Chapter 281: Extreme Coercion, Bait of the Speed Force
In the underground testing field, a huge circular treadmill occupied half of the space.
Cisco sat at the central control console behind the blast-proof glass, his hands typing rapidly on the keyboard, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
Lin Nuo sat on the leather sofa beside him with his hands crossed, holding a cup of warm water.
Barry was wearing that dark red anti-friction combat suit, standing in the center of the conveyor belt.
His muscles were tense all over, and through the blast-proof glass, he stared fixedly at the man sitting on the sofa.
"Mr. Lin, I am just a forensic scientist."
Barry tried to make a final struggle, his voice suppressing immense anger, "This suit is used by Cisco to test new materials. I don't know how fast you want me to run, and there are still cases waiting for me back at the police department."
"Using the Central City Police Department to pressure me?"
Lin Nuo placed the water cup on the glass coffee table, making an extremely dull, soft sound, "Mr. Allen, your Director signed your secondment order half an hour ago. From now on, your salary will be paid by the Star Umbrella Group. You are no longer the forensic scientist who handles rotting corpses, but a core asset under my command."
Barry clenched his fists, the fibers of the combat suit emitting a slight friction sound.
"I saw you last night at the ruins of the East District chemical plant."
Lin Nuo stood up, walked to the blast-proof glass, and pressed one hand against the glass surface, "You carried that man wearing the bat suit, and your speed broke the sound barrier. That kind of speed is not a limit that human bones can bear. You are cheating, Mr. Allen."
Barry's expression changed.
He thought last night's operation was seamless, not expecting it all to be within this man's sight.
"I spent ten billion U.S. dollars to buy this broken mess, not to watch you play dumb."
Lin Nuo's voice was transmitted into the testing field through the microphone, carrying unquestionable commands, "Raise the speed. I want to see those red electric arcs you ran out with last night. Otherwise, Ciscoand Caitlin will be sent to Central City Prison tomorrow for illegal use of the municipal power grid. Take a guess, without the protection of the laboratory, how many days can they survive in prison?"
Cisco shrank his neck in front of the central control console, his fingers suspended above the keyboard, not daring to reply at all.
Barry clenched his teeth, retreated his right foot half a step, and assumed a starting posture.
He had no way out.
Red light burst out.
Barry's body turned into a residual image on the conveyor belt.
The numbers on the speedometer jumped wildly.
The speed of sound, twice the speed of sound, three times the speed of sound.
Dazzling red electric arcs overflowed from Barry's body surface, wandering wildly along the circular runway.
The air in the entire underground testing field was forcibly torn open, emitting a deafening sonic boom.
The surrounding metal walls made teeth-aching twisting sounds under resonance.
Lin Nuo stood behind the blast-proof glass without even blinking his eyes.
The Hulk-level violent physical body endowed him with extreme dynamic vision.
He clearly captured the trajectory of every step Barry took.
Those red electric arcs were not simply physical discharges, but a high-dimensional energy field.
Deep within Lin Nuo's brain domain, the Space Stonefragment that had always been in a dead silence state produced high-frequency oscillations.
The sealed Quicksilver speed factor rampaged through his veins and blood vessels.
He was analyzing this power.
When Barry was running, the gravity field around his body was completely shielded.
That red energy was forcibly folding space, and even caused extremely tiny stagnation in the surrounding time scale.
The dust floating above the conveyor belt stopped directly in mid-air the moment it touched the red electric arcs.
This was precisely what Lin Nuo needed.
Speed Force.
As long as this power was drained, he could directly ignore the repulsion of the Universe laws, forcibly cleave open the long river of time, and pull back all the women he had lost in Marvel.
He could even directly rewrite the rules of this Universe.
The elevator door emitted a crisp prompt tone.
The metal car door slid open to both sides.
Iris walked in carrying two paper bags.
She was wearing a khaki trench coat with her curly hair draped over her shoulders. Her gaze crossed the central control console and looked directly at the running red lightning inside the testing field.
"Barry?"
Iris shouted.
The red electric arcs inside the testing field suddenly contracted.
Barry stepped firmly on the conveyor belt with both feet, and the huge friction brought up a pungent scorching smell.
He flurriedly pulled off his hood, looking sweating profusely at the woman outside the glass.
That extreme restraint yet overflowing desire at the bottom of his eyes was completely taken in by Lin Nuo.
Deep within Lin Nuo's brain domain, a cold mechanical sound rang out on time.
[Son of Luck detected: Barry Allen.]
[Related target detected: Iris West.]
[Achieve complete physical and mental possession to obtain the core ability: Speed Force Origin.]
Lin Nuo pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.
The lenses reflected a dazzling incandescent light, perfectly concealing the tyrannical desire for plunder at the bottom of his eyes.
The key delivered itself to his door.
And it was the acquisition method he was most familiar with and best at.
Barry pushed open the side door of the testing field and walked quickly to Iris.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead randomly, and even his tone of speaking became somewhat cramped, completely losing the vigilance he had earlier when facing Lin Nuo.
"Iris, why are you here?"
Barry took the paper bag from her hand, trying to block her line of sight looking toward the testing field, "Didn't you say there was a very important topic selection meeting at the newspaper office today?"
"The topic selection meeting was postponed. I heard Joe say you didn't come home last night, so I brought some food over on the way."
Iris moved her gaze away from Barry's strange combat suit and turned to Lin Nuo standing aside, "Who is this?"
Lin Nuo didn't wait for Barry to speak.
He took half a step forward extremely naturally, shortening the distance between himself and Iris.
"Lin Nuo."
Lin Nuo extended his right hand, his tone gentle, carrying a kind of composure of one accustomed to high positions, "Executive of the Star Umbrella Group, and also the new boss of this laboratory."
Iris was stunned.
She reached out and shook hands gently with Lin Nuo.
Lin Nuo's fingers were dry and strong, and the moment they touched, he withdrew them with extreme tact, showing no extra offense.
"New boss?"
Iris turned to look at Barry, her face full of astonishment, "Star Laboratories was acquired?"
"Ten billion U.S. dollars."
Cisco added in a low voice beside them, and immediately lowered his head again.
Iris's professional sensitivity as a reporter was instantly ignited.
She looked Lin Nuo up and down.
A customized dark suit, handmade leather shoes, and that top-tier capitalist aura that could not be concealed even standing in a dilapidated laboratory.
"Central City News Network, Iris West."
Iris immediately stated her identity, her tone becoming formal, "Mr. Lin, Central City has never heard of the Star Umbrella Group. You spent such a huge price to buy a laboratory burdened with huge debts, is it to enter the technology industry?"
Barry stood nearby, watching Iris develop a strong interest in Lin Nuo, his fingers subconsciously tightening around the edge of the paper bag.
"Miss West is very sharp about business news. It is the luck of Central City News Network to have a reporter like you."
Lin Nuo did not answer directly, instead steering the topic to Barry, "I bought this place because I fancy the scientific research potential here. Especially Mr. Allen."
Iris was somewhat surprised: "Barry? He's just a forensic scientist."
"Forensic scientist is just a label for him to conceal his talent."
Lin Nuo turned his head to look at Barry, his tone carrying undisguised appreciation, "Mr. Allen's theories in the field of ultra-high-speed particles are worth Star Umbrellapouring all its resources to cultivate. He is a true genius, but he was previously buried by poverty and a lack of supportive environment. I plan to build an independent research and development center for him."
This remark was extremely considerate.
But Barry felt cold all over listening to it.
He knew Lin Nuo was not praising him at all, but rather using the arrogance of capital to forcibly slap a label of a "beneficiary" on him.
A trace of pleasant surprise appeared in Iris's eyes when she looked at Barry.
She had always regarded Barry as the neighborhood boy who needed taking care of, and now hearing a multi-billionaire give Barry such a high evaluation, she felt genuinely happy.
"Barry, you never told me about these."
Iris reached out and patted Barry's shoulder, "You always keep everything hidden in your heart."
Barry opened his mouth, but didn't know how to explain.
He couldn't possibly say in front of Iris that the gentle-looking man in front of him was a madman who leveled the East District with explosives.
Lin Nuo took note of Barry's embarrassment and helplessness.
The class gap was an extremely cruel chasm.
Bruce Banner couldn't cross it, and the current Barry Allen couldn't cross it either.
