Encouragement

Throughout the entire The Flash TV series, the Speed Force had always been portrayed as being close to real-world physical rules, yet it often spasmodically ignored every law of physics. In a TV show, it was enough to just enjoy it; there was no need to dig too deeply. After all, anyone looking for reality in a fictional world had to have something wrong with their head.

But traveling into this world was different. The world was bound to give you a reasonable explanation. No matter how far-fetched it was, you had to accept it, because that was reality.

Lin Li had been lucky enough to be carried while running by two people using the Speed Force, and he had even experienced that two- or three-second Speed Force mode.

Based on his experience and understanding, he found that when a speedster ran, their cells emitted Speed Force, forming a Speed Force Field. This field was like the personal Bio-Field Lin Li had researched, except this was a field manifested through the effects of the Speed Force.

The Speed Force Field protected speedsters. That was why electricity always crackled around them, like the yellow arcs Barry generated and the red arcs Wells generated. They were all effects of the Speed Force Field.

Speedsters relied on the Speed Force to move at high speed. Although they could move incredibly fast, they did not possess corresponding physical kinetic energy. Or rather, all physical kinetic energy displayed by a speedster was transformed by the Speed Force Field into a kind of Speed Energy. Pure Speed Energy made speedsters run faster, and running did not increase any physical kinetic energy, because it was all converted into Speed Energy. The Speed Energy formed from the combined effects of various movements carried a trace of other forms of kinetic energy, but for the most part, it was not the same thing.

It was also because of this conversion into Speed Energy that things like using speed to throw a stone, accelerating it to generate kinetic energy, and instantly killing anyone with it did not exist. The Speed Force created super-fast speed, but under the Speed Force's influence, there was only Speed Energy created by pure speed; ordinary physical laws did not apply. It could collect kinetic energy and convert it into Speed Energy, but Speed Energy could not be completely converted back into kinetic energy.

Simply put, the Speed Force was almost entirely independent and had little to do with the other four fundamental forces—at least, not as much as imagined.

Lin Li sat cross-legged underground, staring at his tablet as he carefully put forward theories and pondered them. He did not know whether he was right and could only make guesses based on The Flash TV series and the current scientific knowledge he had learned.

Sigh, no wonder people on the forums always said the Speed Force ****ed every law of physics.

Lin Li lamented inwardly.

He scratched his head, his brows deeply furrowed into a crease.

He needed to thoroughly understand what the Speed Force was. This power had begun to make him uneasy, especially the Speed Force shrouding his head. No matter how he thought about it, there was no way it could be in his head. Even if it was, it should have been nearly used up and disappeared. Yet whenever Barry began to run, that tiny remaining bit of Speed Force returned to normal. What was going on?

It could not be explained. It could not be understood.

Perhaps it would be better to ask the Speed Force directly. After all, Barry had entered the Speed Force in the second season and spoken to its avatar. Maybe he could talk to the Speed Force too and tell it to get the hell out of his head.

Lin Li rubbed his face heavily, let out an unlucky breath, and swiped past Barry's data on the tablet. He opened a dynamics file and continued studying. Since he could not figure out the Speed Force for now, he would leave it alone. Later, he would see if he could obtain some information from Dr. Wells.

Lin Li continued studying.

Cisco monitored things in the control room.

Caitlin conducted surgical research.

Wells sat in the Time Vault, looking at newspapers from the future as he thought.

Joe and Eddie searched for Mardon's whereabouts.

Barry ran around aimlessly, running and stopping without knowing where he was going. He was a little lost, until that evening, when he thought of someone and ran toward the highway.

"This is my story. I never thought that after spending my entire life searching for miracles, I would become one myself."

Star City was filled with countless skyscrapers, brightly lit offices, and streets packed with traffic.

On a rooftop surrounded by towering buildings.

Barry said it to him.

Oliver Queen stood there, dressed in a green hooded outfit and holding a bow.

Oliver Queen faced Barry and said, "So you ran more than six hundred miles just to say hello to a friend and tell him about your traveler friend?"

"No, Oliver. I want to protect my city like you do and fight criminals. You are someone I admire. I had no ability before, but now I do. Yet when I faced a real enemy, I had no ability to fight back. I got beaten badly. Maybe Joe was right. I am only fantasizing about becoming a hero, a beautiful fantasy."

Barry spoke dejectedly. What Joe had said to him continued to weigh on his mind, and he doubted himself.

"You are denying yourself too, Barry. Everyone needs to grow. This ability chose you—why did it not choose someone else? Because you possess a special quality that inspires and motivates everyone."

Oliver Queen said this. Barry and he were different kinds of people, but they shared the same goal.

Barry shook his head and said, "Oliver, I am not sure I can really be like you, that I can be a good vigilante."

"Barry, you can do even better. You can protect your city like a guardian angel.

"Change that city. Save the people. Be like lightning."

"I believe in you, and you need to believe in yourself."

"Remember, like you taught me—wear a mask."

After saying that, Oliver Queen smiled and put on his eye mask.

Then he leaped down. An arrow shot into the skyscraper opposite him, and the rope tied to its tail sent him swinging between the buildings.

Oliver Queen's smile gave Barry tremendous encouragement, allowing him to regain the confidence he had lost.

Barry looked at the Green Arrow swinging through the air and said admiringly.

"Cool."

It was an expression of approval for the Green Arrow's actions, as well as his own inner envy.

The Green Arrow, likewise suspended from a high-rise, watched a streak of yellow lightning race away and said the same word.

"Cool."

It was praise for someone who possessed power and was willing to protect his own city.

Barry admired the Green Arrow's actions in protecting the city.

The Green Arrow admired Barry's resolve to protect it.

Barry was like a newborn child, learning how to protect a city.

A few days later, Barry was still wearing his red suit as he darted through the streets and alleys of Central City, and he was still at odds with Joe.

Mardon seemed to have vanished without a trace.

Lin Li could only hold his tablet and continue learning all kinds of knowledge.

Jack was a very ordinary name. There were probably millions, or at least hundreds of thousands, of people with that name. He was a street thug in the city, too afraid to commit major crimes but constantly carrying out petty ones in secret.

Long-term drug use had left his face gaunt. Though only thirty, he looked like an old man in his fifties or sixties, with sagging black circles beneath his eyes.

"Damn cops. They made me lose my 'food.' Next time, I'll bring a gun and kill you all."

His body trembled as his nose kept twitching and sniffing. His withdrawal was starting. Earlier today, when he had been buying his "food," the police had unexpectedly arrived at the bar for an inspection. Fortunately, he had thrown away his "food" in time and avoided prison. But his luck had not been great. That little bit of "food" had been washed away somewhere in the filthy sewer, and he could not find it no matter how hard he looked.

Jack's hand trembled as he opened the door. He lived in the basement of a chaotic apartment building, a place his aunt had given him out of pity.

The room was a mess, with clothes, condoms, and fast-food boxes scattered everywhere.

He turned on the light. Someone was sitting in the room waiting for him.

"Clyde Mardon."