Another Method

At 9:00 in the morning, Lin Li worked himself into a sweat, returned to his place for a shower, then fried a large serving of eggs with vermicelli for breakfast.

He now generally woke up at six, exercised, sensed magnetic field lines, controlled magnetic fields, and practiced electrical energy. He spent three hours on basic training, then used the rest of his time to absorb vast amounts of knowledge. At night, he reviewed everything, including anything related to Dr. Wells.

Cisco seemed to have a dog's nose. The moment Lin Li finished making the fragrant egg-fried vermicelli, he began pounding madly on the door.

"Lin Li, open up! I can smell it!"

When Lin Li opened the door, Cisco darted inside.

He said thankfully, "My timing is perfect. Lin Li, you're amazing—you made my favorite vermicelli! Thank you so much. I won't stand on ceremony."

"What? That's my breakfast. Go back and eat your Big Belly Burger."

Cisco ignored Lin Li and headed straight into the kitchen like he owned the place. He grabbed a plate and fork, scooped more than half of the huge serving of egg-fried vermicelli onto his plate, sat down, and began wolfing it down.

Lin Li looked at him irritably, then took two glasses of milk from the refrigerator and handed one to Cisco.

While twirling vermicelli around his fork and eating, Cisco pulled out a silver, unbranded phone.

"Lin Li, I specially customized this phone for you. It has magnetic shielding, an insulated layer, and high-temperature resistance, so you can carry it without worry from now on. The main thing is, remember to notify me whenever you eat. I've set up your contacts already—mine is at the top. Remember, you have to notify me when you eat. Oh, and one more question: what color do you like?"

Lin Li examined the phone as he answered, "Black."

The phone was lightweight and about the size of an iPhone 5. It had several apps, all communication software made by Cisco and Facebook downloaded from online. There was nothing else.

In less than three minutes, Cisco finished the egg-fried vermicelli. Rubbing his bloated stomach and belching contentedly, he leisurely left Lin Li's residence.

The whole process, from arriving to finishing his meal, had taken less than five minutes.

Ten minutes after Cisco left, Lin Li finished his own breakfast as well. He had just washed the dishes when his phone rang.

"Lin Li, I was so absorbed in eating vermicelli that I forgot to tell you. Dr. Wells is looking for you in the control room lobby."

After hanging up, Lin Li was somewhat puzzled. What did Wells want with him? He thought it over, but could not figure it out.

A short while later, he arrived at the control room lobby.

Wells was adjusting satellite data on the main computer.

"Lin Li, you're here. Last night's meal was incredibly delicious. I look forward to the next one."

Wells spoke wistfully. Last night's meal had amazed him. For a foreigner who considered burgers, pizza, and fries to be the essence of life, Eastern cuisine was simply magical.

Lin Li said, "We'll do it again tonight. I'll cook every night from now on, but tonight, you'll need to learn how to use chopsticks."

Wells beamed. "Oh, good. Then I'll have to practice using chopsticks during the day. I don't want to miss out on delicious food."

Caitlin happened to enter the control room lobby. "I can't pretend I didn't hear that, you know. Employees bribing their superiors—especially with food—is something I deeply detest."

"Fine. Caitlin, you should hurry up and practice using chopsticks too, or you won't get to eat anything delicious tonight."

"Okay, I'll go buy chopsticks and start practicing right away."

Caitlin revealed a triumphant smile, picked up a document, and left the control room lobby.

Wells watched Caitlin leave with a smile on his face.

"Lin Li, ever since you arrived, Caitlin has smiled much more than she used to."

Lin Li disagreed. "Is that so? I don't think so. Dr. Wells, what did you need me for?"

Wells looked as though he had suddenly remembered. "Focusing on food made me forget the important matter."

Wells took out a flash drive, handed it to Lin Li, and said, "In 1951, an alien spacecraft crashed in Redmond, Oregon. The U.S. government extracted a great deal of information from studying the ship. Recently, I deciphered some materials on alien encryption. They concern research into using a newborn singularity to create an enlarged, stable distorted wormhole. It may be able to help you."

"The information here may allow you to fulfill your wish. The most difficult part, I believe, is creating a newborn singularity. However, a singularity is uncontrollable. Once an accretion disk forms, it will destroy this world. So I conceived of using negative mass during the formation of the newborn singularity to neutralize its gravitational field and maintain the wormhole's stability. As long as you can locate your own world and pass through the instant the wormhole opens, then unleash high energy into the singularity's gravitational field, throwing everything out of balance and dispersing it, you can return safely to your own world without this world being destroyed by the formation of a black hole."

Lin Li took the flash drive in shock. This was Wells's suggestion for him. But Lin Li, who knew the plot, understood that if things truly proceeded this way, then in the final episode of the first season, a singularity—a wormhole—would appear. Eddie's suicide would erase Wells from time, thereby creating a singularity and a black hole.

And Lin Li could use that black hole to open a wormhole and return to the real world.

This idea was very likely to become reality.

Dr. Wells shook his head and smiled bitterly. "But unfortunately, black holes created by human technology are not truly black holes. Because these artificial black holes lack sufficient gravity, they cannot 'swallow everything around them' like real black holes, apart from sound. In other words, they display black hole properties only in acoustic phenomena. Such black holes cannot create an internal wormhole."

Wells sneered inwardly. This was the real method of traveling through worlds. Although much of the material in the flash drive he gave Lin Li had been deliberately altered or written incorrectly, the general theoretical direction was correct. It would merely take a very, very long time to verify. In this primitive era of the twentieth century, it would be impossible to truly create a usable singularity without a century or more.

Tears shimmered in Lin Li's eyes as he tightly grasped Dr. Wells's hand.

"Dr. Wells, thank you so much."

Lin Li was genuinely moved. Current technology truly could not create a real black hole, but in the final episode of the first season, your descendant Eddie's suicide and your erasure would create a black hole and make everything possible. How could Lin Li not be moved? He was practically moved to tears and snot. Reverse-Flash was sacrificing himself for others—so touching. All hail Reverse-Flash; none could surpass Reverse-Flash.

It was time for everyone to show off their acting skills again.

Dr. Wells also spoke with deep emotion. "The Particle Accelerator explosion brought you here, and I bear some responsibility for that. I hope this information will help you find a way home."

The two of them moved each other with their performances until Barry arrived.

Barry looked extremely uneasy as he faced Wells. "Dr. Wells, I need Lin Li's help."