said, "War teaches people a lot of things. Alright, we should get going."

The car drove away from the village and soon entered the mountains.

The so-called "road" is nothing more than a barely passable mark on the mountainside, with a steep mountain wall on one side and a bottomless cliff on the other.

Hassan drove slowly but steadily, calculating every turn precisely.

Looking at the precipitous scenery outside the window, Xu Yun asked, "Do you often travel this road?"

Two or three times a month.

Hassan said, "It's a lifeline for people to cross the border, carrying medicine, intelligence personnel, and sometimes families fleeing the country."

The car crawled along the narrow mountain road for three hours.

They stopped twice during the trip to allow Natasha to stretch her stiff body.

Xu Yun noticed that even during rest periods, Hassan remained vigilant, pressing his ear to the ground to listen for any sounds in the distance.

"What are you listening to?" Xu Yun asked.

"The sound of a helicopter."

Hassan replied, "'Desert Eagle' has two Mi-8 helicopters; if they're going to search the mountains, they'll come from the air."

Fortunately, no helicopters were heard all morning.

Around noon, they stopped to rest in front of a cave.

Hassan took out naan bread, cheese, pickled olives, and a pot of hot tea from the car.

"Just something simple to eat..."

He said, "In another two hours we'll be out of the mountains, then it'll be flat Gobi Desert, and we'll reach the Iraqi border by nightfall."

The three of them sat together for a simple meal.

Natasha ate slowly, clearly not having much of an appetite, but she forced herself to eat.

Xu Yun knew that maintaining physical strength was crucial during the escape.

"Your friend is very strong."

Hassan said to Xu Yun, "Many men couldn't withstand an injury like this."

“She’s not an ordinary woman,” Xu Yun replied simply.

Natasha overheard their conversation, smiled slightly, but said nothing.

Her attention seemed to be drawn to some carvings on the cave wall. They were ancient rock paintings depicting hunting scenes.

"These paintings are very old."

Hassan noticed her gaze and said, "They are said to be over a thousand years old. Wars have come and gone, but these paintings have remained."

After resting for twenty minutes, they continued on their way.

The afternoon journey was relatively smoother, but still bumpy.

Xu Yun let Natasha lean on his shoulder to rest. She was initially reluctant, but eventually gave in.

Why did you come to save me?

She suddenly asked, her voice very soft.

“This isn’t like you. You have a family and a career now, there’s no need to take this kind of risk.”

Xu Yun replied with a smile, "Because you're a friend. And you messaged me thinking I'd come and rescue you, right? I also wanted to come and experience some guns and cannons; I can't do that back home."

Natasha chuckled, "So this is an adventure? To satisfy the passion in your veins?"

"You could say that."

"Do you know who 'Grey Wolf' is?" Natasha changed the subject.

Xu Yun shook his head, pretending not to know.

“He is one of the organization’s top operatives, and we have worked together on three missions.”

Natasha's voice turned cold as she said, "The last time I saved his life was in Cairo."

The bullet pierced his lung; I dragged him away from the pursuers and performed emergency surgery on him.

Why did I betray you?

“Money is part of it; $500,000 is not a small amount for him.”

Natasha paused for a moment, then sighed, "But more importantly, there's power. The organization is undergoing restructuring, and the position of head of the Middle East region is vacant."

He and I are the main competitors.

Xu Yun understood and said, "If he gets rid of you, he can take over."

"Correct."

Natasha said, "And he knows that I've been investigating something recently, something that could shake the foundations of the organization."

I've uncovered some clues about secret deals between the organization's top brass and certain national governments.

"What deal?"

Natasha looked out the window and remained silent for a long time before answering, "I can't say, at least not now."

Knowing too much won't do you any good; it will only put you and your family in danger.

Xu Yun did not press further.

If he wants to know, he can just ask the system.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, they finally drove out of the mountains and came into view a vast Gobi Desert.

Hassan visibly relaxed: "The most dangerous part is over. Now, as long as we avoid the main roads, we can reach the border before nine o'clock tonight."

However, fate always seems to like to create surprises at the most relaxed moments.

About half an hour after the car had been traveling across the Gobi Desert, Hassan suddenly slammed on the brakes.

About 500 meters ahead, three pickup trucks were spread out in a fan shape, with heavy machine guns mounted on their cargo beds.

"The people of 'Desert Eagle'."

Hassan said with a grave expression, "How did they get here? Very few people know this road."

Xu Yun quickly surveyed the surrounding terrain.

