The American troops could bomb whoever they wished and had enough combat power to go where they wished, but they were still not fully able to control Afghanistan, especially the territories controlled by Islamic militants and the armed tribes. This was why the CIA could only use drones and sky-based surveillance in these areas and did not dare step foot on the surface. 

The three of them took a whole week to get out of that mountainous area, then through the Pashtun tribe territory and into the Wakhan Corridor with Dayetia leading them. All they had run into during this time were remotely controlled drones and American warplanes which had whooshed past; they encountered no militant forces on the ground. 

The failed mission that night had been the CIA’s best chance to capture Xia Lei and they had lost it. Xia Lei had escaped again, and was with Dayetia, someone with good relations with the tribes. This was like a fish slipping into the ocean, and it was almost impossible to capture it again. 

But the CIA was not willing to give up just like that. They constantly sent out all sorts of surveillance and reconnaissance forces, and they did not stop though...