As long as he was willing, he could smash all the self-esteem Barry built in front of Iris with money at any time.
"Mr. Allen's subsequent work will be very heavy."
Lin Nuo raised his wrist and glanced at the mechanical watch without any markings but with extremely complex craftsmanship, "Star Umbrella will fully take over his research progress. Miss West, thank you for coming to visit, but our subsequent tests involve commercial secrets."
An extremely tactful eviction order.
Iris understood immediately.
She nodded and placed the other paper bag in her hand on the central control console.
"Then I'll leave first, Barry. Remember to eat on time. Joe made roast meat tonight, remember to come home."
Iris turned and walked toward the elevator.
Barry chased forward two steps, wanting to see her off, but was stopped by Lin Nuo raising his hand.
"Mr. Allen, your heart rate has not yet returned to the normal standard."
Lin Nuo's tone was flat, yet it exuded an absolute commanding meaning, "Back to the treadmill, Cisco needs to collect your resting data."
Barry stared fixedly at Lin Nuo's arm, forcefully suppressing the impulse to break through Lin Nuo's block.
He could not expose his trump card of the Speed Force in front of Iris, nor could he let Iris get involved in the trouble of Star Umbrella.
The moment the elevator door was about to close, Lin Nuosuddenly bypassed Barry and walked to the front of the elevator door.
He felt out a pure black frosted business card from the inner pocket of his suit and handed it in through the door gap.
Iris subconsciously caught the business card.
"Miss West."
Lin Nuo looked at the woman in the car, "I think Central City News Network should really need an exclusive interview."
Iris held the business card, her eyes lighting up.
"Tomorrow night at eight, top-floor restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel in Central City."
Lin Nuo pushed his glasses, "I've left two hours for you."
Chapter 282: Crucial Dissection, The Gap Between Boys And Men
"You don't need to wait until tomorrow night."
Iris pressed the elevator's open button and walked out of the car. "Since Mr. Lin has acquired S.T.A.R. Labs, now is the best time for an interview. I wonder if you have any plans tonight?"
Barry had just stepped off the treadmill, not even having time to put his cowl on properly, and hurriedly rushed out of the testing area.
"Iris, he is very busy."
Barry stood between Iris and Lin Nuo, his dark red battle suit completely soaked in sweat, emitting an unpleasant smell of scorched rubber. "Besides, the laboratory has just finished its handover, and there are many internal affairs that need to be dealt with."
Lin Nuo pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his gaze passing over Barry's shoulder and landing on Iris's face.
"Mr. Allen is right, internal affairs are indeed complicated."
Lin Nuo carried a just-right sense of regret. "However, making a beautiful lady wait does not conform to my code of conduct."
Lin Nuo raised his wrist and glanced at his watch.
"How about this, Miss West."
Lin Nuo proposed, "We can chat in the nearby lounge area for ten minutes, and then I will take you to the best restaurant in Central City. We can chat while eating."
Iris nodded in agreement.
Barry stood in place, his hands tightly clenched into fists.
He wanted to say something more, only to find that he couldn't find any reasonable excuse to stop it at all.
He was a forensic scientist for the Police, and now an employee of Star Umbrella.
He had no qualification whatsoever to interfere with the normal socializing between his boss and a reporter.
Inside the lounge area.
Lin Nuo sat on a single-person sofa, his legs crossed.
His suit trouser legs were straight and without any wrinkles.
Iris sat opposite with a voice recorder.
"Central City's journalism is currently in an extremely awkward bottleneck period."
Lin Nuo didn't wait for Iris to ask questions, directly throwing out the topic.
"You pay excessive attention to street robberies and gang shootouts, yet ignore the technological iteration this city is experiencing. The restart of S.T.A.R. Labs is precisely to break this stalemate."
Iris was instantly attracted by this grand perspective, lowering her head to take quick notes in her notebook.
"Mr. Lin means that Star Umbrella will inject more technological resources into Central City?"
Iris looked up and asked.
"Not just resources."
Lin Nuo leaned forward slightly. "It's the future. And this future requires you media to guide the public's cognition. Miss West, your pen is more powerful than the guns of the Central City Police."
Iris's eyes lit up.
She saw an extremely rare vision in this man.
Barry stood on the periphery of the lounge area, still holding the towel handed over by Cisco.
He watched the two people inside chatting happily.
Every gesture of Lin Nuo exuded the composure of a mature man, and every word accurately struck Iris's professional ideals.
As for himself, wearing a ridiculous tight suit, reeking of sweat, he didn't even have the confidence to walk in and interject a word.
An extreme sense of inferiority completely overwhelmed Barry.
He could only watch blankly.
Ten minutes later.
Lin Nuo stood up and very naturally picked up the trench coat draped over the back of the chair for Iris.
"Time's up."
Lin Nuo spoke, "For the remaining questions, let's go to the restaurant and chat slowly."
Iris put on her trench coat and followed Lin Nuo outward.
When passing by Barry, Lin Nuo stopped his steps.
He reached out and patted Barry's sweat-stained shoulder heavily twice.
"Good job, Barry."
Lin Nuo said in an extremely familiar and condescending tone, "I am very satisfied with the test data just now. Rest well tonight, and tomorrow there will be even higher-intensity training waiting for you."
Barry's whole body stiffened.
Iris turned her head to look at Barry, revealing an encouraging smile.
"Come on, Barry. Mr. Lin values you a lot."
Iris said.
Barry opened his mouth, but no sound could come out of his throat, and he could only watch helplessly as Lin Nuotook Iris into the elevator.
Central City, Four Seasons Hotel top-floor restaurant.
The entire floor was completely cleared.
There were no other guests, only the melodious sound of the cello echoing in the air.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was Central City's brilliant night view.
Lin Nuo pulled out a seat and invited Iris to sit down.
The action was extremely gentlemanly, without any overstepping.
The waiter served top-tier caviar and a high-vintage red wine.
"You've spent too much."
Iris looked at the dishes on the table, feeling a bit awkward.
She was just a small reporter, and a banquet of this scale exceeded her daily understanding.
"Just a simple meal."
Lin Nuo raised his goblet, "To celebrate us reaching a consensus."
Iris raised her glass and clinked it gently.
The red wine entered the throat, extremely mellow.
"Mr. Lin..."
"Call me Lin Nuo."
Lin Nuo interrupted her. "Outside of work, I don't like those estranged titles. Moreover, you are even more sharp than I imagined. The salary Central City News gives you is not worthy of your talent."
Iris put down her wine glass, her cheeks slightly red.
"I am just doing what I like."
Iris said, "Exposing the truth, letting people see another side of this city."
"That's very difficult."
Lin Nuo cut the steak on his plate with extremely elegant movements. "The truth is often accompanied by danger. A girl like you, probing at the edges of those dangers every day, won't your family worry?"
"My father is Police."
Iris mentioned Joe, her tone carrying pride. "He taught me how to protect myself. And... Barry often helps me too."
Hearing Barry's name, the knife and fork in Lin Nuo's hand paused for half a second.
He put down his cutlery, crossed his ten fingers and placed them on the desktop, gazing straight at Iris.
"Barry is a good employee."
Lin Nuo's tone was steady. "But he is too naive. He lives in his own World, thinking of those complex social rules as too simple. He can't protect you."
Iris wanted to refute.
"You don't need to rush to defend him."
Lin Nuo directly sealed off her words. "I checked his resume at the Police station. A forensic scientist in the evidence department earning a base salary, facing microscopes and dead people every day. He treats his own life in a mess, what does he have to take responsibility for another person's safety?"
Iris fell silent.
What Lin Nuo said was a fact.
Barry indeed often arrived late, frequently messed up small things, and even spilled coffee when buying a cup.
"I am not belittling him."
Lin Nuo continued to apply psychological suggestion. "I am simply standing from the perspective of a mature male to view the relationship between you two. You grew up together since childhood, you treat him as a younger brother who needs care, and he treats you as an indispensable reliance."
Lin Nuo picked up his wine glass and took a sip.
"But this is called family affection, not love."
Lin Nuo gave a fatal conclusion.
Iris's fingers tightened on the tablecloth.
She had never examined her relationship with Barry from this angle.
Lin Nuo's words were extremely sharp, directly cutting open the reality she had deliberately avoided all along.
"What you yearn for is a man who can walk side by side with you, and even shield you from the wind and rain at critical moments."
