Chapter 7
In Central City, red maple leaves along both sides of Alman Street danced and swirled in the air. The cool autumn breeze carried a refreshing chill, yet it could not diminish the fiery beauty of the scene.
Alex rode his high-tech Lightning motorcycle, the black helmet covering his head. Through the visor, the road ahead appeared in muted, grayish tones.
Vroom….
The deep, throaty roar of the motorcycle accompanied him as he made a smooth turn, exiting the quiet Alman residential area and heading straight toward Fifth Avenue, the bustling heart of Central City.
As he rode, the traffic around him gradually increased. In an instant, he left behind the serene, leaf-strewn streets and entered the lively, noisy hustle of the city center.
The sounds of car engines, honking horns, and people talking were slightly muffled by the helmet pressed against his ears, reaching him as low, filtered noises.
"System, come out!"
While riding, Alex suddenly spoke inside his helmet.
"Please complete the task seriously, Host. Failure will result in erasure."
Alex's eyebrows twitched inside the helmet. Ahead, a traffic light turned red. He brought the Lightning motorcycle to a smooth stop at the line, his eyes flashing with cold indifference.
Before he had shoulder-checked Barry earlier, the system had ignored him completely — whether he called it while showering or eating. At those times, he had tried calling it directly in his mind.
He had assumed the system could communicate telepathically with its host. But now, something felt off.
Could it be… that this system cannot read my thoughts?
Such a useless system?
Alex tried calling the system dozens of times in his mind while waiting for the light. There was still no response.
This was truly strange.
As he waited at the red light, he lightly tapped the motorcycle handlebar with his bare fingers. The cool autumn wind brushed across his fingertips, bringing a refreshing clarity to his thoughts.
A system that couldn't read minds but could transmit sound directly into his ears…
And this task it had issued…
What exactly counted as "completing" it? Did he need to genuinely like Barry? Did he only need to treat Barry as a friend one-sidedly? Did Barry need to treat him as a friend? Or did outsiders simply need to see them as friends? Or was it based on what the system itself considered "friendship"?
If the requirement was for him to sincerely consider Barry a good friend from the bottom of his heart, that was impossible. At best, Barry was nothing more than a very ordinary acquaintance in Alex's eyes.
If the standard was simply for Barry to consider him a friend, then the task had already been completed from the very beginning. Barry had always seen him as a friend.
Alex understood this clearly.
He suspected the system wasn't as powerful as it claimed — and it was very likely trying to deceive him.
Alex spoke again, his tone extremely rude:
"I don't need you. Get out of my body."
"Host, you need to understand one thing clearly. In this DC Universe, a human at the peak of physical limits will not survive for long. As a transmigrator, refusing to befriend and cling to righteous superheroes, using those connections to protect yourself, is extremely foolish."
The system's electronic voice was cold and emotionless as it stated what it believed to be fact.
In the DC Universe, there were countless god-like beings. Relying solely on peak human strength was a guaranteed death sentence. Even without causing trouble, one could easily be killed by random disasters. In the future wars that could destroy the Earth, the solar system, or even the universe, a peak human would be no more significant than an ant.
It really can't read my mind!
Alex's expression hardened. He was now quite certain — the system could not read thoughts. It could only respond when he spoke out loud.
Countless speculations churned in his mind.
The system knew he was a transmigrator. That meant it had likely been with him since he arrived in this world. It knew about his fallout with Barry and had issued this task to force him to reconcile.
But why?
Did it want to use Barry's future power to protect him?
Why protect him?
A system this advanced… was it protecting him only because its own survival depended on him?
Or… was it simply using him for self-preservation?
Then why had it only appeared now?
Could it be that after calculating the timeline of various heroes' appearances, it realized Barry was about to become The Flash and urgently wanted him to get close — so it could steal Barry's Speed Force?
Alex secretly guessed that this system had never been trustworthy in his eyes.
He had never believed in free lunches. He would rather assume the system was plotting to steal the Speed Force, control him, or even lead him to his death than believe it genuinely wanted to protect him.
Besides, if it really wanted to protect him, why start with a forced task that threatened immediate erasure if he didn't obey? Did it think it was some kind of Main God running an infinite loop?
Alex firmly believed that if he gave in out of fear and completed this simple task by becoming "good friends" with Barry, he would gradually fall deeper under the system's control, becoming a puppet that carried out its missions.
I, Alex, am a man who yearns to fly freely. How could I ever allow myself to be controlled by you?
Beep! Beep! Beep!
A series of angry honks sounded behind him. The light had already turned green, but Alex had been lost in thought and was blocking the entire lane. Some drivers had leaned out of their windows, shouting curses.
Alex snapped back to reality. He twisted the throttle hard.
Vroooom!
The high-tech Lightning motorcycle shot forward like an arrow.
"Get out of my body," Alex said in a low, cold voice inside the helmet. "Whether I live or die is my choice. I don't need you meddling."
"Are you certain?" the system asked.
Before it could continue, Alex cut it off sharply.
"Positive!"
There was zero hesitation in his answer.
A system of unknown origin living inside his body, trying to control him — he would never rely on it. He refused to allow anything to manipulate him.
Moreover, Alex had a faint suspicion that the reason he couldn't break through the human limit this morning was because the system had interfered and sabotaged him at the last moment.
The system seemed momentarily stunned by his firm rejection, but it soon continued in its usual emotionless tone:
"The system possesses the most advanced technology in the universe, enough to dominate entire galaxies.
"The most powerful idealistic genes!
"Enough to turn you into a god — an immortal transcendent being!
"Weapons with the power to create or destroy worlds!
"Infinite evolution on the level of Doomsday!
"Countless miraculous and vast idealistic abilities.
"Fantasy abilities beyond imagination.
"Whether it's ninjutsu from Naruto,
"Devil Fruits from One Piece,
"Zanpakuto from Bleach,
"or Super Saiyan genes from Dragon Ball…
"The system has it all.
"Super Saiyan versus Kryptonian Superman — everything is possible.
"Hehe… do you still want to abandon the system?"