Operation to Capture Reverse-Flash

During the two days Barry went to Star City to clear his head, Joe and Wells, who had been busy at the police department, finally found a way to persuade the head of Mercury Labs.

Of course, that was also related to Mercury Labs suffering another attack. This time, Reverse-Flash still failed to obtain the Superluminal Particles, but he successfully killed several Mercury Labs staff members.

To prevent the losses from expanding further, Mercury Labs could only risk having the Superluminal Particles stolen and proceed with an operation to capture the killer.

Barry was thrilled when he returned to S.T.A.R. Labs and learned the news, but Joe and Wells both forbade him from participating in the ambush.

"Why? I don't understand. I'm the only one there capable of stopping him, and he's the real murderer who killed my mother." Barry couldn't understand it at all.

"That's exactly why you can't participate. Don't worry, the Molecular Trap we made can definitely capture him," Wells explained.

Hearing that, Barry didn't know what to say in rebuttal for a moment. In the end, he could only leave in anger...

That night, a team from the Central City Police Department escorted the Superluminal Particles to S.T.A.R. Labs and placed them inside the Molecular Trap Cisco had built.

Inside the control room, everyone stood ready. As Cisco transmitted the Superluminal Particles' pulse to a public satellite, everyone's nerves tightened.

But nothing happened. Like hunters waiting for prey to take the bait, they stared anxiously yet expectantly at the surveillance feed.

"Are you sure this thing actually works?" Joe's partner, Eddie Thawne, could no longer hold himself back and asked.

"I've already transmitted the pulse to the public satellite three times. If anyone is looking for the Superluminal Particles, they'll definitely notice this place."

The moment Cisco finished speaking, a yellow figure was trapped inside the Molecular Trap. The officers from the Central City Police Department immediately sprang into action.

Zhang Tianran remained in the monitoring room, watching Wells put on his act with great interest. The only thing missing was a bag of sunflower seeds in his hand...

The operation's failure came as no surprise. Not only were several officers killed, but even Wells got beaten badly.

Caitlin, who had stayed in the central control room with Zhang Tianran, hurriedly notified Barry when she saw this.

The Flash raced over to save the day, but he ended up getting brutally beaten. The still-inexperienced Flash had no chance of defeating Reverse-Flash.

As the two Speedsters tangled with each other, Zhang Tianran quietly arrived nearby. Holding a compound bow, he took aim and fired the arrow Green Arrow hadn't used before.

A faint explosion sounded, and the two Speedsters' bodies gradually stiffened, as though they had been frozen in midair.

White frost gradually spread over their bodies, as if it intended to freeze them solid.

"Time is limited! Go arrest him!" Zhang Tianran shouted at Joe.

But just as Joe raised his pistol and prepared to fire, a blast of raging flames struck and sent Reverse-Flash flying a long distance away.

That scorching attack injured Reverse-Flash, but it also successfully eased the cold enveloping him. As the duration of Zhang Tianran's Particle Activity Inhibitor ended, Reverse-Flash turned and escaped.

At this stage, without a Speedster, there was simply no way to catch Reverse-Flash. If not for his own ulterior motives, Barry, this Flash, would have died long ago.

Seeing Reverse-Flash leave, Firestorm, who had just intervened, quickly departed as well.

Barry vibrated his body, warming himself up again. Still, tonight's failure dealt him a tremendous blow.

"I told you this thing wasn't reliable. You need to work harder and get faster, Flash." Zhang Tianran appeared beside Barry with a compound bow in hand.

"Thanks, Dr. Zhang." Barry glanced at the compound bow in Zhang Tianran's hand, and the feeling of loss in his heart grew even stronger.

The capture plan had failed completely, and the Central City Police Department could only send people to deal with the aftermath. As for how to explain things to Mercury Labs, that was up to the Central City Police Department.

"Was beating yourself up fun?" Zhang Tianran entered the infirmary. At the moment, Wells was the only one there, having just had his wounds treated.

"You intervened today. Why?" Wells looked miserable, but his demeanor remained as calm as ever.

"I was just testing an item. Turns out that thing really does work on you a little. Don't worry, I won't make a move against you for now. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to take back that Time Remnant today," Zhang Tianran said.

Naturally, he hadn't come here merely to mock Reverse-Flash. He had come to explain himself, so Reverse-Flash wouldn't truly regard him as an enemy.

Although their relationship was complicated, Zhang Tianran didn't want to kill Reverse-Flash unless absolutely necessary.

Besides, killing Reverse-Flash seemed rather difficult. His strength was unpredictable, but his ability to stay alive was truly formidable.

"Speaking of which, I'm pretty curious. How did you make your wounds heal so slowly? I don't even dare get injured now. Otherwise, my rapid healing ability could easily expose my identity."

Zhang Tianran truly found this strange. With a Speedster's healing rate, it would be easy to get exposed.

Wells didn't answer. He merely said in an affectedly calm tone, "If you have time tonight, I can teach you how to make a Superluminal Particle Generator. But you'll have to find the other batch of Superluminal Particles yourself. I don't have enough materials on hand to make them now."

"Sure. Though I don't feel like I really need it, learning a little more is still good..." Zhang Tianran replied calmly.

"This is the last time. Think it through carefully. If there is a next time..." Wells warned Zhang Tianran before leaving.

Clearly, Zhang Tianran's interference tonight had displeased him greatly. Yet he had actually swallowed that anger, which was rather surprising.

"Fine, fine. Don't worry. I don't want to provoke someone like you." Zhang Tianran brushed him off, then turned and returned to his private laboratory.

"Welcome back, Master." The moment he closed the door to his private laboratory, a cold mechanical prompt sounded by his ear.

"How does it feel after studying for the past few days?" Zhang Tianran opened the code for the half-finished artificial intelligence and examined it closely as he asked.

"Too... crowded... Current equipment cannot allow this system to operate at maximum capacity. Learning... insufficient memory, unable to learn."

The words sounded like those of an artificial idiot, but they thrilled Zhang Tianran.

Because this thing was finally no longer just a simple program.

Next, he needed to find this fellow a home and refine its necessary code along the way.

Refining the code was simple, but making the artificial intelligence run was still somewhat beyond the limits of current technology.