Lin Nuo's gaze locked onto Iris's face with extreme aggressiveness. "Instead of a boy who requires you to clean up his messes at any time."
Iris's breathing became rapid.
She couldn't deny it.
Facing a top capitalist like Lin Nuo who possessed absolute control and could determine the economic trend of a city with every gesture, her inner instinct for admiring strength was thoroughly awakened.
Lin Nuo waved to call the waiter and paid the bill.
He stood up and walked to Iris's side.
"It's getting late, I'll send you back."
Lin Nuo's tone returned to its initial gentleness.
The black Maybach drove on the streets of Central City.
Inside the carriage it was extremely quiet.
Iris sat in the passenger seat, her gaze looking at the street view flashing past outside the window, her mind filled with what Lin Nuo said in the restaurant.
Lin Nuo held the steering wheel with one hand, his other hand resting extremely casually on the edge of the car window.
"Turn right at the intersection ahead, right?"
Lin Nuo asked.
"Mhm."
The vehicle slowly stopped in front of the traffic light.
Lin Nuo turned his head and looked at Iris's profile.
"Iris."
Lin Nuo spoke suddenly.
Iris turned her head, meeting Lin Nuo's pair of extremely penetrating eyes.
"You just said in the restaurant that Barry often helps you."
Lin Nuo lowered his tone significantly, carrying a kind of extremely dangerous probing. "Have you ever wondered why an ordinary forensic scientist can always arrive ahead of the Police and appear at those extremely dangerous accident scenes?"
Iris's pupils constricted.
"What on earth do you want to say?"
Iris asked.
The corners of Lin Nuo's mouth pulled into a tiny arc.
"I want to say, do you really understand that boy who grew up with you?"
Chapter 283: Filter Collapse, The Guest Stepping on Ice
"Barry has been like this since he was very young. Whenever he hears there's danger somewhere, he always runs faster than anyone else."
Iris's voice lacked conviction even to herself.
"Running faster than Police cars?"
Lin Nuo didn't look at her, steadily turning the steering wheel as the vehicle drove off the main road. "Or are you saying the Central City Police department's dispatch center always prioritizes notifying a low-level forensic scientist in the crime lab with top-secret dispatch coordinates?"
Iris opened her mouth, unable to find any logical words to refute him.
Lin Nuo didn't drive directly to the West family's residence, but instead drove into an upscale private club with extremely tight security by the Central City riverbank.
The black iron gates automatically opened to both sides after recognizing the license plate.
"This is Star Umbrella's reception area in Central City."
Lin Nuo parked the car in front of the steps, pushed the door open and got out, walked around to the passenger side to open the door for her. "Your thoughts are a mess right now. Going home in this chaotic state will only let your Police-officer father see through you. Go inside, have a cup of hot tea, and let's wrap up our unfinished conversation."
Iris looked at Lin Nuo's outstretched hand.
That hand was clean and strong, with a tiny sliver of the snow-white trim of a haute couture shirt visible at the cuff.
She hesitated for half a second and placed her hand on it.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of the club were the pitch-black river surface of Central City and the colorful lights on both banks.
In the spacious leather booth, only a brass candlestick emitted a flickering warm light.
The waiter served a pot of freshly brewed Ceylon black tea, then respectfully withdrew from the hall, pulling the heavy soundproof wooden door shut behind him.
"I've known Barry for fifteen years."
Iris picked up the warm porcelain cup, trying to unearth evidence from her memories that could support herself. "He was bullied at school and never dared to fight back. But he would take out his pocket money that he had saved for a long time, just to buy me a bracelet I accidentally lost. He isn't the irresponsible person you make him out to be."
Lin Nuo sat opposite her, without touching the teacup on the table.
He took off the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, holding them and playing with them casually.
"Buying a bracelet, what kind of responsibility does that require?"
Lin Nuo's tone was extremely calm, yet carried the sharpness of an anatomical scalpel. "That's called ingratiating oneself. It's a cheap compensation that the weak can only think of when they cannot provide substantial protection and value."
The teacup in Iris's hand shook slightly, and the tea almost splashed out.
"You actually know better than anyone, Iris."
Lin Nuo looked straight into her eyes. "Fifteen years, if a man truly liked you, he would have had countless opportunities to say those simple words. But did he say them?"
Iris avoided Lin Nuo's gaze, lowering her head to look at the candlelight reflected in the teacup. "He... he is shy. He is afraid of ruining our current relationship."
"Being afraid of ruining the relationship is the most decent coward's excuse in this World."
Lin Nuo leaned forward, shortening the distance between them. "He has always been testing your attitude, always playing the role of a harmless younger brother by your side. He enjoys your care for him, enjoys the convenience of you standing up for him and cleaning up the messes in his life, but he is unwilling to bear the responsibilities and risks a boyfriend should undertake."
"It's not like that!"
Iris raised her head, wanting to defend her past fifteen years.
"It is exactly like that."
Lin Nuo interrupted her, his voice not loud, but carrying an extremely strong sense of oppression. "You treat sticking out your tongue, scratching your hair, and stammering when encountering things as cute and innocent. But in the adult World, this is called lacking spine."
Lin Nuo placed the gold-rimmed glasses in his hand on the marble tabletop, making a crisp sound.
"A truly mature man, when he sets his sights on something or a woman, will use every legal means to fight for her, possess her, and give her the best life."
Lin Nuo looked into Iris's eyes. "He will block all the wind and rain outside, instead of hiding secrets in his heart and making you guess back and forth on the edge of danger every day."
The candlelight danced on Iris's cheeks.
Scenes of Barry from the past uncontrollably surfaced in her mind.
Every time it reached a critical moment, Barry would always sidestep the issue; every time she was in danger, Barry would always appear very mysteriously, only to fob her off with the lamest lies afterwards; even outside the restaurant, facing Lin Nuo's invitation, Barry couldn't even say a single sentence like "She is my woman, stay away from her."
The childhood sweetheart filter that had covered her eyes for a long time began to develop widespread cracks under the crushing weight of Lin Nuo's extremely realistic and cruel business logic.
"He always says he's not ready."
Iris's voice was dry, as if talking to herself. "Always says to wait a bit longer."
"Wait for what?"
Lin Nuo pulled a mocking arc. "Wait for his low-level forensic salary to be able to afford a house in downtown Central City? Or wait until he finally summons up the courage to stop hiding behind the signboard of 'best friend' like a tortoise with its head retracted?"
Lin Nuo stood up, walked to the side of the booth, and looked down condescendingly at this woman who was on the verge of breakdown.
"Iris, I don't like seeing a talented and ambitious woman waste her youth on a boy who will never grow up."
Lin Nuo's voice softened, carrying a fatal temptation. "What you crave is to be conquered, to be led by someone with a broader vision and greater strength than you, rather than raising an overage child for yourself."
Iris raised her head, looking at Lin Nuo close at hand.
The body wrapped in a dark suit was upright and strong, without a trace of youthfulness's awkwardness and evasion.
This man had appeared for less than twenty-four hours, yet he had bought the laboratory Barry relied on for ten billion U.S. dollars, and with a single meal and a few words, smashed her emotional understanding that she had adhered to for fifteen years into pieces.
She found that not only did she not feel offended, but instead a sense of relief arose within her.
Turns out it wasn't that she wasn't good enough, but that Barry simply didn't deserve her waiting.
Lin Nuo reached out, his fingertips extremely gently brushing away the moisture at the corner of Iris's eyes.
"Seeing reality clearly is not painful."
Lin Nuo's palm naturally rested on her shoulder, with a firm force. "What's painful is knowing that it's a quagmire and yet deceiving yourself into thinking it's a sea of flowers."
Iris didn't dodge the touch of the palm.
Her breath was faint, looking straight at Lin Nuo: "You telling me all this, is it because you want to get something?"
"I never hide my purpose."
Lin Nuo lowered his head, the tip of his nose only a few centimeters away from hers. "I want S.T.A.R. Labs' technology, and I also want..."
Boom!
A deafening explosion pierced through the entire private club from bottom to top without warning.
The marble floor beneath their feet shook violently, and the porcelain cups and teapots on the booth table were shaken into the air, smashing to the ground into pieces.
In the pitch-black night sky outside the window, an extremely thick dark-blue frost Impact precisely shot obliquely from the river surface, violently slamming into the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of the club.
