The Trapped Reverse-Flash!

"You're back. You seem to have gotten faster. But not fast enough. Do you need my help?"

Wells was sitting in his wheelchair, drinking tea. Even in his own home, he moved as if he were truly paralyzed.

Zhang Tianran frowned slightly at those words. Several thoughts flashed through his mind, but his expression remained unchanged as he calmly looked at Reverse-Flash.

"The Speed Force seems to like you, but I'd advise you not to rely on it too much. After all, you're not Barry Allen." Wells paid no mind to Zhang Tianran's coldness and offered the reminder in a very friendly tone.

"I know. I understand the Speed Force to some extent as well." After returning home, Zhang Tianran finally spoke for the first time.

Although he had gained the Speed Force by injecting a serum, the Speed Force within Zhang Tianran had still been bestowed by the Speed Force itself.

In fact, every Speedster—even Reverse-Flash, who used the Negative Speed Force—received their Speed Force from the Speed Force. The Speed Force granted Speedsters their speed, while also reclaiming the Speed Force from within them. Reverse-Flash's situation was somewhat special, but he was still included within the Speed Force.

The Speed Force had been born because of Barry Allen, but its growth came from the many Speedsters.

Clearly, a Speedster's speed was granted by the Speed Force, yet their running produced new Speed Force.

It sounded contradictory, didn't it? But that was the meaning of the Speed Force's existence.

Upon hearing Zhang Tianran's words, a bitter smile flickered across Reverse-Flash's face. He said solemnly, "Believe me, you don't understand the Speed Force nearly as well as you think you do."

Zhang Tianran frowned at that, but he didn't continue discussing the matter. After hesitating for a moment, he said instead,

"What do you want? If you want to return to the future, I have the ability to send you back now..."

To be honest, Zhang Tianran didn't want to come into conflict with Reverse-Flash. Whatever the reason, Reverse-Flash had raised him for many years.

"It seems you do know a certain amount about me, but not enough. If all I wanted was to return to the future, I could do that myself."

"I'm trapped—not merely trapped in this era." Reverse-Flash sighed, shedding his disguise for the first time in a long while and revealing a trace of weakness.

Zhang Tianran was startled. A thought immediately surged into his mind, yet he could hardly believe it.

"Your goal is clear. There's only one person—Barry Allen, the creator of the Speed Force. Do you want to break free of the Speed Force, or obtain it?"

"As far as I know, the Negative Speed Force affects your mind. Even you would be influenced by it, becoming enraged and emotionally unstable. Yet you've never given up on the Negative Speed Force..."

Zhang Tianran concealed nothing and laid out all his guesses. In this situation, he was beginning to believe what Reverse-Flash had said about cooperation.

After all, the Speed Force granted Speedsters their speed. But in the end, every Speedster would return to the embrace of the Speed Force...

Having come to this world, Zhang Tianran naturally didn't want to die. Even if he died of old age, he had no desire to go to Hell or Heaven, much less into the Speed Force.

"Very good. You're truly exceptional! I'm becoming more and more convinced that you can accomplish that great feat with me..." Reverse-Flash rose from his wheelchair and spoke while applauding.

Zhang Tianran frowned at that, but said nothing more.

Deep down, Zhang Tianran had already decided that cooperating with Reverse-Flash was necessary.

But he remained vigilant.

"If you want to cooperate with me, then be honest with me. If I confirm that you're hiding nothing, I'll consider it." After a moment of silence, Zhang Tianran finally spoke.

"No hurry. It isn't time yet. Barry isn't ready, and neither... are you..." Reverse-Flash shook his head and sat back down in his wheelchair.

What else do I need to prepare?

A trace of confusion flashed through Zhang Tianran's mind, but he didn't ask.

By now, Zhang Tianran had completely familiarized himself with the Speed Force and developed several methods of combat. Though he had yet to face a powerful enemy, he was confident he could confront any opponent.

After returning home and negotiating with Reverse-Flash, Zhang Tianran didn't linger in the "home." He drove straight to S.T.A.R. Labs.

Like Reverse-Flash, Zhang Tianran had no intention of revealing his identity as a Speedster at this point.

"Dr. Zhang, I've already organized your files. These..."

Zhang Tianran had barely arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs and hadn't even entered when he ran into an excited Cisco.

"You're done? Perfect. I've also done some research on Barry's super speed, and I need you to make a few little gadgets..." Upon seeing Cisco, Zhang Tianran directly interrupted him and handed over another large stack of files.

"Uh... no problem." Cisco's words had been cut off, but he wasn't angry in the slightest. Instead, as he looked over the materials in his hands, excitement bloomed in his eyes.

Zhang Tianran's research on dark matter and Metahumans was simply outstanding. It was so good that it almost felt impossible to believe.

"Dr. Zhang, this is incredible. It's hard to believe you achieved all this in just a few days. No wonder you were so confident you could reopen S.T.A.R. Labs..." Cisco eagerly flipped through the documents, and many of the things within them suddenly made sense to him.

After hearing Cisco's words, Zhang Tianran first glanced around before saying casually, "S.T.A.R. Labs... there's no need to rush that. Wells doesn't want to conduct any research for the time being anyway, so we might as well focus on dealing with the aftermath of the Particle Accelerator explosion."

"Speaking of which, how are Barry and your vigilante operations going? Have you run into any trouble?"

Zhang Tianran casually asked Cisco about The Flash.

"Things are going smoothly. Those Metahumans are certainly difficult to deal with, but we've captured several of them already..." Once Cisco started talking about it, he went on endlessly, brimming with excitement. Zhang Tianran immediately regretted asking.

Honestly, he didn't care much about Barry Allen. If not for the threat posed by Reverse-Flash, he wouldn't even have planned on becoming a Speedster.

But since he had already made his choice, he needed to make things as thorough as possible.

"Caitlin, has Barry's physical condition developed the same symptoms I predicted?" After finally getting rid of Cisco, Zhang Tianran walked over to Caitlin, who was busy at work, and asked.

Caitlin lifted her gaze from the test bench and gave Zhang Tianran a cool look. Then she said coldly, "Because of his super speed, Barry's metabolism is indeed extremely fast. He needs a large amount of high-energy food to replenish himself. But the energy supplement you mentioned is impossible to make."

"Also, this is my job. I'm capable of completing it. I admit that you're very smart, but please don't interrupt my work."

After saying that, Caitlin continued working, completely giving off an air that warned strangers to stay away.

A woman who had lost her fiancé seemed able to suppress her grief only through coldness and relentless work.

Zhang Tianran had hit a soft wall with Caitlin, but he didn't care. He picked up a vial of Barry Allen's blood sample from Caitlin's test bench and turned to leave.

The previous samples had long since been used up.