The Return Journey

"Lin Li, memorize every street and every intersection. I never want you sitting in my passenger seat again."

Cisco drove as he spoke angrily. His mood was terrible, and he swore he would never let Lin Li sit in his passenger seat again.

Lin Li looked utterly puzzled. "All right, but can I ask why?"

"In my entire life, no one riding in my car has ever kept telling me to speed up, kept telling me to run red lights, or kept screaming GO GO GO in my ear! I've had enough of it. You're like a fly rushing me off to eat shit. Next time, be like Barry and run there yourself!"

Cisco was so furious that he even used the word "shit," which showed just how irritated he was.

Lin Li said helplessly, "I was only worried about Barry's life. Don't worry, there won't be a next time."

Cisco and Lin Li were like cops in a movie, always arriving at the scene only after everything was over.

Once they arrived at the scene,

they saw an entire stretch of forest destroyed. Trees had snapped and been uprooted, as though a Category 16 typhoon had swept through. Even the ground had been plowed into deep pits.

The two of them said in unison, "Oh, my God."

Among all those affected by the dark matter waves created by the Particle Accelerator explosion, Weather Wizard's destructive power could be considered among the greatest.

Of course, when it came to destructive power, Barry's bug-like Speed Force definitely ranked first. He could run back into the past and change the entire world. Try denying that.

The most amazing, novel, fun, entertaining, and exhilarating ability was Cisco's Vibe. Traveling through all kinds of parallel worlds—this was truly a power that could make someone a god.

As for Lin Li's lightning, hehe...

"You two came way too late. It's already over."

Seeing Cisco and Lin Li arrive, Joe complained.

"Joe, you should have notified me earlier so I could come with you. When dealing with a metahuman like Mardon, there's no room for even the slightest carelessness."

As Lin Li spoke, he walked over to Eddie. He and Caitlin had studied the human body in depth, so he was practically half a doctor and could provide some first aid. After assessing Eddie's injuries, he found that fortunately, Eddie only had multiple fractures. Though he had coughed up blood, his internal organs had merely shifted slightly, and the impact had not been too severe. If he had landed on concrete, Eddie might have died. Lin Li treated him briefly, and all that remained was to wait for the ambulance. Eddie would be fine.

Joe said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. This time, I was wrong. I was careless. If Barry hadn't come, the consequences would have made me regret it for the rest of my life."

Cisco tilted his head and pointed finger guns at Lin Li, who was treating Eddie's injuries.

He said to Joe, "Then you should be even more grateful to Lin Li. Without our super-crime-slayer consultant directing Barry in battle, the outcome would have been hard to predict. That last speech was so stirring that it made me want to punch him too—if I could beat him, that is."

Seeing that Eddie's life was no longer in danger, Joe smiled at Cisco. "Yes, your consultant is excellent. I almost thought I was going to lose Barry. I want to punch him too."

Cisco rolled his eyes. "Don't even think about it. He's a monster who can eat 2,550 burritos in one meal."

"Oh, no..."

Joe's mouth fell open in disbelief. That was truly a Superman-level appetite.

After giving Eddie some simple treatment and confirming he was out of danger,

Lin Li found Barry and picked him up directly. "Joe, I'm taking Barry back to STAR Labs for treatment. Eddie has to wait for the ambulance. I think you'll need to come up with a suitable explanation for how this forest was destroyed like this. After all, I don't think your superiors will accept this metahuman business."

Joe nodded. "Okay. Take good care of Barry."

This extraordinarily dangerous confrontation with a metahuman had left him with many thoughts.

He no longer had much objection to Barry being The Flash. Barry's words, "Joe, don't worry, I'll protect you," had moved him beyond measure. He also knew that Barry had truly grown up and needed his own path. Barry should be the one to decide how to walk it, rather than Joe controlling him. All Joe needed to do was remind him from time to time when he went astray.

Then Cisco and Lin Li got Barry into the car, leaving Joe behind to watch over Eddie, and drove back to STAR Labs.

"Cisco, did you bring a lot of cash?"

As they drove into the busy part of town, Lin Li suddenly asked.

Cisco said, "What? You still haven't paid back the seven dollars you owe me. What do you need to borrow money for?"

Lin Li said, "Underwear, clothes, daily necessities, food—personal stuff, general stuff, all that."

"What? Our top priority is getting Barry back for treatment, not buying your groceries."

"I checked Barry over. He only overexerted himself and fell into a temporary coma. The Speed Force is rapidly repairing his cellular damage. Even without treatment, he'll wake up before long."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Okay. The PIN is 123321. Hurry up, and get me a bag of Twizzlers."

Cisco took out his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a black card, and handed it to Lin Li, signaling for him to charge whatever he wanted.

Twizzlers were a kind of candy Cisco quite liked, or perhaps a candy foreigners generally liked. Lin Li had been fortunate enough to try them before. The flavor... tasted like plastic, like nail polish, and like soap. It was a deeply conflicted flavor. If they had not looked like spicy strips, and if Cisco had not been munching on them so happily, Lin Li would never have tried them. The moment he did, he felt like vomiting. The differences between Western and Chinese food shocked him. They were all human, so why did they eat such different things?

Cisco stopped on Brackner Street, which happened to be on the way back to STAR Labs. There was a large Walmart department store there.

Cisco parked by the side of the street. As Lin Li got out and was about to close the door, Cisco seemed to remember something and hurriedly called out to him. "Wait, buy me some motorcycle magazines. The ones with really cool-looking heavy motorcycles. Get me a few."

"Okay."

Lin Li shut the car door and walked into Walmart.

Everyone knew what Walmart was like. There was not much difference, really, but since this was in the United States, the supermarket's service was more attentive, its selection was greater, and the store itself was larger.

After all, it had home-field advantage.

Lin Li went straight to a sales clerk and rattled off everything he wanted to buy.

Most of it was desserts, ice cream, chocolate, milk, huge quantities of snacks, fresh vegetables, beef, chicken, and so on.

Just checking out took nearly half an hour.

When he returned to the car, Lin Li was carrying large bags of desserts, ice cream, and ingredients. He tossed the Twizzlers and more than a dozen motorcycle magazines directly to Cisco.

He also handed Cisco the long receipt.

Cisco stared in shock at the receipt, which was taller than he was. When he pulled it to the bottom and saw the price, he could not help shouting, "What? You spent a hundred thousand dollars?"

Lin Li sat in the passenger seat and quickly took out a tub of Talenti coconut ice cream. The supermarket clerk had strongly recommended the brand, saying it had the best reviews. Lin Li had never tried it before. Holding a spoon, he scooped out a large mouthful, savoring the coconut and milk flavors bursting across his tongue, and said blissfully, "You won't regret it. Dinner's on me tonight."