Under the ultra-low temperature freezing of tens of degrees below zero and physical Impact, the high-strength special explosion-proof glass instantly became brittle.
Accompanied by a harsh cracking sound, the entire six-meter-tall glass curtain wall exploded inward.
Tens of thousands of cold glass fragments mixed with fierce wind poured back into the hall like a shotgun blast.
Iris screamed, instinctively hugging her head with both arms.
No debris hit him.
Lin Nuo made a move the second before the explosion occurred.
Exerting force with one arm, he wrapped his arm around Iris's waist, forcibly lifting her away from the booth and pressing her into his broad chest.
The Hulk-level violent physical body instantly tightened under the suit, and the muscle fibers hardened to a degree exceeding alloy.
The moment all the splashing glass fragments hit Lin Nuo's back, they were all shattered into extremely fine powder by that invisible Bio-force field.
The cold night wind carrying ice chips surged in wildly.
The lights in the club's hall short-circuited and went out, and the only brass candlestick was also blown out by the wind.
In the darkness, a stout man covered all over in heavy ice armor stepped on the shattered glass all over the floor and walked in from the balcony outside the window.
Frost spread under the stout man's feet, and the carpet instantly formed a layer of white frost.
"I heard the place has a rich new boss."
The icy stout man let out a rough, wild laugh, condensing a sharp ice spear up to two meters long in his hand.
"Hand over the vault password, or I'll freeze you into pieces!"
Chapter 284: Too Slow, Now She Is Mine
"Hand over the vault password!"
The muscular man roared, his gun barrel pointing straight at the booth.
Iris shrank into Lin Nuo's arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.
She was just an ordinary journalist; no matter how dangerously she usually tracked news, the physiological fear when truly facing an attack was simply insurmountable.
Lin Nuo wrapped one arm around her waist, and patted her back extremely steadily with the other hand.
"Close your eyes."
Lin Nuo lowered his head, his lips pressing against her auricle.
His warm breath hit Iris's cold skin, bringing a wave of fine, tingling numbness.
"Open them after counting to ten."
Lin Nuo's tone had no fluctuation, calm to a degree completely inconsistent with the current desperate situation.
Iris raised her head, looking at the face close at hand.
There was no panic on that face, and the pupils behind the gold-rimmed glasses even revealed a hint of displeasure at having his mood disturbed.
"But…" Iris wanted to remind him of the weapon in the other party's hand.
"Be obedient."
Lin Nuo's fingertips brushed across her cheek, his tone becoming a fraction heavier, carrying an unquestionable command.
Iris closed her eyes inexplicably, her hands clutching tightly onto the hem of Lin Nuo's shirt.
Lin Nuo let go of his hand and straightened his body.
He even had the leisure to tidy up the cuffs of his suit.
"Do you know how much this clubhouse turns over in a single night?"
Lin Nuo strode forward, stepping over the collapsed marble tabletop to face the frost-covered muscular man who was over two meters tall.
"Cut the crap! If you don't hand over the password, I'll freeze you all into ice sculptures!"
The muscular man pulled the trigger.
An extremely thick, deep-blue freezing ray gushed out, heading straight for Lin Nuo's face.
The core temperature of this ray was close to absolute zero, enough to freeze an armored vehicle into brittle ice in an instant.
Lin Nuo did not dodge.
The freezing ray slammed solidly against his chest.
The deep-blue ice layer spread at a speed visible to the naked eye, completely enveloping his upper body in the blink of an eye.
The muscular man let out a raspy, wild laugh: "I thought it was some tough bone, but it turns out to be an idiot who doesn't even know how to dodge!"
Hearing the laughter, Iris's eyelashes trembled violently.
She heard the clicking sound of the ice freezing; reason told her that Lin Nuo might have already met with misfortune, but she firmly remembered Lin Nuo's injunction, reciting the numbers silently in her heart.
Snap.
A subtle cracking sound echoed through the spacious hall.
The muscular man's laughter abruptly ceased.
He widened his eyes, staring intently ahead.
On the surface of the thick ice layer encasing Lin Nuo, dense spiderweb-like cracks appeared.
Bang!
The ice layer shattered.
Countless ice shards splashed in all directions.
Lin Nuo stood in place, completely unharmed.
The Hulk-level violent flesh endowed him with absolute defense that ignored physical damage of this level.
He didn't even change his breathing frequency.
"Minus one hundred degrees?"
Lin Nuo raised his hand, brushing off a piece of ice on his shoulder: "The technological level of Central City's villains is truly uninteresting."
The muscular man retreated half a step as if seeing a ghost, pulling the trigger once more.
The freeze gun emitted an overloaded hum, and a higher-power ray poured out.
Facing the ray, Lin Nuo strode forward.
The extremely cold airflow struck his Bio-force field, forced to split to both sides, freezing thick frost onto the clubhouse's walls and ceiling.
Lin Nuo's pace did not pause at all, his leather shoes stepping on the icy floor, producing a dull sound.
Every step precisely trampled on the muscular man's collapsing psychological defense line.
The distance between the two was forcibly shortened to half a meter.
The muscular man panicked completely, discarding the freeze gun, and swung his huge fist covered in ice armor toward Lin Nuo's head.
Lin Nuo raised his right hand.
With five fingers spread open, he precisely caught the fist that was powerful enough to smash a load-bearing wall.
An overwhelmingly oppressive strength erupted in his palm.
Lin Nuo exerted force from his wrist, his five fingers suddenly tightening.
A harsh sound of bone fracturing mixed with the sound of shattering ice sounded simultaneously.
The muscular man let out a shrill and miserable scream.
His entire right hand's bones were forcefully crushed into powder by Lin Nuo.
Lin Nuo did not give him a chance to breathe.
Reaching out with his left hand, he directly choked the muscular man's thick neck, exerting force with a single arm to lift this monster weighing over three hundred catties into the air.
The muscular man kicked wildly with both feet, his hands clinging desperately to Lin Nuo's arm, trying to pry open that iron-clamp-like hand.
Lin Nuo swung back-handed.
Boom!
The muscular man was heavily smashed against the remaining wall.
The wall caved in, and cracks spread.
Choking his neck, Lin Nuo pinned him tightly against the wall.
"Interrupting my tea."
Lin Nuo pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his tone extremely ruthless: "You aren't even qualified to die."
Rolling his eyes, the muscular man made a gurgling sound in his throat and passed out completely.
Lin Nuo let go of his hand.
The massive body slid to the ground like mud.
"Ten."
Iris had just finished counting the last number.
She opened her eyes.
The hall was in complete disarray.
That arrogant monster lay in the corner, his life or death unknown.
Lin Nuo turned around, walking back to her side stepping over the ice shards all over the floor.
He took off the suit jacket stained with cold air and draped it extremely naturally over Iris's trembling shoulders.
"It's fine now."
Lin Nuo placed both hands on her shoulders, pulling her closer to himself.
Iris looked up at this man.
No superpowers, no fancy equipment, purely relying on physical body to crush that monster.
That ultimate aesthetic of violence formed an extreme contrast with his gentle and refined posture at this moment.
Her heart beat like a drum, completely sinking into this absolute sense of security.
"Are you hurt?"
Iris reached out to touch Lin Nuo's shirt; it felt icy cold to the touch, but the muscles underneath were scorching hot and hard.
"I said, I will block all wind and rain outside."
Lin Nuo took the opportunity to hold her hand, pulling her completely into his arms.
Just at this moment, the air vibrated at high frequency.
A red arc of electricity tore through the night, rushing into the clubhouse hall.
Barry Allen wearing a dark red combat suit stopped a few steps away.
He had received the alarm and rushed over at top speed.
He saw the frost all over the floor and the attacker lying in the corner.
Finally, his gaze locked tightly onto the front.
Lin Nuo was holding Iris halfway in his arms with an extremely possessive posture.
Iris was draped in Lin Nuo's suit, her hands tightly grasping the edge of Lin Nuo's shirt without any resistance.
"Iris!"
Barry's voice trembled as he took a step forward.
Lin Nuo turned his head slightly, his gaze passing over Iris's head to look straight at Barry.
"Mr. Allen."
Lin Nuo pulled the corners of his mouth into a mocking arc: "Do the Police always make a habit of showing up only when collecting corpses?"