To the left are rolling sand dunes, to the right is a sparse thicket of shrubs, and behind us are newly emerged mountains.

There is no perfect cover, nor room to maneuver.

"Can we make it through?" Xu Yun asked.

Hassan shook his head and said, "They have three heavy machine guns; our vehicle can't stop them."

Moreover, they were clearly waiting for us; they had already set up an ambush.

Natasha had already picked up the AK rifle, checked the magazine, and asked with some doubt, "How did they know our route?"

This is the key issue.

This route was known only to Hassan, Xu Yun, Natasha, and the "Shield" squad.

"Shield" is a professional mercenary organization with an excellent reputation, making it highly unlikely that they would betray their clients.

That leaves only one possibility.

“There’s a tracker in the car,” Xu Yun and Natasha said at the same time.

The three of them quickly got out of the car.

Hassan crawled under the car to inspect it and quickly found a black magnetic tracker near the fuel tank, about the size of a matchbox.

"When?" Hassan's face turned pale.

"It was probably last night in the village."

Xu Yun analyzed, "I guess someone installed it when we weren't paying attention."

Now is not the time to assign blame.

The pickup truck ahead began to move, slowly approaching.

Xu Yun looked around, quickly formulated a plan, and said, "We can't use the car anymore, they'll follow us with the trackers."

Hassan, where is the nearest hiding place?

Hassan pointed to the bushes on his right and replied, “Go two kilometers over there, and there’s a dry valley with some natural caves in the valley walls.”

But we must leave now; they'll be within firing range soon.

“Leave the tracker in the car.”

Xu Yun ordered, "We'll walk. Natasha, can you walk?"

Natasha nodded, her face pale but her eyes firm, and said, "No problem."

Hassan took a backpack out of the car and filled it with food, water and medical supplies.

Xu Yun brought all his weapons and ammunition.

The three men had just gotten ready when the first round of machine gun fire began.

The bullets struck the car, making a series of loud thuds.

Xu Yun threw the tracker back into the car, and then the three of them quickly ran towards the bushes.

Running across the open Gobi Desert is extremely dangerous.

Bullets kept kicking up dust around them, and one even grazed Xu Yun's calf, leaving a scorch mark on his pants.

"Split up and run!"

Xu Yun shouted, "Don't form a straight line!"

The three ran in a zigzag pattern, which increased the difficulty of shooting.

However, the enemy has heavy machine guns, which cover a large area.

Just as they were about to rush into the bushes, a bullet struck Hassan in the right leg.

Hassan groaned and fell to the ground.

Xu Yun immediately turned back to pull him up, while Natasha lay down behind the bushes to provide cover and fire.

Her marksmanship was excellent; a few shots hit the driver of a pickup truck, which then went out of control and crashed into a sand dune.

"Quick!" Xu Yun practically dragged Hassan into the bushes.

The bushes provided limited cover, but not enough to withstand heavy machine gun fire for long.

Moreover, the other party had already gotten out of the car, and about fifteen armed men surrounded them in a fan shape.

"Where is the valley?" Xu Yun asked urgently.

Hassan gritted his teeth, pointed ahead, and said, "Keep going east, and turn right when you see that dead tree."

Xu Yun supported Hassan, Natasha brought up the rear, and the three continued forward.

Bullets kept hitting the surrounding bushes, and broken branches and leaves flew everywhere.

After walking for about ten minutes, the dead tree that Hassan had mentioned came into view.

It was a huge poplar tree that had been dead for many years, its trunk twisted and its branches reaching towards the sky like ghostly claws.

They turned right and, sure enough, saw a dry river valley.

The valley is about five meters deep, and the bottom is hard clay.

They slid down the valley, temporarily escaping each other's sight.

But the footsteps of the pursuers were getting closer and closer.

"The cave is over there~"

Hassan pointed to an inconspicuous recess in the valley wall and said, "It's hidden by bushes outside, so it's not easy to spot." The three of them crawled into the cave.

The cave is small, barely enough to accommodate five or six people, but it is well-hidden and easy to defend.

Xu Yun quickly set up the defense, placing two rifles at the two firing ports and the pistol within easy reach.

Natasha then began to treat Hassan's wounds.

The bullet pierced the thigh muscle but did not damage the artery, yet it caused significant bleeding.

She used a tourniquet from Hassan's medical kit to tighten the area above the wound, then applied more of that green ointment.

"Thank you."

Hassan said weakly, "I've been a burden to you."

"fine."

