Crossing Over

"Ah..."

Lin Li suddenly sprang up from the hospital bed, gasping heavily, drenched in sweat.

Fear filled his eyes.

This was too terrifying.

Just moments ago, he had been wearing a suit, holding a bouquet of eleven roses with brilliant blossoms, along with a diamond ring bought with three years of savings. He had been about to propose to the girlfriend he had dated for two years.

He had thought she would definitely say yes. They were so well matched, so loving and in sync. Their love had remained unchanged for two years; there was no reason they should not stay together, build their own family, and spend the rest of their lives together under the name of home.

He had been happily imagining it.

Then the sky suddenly darkened.

Countless serpentine bolts of lightning crackled across the sky. Vast, boundless storm clouds churned with black and silver energy spheres amid chaotic winds.

A violent gale abruptly rose, silver lightning danced wildly, and black clouds blanketed the heavens. It looked like the end of the world.

The sun had been shining brightly just moments earlier, yet dark clouds now hung overhead. The weather had changed too quickly for Lin Li to process, and he stared in stunned disbelief.

While Lin Li was frozen in shock, a black energy sphere dropped above his head.

Then a bolt of lightning struck the black sphere directly above him.

It seemed to open a passage, and the energy sphere turned into a vortex.

The absurd sight left him so terrified that he could not react at all.

Lin Li was sucked into the vortex.

"What happened? Where am I?"

After waking up, Lin Li asked in alarm and confusion. What had that lightning and black sphere been? He had clearly been sucked inside, so why was he here now?

This seemed to be a laboratory. The numerous display screens around him made Lin Li deeply uneasy. Had he been dissected?

"Oh my God, our Asian guy is awake. Dr. Wells, Caitlin, get to the infirmary now."

Cisco picked up the intercom and called out loudly.

Soon afterward, Lin Li saw a young white woman and a thin middle-aged man with glasses sitting in a wheelchair enter.

The white woman rushed to Lin Li's side as soon as she entered, shining a penlight into his eyes. With a cold expression, she rattled off English that Lin Li could not understand. Cisco stood nearby, comforting him and easing his panic.

With Cisco's reassurance, Lin Li's fear of his surroundings gradually calmed.

Although Lin Li could not understand their language, he could tell that this did not seem like some twisted dissection experiment. At the very least, they had not tied him to the bed, which suggested they still had some ethics.

"Blood pressure is as high as 190, pulse is 280... All indicators are elevated, far beyond normal human levels."

After conducting a preliminary examination of Lin Li's body, Caitlin was somewhat surprised. He was far too strong and healthy. Had being struck by lightning turned him into Superman? As a bioengineering expert, she immediately wanted to study him.

Just as Caitlin wanted to conduct further tests, Lin Li stopped her.

"Does any of you speak Chinese? Tell me! Where am I? Why am I here? How long was I unconscious? Where's my girlfriend?"

Lin Li asked anxiously. Even if he had been treated, he should have been in Asia, surrounded by Asians—not waking up to face several foreigners. Something felt wrong, and he was deeply panicked.

"Oh no! Looks like the Asian guy and I were not meant to be friends."

Cisco joked. He had originally planned to make an Asian friend.

Caitlin helplessly indicated that she could not understand him either.

After they exchanged looks.

Dr. Wells steered his wheelchair over to Lin Li.

"Hello, I am Harrison Wells. You can call me Dr. Wells. What is your name?" His Chinese pronunciation was strange, but it was still clear enough to understand.

Dr. Wells extended his right hand to Lin Li.

"Lin Li. Lin is my family name, Li is my given name."

After Dr. Wells shook his hand and introduced everyone, Lin Li also learned the names of Cisco and Caitlin.

Dr. Wells then began to explain slowly.

"Lin Li, you have been unconscious for eight months. According to them, you were found in a Central City Police Department forensic lab."

"What? Eight months?"

Lin Li was startled. Eight months was such a long time.

What about his beloved? He had just been about to propose. No, no, he had to hurry back now. After not seeing him for eight months, that girl must have cried herself sick. She had always been so attached to him.

With that thought, Lin Li threw aside the white blanket and got out of bed. He had to return immediately. Eight months was far too long.

After lying in bed for eight months, his muscles should at least have become slack, atrophied, and weak. Yet Lin Li felt solid, powerful, and full of strength—he was even healthier than before. When he lightly clenched his fist, immense power surged forth. He felt like he could kill a tiger with one punch.

No normal person would be like this. He did not feel weak at all; he was energetic, strong, and fit. Looking down, he even discovered two massive pectorals and eight-pack abs. That was impossible. Forget the pecs—before he fell unconscious, he had even had a little belly. Could being unconscious have fitness benefits?

Had he been modified?

Lin Li's expression turned strange as he recalled some unpleasant science-fiction movies.

Dr. Wells ignored Lin Li and continued.

"On that day, the Particle Accelerator... then it exploded, creating a storm. Unfortunately, lightning struck you and Barry Allen, and you were both sent to the hospital. Later, due to misdiagnosis and power failures at the hospital, I brought you and Barry Allen to STAR Labs."

"The Particle Accelerator exploded!"

"Barry Allen!"

Lin Li's mind buzzed violently. What had happened, along with that name, made him unable to believe it.

He had been too panicked earlier to pay much attention to the others' names and appearances. Now that he looked carefully, he knew all of these people. He was very familiar with them.

One or two people having the same names was possible, but everyone sharing the same names, looking identical, and being in STAR Labs—combined with Barry Allen, the protagonist—could only mean one thing: he had crossed over!

On the way to propose, he had just finished watching the newly released thirteenth episode of the third season, "Gorilla," on February 22, 2017.

Barry Allen, The Flash.

Could that vortex have sucked him into the world of The Flash?

He had been too panicked to take in the entire environment before, but after Dr. Wells' explanation, Lin Li noticed another bed three meters away. The person on it, wearing a respirator, was the future Flash.

He stared blankly at Barry Allen.

Excitement surged through him. Anyone who had watched The Flash could not help yearning for that ultimate, exhilarating speed—the speed that surpassed everything, ignored physics, exceeded the speed of light, and could even run into the past to create another timeline for the world.

The Speed Force.

The fifth force, independent of the four fundamental forces.

Possessing such tremendous power was practically like becoming a god.

The chance to wield such power was impossible not to find exciting.

After the brief excitement passed.

A wave of gloom rose within him. Coming to this supernatural world was certainly exciting, but whenever he thought of the woman he loved in that other world, his heart felt unbearably bitter.

It was not a distance of eight months.

It was the distance of a world, a universe, a spacetime.

He might never be able to return.