Barry clenched his fists tightly, the red arcs of electricity on his combat suit leaping wildly due to emotional loss of control.
"Let her go."
Barry gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at Lin Nuo's hand wrapped around Iris's waist.
"Let go?"
Far from letting go, Lin Nuo pulled Iris even tighter: "Mr. Allen, in what capacity are you ordering me?"
Barry was at a loss for words.
He couldn't expose his identity as the Flash, nor could he explain why he appeared here in this form.
Iris poked her head out from Lin Nuo's arms, looking at the You-Know-Who in front of her wearing a red combat suit.
"Who are you?"
Iris asked.
Barry's heart gave a fierce wrench.
Watching Iris snuggled in another man's arms, the suffocating feeling of being completely deprived overwhelmed him.
"I'm here to save you."
Barry's voice was dry.
"Save me?"
Iris glanced at the mess all over the floor: "The danger has already been lifted. Lin Nuo protected me. You're late."
This sentence was sharper than any weapon, piercing directly through Barry's defense line.
Lin Nuo pushed his glasses, looking at Barry's broken gaze, the depths of his eyes full of a tyrant's delight.
"Did you hear that, Mr. Allen."
Lin Nuo's tone was calm: "The game is over. Now, get the hell out of my territory."
Chapter 285: Trust Collapse, Years-Late Confession
Iris poked her head out from Lin Nuo's arms, her gaze shifting back and forth between the man in red and Lin Nuo.
She caught the keyword in Lin Nuo's words.
Mr. Allen, the forensic scientist of the Central City PoliceDepartment.
Iris pushed away Lin Nuo's arm, staring straight at the person wearing a red hood and dark red tights.
"Barry?"
Iris shouted out the name.
Barry stood less than three meters away from the two of them, the red electric arcs on the surface of his suit jumping irregularly due to emotional loss of control.
He raised his hand and forcefully pulled off his hood, revealing a face covered in sweat and full of anxiety and helplessness.
"It's me, Iris."
Barry took half a step forward, reaching out his hand to pull her, "I rushed over as soon as I received the alarm. Are you hurt? That freezing guy didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Iris stepped back half a step, dodging his hand.
The fifteen-year childhood sweetheart filter, combined with the things Lin Nuo said in the car an hour ago, completely collapsed at this moment.
"You are that You-Know-Who who always runs faster than the Police."
Iris looked at this dark red tights, and then glanced at the beaten-up frost brute in the corner, "You've always had superpowers. Every day you watched me running around for news about urban legends, watched me fall into danger, yet you refused to tell me anything."
"I just wanted to protect you!"
Barry eagerly defended himself, waving his hands wildly in the air, "If those bad guys know my identity, they will use you to threaten me! I can't let you take that risk!"
"Protecting with deception?"
Lin Nuo extended his hand very naturally, gathering the suit jacket that had slipped to Iris's elbow back onto her shoulders.
His action was full of territorial declaration, his knuckles intentionally or unintentionally brushing against the side of Iris's neck.
Iris did not dodge.
She even leaned closer to Lin Nuo, drawing a sense of security from this man.
Lin Nuo pushed his gold-rimmed glasses and looked down at Barry: "Barry, public security incidents should be left to the Police, what are you running over here to meddle for? ( º ʖ º )"
Barry was choked by these words, the veins on his neck bulging: "This is a matter between Iris and me! Mind your own business!"
"I am your boss."
Lin Nuo's tone was steady, crushing the opponent with the most realistic social hierarchy, "S.T.A.R. Labs still has a lot of data that hasn't finished running. I spent ten billion to buy your time, not to have you wearing these ridiculous tights and running to my private club to smash the place."
Barry pointed at the frost brute in the corner, raising his volume: "If I hadn't come, Iris would have lost her life just now!"
"If you hadn't come, the floor here could have had a few less scorch marks."
Lin Nuo raised his foot and kicked away a piece of crushed ice, "Open your eyes and look. When you arrived, the attacker had already been dealt with by me. Besides standing here yelling and providing a little cheap emotional value, what else did you do?"
Barry was hit where it hurt.
He had the fastest speed in the World, yet he was completely powerless in the face of realistic power and capital.
He wanted to make a move, but he couldn't attack an "ordinary person" who had just saved Iris in front of her.
"Last time at the Central City bank robbery, you told me you were doing tests in the Underground Room of the Police station. Last month when the bridge collapsed, you told me you were stuck on the highway in the southern district."
Iris dug up old accounts one by one, "You ran around in this city wearing this suit, watching me guess the true identity of this man in red in press releases like a fool, do you feel a great sense of accomplishment in your heart?"
"It's not like that! I signed a confidentiality agreement, the rules of the lab..." Barry tried to shift the blame.
Lin Nuo delivered a timely critical blow: "Lab rules? Mr. Allen, as the new executive of Star Umbrella Group, I don't remember any rule in the company requiring employees to hide their identities from their girlfriends. Besides, you are just an external personnel."
Lin Nuo bit the three words "girlfriend" extremely hard, which was a high-level probe.
Iris immediately retorted: "I am not his girlfriend."
Lin Nuo spread his hands towards Barry: "You see, Mr. Allen. You don't even have a title, with what position do you use to accuse me?"
Barry was driven to desperation: "What on earth do you want to do? You bought the lab with ten billion, and now you are approaching Iris, you definitely have a conspiracy!"
"Ten billion is just a string of numbers on my accounts."
Lin Nuo walked to the booth, picked up the completely cold black tea, "I bought the lab because I valued the commercial prospects of hyper-dimensional physics. I approached Iris because she is an extremely excellent journalist who can bring positive media exposure to Star Umbrella."
Lin Nuo poured the cold tea into the potted plant next to him.
"And you, Mr. Allen."
Lin Nuo turned his head, "You treat all coincidences as conspiracies because you are a poor person. Poor people always habitually think that rich people spend money to snatch away their meager assets. But in reality, there is nothing on you worth me spending ten billion."
These words were extremely vicious, directly mocking the class gap in reality.
Barry was crushed by this dimensionality-reduction strike rhetoric, leaving him with no strength to retort.
"You simply don't know what kind of person you are facing!"
Barry pointed at Lin Nuo and shouted to Iris, "He is a lunatic!"
"Enough, Barry."
Iris finally spoke, her voice revealing extreme exhaustion and disappointment, "Lin Nuo just saved my life. When that monster shot, he protected me in his arms. And what about you? You wear this suit, under the banner of protecting me, and lied to me for so many years treating me like a fool who knows nothing."
"I didn't lie to you, I just wasn't ready on how to speak..." Barry was incoherent.
"Not ready."
Lin Nuo repeated those four words, a mocking arc pulling at the corner of his mouth, "Iris, what did I say in the car just now?"
Lin Nuo's sentence "Fear of ruining the relationship is the most decent coward's excuse in this World" echoed in Iris's mind.
"You should go, Barry."
Iris turned around, no longer looking at him, "I don't want to talk to you right now."
"Iris!"
Barry stepped forward.
Lin Nuo blocked in front of Iris.
The Hulk-level physical body completely blocked the corridor's light, and the huge size difference and the superior's sense of oppression directly shrouded over Barry's head.
"Can't understand human language?"
Lin Nuo looked down at Barry, his voice lowered to a frequency that only the two of them could hear, "Roll back to your lab and run circles. One more step forward, and tomorrow's headline on Central City News Network will be The Flash being driven out of his apartment by his landlord for failing to pay rent."
Barry clenched his fists tightly, his nails almost sinking into his flesh.
"Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, punch in on time."
Lin Nuo resumed his normal volume, turned around and put his arm around Iris's shoulders, "Let's go."
The black maybach drove on the streets late at night.
The heater was turned on inside the carriage.
Iris took off the oversized suit jacket and held it in her arms.
The jacket retained Lin Nuo's body temperature and an extremely aggressive woody fragrance.
"Sorry for making you watch a joke."
Iris looked out the window.
"Boys always need to go through some setbacks to grow up."
Lin Nuo steered the steering wheel with one hand, "It's just that this price shouldn't have to be borne by you."
The vehicle stopped in front of the West family's red-brick Villa.
Iris did not get out of the car immediately.
She turned her head, looking at the man in the driver's seat.
"Everything you said tonight has come true."
Iris's fingers twisted the edge of the suit jacket.
Lin Nuo leaned in close.
