"You're back. You seem to have gotten faster. But not fast enough. Do you need my help?"
Wells sat in his wheelchair, drinking tea. Even in his own home, he moved as though he were truly paralyzed.
Zhang Tianran frowned slightly at those words. Several thoughts flashed through his mind, but his expression remained calm as he looked evenly at Reverse-Flash.
"The Speed Force seems to favor you, but I'd advise you not to rely on it too much. After all, you aren't Barry Allen." Wells did not care about Zhang Tianran's indifference and offered the reminder in a very friendly manner.
"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 obtained the Speed Force by injecting the serum, the Speed Force within Zhang Tianran had still been granted 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 provided Speedsters with speed, while also reclaiming the Speed Force from their bodies. Reverse-Flash's case 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 generated new Speed Force.
It sounded contradictory, didn't it? Yet that was the meaning of the Speed Force's existence.
When Reverse-Flash heard Zhang Tianran's words, a faint bitter smile crossed his face. He said solemnly, "Believe me, you don't understand the Speed Force as well as you think you do."
Zhang Tianran frowned at that but did not continue discussing the subject. After hesitating for a moment, he said instead:
"What do you want? If you want to return to the future, I can send you back now..."
To be fair, Zhang Tianran did not want to come into conflict with Reverse-Flash. Whatever the reason, Reverse-Flash had raised him for many years.
"It seems you already know something about me, but not enough. If it were merely a matter of returning to the future, I could naturally 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, but he found it difficult to believe.
"Your objective 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 affected, becoming furious and emotionally unstable. Yet you have never given up on the Negative Speed Force..."
Zhang Tianran hid nothing and laid out all his speculation directly. In this situation, he somewhat believed in the cooperation Reverse-Flash had mentioned.
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 did not want to die. Even if he lived out his natural lifespan, he did not want to go to any Hell or Heaven, much less into the Speed Force.
"Very good. You truly are exceptional! I'm beginning to believe more and more that you can accomplish that great feat with me..." Reverse-Flash rose from his wheelchair, applauding as he spoke.
Zhang Tianran frowned at those words but said nothing further.
Even though he had already accepted, deep down, the necessity of cooperating with Reverse-Flash, Zhang Tianran remained vigilant.
"If you want to cooperate with me, then be honest with me. If I can confirm that you're hiding nothing, I'll consider it." After a moment of silence, Zhang Tianran finally spoke.
"No rush. The time isn't right yet. Barry isn't ready, and neither are you..." Reverse-Flash shook his head and sat back down in his wheelchair.
What else did I need to prepare?
A trace of confusion flashed through Zhang Tianran's mind, but he did not ask.
By now, Zhang Tianran had fully familiarized himself with the Speed Force and developed several methods of combat. Although he had not yet faced any powerful enemies, he was confident he could confront any opponent.
After returning home and negotiating with Reverse-Flash, Zhang Tianran did not stay long in his "home." He drove directly to STAR Labs.
Like Reverse-Flash, Zhang Tianran did not want to reveal his identity as a Speedster at this time.
"Dr. Zhang, I've already sorted out your materials. These..."
Zhang Tianran had just arrived at STAR Labs and had not even entered through the door when he ran into an excited Cisco.
"You've finished sorting them out? Perfect. I've also done some research on Barry's Super Speed, and I need you to make a few little things..." Upon seeing Cisco, Zhang Tianran immediately interrupted him and handed over another large stack of documents.
"Uh... no problem." Cisco had been cut off, but he was not angry in the slightest. Instead, excitement bloomed in his eyes as he looked over the documents in his hands.
Zhang Tianran's research on dark matter and Metahumans was simply outstanding. It was so good that it almost seemed unbelievable.
"Dr. Zhang, this is incredible. It's hard to believe you produced all this in just a few days. No wonder you were so confident that you could get STAR Labs back on its feet..." Cisco eagerly flipped through the documents, and many things inside them suddenly made sense to him.
After hearing Cisco's words, Zhang Tianran first glanced around before speaking calmly. "STAR Labs... there's no need to rush that. Wells doesn't want to conduct any research for the time being anyway, so we should 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 Flash.
"Very smoothly. Those Metahumans really are difficult to deal with, but we've captured several of them one after another..." Once Cisco began talking about it, he went on endlessly, brimming with excitement. Zhang Tianran somewhat regretted asking.
Honestly, he did not care much about Barry Allen. If not for the threat posed by Reverse-Flash, he would not even have planned to become a Speedster.
But since he had already made his choice, he needed to make the best preparations possible.
"Caitlin, regarding Barry's condition, has the same prediction I made appeared?" 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 lab bench and gave Zhang Tianran a cool look. Then she said coldly, "Because of 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 simply impossible to make."
"Also, this is my work, and I'm capable of completing it. While I admit that you're very smart, please don't come disturb my work."
After saying that, Caitlin continued working, completely unapproachable.
A woman who had lost her fiancé seemed able to suppress her grief only through coldness and the busyness of work.
Zhang Tianran had met a soft rebuff from Caitlin, but he did not care. He picked up a vial of Barry Allen's blood sample from Caitlin's lab bench and turned to leave.
The previous samples had long since been used up.
Before you continue