Lin Li thought it over carefully and felt there was at least a ninety percent chance that Dr. Wells would teach him about spatial wormholes, black holes, and the like, dragging things out until Barry had grown stronger.
Of course, if Wells used tricks like claiming he was a stowaway who had to be deported back to the East to stall for time until Barry grew stronger, Lin Li had no good solution either. When the time came, he could only fight to the death.
Lin Li felt a sense of urgency. According to the television series timeline, there was less than a year left in the first season. It was an extremely short amount of time, and he feared he would fail to create a way home.
Tomorrow, he would force Wells' hand. He could not wait any longer.
Lin Li clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and drifted into a light sleep.
He could no longer enter deep sleep. Deep sleep left him too unaware of the outside world. If anything happened and Wells caught him off guard, he would be completely finished.
He would rather spend an extra four or five hours in light sleep to ensure his safety.
The battle between him and Wells had begun tonight.
Ten in the morning.
Lin Li had remained in the basement, sitting off to one side with his legs crossed.
Just moments ago, he had asked Cisco to notify Dr. Wells to come down to the basement. He had something to show Dr. Wells.
"Dr. Wells, Lin Li said he has something to show you in the basement."
"What is it?"
"I don't know. He didn't say."
Wells grew suspicious. Just yesterday, he had acted, relocating and settling Grodd, as well as placing a balanced magnetic field simulator in the Time Vault.
And today, Lin Li had something to show him? No matter how he thought about it, it was suspicious.
Dr. Wells secretly remained on guard. He did not think Lin Li had discovered that he was Reverse-Flash, but he found the situation strange. Today, he had planned to give Lin Li some materials to study on his own and stall him for the time being.
"Dr. Wells, you're here. I have something I'd like to show you."
When he saw Dr. Wells descend in his wheelchair, Lin Li spoke with an expression of delight.
Dr. Wells smiled and praised him. "What have you made this time? That little thing of yours yesterday was quite good. A very clever idea."
Lin Li shook his head and smiled. "That was just a little toy, nothing worth mentioning. Look..."
After speaking, Lin Li pointed at three sandbags lined up side by side.
The three sandbags stood in a row. Without looking carefully, one might have thought there was only one.
Wells looked at the sandbags in confusion. "This is..."
At that moment, Lin Li raised his hand and extended his index finger. A faint white light flashed.
With a sharp whoosh, a silver beam shot toward the sandbags.
"Puff, puff, puff!"
The silver beam pierced through all three sandbags.
Fine grains of iron sand spilled from finger-sized holes in the sandbags.
A burnt smell spread through the air as the iron sand trickled onto the floor.
A terrifying degree of penetration, and extreme heat.
Wells' pupils contracted. If that struck a human body, it would undoubtedly pierce straight through it.
Lin Li said, "Dr. Wells, I measured it. The compressed electric current beam has a range of one hundred and twenty meters, and its speed reaches fifteen hundred meters per second—four times the speed of sound."
"Doctor, do you think that within one hundred and twenty meters, this electric current beam could hit a super-speedster like Barry?"
Wells removed his glasses, thought for a moment, then nodded. "In theory, yes. Barry's speed is three hundred and twenty meters per second. At four times the speed of sound, he would not be able to react in time. But the range is too short. Before you can aim at a speedster, he would already be gone. So it is only theoretical."
Wells sneered inwardly. Although this electric current beam was fast, it was meaningless. He could not even aim it; he could only fire wildly. Hit a speedster? What a joke. What did he take speedsters for? The instant he raised his hand and was seen, there would be no chance whatsoever of hitting one.
Lin Li continued, "I can use biological gravitational magnetism to temporarily halt a speedster's movement. As long as I have 0.1 seconds, it should be a guaranteed hit."
Wells fell silent.
"It's not just my fingers that can fire electric current beams. I can fire them from anywhere on my body at any time."
"In the future, I can also study magnetic fields and capture an opponent's magnetic field, giving the electric current beams tracking ability."
"And if that still isn't enough, I'll develop an electromagnetic cannon. The moment a speedster stops, I'll blow him away with one shot!"
When Wells heard Lin Li say that he could fire electric current beams from all over his body, he immediately felt that Lin Li would be troublesome. That meant he could no longer launch high-speed close-range attacks against him.
Then, when he heard Lin Li mention capturing an opponent's magnetic field, he became somewhat concerned. A speedster's magnetic field was undoubtedly fast-changing and unpredictable, but that did not mean Lin Li could not capture it. The Speed Force had a certain magnetic field as well, especially if Barry, The Flash, was willing to cooperate with him.
By the time Lin Li even brought up an electromagnetic cannon, Dr. Wells was genuinely startled.
He was not afraid of Lin Li. But being targeted by Lin Li in this way would severely obstruct his plans.
He knew that Lin Li, who could manipulate electrical energy, would absolutely be able to develop the magnetic field applications and electromagnetic cannon he described if given enough time.
Most importantly, Wells believed Lin Li's ideas had a very high chance of becoming reality.
Wells touched his face, put his glasses back on, and said, "Why are you targeting Barry so deliberately?"
Here came the main act.
Lin Li put on the look of someone whose inner worries no one understood and slowly said, "I'm not targeting Barry."
"Actually, after Barry and I went out to eat that day..."
"A man in yellow took me to the outskirts."
"He was also a super-speedster. He was incredibly fast, faster than Barry. Perhaps even my electric current beams were slower than him."
"He nearly killed me. If he hadn't suddenly stopped..."
"I might already be dead."
"I can't die. I need to return to my world. At the very least, I need to be able to protect myself and ensure that I can return safely to my world."
"That's why I've been researching ways to deal with speedsters."
Dr. Wells pondered for a while before saying, "You mean there's another speedster like Barry? And he wants to kill you? Why?"
"Yes. He seemed furious that I had crossed into this world. I want to go back too, but there's no way."
Dr. Wells nodded and analyzed, "Your crossing may have disrupted some unknown event or force, provoking his anger. Like a guardian protecting his own world, he became enraged by an outsider's sudden intrusion. To calm that anger, you can only return to your own world."
Lin Li was practically shocked. Doctor, could you stop whitewashing yourself like that? A guardian? I've watched The Flash. Doctor, that was quite the boast. You've always been so scientific.
Lin Li said in an "annoyed" tone, "How can I go back? I want to return too."
Dr. Wells smiled comfortingly at Lin Li. "Don't be afraid. Everything has a beginning and an end. Since you crossed over here, perhaps there is a passage that can take you home again."
Lin Li's eyes lit up. He was not pretending this time; they truly lit up. He suddenly remembered the vortex from that day. Wasn't that a passage? Just like in the second season of The Flash, there was a breach that could let him return to the real world.
Lin Li felt a faint sense of anticipation.
Before you continue