Weather Wizard

Caitlin had been observing Barry's cellular data in the control room of the main hall. After examining Barry for some time, she had obtained many unusual readings. She needed to sort them out and carefully study the differences between Barry and ordinary people.

Just as she was focused on the computer screen,

an alarm suddenly sounded from the speakers.

It came from the computer beside her. Its monitor displayed a street covered in white fog, the entire road shrouded from end to end. Red markers circled the street, signaling danger.

This was the surveillance computer Cisco used. Connected to satellites, it monitored Central City and would automatically sound an alarm whenever anything unusual appeared.

Cisco was usually here, keeping in touch with Barry as he carried out his heroics. Today, the group had all gone out, while Dr. Wells had taken a few days off. Only Caitlin remained.

Seeing the alert, she hesitated only briefly before pulling out her phone and calling Barry.

"Barry, a strange patch of dense fog has suddenly appeared on Jordmay Street. The citizens there may need you."

Caitlin did not particularly like Barry acting as a superhero, but this strange fog had appeared so suddenly that she feared ordinary people might be hurt. Out of that concern, she informed Barry and Cisco as well, though her tone with Cisco was far less pleasant.

"Cisco, you and Lin Li get back here immediately and do your job as mission control."

After hanging up,

"Cisco, Lin Li, I'll head over first."

With that, Barry turned into an afterimage and vanished in a flash of yellow lightning.

The examination had also been completed, with no results whatsoever.

Cisco and Lin Li did not remain there any longer.

Cisco hurriedly said, "Come on, Lin Li. We need to get back to STAR Labs immediately and support Barry."

"No, Cisco. We're going to Jordmay Street."

Lin Li spoke as he walked.

If his guess was right, it was probably the first metahuman to appear in the television series: Clyde Mardon, the Weather Wizard, who possessed the ability to control wind and weather.

Clyde Mardon's ability to control wind and weather was incredibly powerful, nowhere near as weak as it had seemed in the television series.

The ability required a certain amount of time to build up. At first, it might be weak, but even then, it could seriously injure or kill ordinary people.

And once he successfully set the weather pattern in motion, nature itself would continuously become available for his use, moving toward the weather conditions he had guided into being.

For example, the storm from the first season. Once Clyde Mardon successfully triggered a tornado, if Barry had not stopped it then, the tornado would rapidly intensify in a short period of time. That intensification would be irreversible. Even Clyde Mardon himself might not be able to control it in the end, because by then it would be a product of nature. Clyde Mardon would merely have been its instigator.

A fully formed tornado was especially horrifying. Though a tornado itself was not particularly fast, its wind speed was comparable to Barry's, roughly 350 kilometers per hour. Its path could even extend beyond two kilometers, and the energy it released was even more terrifying. In one hour, it could release energy equivalent to eight atomic bombs—more than enough to destroy Central City.

Not to mention that Clyde Mardon could also control the weather to create torrential rain, hail, thunderstorms, blizzards, dense fog, and all kinds of other natural weather disasters.

As long as he was given enough time to guide the weather pattern into place, destroying Central City would not be difficult.

Therefore, Lin Li did not dare underestimate this Weather Wizard, even though this Mardon seemed weak and had been shot to death by Joe.

He needed to ensure Barry's safety. He could not guarantee what effect his arrival would have on this world. A person had suddenly been inserted into a world that had followed its original course. Lin Li had no idea what changes that might bring. Even in the original television series, Barry could make a tiny change just by casually traveling through the timeline, only for it to eventually cause a massive mistake. That was even more true for a transmigrator like Lin Li. He would have found it strange if nothing changed.

Cisco followed Lin Li out of the Central City Police Department and said as they walked, "We should return to STAR Labs and provide Barry with backup, monitor the surrounding environment for him, and offer advice so he can resolve the anomaly faster."

Lin Li refused again, saying firmly, "No, Cisco. Trust me, the dense fog will prevent the satellite cameras from seeing anything. Besides, I suspect there's something unusual about this fog that appeared so suddenly."

Cisco thought about it and realized that was true. He did not know how extensive the fog was, but if it had triggered an alert from the software he had invented, it definitely was not ordinary fog. And Caitlin had said it was strange.

Cisco agreed with Lin Li. He pulled open the car door and sat in the driver's seat. Once Lin Li had taken the passenger seat, he started the vehicle and drove toward Jordmay Street.

"Why did dense fog suddenly appear? I checked the weather report this morning. The temperature was 19%, humidity around 40%, partly cloudy, with a light breeze. It was autumn, the weather was dry, and there wasn't enough moisture in the air. How could dense fog form?"

Cisco asked in confusion. No wonder Caitlin had called the fog strange—it really was strange, as if it had appeared out of thin air.

Lin Li sat in the passenger seat, electric light flickering in his eyes. Silver-white lightning flashed across both his hands as he adjusted his condition and activated every cell in his body.

Lin Li slowly said, "I can create lightning without electricity or a magnetic field."

Cisco suddenly understood, then was greatly alarmed. "You mean... this fog that suddenly appeared was created by someone? A metahuman can create fog?"

Lin Li nodded and continued, "Of course, technology could produce the same effect. By storing a large amount of water vapor and releasing it, under stable atmospheric conditions, the relative humidity could reach 100% and form fog."

Cisco nodded, strongly agreeing with Lin Li. Either possibility was highly likely. No matter which it was, even if they returned to STAR Labs, the cameras would indeed be unable to see anything in a district covered by dense fog, and they would not be able to assist Barry. Only by going to the scene could they help him.

Cisco drove the research vehicle to the district very quickly.

He stopped the car at one point on the street. They could not drive any farther in.

White fog filled the scene. Looking inward from the edge, visibility was no more than five meters, and even that was blurry.

Lin Li's vision was better, but he could only see about thirty meters ahead.

There, the fog rolled and churned with extraordinary violence.

"Ah..."

A pained cry rang out.

Lin Li's heart tightened. He could tell it was Barry's voice.

He swiftly got out of the car as a fierce gust of wind whooshed past his cheeks.

A red figure tore through the dense fog and slammed heavily onto the front of the research vehicle. The impact shoved the car several meters back. Inside, Cisco cried out as he clutched the steering wheel desperately, trying to brace himself.

It was Barry.

The front of the car had been crushed inward in the shape of a human body. Barry's condition was so terrible that Lin Li sucked in a sharp breath.

The suit he had worn for only a few days was torn apart. Barry's chest looked as though it had been slashed by a sharp blade, or as though a bomb had exploded against it. A slash ran diagonally across his chest and abdomen, his ribs were broken, and his internal organs were visible. The flesh on the right side of his chest had been blown apart, exposing clearly visible pale, fractured ribs.

"Do you know that you are defying a god?"

The fog churned as a figure walked out of it.