Waking Up

The farm worker was so terrified he dropped to the ground, yelling, "Don't shoot! I don't know where Mardon is. I only robbed a convenience store with him a few years ago—I haven't done anything wrong since..."

Joe grabbed the farm worker by the scruff of his neck like a chicken and yanked him to his feet.

His right hand aimed the gun at the man's head, making him tremble uncontrollably.

Joe pulled out handcuffs with his left hand and cuffed the farm worker.

"Anyone who hangs out with Mardon is no good. Back at the station, if you don't tell us where Mardon is, you're dead."

Joe barked sternly.

The farm worker was on the verge of tears, begging nonstop, "Officer, I really don't know where he is. I only robbed that convenience store with him years ago—we haven't been in touch since. I haven't robbed anything after that. Please let me go..."

Joe ignored him and shoved him into the police car.

While Joe was putting the farm worker into the car, Lin Li took a quick look around the nearby farm warehouse—the same one where Mardon had created the tornado.

He circled it once but found nothing.

Joe called out to him, "Lin Li, let's go. I'll take this guy back to the station for questioning and see if we get anything."

Lin Li thought for a moment and said to Joe, "Joe, you can't arrest this farm worker just yet."

Joe demanded, "Why? I'm a cop. Arresting a robber is perfectly normal. You shouldn't interfere with police work."

Lin Li said shrewdly, "Joe, I'm not interfering. But think about it—when someone breaks an arm, they go to a doctor. If that person is someone who can't show their face in public..."

Joe caught on instantly, his eyes lighting up as he finished the thought, "Then they'd go to a friend for help."

Finding a friend usually meant someone hard to track down, and this farm fit the bill perfectly.

Joe continued, "I'll look into Mardon's network back at the station. This guy's timid and weak—he's not capable of anything truly evil. Let him stay here. Mardon might come to him for help, and then we can track Mardon down and catch him."

Lin Li nodded and signaled Joe with his eyes, "Joe, you need to keep him under control and make him come to us voluntarily."

Joe understood the idea—scare him with threats, offer a carrot-and-stick deal: no prosecution for the convenience store robbery, but he had to report when Mardon showed up, or else it's jail time.

Joe was a pro at this. Soon enough, the farm worker was tearfully thanking Joe.

After running around all night with nothing to show for it, they'd set a bait and didn't even know if a fish would bite.

Joe went back to the station to dig into Mardon's background. He also checked the farm worker's records and found no criminal activity in recent years, which put him at ease. It had been about nine months, and Joe only remembered Mardon having a brother—he hadn't paid much attention to the rest. He needed to review the files because Barry had found clues in no time and tracked down Mardon's hideout that same night, ignoring Mardon's other connections. So Joe's memory of Mardon's associates was fuzzy. That was also the night his partner died and Mardon's plane exploded.

Lin Li returned to STAR Labs a little after midnight. As usual, he sensed nothing unusual, took a shower, brushed his teeth, and went to sleep.

He woke up at 6 a.m., brushed his teeth, washed his face, and went to the medical bay to check on Barry. Because Barry was a patient, someone had to stay overnight at STAR Labs in case of emergencies. Last night, it was Caitlin. She was sleeping not far from Barry, her head on the desk, drool forming a little stream.

Caitlin looked adorable in that scene, but unfortunately, the viewer was Lin Li. He had no eye for beauty. He grabbed a jacket, draped it over Caitlin, didn't look twice, and left.

As for Barry, there was no need for a closer look—he was in good shape. The wound had healed and was almost ready for stitches to be removed. By the time Caitlin woke up, she'd probably take them out.

Lin Li grabbed his tablet and headed straight to the underground training room.

He needed to absorb knowledge nonstop—learn everything, both scientific and unscientific.

He now carried his tablet everywhere. Whenever he had a moment, he'd pull it out and memorize all kinds of information.

There was so much to learn: classical mechanics and theoretical mechanics, the basic laws of mechanical motion; electromagnetism and electrodynamics, the study of electromagnetic phenomena, the laws of electromagnetic motion, and electromagnetic radiation; thermodynamics and statistical physics, the statistical laws of thermal motion and their macroscopic manifestations; relativity and spacetime physics, the effects of high-speed motion, related dynamics, and the relativity of space and time; quantum mechanics, the study of microscopic motion and fundamental laws. On top of that: particle physics, nuclear physics, atomic and molecular physics, solid-state physics, condensed matter physics, laser physics, plasma physics, geophysics, astrophysics, acoustics, electromagnetism, optics, radio physics, thermal physics, quantum field theory, low-temperature physics, semiconductor physics, magnetism, liquid crystals, medical physics, nonlinear physics, computational physics, theoretical mechanics, electrodynamics, thermodynamics and statistical physics, quantum mechanics—a mountain of subjects. Without Super-Speed Thinking, this would be a hopeless endeavor. Even with it, the sheer volume of knowledge made him feel small. The more he learned, the smaller he felt, the more hopeless it seemed. But he had to keep going. Effort brought hope; without it, there was only despair.

Around 11 a.m., close to noon, Cisco brought good news: Barry was awake.

As Lin Li approached the medical bay, he heard Barry's voice: "Who drew on me? It's so ugly!"

Caitlin glared at Barry and said, "I told you, if anything gets damaged, don't come crying to me. You should be grateful I generously patched up your body."

"You should be glad it wasn't me and Cisco stitching you up, or your flesh wouldn't even stick together."

Lin Li walked into the medical bay and greeted Barry.

"Hey, buddy, you okay? You almost died."

Barry hugged Lin Li directly and said with emotion, "Lin Li, thank you."

When he woke up, Cisco told him that if Lin Li hadn't stood in front of him and taken all the damage, he wouldn't be here now. So he was deeply grateful to Lin Li as a friend.

Lin Li smiled and teased, "You're a lot tougher now. Just flashing your chest could scare off punks."

Dr. Wells smiled and reminded him, "Barry, be more careful next time. Lin Li won't always be able to get there in time."