The Reason and Staying

Speed Force.

An extraordinary Speed Force.

At that moment, Lin Li was incredibly envious of Barry. With that kind of speed, he was practically invincible. Lin Li could not imagine anything capable of defeating him.

Of course, The Flash had lost for inexplicable reasons many times on TV. Especially when people with guns or even thrown needles could defeat him. Lin Li did not buy it. With that speed, was that supposed to be a joke?

Lin Li licked his ice cream cone. It was smooth and sweet. Then he quietly listened as Dr. Wells explained. Seeing a live-action Flash before him was unbelievably exciting.

"That night, the Particle Accelerator explosion did not merely create a storm. A spatial barrier ruptured, releasing unknown energies into our world—antimatter, dark energy, Element X. We do not know what they are."

"Antimatter? Dark energy? Element X? That's impossible. Those are all theoretical."

Barry objected.

"Then just how 'theoretical' are you yourself?"

Dr. Wells continued, "The unknown energy spread outward. We mapped its dispersion across Central City and the surrounding areas, but we have no way of knowing exactly what—or who—was exposed to the radiation. For eight months, we have been searching for other metahumans like you."

"Metahumans?"

Barry asked.

"Yes. People transformed by the unknown energy."

"Have you found any other metahumans like me?"

Barry asked. He felt that such abilities were far too powerful. If they were used for evil, ordinary people would be helpless against them—just like he had been when he was eleven.

He blanked out for a moment, remembering the night his mother had been murdered when he was eleven.

"Yes. Lin Li, a metahuman from another world who can control lightning."

Dr. Wells said.

Lin Li, who had been leisurely enjoying his ice cream, swallowed the rest of the cone in two quick bites.

"Hello, Barry. I can call you that, right? I believe we'll become good friends. My name is Lin Li."

Barry looked at Lin Li suspiciously.

"Y-you... you were the person who suddenly appeared that night? Who are you?"

Lin Li helplessly spread his hands, his voice sorrowful as he said, "That night, the Particle Accelerator exploded. I don't know what happened, but in my world, lightning struck a black ball of energy. It turned into a vortex and sucked me in. Then I appeared near you. After that, we were both struck by lightning, and we both became metahumans."

After Lin Li finished speaking, his hands crackled as silver arcs of electricity flickered over them.

Barry's eyes widened as he stared at Lin Li in shock.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!"

"You're a metahuman, and you're from another world?"

"Parallel universes really exist? Oh my God, this is insane. This will change humanity's understanding of the entire world."

Barry paced back and forth, unable to suppress his excitement. If landing on the moon had been humanity's first step into space, then proving the existence of parallel universes would be a leap of hundreds of thousands, even millions of steps.

"I don't care about parallel universes or changing humanity's understanding. I just want to go back and see the woman I love. I want to go back and laugh and argue with her, live with her, and finish the proposal I never got to make."

Lin Li said sadly. If he had been given a choice, he would not have wanted to come here and gain superpowers. He would have chosen to return to the real world.

The room fell silent.

Barry looked ashamed as he apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't know..."

"I'll help you. We'll all help you. You'll definitely be able to return to your own world."

Barry immediately hugged Lin Li, showing that he had not meant to hurt him.

The atmosphere was very warm, and everyone looked on with warmth in their eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Joe walked in and saw Barry hugging Lin Li, his face full of confusion.

"I was thanking Barry, Detective West."

Lin Li said with a smile. His accelerated mind gave him unparalleled thinking ability and powerful emotional control, and the sorrow that had briefly surged within him was quickly soothed.

He knew why Joe had come.

Joe asked suspiciously, "You can speak English?"

"Yes. When I woke up last night, I had forgotten many things. Later, I gradually remembered them."

Joe's suspicious expression deepened as he asked several questions in a row, "Why were you in the police laboratory on the night of the accelerator explosion?"

"To thank Barry for saving my life, I brought him a gift that night."

"You know Barry?"

"Yes. A month before the accident, Barry saved my life. Before that, I was a fisherman in a fishing village in the East. My boat was sunk in a storm while I was out at sea. I clung to driftwood and drifted on the ocean, barely surviving, until Barry happened to rescue me. I'd been living in the suburbs ever since. It was all thanks to Barry. Otherwise, I wouldn't have survived."

Joe did not believe a word of it.

As for Dr. Wells, Cisco, and Caitlin, they simply stared at Lin Li wide-eyed. Their expressions practically said, Isn't that story way too ridiculous? Would anyone believe a lie like that?

After so many years as a police officer, how could Joe fail to notice how absurd the story was? It had so many holes that he could not even be bothered to point them out. He simply pulled Barry outside.

At the corner by the doorway, Joe quietly asked Barry, "What gift did he give you that night?"

That was the wisdom of an old detective. He did not even need to pick apart the flaws in their story. If the two of them could not match their accounts of the gift, then no amount of talking would save them.

How could Barry possibly know? He stammered, "It... it was clothes from STAR Labs. I'd wanted them for a long time, but they were destroyed by lightning that night." Barry cleverly said it was clothes, at least giving them an explanation for why the item was gone. As for the rest, he could only wish Lin Li luck. Otherwise, this visitor from another world would be sent back East by Joe as an illegal immigrant.

Joe looked at Barry with that particular fatherly gaze—the kind that said, You did something wrong, kid. I know it, but I won't expose you.

They returned to the main control room.

"What gift did you give Barry that night?"

"Clothes. Clothes from STAR Labs. I knew Barry liked them and really wanted to give them to him."

Lin Li answered with a smile, as though everything was under control.

Could it be true? The thought involuntarily surfaced in Joe's mind. But this man from the East was simply too suspicious. Finally, with no other option, Joe used his trump card.

"I've already applied for a deportation order. I can send you home right away."

Joe said seriously. He felt that Lin Li was proving unusually difficult to handle.

Everyone present felt their hearts thump, their expressions turning unnatural. If a traveler from another world was deported right in front of them, it would be absurd.

Several people wanted to speak, but Lin Li cut them off.

Lin Li continued smiling. "There's no need. Barry has already recommended me to join this country as skilled talent. Once the assessment is approved, I can stay here permanently."

"What kind of skilled talent are you?"

"I speak eight languages."

"What? Aren't you a fisherman?"

"That's a hobby."

"Why don't you have identification?"

"The place was too remote. The government couldn't reach it."

"Then how did you learn eight languages?"

"I learned them after coming here. It took one month. I'm a genius."

The two of them traded rapid-fire replies for dozens of exchanges, and Barry gradually realized that something was not right.

He hurriedly grabbed Joe and said to Lin Li, "Lin Li, let me talk to Joe. It'll be fine, no problem."

Lin Li smiled and nodded. It was not his veins popping from anger, so he did not care.

"Joe, let's talk..."

With that, Barry pulled Joe outside.