Keep Going

Two days later, Cisco held something that looked like a tennis racket.

The net glowed a deep blue, while the handle was twice as thick as a tennis racket's.

"Guys, this will usher in a new understanding of the world, shatter our old perceptions, and lead humanity, the universe, and the world toward progress. This tennis racket will be called..."

Cisco raised the tennis racket high and shouted at Lin Li.

Before he could say the name, Lin Li beat him to it.

"Radiation Source Detector."

Cisco said unhappily, "Hey, we worked hard for two days to design and build this tennis racket for you, and you stole my right to name it. That's incredibly unethical."

Lin Li spread his hands. "I thought your name definitely wouldn't be as good as mine."

"What? How could you be sure that 'Cross-Dimensional Energy Detector' is worse than your 'Radiation Source Detector'?"

Cisco protested vehemently and continued.

"No, let's have Outsider judge it and decide which name to use."

Just then, Barry appeared in the lab amid yellow arcs of electricity, blowing Cisco's hair backward.

"Morning, guys. I'm not late, am I?"

Barry smiled casually.

"You're not late," Cisco said. "Once we settle this last issue, we can leave."

Lin Li looked helplessly at Barry and spread his hands. "Let's go. We can talk on the way. I can't wait any longer."

Barry looked at Lin Li and Cisco in confusion, then followed them out of STAR Labs.

Cisco kept chattering. "Bro, let me make this clear first. I put fifty percent of the effort into this 'tennis racket.' Even if we don't use my name, we can't use yours entirely either. I don't think yours is all that great!"

Barry had no idea what they were talking about. "What are you talking about? What name?"

Holding the "tennis racket," Cisco asked Barry for his opinion. "Barry, which sounds better: 'Cross-Dimensional Energy Detector' or 'Radiation Source Detector'?"

Barry looked at the "tennis racket," took it, and examined it. "This is for detecting the energy reactions in my lab? It looks like a tennis racket. Why not call it the 'Tennis Racket Detector'?"

Cisco said helplessly, "Okay, it looks like there's no way to settle this thing's name. We'll have to combine them. From now on, this thing will be called the 'Cross-Dimensional Energy Radiation Source Detector.'"

"Why? If we're combining them, shouldn't it be the 'Cross-Dimensional Energy Radiation Source Tennis Racket Detector'?"

Barry was indignant. Cisco had not included the name he came up with. That was rude. Dismissive.

"NO."

"NO."

Lin Li and Cisco rejected the name together.

Cisco said playfully, "Ooh, looks like Lin Li hates your name too."

Lin Li rubbed his forehead and said to Barry, "Barry, your name is terrible. People will think it's a detector used to inspect tennis rackets."

Cisco shook his head as well. "I can already imagine what people would say. They'd definitely ask, 'What idiot designed something like this?' That idiot would be Lin Li and me. So, Barry, your suggestion is rejected. Lin Li will not tolerate handsome Cisco being called that."

The three chatted nonstop all the way, discussing all kinds of things. Mostly, Cisco insisted that he was very handsome, Barry thought the tennis racket name was still workable, and Lin Li thought they were overthinking it, which was not good.

The three arrived at the garage and got into a STAR Labs research vehicle.

Cisco drove, Lin Li sat in the front passenger seat, and Barry sat in the back.

Lin Li asked with some curiosity, "Barry, don't you usually think cars are too slow?"

Barry said awkwardly, "Do... do I? Sometimes I want to experience the slow-paced world too."

Lin Li nodded thoughtfully.

Cisco glanced at Lin Li and said, "Lin Li, I don't really agree with you. I still think I'm quite handsome. You know, my success rate at striking up conversations and getting phone numbers is one hundred percent."

Lin Li looked out the car window.

Buildings and trees flowed backward.

Crowds of white and Black people bustled along.

He had not left STAR Labs for more than ten days.

Seeing the outside world again, he felt as though a lifetime had passed. And in truth, it had been another lifetime—another world.

Leaning against the window, Lin Li looked at everything outside in its European and American style and smiled faintly. "Cisco, Barry, thank you."

"Are you using all this nonstop chatter to distract me from my unease and disappointment?"

The car fell silent for a while. This had been the strategy Cisco and Barry had discussed. They could not bear to see his hope turn into despair again, so they could only hope that by talking without pause, they might ease Lin Li's negative emotions.

Cisco said, "Actually, a month after the Particle Accelerator explosion, we began testing for that unknown energy—X-rays, dark energy, antimatter. We started searching for that theoretical energy."

"But unfortunately, we found nothing. Everything really was just as theoretical models predicted. But your and Barry's awakenings proved that 'it' had existed, on the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion. But it soon vanished, annihilated. Perhaps our technology isn't advanced enough to detect 'them.'"

Barry patted Lin Li's shoulder from behind, offering him a little comfort.

"Lin Li, I'm sorry we didn't tell you. I know how painful this disappointment is. I was the one who told Cisco to do this... I didn't know how to tell you."

Barry spoke gloomily. As Lin Li searched for a way home, hope would bring disappointment, and disappointment would eventually become despair.

Barry felt Lin Li's situation was even more tragic than his own. At least he could still visit his father from time to time and continue searching for the truth.

But Lin Li had crossed worlds, separated from the person he loved most by two universes. Meeting, calling, exchanging any information—none of it was possible.

Almost no one believed Lin Li could return. The chance of something like this happening again was simply impossible to predict. Even if another Particle Accelerator explosion occurred, no one believed it could send him back.

"I had already prepared myself for disappointment. I will go back. That is an unchangeable conviction, the will that has kept me alive all this time. Just like how you, Barry, could never give up pursuing the truth behind your mother's murder—no matter the cost, even if it takes your life, it must be done."

Lin Li revealed a faint smile and continued.

"Don't worry. I'm not as fragile as you think. On the contrary, my obsession with going home will only make me stronger and tougher. Whether this brings disappointment or hope, I'll keep researching the way back with the same determination. That will not change."

"And Cisco, the reason you have a one-hundred-percent success rate at striking up conversations and getting phone numbers is definitely because you've never struck up a conversation with anyone."

Cisco was so startled by the truth that the steering wheel suddenly jerked.

"How did you know?"

"Ha ha..."

"Ha ha..."

Barry and Lin Li burst out laughing!