Sound Waves, Nothing Hard to Deal With

Early the next morning, news of the attack on Wells's home reached S.T.A.R. Labs. Cisco and Barry even asked Zhang Tianran about it with concern.

However, Zhang Tianran hadn't been home for a long time.

So he didn't know the details of what had happened. But to better conceal his identity, Zhang Tianran still returned home.

At the house, Wells was dealing with several police officers who had come to investigate. Meanwhile, Zhang Tianran went into his bedroom to look for things he considered important.

After all, no matter what happened in the future, there was a good chance he would leave. Preparing some luggage in advance wasn't a bad idea.

By the time Zhang Tianran came out of his bedroom, all the police officers outside had left. The broken glass had been cleaned up, and someone was installing a new skylight.

"Packing up... getting ready to leave?" Wells noticed that some things were missing from Zhang Tianran's room and immediately guessed what was going on.

"No, it's just to prepare for emergencies. I've recently learned about some uncertain futures, so I'm getting ready in advance. That way, I won't leave anything behind in a rush when the time comes," Zhang Tianran said evenly.

Wells immediately recalled what Zhang Tianran had said last night about The Flash traveling through time.

It was actually quite common for Speedsters to travel through time. Although things like Time Wraiths existed, not everyone could resist the temptation of crossing through time.

Unfortunately, the consequences of altering time usually only got worse and worse.

"As for your future, I suppose it is about time. But the future Flash is still alive. It seems our plan failed," Wells guessed with a frown.

"No. You and I aren't the same kind of people. If we really do cooperate, I won't allow you to kill Barry," Zhang Tianran added, shaking his head.

Wells didn't argue further, nor did he say anything else about cooperation.

That afternoon, shortly after Zhang Tianran returned to S.T.A.R. Labs, he learned the name of the person who had attacked Wells the previous night—Hartley.

The guy had once been an employee at S.T.A.R. Labs, but Wells had fired him. This attack looked like simple revenge, but there was something different about it.

As Zhang Tianran listened to Cisco describe Hartley's former work at S.T.A.R. Labs, an alarm device Cisco had made suddenly went off. It was an alert signaling the appearance of a metahuman.

And the one who triggered the alarm was naturally Hartley.

Cisco hurriedly notified Barry. Zhang Tianran, however, wasn't particularly concerned about this sort of thing and went straight back to his private lab.

But Zhang Tianran hadn't been in his private lab for long before news came a few hours later that Hartley had escaped from prison.

Pulling a futuristic-looking pistol from a drawer, Zhang Tianran left his private lab and began searching for Hartley's trail.

But clearly, the guy had escaped far faster than Zhang Tianran had expected.

"Dr. Zhang, what's happening?" Martin Stein had been alarmed by the piercing siren, and he became somewhat uneasy.

Although life had been relatively peaceful these past few days, Martin Stein's condition hadn't improved much. Instead, because he often saw Caitlin, Ronnie's soul within him had become increasingly restless.

"A superpowered criminal escaped from prison. There shouldn't be any problems for now," Zhang Tianran said, putting away his pistol. The Flash had already received the warning and returned to S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Is everyone alright?" Barry appeared before the two of them. Before he could even receive an answer, he turned into a bolt of lightning and vanished again.

Very soon, Barry's voice came through Zhang Tianran's earpiece.

"Cisco's injured,

Caitlin's unconscious. I need help right now..." Barry sounded panicked. Though he had immediately confirmed there were no enemies at S.T.A.R. Labs, he didn't know how to deal with his injured teammates. "Bring them to the medical room and leave them to me. I know a little about medicine too, though I'm still nowhere near as skilled as Caitlin," Zhang Tianran said with a sigh.

Hearing that, Martin Stein also said, "I can provide some help, temporarily..."

Because his mental state was unstable, Martin Stein had gotten used to being alone.

Very quickly, Zhang Tianran treated Cisco's wounds, and Caitlin woke from her unconsciousness.

Just as Barry had finally breathed a sigh of relief, Hartley stepped onto the streets again. He began wrecking everything in sight, trying to lure The Flash over.

"Barry, don't talk to him. That guy's ability is dangerous. Take him down immediately while you're in the Speed Force state, or your life will be in danger," Zhang Tianran told Barry through the communicator.

The moment he learned Hartley had appeared in the city, Barry set off immediately without the slightest hesitation.

Zhang Tianran's warning came in time, and Barry obediently removed Hartley's weapon—the gloves capable of firing sonic waves.

But once the gloves were removed, Hartley's true plan began. The gloves activated, and Barry instantly collapsed to the ground.

"I put a great deal of effort into obtaining your vibration frequency. Suffer slowly. These sound waves will shatter your internal organs..." Hartley stared at Barry, who was coughing up blood, his face filled with excitement.

At a time when there weren't many metahumans, The Flash was the only challenge. As long as he defeated The Flash, he could practically do whatever he wanted in this city.

Hartley was indeed exceptionally intelligent. If Barry had been alone, there would likely have been no chance of turning things around.

But Hartley could never have imagined that The Flash had a creator, a watcher, behind him.

When Wells discovered that Barry was on the verge of death, he immediately stepped in personally. It was only Hartley—there was no need for Wells to expose his identity as Reverse-Flash.

"We have to do something. Barry's on the verge of death already." Caitlin had been monitoring Barry's physical condition, and she was frantic with worry, but she had no better solution.

Wells immediately went to the computer, activated the satellite, took control of every car's satellite speakers near Barry, and began playing certain sound waves.

"Caitlin, don't panic. Wells has already found a solution. They're just sound waves, nothing difficult."

The moment Zhang Tianran finished speaking, Hartley's weapon exploded, knocking him unconscious on the spot.

"Barry, can you still hear me?" Caitlin noticed through the surveillance feed that it was over and hurriedly asked.

"Barely..."