Xu Yun checked the ammunition and said reassuringly, "Without you, we wouldn't even know this road."

Shouts and footsteps of pursuers could be heard outside.

They searched above the valley but found no cave entrance so far.

But this situation won't last long.

Xu calculated the ammunition; the HK416 still had two and a half magazines left, about 75 rounds of ammunition.
Natasha's AK had one magazine left, 30 rounds; each of her two pistols had one magazine left.

Facing fifteen enemies, their firepower was severely insufficient.

"We need a plan."

Xu Yun said in a low voice, "We can't stay trapped here forever."

Natasha checked her wound; the newly seeping blood had soaked through the bandages. She spoke again, "I can distract them, and you can take advantage of the situation..."

"Don't bring up the same solution a second time."

Xu Yun frowned and interrupted her, saying, "You should think about how to survive."

Hassan suddenly said, "This cave is not a dead end."

There's a very narrow passage leading to another exit, but it's so narrow you can only crawl, and it's quite long—it might take twenty minutes.

Xu Yun and Natasha exchanged a glance.

"Where is the exit of the passage?" Xu Yun asked.

"About one kilometer downstream in the valley, behind a dense thicket of reeds."

Hassan said, "But I'm not sure if the passage is still open. I last used it five years ago, and there have been several earthquakes since then."

"It's better than sitting and waiting to die."

Xu Yun made a decision and said, "Natasha, you take Hassan and go first, I'll cover the rear."

"This time it's my turn to cover the rear."

Natasha insisted, "Your marksmanship is better than mine, making you more suitable to protect them as they advance."

Looking into her determined eyes, Xu Yun knew that arguing was pointless.

Time was of the essence; the pursuers could discover the cave entrance at any moment.

"Ok."

He compromised, saying, "But promise me, once we enter the passage, you'll follow immediately and not linger."

"I agree."

Hassan pointed out the location of the passage, deep inside the cave, half-hidden by a pile of rubble.

Xu Yun moved the stones, revealing a hole just big enough for one person to crawl through. It was pitch black inside and smelled of damp earth.

"There might be scorpions and snakes in the passage."

Hassan cautioned, "Be careful."

Xu Yun climbed in first to confirm that the passage was indeed clear, and then returned to help Hassan.

Natasha stood guard at the cave entrance, her rifle pointed outside.

Just as Hassan climbed into the passage, a cry of surprise suddenly came from outside.

An armed man discovered the cave entrance.

"They're here!"

Gunshots rang out instantly.

Natasha calmly returned fire, taking down the first two who rushed in with three bursts of fire.

But more enemies began throwing grenades into the cave.

The first grenade exploded at the entrance of the cave, sending clouds of dust falling from the cave ceiling.

Natasha was thrown back several steps by the shockwave, her ears ringing.

"Natasha, come in quickly!" Xu Yun called out from the passageway.

Natasha fired a few more shots, then quickly crawled toward the tunnel entrance.

Just as she was about to enter the passage, a second grenade rolled in.

Time seemed to slow down.

Natasha saw the grenade roll to the center of the cave, its fuse hissing.

Without hesitation, she lunged towards the passage with all her might, simultaneously turning and firing at the grenade.

The bullet hit the grenade, but instead of detonating it, it changed its trajectory.

The grenade rolled to the other side of the cave and exploded some distance from the entrance.

The shockwave from the explosion still propelled Natasha into the tunnel.

Xu Yun grabbed her arm and pulled her in forcefully.

Almost simultaneously, a third grenade exploded at the entrance, completely sealing off the entrance.

The passageway was pitch black, with only the headlamp on Xu Yun's head providing a faint light in the distance.

The shockwave from the explosion caused a lot of dirt to fall from the top of the tunnel, but the overall structure remained relatively stable.

"Are you alright?" Xu Yun asked.

Natasha coughed a few times, spat out the dirt in her mouth, and said, "Still alive. Where's Hassan?"

"It's about ten meters ahead."

The three began to crawl through the narrow passage.

The passage was indeed, as Hassan had said, very narrow, sometimes requiring one to squeeze through sideways.

The air was thin and carried a strong earthy smell.

Xu Yun could hear shouts and digging sounds coming from the direction of the cave behind him; the enemy was trying to clear the entrance.

After crawling for about fifteen minutes, a faint light appeared ahead.

Hassan's voice came through: "We're almost at the exit, but it's blocked by bush roots and needs to be cleared."

Xu Yun squeezed to the front and used his dagger to cut off the tangled tree roots.

