The Netherlands

In the end, Zhang Xuan said nothing more. After leaving Steve and Bucky a sum of money, he departed the Brooklyn apartment and made his way to Stark Industries in Manhattan.

"Alex, Europe is in chaos right now. Going there at this time is far too dangerous!" Standing before an old-fashioned plane, Howard couldn't help but try once more to dissuade Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan shook his head, his expression resolute. "That's precisely why I need to get to Europe as quickly as possible. I'm afraid if I delay, there won't be any clues left." He repeated the excuse he had used to deceive everyone earlier.

Howard gave Zhang Xuan a long, searching look, then sighed and offered a sincere blessing. "Alex, I wish you success in your endeavor. Return safely soon!"

"Don't worry, I'm not about to give up my thirty percent stake in Stark Industries!" Zhang Xuan joked lightly, then stepped onto the plane.

The aircraft of this era was far from the advanced jets of the 21st century—it was primitive, to say the least. Honestly, Zhang Xuan didn't dare trust such a plane; even inching his way via Teleportation would be safer. But if he did that, he'd have no way to explain it.

Boarding the plane, he found a window seat and sat down, closing his eyes to feign rest. In his mind, however, he was mapping out the itinerary for this European trip. He had only one goal in going to Europe: to find someone. Not the father he had no memory of, but a girl—a woman destined to one day captivate the world.

The mere thought of this woman made Zhang Xuan tremble with excitement. She was the goddess of his heart, someone whom even the beauty-filled era of the 21st century could not replace in his esteem.

She was none other than the woman known as "the angel who fell to earth"—Audrey Hepburn!

But this was 1940. The future angel was only eleven years old, enduring endless suffering in the occupied Netherlands. Many of her loved ones had been brutally killed, and she was forced to live in poverty with her mother, sometimes even subsisting on tulip bulbs.

Imagining the pain the future angel was enduring, Zhang Xuan wished he could appear by her side instantly and rescue her from her misery. This was also the main reason he had abandoned the idea of taking a ship and chosen the plane instead—he wanted to end the angel's suffering as soon as possible.

After a grueling flight of over ten hours, the old-fashioned plane, which Zhang Xuan considered highly unsafe, finally landed safely at an airport outside London, England. This was a Royal Air Force base. As far as the eye could see, rows of fighter planes lined the tarmac, along with British soldiers in uniform coming and going.

Because he was in a hurry to rescue the angel, Zhang Xuan hadn't taken a civilian flight. Instead, he had gone directly to Howard, which was the only way he could have reached England so quickly and safely.

Stepping off the plane, Zhang Xuan glanced at the rows of "antique" fighter planes on the airfield, curled his lip slightly, and followed an officer's lead to leave the base without a fuss.

June in London was still damp, with low-hanging clouds threatening rain at any moment. Without any desire to admire the melancholy of the foggy city, Zhang Xuan headed straight for the train station. Unlike the 21st century, England and the European Continent were still separated by a natural moat—the English Channel. To cross from England to the continent, one could only take a plane or a ship.

A plane was out of the question for Zhang Xuan—who knew if they'd run into the German Air Force? With no other choice, he opted for a ship. Fortunately, it wouldn't take too long; at most, it would cost him a day.

After spending a day crossing the English Channel, Zhang Xuan finally set foot on the war-torn European Continent, landing in Calais, France.

Compared to London's damp and muggy weather, France's sunshine was far more brilliant. After nearly two days of stifling confinement, Zhang Xuan could finally breathe fresh air.

He had originally planned to rest a few days in France. The consecutive days of travel had worn him out. In both his past and present life, Zhang Xuan had never been physically strong. He stood a meter eighty tall, but was only slightly more robust than Steve.

However, when Zhang Xuan overheard the latest battle reports, any thought of rest vanished.

The German army was launching a fierce assault on the defensive lines in northern France. It wouldn't be long before the German war machine pressed toward Paris! Recalling the news he'd heard in England about the Dunkirk evacuation of the Anglo-French forces, Zhang Xuan realized France would soon fall. He didn't have much time left!

With that in mind, Zhang Xuan had no choice but to press on without pause, heading straight for the Netherlands. Since the Netherlands had already fallen, he naturally couldn't take a train or ship there. But that wasn't a problem for Zhang Xuan. In the chaos of Europe, he could use Teleportation without restraint. His only concern was having to cross the German defensive lines along the way.

Fortunately, with over twenty years of experience from his past life, hiding his tracks came easily.

After wasting nearly an entire night, Zhang Xuan finally arrived in Arnhem, Netherlands. This was the city where Audrey Hepburn now lived. She was studying ballet at the Arnhem Music Academy—becoming a ballet dancer was her original dream.

Arnhem wasn't as dilapidated as Zhang Xuan had expected. If not for the German soldiers occasionally patrolling the streets, he would hardly have believed this was a recently occupied city.

Zhang Xuan didn't know where the angel lived, but that didn't stump him. After some inquiries, he found the Arnhem Music Academy. It, too, had been spared the ravages of war. The campus still had many pretty girls in school uniforms, all students of the academy.

Teleporting silently into the school, Zhang Xuan began searching for the angel's trace.

Patience paid off. In a dance studio, he spotted a slender figure. Though she hadn't fully developed yet, and her exquisite face hadn't fully matured, every movement, every expression told Zhang Xuan that this was the angel he was looking for—Audrey Hepburn!

Zhang Xuan was eager to go up and greet the goddess of his heart, but he knew that rushing forward would only frighten her. Suppressing his excitement, he quietly watched the angel's graceful dance.

As he watched, his mind began to churn. How could he approach the angel? And once he did, how could he earn her trust and convince her to leave Europe, this land of turmoil, with him?

But as he kept watching, his thoughts gradually came to a halt. All his questions were forgotten. His mind was left with only the elegant figure in the dance studio, like a pure white swan.

While Zhang Xuan was completely immersed in Audrey Hepburn's beautiful dancing, he had no idea that his reckless use of Teleportation had already caught the attention of certain special departments within the German military. Some hidden individuals had also taken a keen interest in him, and they were all working tirelessly to track him down!