The extremely close distance made Iris stop her movement.
He didn't make any overstepping moves, just reached out to help her unfasten her seatbelt.
"This jacket is a bit big, tomorrow I'll have someone send a fitting one to the newspaper office."
Lin Nuo said.
"No need to bother."
Iris said.
"It's no bother."
Lin Nuo rested his fingers on the steering wheel, "This is work-related injury compensation. After all, you were frightened in my club. Besides, I am a person who doesn't like others refusing my compensation."
Iris pushed open the car door and got out of the car.
In her mind, the system's mechanical voice sounded.
[Detected that Iris West's psychological defense line has collapsed on a large scale.]
[Interception progress: 50%.]
Lin Nuo watched Iris's back as she walked into the Villa, and the car window slowly rose.
"Speed Force, it's almost ripe."
Chapter 286: Crazy Collision, Speed Pushed to the Limit
S.T.A.R. Labs.
Barry Allen walked in carrying a backpack.
His eye sockets were dark, his eyes were bloodshot, and his steps were heavy.
The dimensional reduction blow he suffered at the private club last night clearly kept him awake all night.
Cisco and Caitlin followed closely behind.
The two of them held the top-tier equipment list sent overnight by the Star Umbrella Group, still carrying the excitement of not having fully recovered.
"Everyone is here."
Lin Nuo turned around and raised his hand to press a button on the control console.
The holographic projector in the center of the main control room instantly activated.
The blueprints for the "Ultra-high Frequency Particle Collider Device" floated in mid-air, emitting a faint blue glow.
Cisco's coffee cup dropped straight to the ground, the brown liquid splashing and soaking his sneakers.
He didn't even bother to wipe it, throwing his entire body in front of the holographic projection with his eyes wide open.
"Good god, what kind of divine design is this?"
Cisco swiped his fingers in the air, magnifying the structure of one of the energy diversion channels. "This kind of gravitational field constraint equation has never been publicly published in the current physics community. Mr. Lin, is your Star Umbrella R&D team made of aliens?"
"The foundation of capital is not something those politicians in Central City who take taxpayers' money to scam funds can understand."
Lin Nuo walked down the steps and came to the projector. "Those idiots at City Hall smash thirty billion U.S. dollars every year into the so-called clean energy gimmick, and in the end, it only fattens the pockets of a few shell companies and environmental organizations. What Star Umbrella wants to do is completely rewrite this city's energy landscape."
Caitlin stared at those rows of extremely aggressive parameters, her brows knitted into a knot.
"Mr. Lin, the output power of this device is too terrifying."
Caitlin pointed at the core chamber. "If an energy leak occurs, half of Central City will be razed to the ground. We cannot take such a big risk."
"Risk is always directly proportional to reward."
Lin Nuo put his hands in his suit pants pockets, his tone steady. "All accessories adopt aviation-grade titanium alloy, and the cooling system is directly supplied with liquid helium. If it breaks, replace it; if it explodes, rebuild it. The last thing Star Umbrella lacks is money."
Lin Nuo turned his gaze to Barry, who had been silent all along.
"Of course, whether this machine can operate depends on our core asset."
Lin Nuo pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. "The core driving force of this machine is the peak collision of super-lightspeed particles. Currently on the entire Earth, only Mr. Allen can provide this initial kinetic energy."
Barry abruptly raised his head and stared fixedly at Lin Nuo.
"You want me to act as this machine's generator?"
Barry clenched his back teeth, his jawbone protruding. "You bought S.T.A.R. Labs just to use my speed to help you make money?"
"Making money is just an incidental byproduct."
Lin Nuo walked up to Barry and looked down at him. "I am giving you a chance to save this city. Don't you like being a hero? Don't you like running around the streets in tights, enjoying that cheap sense of accomplishment?"
Barry clenched his fists tightly, his nails sinking into his flesh.
"I don't save people for a sense of accomplishment!"
Barry retorted loudly, "I am doing the right thing!"
"The right thing?"
Lin Nuo let out a sneer. "You catch a few robbers every night and stop a few car accidents—is that called doing the right thing? Every year in Central City, thousands of people freeze to death on the streets because they can't afford expensive winter heating bills. As long as this machine operates successfully, Star Umbrella will be able to provide unlimited cheap energy. The people you can save by running for a few minutes will be more than all the thieves you catch in a lifetime."
Lin Nuo's words were extremely sharp, directly cutting open the moral high ground that Barry took pride in.
Barry opened his mouth, but could not find any vocabulary to retort.
"Or rather, are you scared?"
Lin Nuo lowered his voice and leaned close to Barry's ear. "Last night in front of Iris, you couldn't even say a complete sentence. You proved that you only know how to make noise. Today, prove that you still have some other value. (º ʖ º)"
Iris's name became the last straw that crushed Barry's sanity.
His mind was filled with the image of Iris snuggling in Lin Nuo's arms last night.
That suffocating feeling of being deprived made him desperately want to turn the tables in front of this man.
He wanted to prove that he wasn't a good-for-nothing, and prove that he possessed the power to change the World.
"I'll run."
Barry raised his head, his eyes filled with crazy stubbornness. "As long as I run out the data you want, you stay away from Iris."
"You have no qualifications to negotiate terms with me."
Lin Nuo straightened his body and adjusted his cuffs. "However, if you can really run at super-light speed, you might be able to salvage a little pitiful dignity in front of her. Go change your clothes."
Barry yanked off his backpack and strode toward the locker room.
Cisco looked at Barry's back and turned his head to look at Lin Nuo with some concern.
"Mr. Lin, Barry has never tried to break the speed of light. His physical functions might not be able to withstand that level of spatial tearing."
Cisco reminded.
"The medical team is already in place."
Lin Nuo walked to the central console, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "Star Umbrella does not support idlers. If he can't even withstand this bit of pressure, then he doesn't deserve to occupy my ten billion U.S. dollar investment."
Ten minutes later, the underground testing ground.
The originally dilapidated circular treadmill had been dismantled overnight.
Replacing it was an extremely massive metallic creation.
Countless thick superconducting cables connected to the energy matrix on the wall.
Barry wore a dark red suit and stood on the track at the core of the device.
He put on his cowl and, through the explosion-proof glass, stared fixedly at Lin Nuo sitting in front of the main control console.
"Activate all monitoring probes."
Lin Nuo gave the order, "Set the priority of the time-reversal capture program to the highest."
Cisco's hands tapped rapidly on the keyboard.
"Energy diversion channels open, cooling system normal."
Cisco stared at the various parameters on the screen, "Barry, are you ready?"
Barry stepped his right foot half a step back and assumed a starting stance.
"Begin."
Lin Nuo spat out two words.
Boom!
Barry's body directly turned into a blurry afterimage on the track.
The numbers on the speedometer jumped wildly at an extremely terrifying speed.
Sonic speed, twice sonic speed, ten times sonic speed.
The air inside the testing ground was forcibly evacuated, forming a temporary vacuum zone.
The superconducting cables emitted an overburdened humming sound, and the blue energy poured crazily down the diversion channels into the core chamber.
Lin Nuo stared at the main screen.
Amidst a pile of cluttered physical data, a golden curve representing the high-dimensional laws of time was slowly climbing.
The Hulk-level violent physical body tightened slightly under Lin Nuo's suit; he could clearly feel that the surrounding time scale was undergoing extremely minute distortions with Barry's running.
"The speed is still increasing!"
Cisco grabbed his hair, his voice filled with extreme excitement and fear, "He has broken through conventional physical limits! The energy peak is about to overflow!"
"Cut off the alarm system."
Lin Nuo leaned back in his chair, his fingers crossed and resting on his abdomen.
"But the machine won't hold up!"
Cisco shouted.
"I said, cut off the alarms."
Lin Nuo turned his head, his ink-colored pupils surging with a tyrant-like desire for plunder.
"Squeeze out his last shred of potential, I want to see where the limit of this machine is."
Chapter 287: Reverse Seizure, Running as Nutrients
On the master control room's screen, the red alarm flashed frantically.
Cisco's hands tapped on the keyboard so fast they left afterimages.
"Mr. Lin, the energy threshold has exceeded 300%!"
Cisco stared at the skyrocketing curves on the screen, veins bulging on his forehead, "The metal fatigue of the core cabin has bottomed out. If he keeps running like this, the machine is going to explode!"
