Back on the streets of London, Alex had already calmed his excitement. He looked around, picked a direction, and headed toward the Royal Air Force airfield. Alex was unfamiliar with London; he had come and gone in such a hurry that he knew none of the places here. The only place he was somewhat familiar with was the Royal Air Force airfield where his plane had landed before.
After only a few steps, Alex reached the vicinity of the airfield. Two British soldiers immediately approached him, their faces wary. "Military restricted area. Unauthorized personnel keep out!"
"Hello, I'm Alex Zhang..."
Before Alex could finish, the two British soldiers raised their rifles, their dark muzzles aimed at him as they shouted sternly, "Leave immediately, or you will be shot on sight!"
Alex looked at the two British soldiers, anger rising in his chest, but there was nothing he could do. He raised both hands and slowly backed away. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving. Right away!"
Only after he had backed away more than a dozen steps did the two British soldiers lower their guns. Even so, they did not relax their guard, their faces still full of vigilance as they watched Alex.
After retreating about a hundred meters, Alex turned around, glanced about, and headed off in a random direction. He kept muttering to himself, Should I go find Churchill? Or the British royal family?
Before long, Alex entered the heart of London. The heavy dampness settled on him, quickly forming beads of water on his leather jacket. They slid down to the ground, splashing droplets everywhere.
As he walked, a newsboy suddenly ran past him, clutching a stack of newspapers and shouting at the top of his lungs, "The greatest escape group in history arrives in London today! Churchill personally welcomes them at the Port of London!"
Alex froze for a moment, then understood. This "greatest escape group in history" had to be Audrey and the others. But why had they only just arrived in London?
Filled with doubt, Alex followed the crowd surging toward the Port of London.
From afar, Alex saw more than a dozen large ships docked on the River Thames. People lined both sides of the decks, while the docks were packed with a sea of people. More than a hundred police officers were struggling to maintain order.
Alex had sharp eyes and quickly spotted Neil Grant at the bow of the first ship. Dressed in a Finnish military uniform, Neil looked exceptionally heroic. Alex chuckled and used Teleportation to appear beside Neil, who was waving to the crowd on shore. "Hey, Neil. Long time no see!"
Neil Grant jumped in fright. Looking at Alex, who had suddenly appeared before him, he seemed unable to believe his own eyes. He stood there blankly for a long while before shouting in delight, "Alex, you're alive!" After saying it in Finnish, Neil repeated it in clumsy English.
"It won't be that easy to kill me." Alex chuckled, looking surprised. "Oh? You even learned English?"
"I'll be fighting alongside the Allied forces from now on, so I had to learn some English." Neil's English carried a distinctly Nordic accent that gave it a unique flavor.
Alex nodded, then looked around and asked in surprise, "Where's Toby? Why don't I see him?"
Neil's expression stiffened as he cautiously asked, "You don't know?" Neil had assumed Alex had survived because of Toby, but it now seemed that was not the case.
Alex frowned in confusion. "Know what?"
Neil sighed and told him what had happened on the Patsjoki River. At the end, he looked at Alex with guilt written across his face. "Alex, I'm sorry. For the lives of seventy thousand people, I could only..."
"I would have preferred you do that!" Alex shook his head, showing that he did not mind at all. Then he gave a bitter smile. "It's just that Toby and the others got dragged into this." Having fallen into Hydra's hands, Toby and the others were almost certainly doomed.
As the two of them lamented in silence, Audrey suddenly ran out of the cabin, her face filled with anxiety. When she saw Alex standing at the bow, she slowed for an instant, then rushed forward even faster and threw herself into his arms. "Brother, you're finally back!"
Alex stroked Audrey's hair and turned to look at Neil.
"I told her you had gone to take care of something and would be back soon," Neil explained quietly, his expression agonized. "These past few days, she asked about you several times every day. It gave me such a headache."
Alex nodded slightly and smiled in thanks. "Thank you, Neil."
While comforting Audrey, Alex looked at Neil and asked in surprise, "By the way, why did you only arrive in London now?"
Neil shook his head helplessly. "** had blockaded the North Sea, so we had to circle back through the Atlantic Ocean."
A short while later, the ship docked. Neil was the first to disembark, with Alex holding Audrey's hand behind him. The people aboard the ship followed them out.
"Neil Grant of the Finnish Defense Forces, reporting to the Prime Minister!" Neil Grant stood ramrod straight, saluted, and spoke in a booming voice.
Churchill wore a thick woolen overcoat, and his body was somewhat stooped, but he straightened himself at that moment and returned the salute. With confidence written all over his face, he said, "The Allied nations welcome your arrival. We will drive out **, without a doubt." Then Churchill looked past Neil in confusion. "May I ask which one of you is Alex?"
Standing behind Neil, Alex carefully studied this great man from history. He looked like an ordinary old man, but his vigor could give others immense strength. In particular, the confidence that came from deep within his bones always put people at ease.
Hearing Churchill's words, Alex stepped forward with a modest smile. "Alex greets Mr. Churchill."
Churchill had clearly not expected the one who had accomplished this "great escape" to be a young man barely in his twenties. He was stunned for a moment before recovering, then tightly grasped Alex's hand and laughed heartily. "With such a heroic young man among us, why should we fear that ** cannot be eliminated!"
"You flatter me, Mr. Churchill."
After a simple yet grand welcoming ceremony, Churchill invited Alex to dine with him at the Prime Minister's residence. It was a dinner Alex would never forget.
When Alex left the Prime Minister's residence and returned to the apartment Churchill had specially arranged for him, Audrey eagerly crowded around him and asked curiously, "Was the dinner at the Prime Minister's residence good?"
Alex looked utterly miserable and complained with exaggerated indignation, "I swear, I'll never eat British food again. It was absolutely terrible!"
"I thought it was all right!" Audrey tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"Once we get back to New York, I'll treat you to real food!" After that British dinner, Alex practically wanted to return to Chinatown at once. Compared to Uncle An's cooking, British food was simply dog shit!
"Alex, come try on these clothes. I had them specially made for you." As they spoke, Ella emerged from a room to the side carrying an outfit. "Tomorrow is the day you receive your medal, so you need to dress nicely."
Alex obediently changed into the clothes, stretched his arms and legs, then turned in a circle. Satisfied, he said, "They fit perfectly. Thank you, ma'am!"
Audrey had disappeared for a while, but when she returned, she had a bow tie in her hands. "Brother, wear this too!"
Alex put on the bow tie and examined himself in the mirror. Somewhat smugly, he said, "Audrey, don't you think your brother looks handsome?"
Audrey happily played along, looking up at him with admiration. "Brother is the handsomest!"
After receiving his medal, Alex declined the banquet invitations from the British royal family and the United Kingdom's various dignitaries. As if fleeing for his life, he left the United Kingdom with Audrey and Ella and boarded a ship bound for New York.
Germany was carrying out frenzied bombings of the United Kingdom, and flying was practically suicide. Alex could only choose to travel by ship, which was relatively safer.
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