Find Mardon

Caitlin said, "I've reset STAR Labs' satellites. They'll sound an alarm the moment there's any abnormal weather activity."

"Good!"

Just like before, it was a smart idea. Lin Li gave her some praise.

Then came several minutes of silence.

"..."

Lin Li broke the silence. "What should we do next?"

"Wait!"

Caitlin answered seriously.

"What?"

Cisco asked in confusion.

Caitlin explained helplessly, "We can only wait for the metahuman to use his abilities. Only then can we detect where he is."

"Oh no, I don't want to stay here waiting for Weather Wizard. I'd rather go fix the Lightning Suit. That bastard Weather Wizard ruined my Lightning Suit."

After grumbling a few words, Cisco left the control room. He was going to retrieve the Lightning Suit from the operating room and repair it.

"Though I'd also like to finish my work, it's difficult without a target. Call me if there's any news. I'm going to eat some Energy Bars and head to the underground training room."

After saying that, Lin Li also left the control room.

That left Caitlin and Dr. Wells staring at each other.

Dr. Wells smiled. "Caitlin, go take care of your own work too. I'll keep watch."

So Caitlin went straight to the operating room to watch over Barry.

Energy Bars were energy sticks made by Cisco. They were liquid food, about twenty centimeters long and as thick as a finger, packed with highly concentrated electrolytes. The taste was truly awful, though. Every time Lin Li sucked one down, he felt like he was slurping snot, which was rather disgusting.

Lin Li had not expended much stamina or electricity in the fight. Most of it had gone toward making his body withstand damage and protecting Cisco and Barry. He had only fired six electric rays and one lightning spear. After accounting for the energy used to tank damage, two or three Energy Bars were enough to restore him.

When he arrived at the underground training room, he first cleaned up the iron sand that had spilled from the punching bags. After demonstrating his electric rays in front of Wells that day, he had spent two days studying the Cross-Dimensional Energy Source Detector and had not come down to the training room during that time. It was not particularly dirty. Once he had cleaned up the iron sand and removed the three punctured punching bags, Lin Li sat cross-legged in the wide-open space.

He closed his eyes and sensed that speck of starlight-like Speed Force. Ever since Barry had stabilized, that small portion of Speed Force had stabilized as well.

The Speed Force mode he had entered before fascinated him. The entire world came to a halt, giving him the feeling that the whole world was fake, that everyone was an NPC, and that only he was real. That dreamlike "reality" was intoxicating.

It was an ability that could not be abandoned once touched. No wonder ZOOM and Plunder in the original TV show had been unable to give up the Speed Force. It was simply too intoxicating. It was an ability worth sacrificing one's life for, much less for this fake Dr. Wells. How could he possibly give it up?

Lin Li had experienced Speed Force mode for two or three seconds, but unfortunately, the Speed Force did not belong to him. It was more like borrowing it. The Speed Force in his head was not in the same dimension as him. It remained connected to Barry. No matter how much he tried to control it, the Speed Force was like a phantom. His hand passed right through it, as though they were not in the same dimension.

He wanted to grasp the Speed Force, to obtain the Speed Force, to run, but it was all futile. The Speed Force did not give a damn about him.

Lin Li clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and felt fury rising within him.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

He was unwilling, deeply unwilling. Why was the Speed Force such a bugged ability while he could only control lightning? They had both been struck by the same bolt of lightning, so why? Why?

If he could control the Speed Force, he could travel through the timeline. He could run back through the vortex to when he had arrived, and perhaps return home.

But now he still had to wait more than half a year for Barry. It was torment.

After being frustrated for a while, Lin Li still had no solution. The Speed Force did not belong to him at all and would not obey his control.

Lin Li's clenched fists gradually relaxed. Once he had adjusted his mood, he opened his eyes. Electric arcs flashed across them as he activated Super-Speed Thinking, picked up his tablet, and continued studying every kind of physics knowledge related to black holes and wormholes.

There was more than one way to solve a problem. He could not rely entirely on Barry. He had to work hard himself, approach it from multiple angles, and try every possible method.

He studied until seven in the evening. STAR Labs' satellites had not detected any abnormal weather, and there was no news from Joe either.

It was not until eight o'clock that Joe drove a police car over to find Lin Li.

"Lin Li, let's go. Mardon has three possible hideouts. He might be at one of them."

After informing Wells and the others, Lin Li got into the police car with Joe.

"Joe, you're too slow. It's been an entire day, and you only just found Mardon's possible hideouts?"

"You should count yourself lucky that I managed to find several of his residences from a pile of death records that were about to be destroyed."

"Fine!"

Joe drove the police car to the first location, a messy apartment building inhabited by many Black residents. In rental unit 3308, they found leftover food that had gone moldy and rancid two or three days ago. That was good news. It proved that Mardon had been there a few days earlier, though his current whereabouts were unknown. Judging by the situation, he would not return here. If he were going to return, he would have done so already. Besides, Mardon had lost an arm and needed somewhere to rest.

Joe carefully noted down the location, notified the patrolling officers to keep an eye on it, then headed with Lin Li to the next place.

The next location was a supposedly haunted country villa. Other than the dark, gloomy rooms and the low, eerie howling of the cold wind, there was not a soul in sight. There were not even any footprints. Based on Joe's estimation, no one had entered the villa for at least half a year.

Joe crossed the villa off his notebook and listed it as a location that did not need attention.

A little tired, Joe held his notebook and said, "The last location is a farm west of the city."

Lin Li's eyes lit up. Wasn't that the farm where Mardon had been in the TV show?

He regretted it immensely. If he had asked Joe for all three locations earlier, they could have come here first thing in the morning. Instead, they had taken a huge detour and wasted the entire evening.

Now he did not know whether Mardon would still be there.

When they reached the farm, Lin Li immediately released Magnetic Field Sense. There was a human life signal, but unfortunately, when Joe and Lin Li went to ask, they discovered it was only a farm worker living there, a thin middle-aged man around forty.

Joe took out Mardon's portrait and asked, "Do you know this man?"

The farm worker's eyes darted about as he replied vaguely, "No."

Joe and Lin Li grew suspicious and exchanged a glance.

The farm worker suddenly shoved Joe aside and fled.

Lin Li took two steps, then kicked him to the ground.

Joe drew his gun and pointed it at him. "Don't move. Stay down. Where is Mardon?"