Lin Nuo sat in a leather swivel chair with his legs crossed and ten fingers intertwined resting on his abdomen.
"I said, cut off the alarm."
Lin Nuo's tone had no fluctuation whatsoever, chillingly calm, "Continue supplying energy."
Barry Allen ran wildly on the treadmill.
On the surface of the dark red suit, the originally dense red electric arcs began to expand violently.
The high temperature generated by high-frequency friction burned a large number of scorch marks on the edges of the suit.
Thirty times the speed of sound.
The gravity field inside the testing ground completely collapsed.
The metal parts scattered in the corners left the ground and floated completely in mid-air.
Within the red electric arcs surrounding Barry Allen's body, dazzling dim blue light spots began to intermingle.
Those dim blue light spots were not conventional physical discharges.
They drifted through the air, and wherever they passed, the space presented visible folded water ripples to the naked eye.
"What is that thing?"
Caitlin pointed at the explosion-proof glass, her voice sharp.
Behind Barry Allen's running trajectory, an extremely eerie image appeared.
A blurry humanoid figure entirely composed of dim blue light was closely following behind Barry Allen.
It repeated Barry Allen's actions from the previous second, and an extremely obvious misalignment appeared in the time scale between the two.
Time afterimage.
Lin Nuo took off his gold-rimmed glasses and placed them on the console in front of him.
He stood up and strode to the explosion-proof glass.
The Hulk-level violent physical body completely awakened under the suit, and the Bio-force field spread out against the glass surface, forcibly blocking the high-frequency radiation overflowing from the testing ground.
"He is breaking the time barrier."
Lin Nuo looked at that dim blue humanoid figure, fanatical fervor unique to Raiders surging deep within his eyes.
Deep within the brain domain, a mechanical voice sounded on schedule.
[Detected materialization of high-dimensional time laws.]
[Target energy source: Speed Force origin.]
[System has forcibly accessed the superconducting energy matrix.]
Cisco frantically pounded the keyboard in front of the central control console, trying to pull up background data.
The code on the screen refreshed like a waterfall.
Cisco's action of pounding the keyboard suddenly stopped.
"Something's wrong!"
Cisco turned his head to look at Lin Nuo, his face full of horror, "The energy diversion channel is not supplying power to the treadmill! The matrix is running in reverse! This machine is draining Barry Allen's energy!"
Cisco shoved his chair away and lunged at the red emergency stop lever on the far right of the master control console.
"Stop! Stop quickly! You're going to drain him to death!"
Cisco's fingers were still three centimeters away from the lever.
A slender, powerful hand reached out from the side, pressing neither lightly nor heavily onto Cisco's shoulder.
Cisco's body instantly stiffened.
He found that he couldn't move.
Not only were his arms unable to bend, even his breathing completely stagnated.
The surrounding air presented a high-density sticky sensation, casting his entire person in place.
Lin Nuo stood by Cisco's side, pressing his shoulder with one hand.
The Reality Warping authority in a state of deep dormancy experienced extremely minute resuscitation under the stimulation of the Speed Force's high-frequency oscillation.
Just a trace of law leakage was enough to completely lock down an ordinary person's mobility at the physical level.
"Cisco, you signed."
Lin Nuo slightly turned his head, his lips close to Cisco's ear, his tone extremely smooth, "This machine, this building, including all the data generated inside, the property rights belong to the Star Umbrella Group. (º ʖ º)"
Cisco's eyeballs protruded as he frantically rolled his eyes, trying to express resistance.
"Damaging company property will face sky-high penalty fees."
Lin Nuo's fingertips gently tapped twice on Cisco's scapula, "I spent ten billion U.S. dollars not to watch you guys play house hero games. What I want is results."
Caitlin saw Cisco's abnormality from the side.
"Cisco? What's wrong with you?"
Caitlin stepped forward, wanting to pull Lin Nuo's hand away.
"Director Caitlin."
Lin Nuo didn't make any movement, just called her name.
Caitlin's footsteps stopped abruptly.
"Go check the remaining amount of life support fluid in the medical pod."
Lin Nuo gave the instruction, "After Mr. Allen's test is over, top-tier repairs will be needed. Do your job well."
Caitlin looked at Cisco, who was pinned in place, and then looked at Barry Allen, who was vomiting blood inside the explosion-proof glass, and gritted her teeth as she walked toward the medical area.
Capital's dimensionality-reduction strike, coupled with the suppression of absolute power, made resistance meaningless.
Inside the testing ground.
Fifty times the speed of sound.
Fresh blood continuously overflowed from Barry Allen's mouth and nose under the suit's mask.
He felt his muscle fibers being torn apart inch by inch.
That power that had always supported him in running was frantically draining away along the treadmill beneath his feet.
He wanted to stop.
But his mind was filled with the image of Iris snuggled in Lin Nuo's arms last night.
"I cannot lose!"
Barry Allen roared out.
The red electric arcs completely transformed into dim blue.
The second and third time afterimages appeared one after another.
The space in the entire testing ground experienced severe misalignment.
Dense spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the explosion-proof glass.
Lin Nuo withdrew his hand from Cisco's shoulder.
Cisco's legs went soft, and he collapsed directly onto the ground, panting heavily.
Lin Nuo pressed both hands on the edge of the console and closed his eyes.
[Space Stone fragments produce high-frequency resonance.]
[Quicksilver speed factor begins to devour Speed Forcecode.]
[Law analysis progress: 10%... 30%... 50%...]
The massive high-dimensional energy followed the superconducting cables pre-arranged by Star Umbrella, bypassing the storage terminals of physical equipment, and poured directly into Lin Nuo's body.
The muscles under Lin Nuo's suit bulged high, and the purplish-red blood surged in his blood vessels, emitting muffled sounds like battle drums.
He could feel that those law cracks frozen by the backlash of the long river of time were being rapidly filled by this dim blue energy.
Just a little bit more.
As long as this energy was completely drained, he could regain the absolute authority of Reality Warping.
Just at this moment.
Bang!
An extremely muffled explosion sounded inside the testing ground.
Barry Allen's legs finally couldn't withstand the reaction force brought by superluminal speed, and his right leg directly snapped.
His whole body lost balance and was violently thrown away by the huge inertia of the treadmill.
His physical body smashed through the remaining explosion-proof glass and heavily slammed into the metal wall of the master control room.
After losing its main body support, the dim blue time afterimage flickered twice and completely dissipated in the air.
The backup power of the entire S.T.A.R. Labs tripped completely.
The master control room plunged into darkness, with only the emergency lights emitting a weak red glow.
"Barry!"
Cisco scrambled and rushed over.
Barry Allen collapsed in the pile of broken glass, his suit extensively damaged, covered in blood, and he had completely lost consciousness.
Caitlin rushed over pushing a mobile medical bed, lifted Barry Allen onto it, and quickly connected various life-support pipelines.
Lin Nuo stood in place without making any movement.
He even had the leisure to take out a handkerchief to wipe away the dust stained on the edge of the console.
Deep within his mind, the system prompt sounded.
[Speed Force origin extraction interrupted.]
[Current law analysis progress: 80%.]
Lin Nuo threw the handkerchief into the trash can and put on that pair of gold-rimmed glasses again.
80%.
Barry Allen's physical limit could only squeeze out this much.
The remaining 20% required deeper-level stimulation.
For example, completely destroying what he cared about most in this World.
Chapter 288: Closing In Step by Step, An Irresistible Invitation
The ticking of the ECG monitor echoed on the second underground level of S.T.A.R. Labs.
The glass door was pushed open violently.
Iris rushed into the medical room with staggering steps, not even bothering to button her trench coat correctly.
The scene on the hospital bed smashed directly into her field of vision.
Barry Allen was lying inside a customized life-support pod, his dark red suit cut into shreds and tossed in the corner.
His right leg was tightly secured by a heavy titanium alloy brace, and his exposed skin was covered with terrifying burn marks and lacerations. Several thick, transparent tubes were inserted into his chest and arms, pumping out bruised blood glowing with an eerie blue fluorescence.
"Barry!"
Iris covered her mouth, her voice stuck in her throat.
"He can't hear you."
A steady, mellow male voice came from the other side of the life-support pod.
Lin Nuo was wearing a well-tailored dark suit with his cuffs rolled up to his forearms, revealing smoothly-lined muscles and an intricately crafted mechanical watch.