The light grew brighter, and fresh air rushed into the passageway.

Finally, they emerged from the tunnel and found themselves in a dense thicket of reeds.

Xu Yun came out first, cautiously observing his surroundings.

It was indeed secluded, surrounded by tall reeds on three sides, with a dry riverbed in front.

The sounds of pursuers could be faintly heard in the distance, but they didn't seem to have found the exit yet.

He helped Natasha and Hassan out.

All three were covered in mud and looked disheveled, but at least they were safe for the time being.

"What do we do now?" Hassan asked, his leg injury making him even paler.

Xu Yun glanced at the sky; the sun was already beginning to set, and it would be dark in at most three hours.

"We need transportation."

He said, "Walking too slowly will make your legs unable to support you."

Natasha suddenly pointed into the distance.

"There's smoke there; it's probably a nomadic camp."

Indeed, about two kilometers to the northeast, wisps of smoke were rising from the chimneys.

In desert regions, cooking smoke usually signifies human settlements.

"Let's risk it and see."

Xu Yun made a decision, saying, "If they are friendly nomads, they might be able to help us."

If they are the enemy, we have no other choice.

They helped each other walk toward the direction of the cooking smoke.

With each step, Hassan's face turned pale with pain, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.

Natasha's wound was also bleeding, but she didn't utter a sound.

After walking for about forty minutes, they saw the camp.

There were a few simple tents, surrounded by a dozen or so camels.

Several Bedouins dressed in traditional robes are cooking over a fire.

The Bedouins spotted them and immediately took up arms to defend themselves.

But after seeing their disheveled state, an older Bedouin gestured for the others to lay down their weapons.

"Do you need help?" the old man asked in Arabic.

Hassan replied in fluent Arabic: “We encountered bandits in the desert, we are injured, and we need water, food, and a doctor.”

The old man carefully examined them, his gaze lingering for a moment on Xu Yun and Natasha's Western faces, before nodding and saying, "God says that helping those in need is a virtue. Come in."

They were led into the largest tent.

A middle-aged woman saw Hassan's wound and immediately took out herbs and a clean cloth.

Another young man brought water and food.

Xu Yun noticed that there were some old weapons hanging in the tent, as well as a yellowed map.

These Bedouins are clearly not ordinary nomads.

The old man seemed to sense Xu Yun's doubts and smiled, "We are warriors fighting for freedom, and this is one of our secret camps."

You encountered people from the 'Desert Eagle,' right? They're the only ones who operate in this area.

Xu Yun hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, we are on the run."

"Then you are very lucky."

The old man said, "'Desert Eagles' are our enemies. Last month they attacked one of our camps and killed three women and two children."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "You can rest here tonight, and tomorrow morning we will send someone to take you to a safe place."

But in exchange, I hope you can do us a favor.

"What kind of help?" Xu Yun asked warily.

The old man pulled a photograph from his pocket, showing a young Bedouin man, and said, "This is my grandson. He was kidnapped by the 'Desert Eagle' three days ago."

They demanded $50,000 for our ransom, but we didn't have that much money.

I heard that you escaped from their encirclement; you must have some extraordinary abilities.

"If you help us rescue him, we will protect you with our lives."

Xu Yun looked at Natasha and Hassan.

Hassan nodded weakly, while Natasha shrugged: "Anyway, we've already made enemies with them."

Xu Yun took a deep breath and turned to the old man: "Tell us the details, and we will do our best."

As night falls, the desert sky rises again.

Inside the Bedouin tent, a new plan is being conceived.

Meanwhile, in the Desert Eagle's camp, Abu Ali listened angrily to his subordinates' report.

"Three people, two of whom were injured, actually escaped from your forty men?"

His voice was icy as he said, "Find them, no matter the cost, find them."

Especially that woman; she has all the information we need in her head.

The men retreated from the tent with trepidation.

Abu Ali walked up to the map and drew a circle around the town of Al-Qaem with his finger.

"You won't get far."

He muttered to himself, "This desert is ultimately my territory."

Under the starry sky, both sides were preparing for the upcoming confrontation.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Sanya.

Jian Shiwei stood on the balcony of the villa, looking at the calm sea under the moonlight, and said softly, "You must come back safely."
-
P.S.: After writing too much about women and tycoons showing off, I want to write about the protagonist using a system to show off in a different way overseas! If you don't like this kind of thing, I'm sorry, I apologize! Go ahead and criticize me, I promise I won't argue back. (End of Chapter)