Rescue

Central City. A red phantom, trailing yellow arcs of electricity behind him, flashed through the streets and alleys.

"Barry, Barry, respond if you can hear me!"

"Copy, Cisco. Loud and clear."

"Okay, the headset is fine at high speed. How's the suit holding up while you're moving?"

"The chest and abdomen are a little loose. If it were tighter and closer to my body, I'd run even better. Other than that, there are no problems."

"That's an easy fix. Okay, the sensors are fine. Testing complete. You can come back now."

"I'm going to run a little longer. Get some exercise."

Cisco and Lin Li exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly as they raised their hands for a high-five.

The suit was a success.

They were ready to have a drink to celebrate.

Just as Lin Li was about to get the champagne.

A live news broadcast popped up on the screen in front of Cisco.

The background showed a crumbling building, leaning and splitting toward one side. Fire engines blared, ladder trucks were deployed, rubble covered the scene, and citizens were fleeing the area.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm Yuri Bianchi, interrupting with a live news update. At the intersection of North Street and Fifth District in Central City, a seven-story residential building has suddenly collapsed and cracked apart. The cause is suspected to be the use of inferior materials by the contractor. The situation is extremely dangerous. The building could continue collapsing under its own weight at any moment. Firefighters are unable to enter and rescue the residents. Ladder trucks have been deployed, and firefighters are trying to calm the occupants inside. There are around a dozen people trapped within. Any sudden movement could cause the building to collapse further under the strain."

This was a small program Cisco had set up. Whenever there was a live news report, it would pop up immediately, because live reports generally involved life-threatening emergencies. Having them appear directly helped notify The Flash in time.

Seeing how urgent the situation was.

Cisco shouted into the comm, "Barry, there's a building collapse at the intersection of North Street and Fifth District. Get there immediately."

Barry replied, "Okay, Cisco. I'm on my way."

"Cisco, the building's about to collapse. I'm going in to save them first."

Barry arrived at the scene and saw heaps of broken stone and rubble, three or four red fire engines, extended ladder trucks, firefighters calming the residents inside the building, and a large crowd of citizens watching anxiously from afar.

"Barry, be careful. The building looks very fragile."

Before Cisco could finish, Barry charged into the building.

The Flash, surrounded by yellow arcs of electricity, rushed inside. The instant he entered, the building visibly tilted.

Barry raced upstairs, rescued a man whose leg was pinned beneath a stone, and carried him back out.

Then the building rumbled as though it were about to collapse.

"NO!!!!"

Barry cried out in panic. He had not expected the building to be this unstable, unable to withstand even the footfalls of a single person.

"Ah..."

The residents inside screamed in terror. Weeping and frightened cries blended into a chaotic din.

"Oh! No, don't do this."

"God, save them."

"Please hold on, don't collapse!"

The surrounding crowd watched the building in horror. Some believers prayed without stop, pleading desperately.

As though it had heard their prayers, the rumbling building stopped collapsing once more, so fragile that it could no longer endure any force at all.

Saving more than a dozen people at once was within Barry's speed capabilities, but only on level ground. Barry had not yet reached the point where he could run on walls, much less run along a tilted wall. If he missed a step, the building would truly collapse this time, killing more than a dozen people. Just now, when he had rescued only one person, the building had already begun to cave in. Luckily, it had stopped, or it would have scared him to death. He was nervous and at a loss.

Barry called out anxiously, "Cisco, the building can't take any force, and it's leaning too badly. I can't run inside to save them. What do we do?"

Cisco and Lin Li were watching the live broadcast.

When they saw a blurry red phantom darting in and out of the building, they were startled.

The building was simply too fragile. It had nearly collapsed again.

Hearing Barry's call, Cisco steadied him. "Barry, don't go back inside yet. It's too dangerous."

He did not know what to do either. In the end, he looked toward Lin Li, hoping Lin Li could come up with another solution.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Li said, "Barry, circle the building once. Keep your speed from causing vibrations in the building."

He continued to Cisco, "Cisco, activate the signal scan and construct a three-dimensional model of the building. I installed an external magnetic field detector in the sensors."

Cisco's fingers flew across the keyboard. The magnetic field scanned out the building and formed a three-dimensional model. More than a dozen red dots were marked within it—the magnetic fields emitted by human bodies, detected by the system.

Lin Li glanced at the three-dimensional model and said easily, "All right, Barry, listen to my instructions. Take off the lightning emblem on your chest. There's a switch beside it. Turn it on, then shake it wildly in your hand. It'll generate a biological gravitational magnetic field, enough to pull a person within thirty meters right in front of you."

Cisco gave Lin Li a huge thumbs-up for that feature.

Lin Li raised both thumbs as well, pointing them at Cisco to show that Cisco was impressive too. Then he nodded for Cisco to continue directing the operation. Cisco understood the rescue plan from there.

Cisco quickly said, "Okay, great. Barry, almost all the survivors are by the windows and balconies. Only one little one is curled up inside a room. Stand on the fire ladder and pull the people by the windows and balconies over as quickly as possible. Once you do, the building will tilt and collapse."

Barry asked, "What about the little one in the room?"

Cisco fell silent. His lips moved, but in the end, he still could not suggest abandoning a life.

Lin Li snatched the comm and shouted at Barry, "Barry, rush in and save that child. Once you've rescued the survivors on the balconies, the building will take at least three or four seconds to collapse completely."

"Your greatest danger isn't the building collapsing. You can run around ninety meters per second. You can absolutely make it into the building and save the child. The child is only about thirty meters away from you, so you have enough time. Watch the building's tilt and your footing. Don't miss a step. In other words, you'll need to run on a wall tilted at roughly seventy-five to forty-five percent, and the environment will be changing at any moment."

Barry hesitated. "Can I do it?"

Lin Li encouraged Barry, speaking into the comm with a firm voice. "Barry, you can do it. Use every bit of energy in your body. Run!!"

Cisco also shouted encouragement excitedly. "That's right, Barry, you can do it! GO, GO, GO!"

Barry took a deep breath. Yellow arcs of electricity burst from his eyes as he murmured, "All right. I can do this."

At that moment, both of their hearts clenched as they stared unblinkingly at the screen.

Barry dropped into a runner's stance, yellow electricity coiling around him as fierce sparks flared from his eyes.