He was lowering his head to flip through a physical data report. Beside him, Caitlin and Cisco shrank in front of the console like a pair of quails caught making a mistake, not daring to even breathe heavily.
Iris rushed to the hospital bed, looking through the glass cover at Barry Allen's bloodless face, then turned her head to stare intently at Lin Nuo.
"What on earth happened? He was completely fine when I left two hours ago!"
Lin Nuo closed the report and casually tossed it onto the metal desktop.
It produced an extremely crisp "crack" sound.
He bypassed the hospital bed and walked up to Iris.
Without any explanation, he directly took off his suit jacket, which still carried his body warmth, and draped it over Iris's shivering shoulders with unquestionable firmness.
The woody fragrance mixed with a hint of aggressive masculine scent instantly enveloped Iris.
"Blame me."
Lin Nuo pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his tone carrying just the right amount of regret and self-blame, "I underestimated a boy's vanity to prove himself in front of you."
Cisco abruptly raised his head nearby, his lips moving: "Mr. Lin, it was clearly you who asked him..."
Lin Nuo turned his head slightly.
Without speaking, it was merely an extreme focusing of his gaze.
The surging pressure of a superior within those pitch-black pupils was like an invisible blunt knife that directly severed Cisco's vocal cords.
Cisco's legs went soft, and he slumped back down into the swivel chair, biting down hard on his back teeth.
Lin Nuo withdrew his gaze, looked back at Iris, and raised a hand to help tidy her scattered curls.
"Star Umbrella's superconducting collider requires kinetic energy testing."
Lin Nuo's tone was gentle, as if stating an extremely ordinary commercial project, "I set a safety threshold for Mr. Allen. As long as it reached twice the speed of sound, the test could end perfectly. But he refused to stop."
Iris froze.
"He saw me save you at the club last night."
Lin Nuo's fingertip brushed past Iris's eye corner extremely naturally, wiping away the newly gathered moisture, "He felt his self-esteem had been provoked. He wanted to prove to me that his so-called 'Flash' identity is more valuable than a capitalist like me who only knows how to throw money around."
"So he turned himself into this?"
Iris looked at Barry Allen on the hospital bed, her voice beginning to tremble.
"Thirty times the speed of sound."
Lin Nuo reported a number, "He forcibly overdrawn the regeneration limit of his body cells. The machine's alarm rang for a full three minutes. Cisco tried to pull down the emergency stop lever, but was forcibly avoided by his speed. He would rather run his legs to pieces than fight for that meaningless breath of pride."
Cisco sat in the corner, his eye sockets red.
He knew Lin Nuo was turning black into white, but he didn't dare to retort at all.
That man had only used a single finger to hold him down earlier, making him experience what absolute physical stillness meant.
Iris grabbed the edges of Lin Nuo's suit tightly with both hands, her knuckles turning white.
"How can he be so stupid..." Iris's voice carried a crying tone.
"This isn't stupidity, Iris."
Lin Nuo took half a step forward.
The physical distance was forcibly compressed to within half a meter.
Lin Nuo's tall figure blocked the shadowless lamp overhead, completely shrouding Iris in his shadow.
"This is extreme selfishness."
Lin Nuo looked down at her from above, his voice lowered, every word piercing the heart: "He lies here, feeling like a tragic hero fighting desperately for love and dignity. But has he ever thought about you?"
Iris raised her head, looking at Lin Nuo.
"If he died on that treadmill today, early tomorrow morning, who would knock on your door and tell your Police father that the boy he watched grow up since childhood has turned into a pile of charred coal?"
Lin Nuo placed both hands on Iris's shoulders with moderate force: "He only cares about venting his own emotions, leaving all the messes and all the pain for you to bear. Is this what he calls protection?"
These words were like a heavy hammer, precisely striking Iris's already cracked psychological defense line.
She recalled the past fifteen years; every time Barry got into trouble, she was the one covering for him in front of Joe; every time Barry broke a promise, she was the one waiting alone in the restaurant until closing time.
"A truly mature man will not use self-mutilation to gain a woman's sympathy."
Lin Nuo's palm slid down from Iris's shoulders, extremely dominantly grasping her wrist and pulling her away from the edge of the hospital bed: "He doesn't even take his own life seriously, and you still expect him to be responsible for your future?"
Iris turned her head to glance at Barry Allen on the hospital bed.
The boy who once made her feel incomparably vibrant and full of a sense of justice now looked only ridiculous and pathetic.
The defense line completely collapsed.
Iris let go of her grip on the suit, plunged directly into Lin Nuo's arms, buried her face in his clean white shirt, and cried out suppressively.
Lin Nuo wrapped one hand around her explosive waistline, gently patting her back with the other.
Cisco and Caitlin watched this scene from the side, their worldviews shattered all over the floor.
They watched with wide eyes as this demon drained Barry Allen dry, and now, right in front of Barry Allen, openly held Barry Allen's favorite woman in his arms.
Lin Nuo had no reservations.
He even tilted his head slightly, his gaze crossing over Iris's shivering shoulders and falling upon that pile of flashing red alarm lights on the life-support pod.
Deep within the brain domain, the mechanical voice sounded punctually.
[Detected that Iris West's psychological defense line has completely collapsed.]
[Interception progress: 100%.]
[Acquired ability: Speed Force origin (remaining 20%).]
Lin Nuo's fingertips rubbed moderately against the spine on Iris's back.
Across a thin layer of clothing, that electric-like tingling sensation made Iris's crying body involuntarily curl up slightly.
He didn't touch her skin directly; this indirect touch instead stretched the ambiguous tension to its absolute limit.
"It's good once you cry it out."
Lin Nuo rested his chin on the top of her hair, his tone so gentle that water could drip from it, "From now on, you won't need to clean up other people's messes anymore."
Ten minutes later, Iris's crying gradually subsided.
She withdrew from Lin Nuo's arms, her eye sockets red and swollen, and somewhat self-consciously tugged at the suit jacket on her body.
"Sorry, I dirtied your shirt."
"Just a shirt."
Lin Nuo pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from his suit pants pocket and handed it to Iris, "Caitlin, report Mr. Allen's injuries."
Caitlin glanced at Lin Nuo, swallowed her saliva, and picked up the tablet.
"Comminuted fracture of the right tibia, cell activity has dropped to the lowest point. Currently, we can only rely on life-support fluid to maintain vital signs. When he will wake up... cannot be determined."
"Use the best medical resources."
Lin Nuo issued instructions, playing the role of a perfect benefactor, "There is no upper limit on the budget. As long as he has one breath left, keep him hanging on for me."
Lin Nuo turned his head to look at Iris.
"There is a professional team watching over him here. Staying here has no meaning other than consuming your own body."
Lin Nuo reached out, wrapped his arm around her shoulders extremely naturally, and led her out of the ward.
Iris didn't look back at Barry Allen even once.
The two walked out of the medical room, and the heavy soundproof glass door closed behind them, completely isolating the ticking sounds of those instruments.
The lighting in the corridor was somewhat dim.
Lin Nuo stopped in his tracks and turned around.
Iris lowered her head, her gaze happening to fall upon the collar of Lin Nuo's shirt with two unbuttoned buttons.
"You're blocking my light."
Lin Nuo spoke suddenly.
Iris froze for a moment, instinctively wanting to back away.
But Lin Nuo didn't give her space to retreat.
He closed in by a step, pinning Iris directly against the cold metal wall of the corridor.
Supporting himself with one hand on the wall beside her cheek, his tall shadow completely enveloped her.
The air suddenly grew quiet.
The surrounding sounds seemed to be hollowed out, leaving only the intertwined breathing of the two.
Iris's back pressed against the wall, with nowhere left to retreat.
She could clearly smell the oppressive presence on Lin Nuo, her heart beginning to beat wildly out of control.
"Lin Nuo..." Iris called out his name, her voice extremely small, carrying a trace of tipsiness that she herself hadn't noticed.
"In your current state, you can't go back to Joe's place."
Lin Nuo didn't step back, his gaze slowly sliding from her slightly trembling eyelashes down to her lips.
"The passenger seat, I've readjusted it."
Iris's breathing hitched.
"I..."
"The rooftop helipad of my house has a great view."
Lin Nuo interrupted her, his knuckle tapping moderately against the wall.
"Want to come and take a look?"