Chapter 1

"Hey, buddy, are you okay?"

Zhang Xuan opened his eyes in a daze, his entire body wracked with pain. He froze. "Why am I not dead yet?"

Zhang Xuan remembered being surrounded and attacked. He had tried to escape, but in the end, all he saw was a proton bomb exploding beside him, followed by his body slowly falling apart...

"Hey, buddy, are you okay? Do you need help?" The voice from before sounded beside Zhang Xuan's ear again.

Only then did Zhang Xuan realize that the other person was not speaking Chinese, but English. What stunned him even more was that, despite always being terrible at English, he could understand every word clearly.

Struggling to his feet, Zhang Xuan saw a frail blond boy standing beside him. There was a hint of concern in the boy's blue eyes. "Buddy, do you need me to take you to the hospital?"

Zhang Xuan looked around and found himself in an alley lined with red-brick buildings that he had only ever seen in movies. Outside the alley was a street about four meters wide, utterly deserted. Then, a black vintage car slowly drove past. Zhang Xuan stared at it blankly. People still drove cars like that?

"Where is this?" Panic flashed through Zhang Xuan's eyes. He turned to the blond boy beside him and asked anxiously, "What time is it now?"

The blond boy raised his wrist and checked the mechanical watch on it before looking back at Zhang Xuan. "Dutch Cinema. It's 3:15 in the afternoon."

"Dutch Cinema? Where is that? And what year is it?" Zhang Xuan had never heard that name before. He wanted to think, but the moment he used his brain, it felt as though a drill were boring into his skull, causing excruciating pain.

"You're not from Brooklyn?" The blond boy looked at Zhang Xuan suspiciously.

"Brooklyn? This is New York!" Zhang Xuan looked around in disbelief. He had been to New York before; he had even peed on the Statue of Liberty's torch. But the New York he remembered had been prosperous and bustling. How could it possibly look this desolate? Suddenly, a possibility occurred to him. He grabbed the blond boy in front of him and shouted excitedly, "Tell me, what year is it now?!"

"1940!" Startled by Zhang Xuan's sudden madness, the blond boy took a fearful step back.

"1940?!" Zhang Xuan was completely dumbfounded. 1940... wasn't that World War II? How had he ended up here?

"Are you okay? Do you need me to call a doctor for you?" Seeing Zhang Xuan collapse weakly to the ground, the blond boy hesitated for a moment before approaching again and asking worriedly.

It was as though Zhang Xuan had not heard him. His vacant eyes suddenly lit up, and a spark of fire surged in his heart. That's right, my Teleportation! The instant Zhang Xuan thought of it, he tried to use his ability. But as soon as he focused, it felt as though his entire head had been struck by a heavy hammer. Without surprise, his head spun, his vision went dark, and Zhang Xuan passed out on the spot.

When Zhang Xuan woke from the darkness, he found himself lying in a hospital. The blond boy sat in a chair beside him, holding a pencil and drawing something in a notebook.

"Thank you." Zhang Xuan sat up in bed and sincerely thanked the blond boy.

Hearing his voice, the blond boy hurriedly put away his pencil and notebook. He looked at Zhang Xuan with delight. "Oh, you're finally awake! You've been asleep for three days. It's unbelievable!"

"Three days?!" Zhang Xuan had not expected to have been unconscious for three whole days. Just as he was about to thank him again, the blond boy spoke first.

"By the way, where is your family? I've searched for three days, but I couldn't find them. I don't even know your name." The blond boy smiled as he walked to the bedside and held out his hand. "Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Steve, Steve Rogers."

Zhang Xuan froze at those words. Just as he was about to speak, countless pieces of information suddenly flooded into his mind, all of them memories from this life.

Alex Zhang. That was Zhang Xuan's name in this life. Zhang came from his mother, a woman from China, a gentle and quiet woman. As for Alex, according to his memories, it was the name of the father he had never met—at least, that was what his mother had told him.

Perhaps Alex Zhang's lingering soul was at work, or perhaps Zhang Xuan's regrets from his previous life were influencing him, but the image of that gentle, quiet woman kept replaying in his mind. She was a great mother. Though he had never met her, Zhang Xuan could feel from his memories the love and care she had given her son. Yet fate toyed with them. That great and kind mother had died three years ago, and Alex Zhang's temperament had changed drastically. He spent every day drowning in grief.

Three days ago, while drinking himself into a stupor at a bar, he had angered a ** and been beaten to death in an alley. Then Zhang Xuan, who had traveled through time from 2014, possessed his body. Zhang Xuan and Alex Zhang had undergone similar experiences. As he recalled Alex Zhang's life, he felt it deeply, and tears unknowingly streamed down his face as he sat on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Steve looked at Zhang Xuan nervously, not knowing why he had suddenly started crying.

"From now on, I'm Alex Xuan Zhang!" Zhang Xuan steadied himself and quickly accepted his current identity. He looked at Steve Rogers, wiped the tears from his face, and slowly said, "Hello, I'm Alex Xuan Zhang. As for my family, they're all gone." Alex's only family had been his mother, that gentle and quiet woman. As for the father he had never met, Alex had never acknowledged him, and neither did Zhang Xuan.

"I'm sorry!" Steve apologized awkwardly, but he did not forget to comfort him. "Our loved ones may be gone, but we're still alive. We have to live well, so they won't worry in heaven."

"Thank you. I'll live well." Alex Zhang had not endured his grief, but Zhang Xuan had, because he knew that living well was the best way to repay them.

"Steve, is that kid awake yet?" Just then, a handsome, upright man pushed open the door and walked in. He was so tall that he nearly reached the doorframe.

"Bucky, this is Alex Xuan Zhang! Alex, this is James Barnes. You can call him Bucky. He's my best friend!" Seeing the newcomer, Steve hurried over, pulled Bucky to the bedside, and introduced them with a cheerful expression.

"Hello, Alex." Bucky nodded in greeting, then complained, "You're finally awake. Steve and I have been stuck in this damned hospital for three days!"

Zhang Xuan could only thank them repeatedly. Both of them were his lifesavers. "Steve, Bucky, thank you!" The moment he finished speaking, Zhang Xuan suddenly froze. Why did those two names sound so familiar?

Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes... weren't they Captain America and the Winter Soldier, that pair of best friends?