Joe suppressed the stirring feelings within Barry and said solemnly, "Barry, let me investigate this for now. You and Harrison Wells often meet at Star Labs, so don't act rashly."
… …
Time Vault.
Wells touched his protruding stomach. Eastern cuisine was truly amazing; it made people unable to stop eating without realizing it. Even after two hours, he still felt bloated and full.
He had eaten too much just now and was a bit stuffed. He let out a burp and focused his gaze on the recorded video.
The screen showed Joe and Barry's clear conversation, which was playing from it.
"My experienced intuition tells me I need to investigate Harrison Wells."
Wells stared at Joe, muttering to himself, "Detective West, you truly are an excellent police officer."
Wells looked at Joe on the screen, pondered for a moment, then ignored it.
"Gideon, show me the future."
"Yes, Doctor."
A news article from 2025, detailing The Flash's disappearance, appeared as a holographic projection.
The future was correct.
"Bring up my log, Gideon, and input new content."
The light screen changed, displaying rows of log entries. A new log was generated by Gideon, supplemented by Wells's words.
Wells paced as he spoke.
"Everything is back on track. Everything messed up by the Transmigrator Lin Li has been pulled back to the correct path. Giving him the title of Star Labs consultant, specifically for capturing metahumans, has not changed the future at all. Historically, he seems to be inconsequential."
"Lin Li's identity is uncertain. According to him, he was an ordinary person in another world, living an ordinary life, and was unfortunately sucked into this world by a vortex. His desire to return, his frantic behavior of studying technology, and all the emotions he displays are very real. But to me, the credibility… … … … is zero."
"Lin Li is an unstable factor. His firm will, intelligent mind, and keen senses will eventually realize that I was the one who attacked him that night. He must die. The faster Barry runs, the faster he dies."
"For now, the priority is to stabilize him. I suspect he wields the Speed Force. Certain characteristics of the Speed Force are traceable in him. It is not yet confirmed whether he has mastered the Speed Force. As for his lightning abilities, he seems to be able to manipulate electrons to generate a magnetic field, and then control that magnetic field. His demonstrated Biological Force Field and his control over Barry's biological magnetic field all indicate that he can control biological magnetic fields."
"Cellular recombination changes at the molecular level, as well as extreme vibration, will render everything he has mastered ineffective. Even if he controls my 'Wells' biological magnetic field, it won't matter."
At this point, Wells sneered and continued.
"Only a Speedster can rival a Speedster."
"Barry's adoptive father, Detective West, is starting to suspect me, even though this suspicion is baseless, the reasons are far-fetched, based on experienced intuition."
"I need to dispel this suspicion. The relationship between Barry and me cannot be too distant. Conclusive proof will dispel Detective West's suspicion."
"That's all for now."
"Save."
After Wells finished speaking, he snapped his right hand.
"Gideon, activate the surveillance in the underground training room."
"Yes, Doctor."
Eight light screens appeared, showing various camera angles, forming a circle.
Three newly replaced sandbags, a wall of pockmarked steel plates, hanging in the air, one to 1.7 meters off the ground, more than eighty fist-sized iron blocks suspended by steel ropes, several modified baseball pitching machines, and at the entrance, a very large refrigerator.
These items constituted Lin Li's underground training room.
On all eight screens, Lin Li was shown sitting cross-legged on one side, seemingly meditating with his eyes closed.
"Meditation? Cultivation?"
"A mysterious Eastern boy, a mysterious Eastern nation. Since ancient times, Eastern wisdom has been as vast as the sea, unfathomable. However, the gap in intelligence spanning centuries, the difference in technology, and the greatness of the Speed Force are things you cannot overcome."
Wells's face showed an expression of pity, like he was looking at an ignorant ancient ape-man.
He turned and sat down in his wheelchair.
"Gideon, good night."
"Good night, Doctor."
Wells controlled his wheelchair, exited the Time Vault, and left Star Labs.
Underground training room. Thirty minutes later, Lin Li slowly opened his eyes. It wasn't meditation or cultivation; he was purely 'watching' Wells with his magnetic field perception, and only dared to act thirty minutes after confirming he had left.
He knew that Star Labs and even the entire Central City were covered by Wells's surveillance, so all his actions had to appear reasonable and well-founded, making Wells feel no doubt.
He activated his super-speed thinking and carefully considered the direction he needed to take in the future.
First, Barry was crucial to him. Barry's speed needed to be improved as quickly as possible.
Second, Wells's 25th-century technology could not be ignored. At the very least, he needed to go back, and crossing that vortex would definitely require dealing with the distortion of wormholes, the changes in dimensional energy, and pinpointing the coordinates of the real world. Otherwise, he might very likely be thrown into some unknown world, even further from the real world.
Third, Wells's biological magnetic field, the arrangement of his body cells, and changes at the molecular level, he needed to understand at least, planning for him as a future enemy. Wells was a suspicious person and would definitely not trust him, so controlling his life became crucial.
Fourth, the changes in the subsequent plot. The ability of Blackout to absorb the Speed Force was worth studying. In the original TV series, Wells also drew a tube of blood for research, but it seemed he didn't discover anything, and it wasn't mentioned later, so he didn't know what happened. He had to intercept the tachyon prototype and prevent Wells from getting it. This would further slow down Wells's speed recovery, preventing him from posing a threat. If there were no accidents, he could return to the real world in the later part of the first season.
Lin Li carefully thought about his future path and realized there wasn't much he could actually do. At most, he could assist Barry in combating metahuman criminals, protect Barry's safety, and urge Barry to run faster.
At this stage, he could only learn, desperately learning all kinds of knowledge, and preparing to extract Wells's knowledge.
After clearing his thoughts, Lin Li took out a dozen boxes of ice cream from the refrigerator, eating ice cream while looking at his tablet.
After midnight, he tidied up a pile of ice cream boxes. The ice cream in the refrigerator was almost all eaten by him, but there was no need to worry. Tomorrow, the supermarket would continue to be restocked. As usual, he sensed the magnetic field once before going to bed and found that Cisco was still in the lab, doing who knows what.
Lin Li didn't pay attention. Cisco's interest was in researching and inventing various things, as well as naming various strange items and people. Perhaps he was more energetic at night.
Lin Li thought so, lay down in bed, and went to sleep. Before falling asleep, he remembered what he should make for dinner tomorrow—a dinner that would fill him up even if they came to eat, and yet leave them feeling helpless.