As Ethan walked home, he slowly recalled what had happened at Tony’s house.
He couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
‘Wasn’t Tony Stark supposed to have a really sharp tongue?
Why didn’t he mock me relentlessly?
That’s strange.’
What Ethan didn’t know was that this had also been Tony Stark’s first time encountering someone with such abilities.
After seeing another side of the world for the first time, Tony had restrained his usual temper.
At the same time, however, a desire for greater power had begun to take root in his heart.
It would eventually become one of the seeds that led to the creation of his Iron Man armour.
The night was beautiful.
Ethan didn’t immediately return home.
Instead, he continued walking slowly.
For some reason, he suddenly felt incredibly lonely and isolated in this world.
‘I’m really lonely.
Really lonely.
In this incredible world, why do I feel so desolate despite having such powerful abilities?
Could it be…’
Finally, Ethan realised why he had been feeling lonely.
‘So that’s it?
I…
I…
Well, fine.
I’m lovesick.’
‘School starts in two weeks.
I’ll be starting high school too.
It’s about time I found a girlfriend who shares my feelings.’
Thinking about this, Ethan began looking forward to his high school life.
At the very least, he wanted to find a girlfriend, preferably someone he could spend his entire life with.
Having been influenced by Chinese values, Ethan wasn’t particularly fond of the casual attitude toward relationships he had seen among many Americans.
Instead, he wanted to find a relatively conservative, gentle girl who wasn’t too strong-willed and could become a good wife for life.
As he walked, his Observation Haki suddenly picked up a soft voice.
The voice sounded young, and its owner seemed to be in need of help.
Ethan, who had already been thinking about his future wife, immediately became alert.
‘Could I really get the chance to play the hero and find my future wife this quickly?’
Ethan decided that he should go and take a look immediately.
He repelled himself with his Paw-Paw Fruit and rapidly shot toward the direction from which the voice had come.
Today, Hannah felt extremely unlucky.
She was also disappointed in herself.
She had always been timid and insecure since childhood.
Because she had never made many friends, she spent most of her time following her best friend, Gwen Stacy.
Gwen, however, had always been the centre of attention.
Wherever she went, she attracted the gazes of the boys around her.
Standing beside Gwen, Hannah seemed almost invisible.
Gwen was a good girl and had never looked down on Hannah because of this.
Instead, she often comforted Hannah and encouraged her to be more confident.
But Hannah simply couldn’t bring herself to become confident.
This also made her mother extremely worried.
Hannah’s father had died when she was young, leaving only her mother, herself, and her thirteen-year-old younger brother to depend on one another.
Today, Gwen had called Hannah and told her that school would start in two weeks.
Both of them would be attending Midtown High School.
Gwen had therefore contacted several of their classmates who had already decided to attend Midtown High and arranged a gathering together.
Hannah also felt that she couldn’t continue living like this.
Forget about getting a boyfriend.
She at least needed to become closer to her classmates and spend some time with them.
So she agreed to Gwen’s invitation.
They had a great time at the gathering.
Of course, that didn’t include Hannah.
Once again, hardly anyone paid attention to her.
Apart from greeting everyone when she first arrived, almost nobody had voluntarily spoken to her throughout the entire evening.
Hannah felt extremely disappointed, but she still quietly stayed with everyone until the gathering ended.
The gathering had gone on rather late.
It was almost midnight.
In a country like the United States, walking home alone at night could be dangerous, especially for a young girl like Hannah, who looked like an easy target.
Hannah walked home alone, feeling somewhat frightened.
It was the first time she had ever been out on the streets this late.
She kept her head lowered as she walked, silently encouraging herself to stay calm.
When she was about two kilometres from home, she encountered several drunk thugs.
The moment they saw Hannah walking alone with her head lowered, they acted as though they had discovered something amusing.
One after another, they surrounded her.
“Hey, little girl.
Out this late at night all by yourself?
Are you feeling lonely?
How about your big brothers take you somewhere to have some fun?”
“Hahaha, Jones, don’t scare her.
Little sister, come with us.
We can go sing karaoke, or we can take you for a drive.
What do you say?”
The thugs laughed loudly as they harassed Hannah.
Hannah was forced into a corner.
She tightly clutched her clothes, her bright eyes visible behind her brown glasses as she stared at the thugs in terror.
“Please, just let me go home.
I want to go home.
Somebody, please help me…”
Hannah’s voice trembled as she begged them from the corner.
Tears continuously streamed down her face, making her look utterly helpless.
Her appearance only made the thugs laugh even harder.
Just as they began touching her and preparing to forcibly take her away, a voice suddenly sounded beside them.
“How do you want to die?”
The thugs were startled when they suddenly noticed a strangely dressed boy standing nearby.
His eyes were fixed sharply on them.
However, they weren’t frightened.
What a joke.
There were four or five strong men here.
Why would they be afraid of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old kid?
They were merely surprised.
There hadn’t been anyone nearby just moments ago, so how had this boy suddenly appeared?
And now he was actually threatening them.
When Hannah heard the voice, she immediately felt that it was the most wonderful voice in the world.
She thought someone had finally come to save her.
But when she saw Ethan standing beside the thugs, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat disappointed.
There was even a trace of concern in her eyes as she looked at him.
When Ethan had first sensed the situation and rushed over, he had already decided to see what the girl he was about to rescue looked like.
If she turned out to be some glamorous, spoiled woman, he would simply deal with the thugs and leave.
But if she matched his preferences and wasn’t a blonde, blue-eyed American beauty, he intended to put on a good performance.
At the very least, he could gently comfort her and perhaps try to get her phone number.
The moment he appeared and saw Hannah’s pitiful appearance, however, his thoughts changed.
She had a petite figure, frightened eyes, and a trembling body.
Her hair wasn’t black, but it was a deep brown, and she had dark eyes.
Looking at Hannah like this, Ethan actually felt an instinctive desire to protect her.
‘This is it.
This is exactly what I want.
That gentle, dependent, obedient feeling.’
‘I have to make a good impression and spend some time getting to know this girl.’
‘After all, girls like this are rare in America.
If I let one slip away, there’ll be one less.’
With that thought, Ethan stared at Hannah before turning his attention to the thugs.
Then he spoke.