The Batcave's rock walls were covered in cold mist, and the sound of dripping water echoed repeatedly through the empty cavern, like a countdown to an approaching storm.
Li Yu looked at the exhausted Bruce, curled up in a ball, a hint of surprise flashing in his dark eyes.
Barry Allen, the speedster who could travel through time, another Child of Destiny in the DC Universe.
Indeed, only a Child of Destiny could be the key to breaking the deadlock.
"The Flash? Isn't he with the Justice League?"
Bruce slowly shook his head, a distant sense of nostalgia flitting across his grey-blue eyes. Traces of lightning strikes remained in the Batcave; it was here, years ago, that he had re-empowered Barry with the Speed Force.
"As the host of the Speed Force, Barry can travel through time and space at will."
His voice was a little hoarse, and the moment Barry traveled through time slowly emerged in his mind.
"Actually, many of that person's crimes were discovered by Barry—global signal intercepts, videos of secret executions of dissenters. That person thought he was being secretive, but in front of a time-traveler, he had no secrets."
"When Barry realized he was being targeted, he hid in an unknown temporal rift to avoid being eliminated."
He paused, the flickering code on the screen illuminating his stubbled face.
"But before he left, he made a pact with me: if I found a way to end that person and left a message in the Batcave, he would return immediately."
Li Yu nodded slightly.
The Flash's Speed Force could inherently cross timelines, so it was perfectly normal for him to go back to the past to investigate that person's anomalies.
And the Speed Force ocean was a natural safe haven; no one, except speedsters of the same caliber, could capture him in that torrent of energy.
Running fast enough could indeed avoid a lot of trouble.
The two waited in silence for a moment, then the bats hanging from the cave ceiling suddenly flapped their wings collectively, their black wings stirring up damp mist, and sharp screeches pierced the dead silence of the cave.
Immediately after, an almost imperceptible ripple of space appeared in the air, like an invisible stone dropped into water, even the water droplets on the rock wall paused their descent.
The next second, a dazzling golden electric light exploded out of thin air, like a thunderbolt tearing through the darkness. After the light faded, a red figure suddenly appeared.
The red tight-fitting battle suit outlined a agile physique, and the golden lightning symbol on his chest shone brightly under the dim blue screen light. Fine golden electric arcs still wrapped around his body, as if he had just broken free from the torrent of time, even his hair still carried the residual warmth of the Speed Force.
The Flash, Barry Allen.
He was much younger than Bruce; his golden hair was slightly curled by the heat of the Speed Force, his breathing was a little short, but his eyes were sharp.
He quickly scanned the dilapidated Batcave: the wreckage of a broken Batplane, mountains of empty liquor bottles, and an old computer sparking with electricity. Finally, his gaze fixed on Bruce.
When he saw Bruce's stubbled, ragged appearance, Barry's pupils suddenly contracted, and the golden electric arcs around him trembled violently. His voice carried the hum of time travel, as if he hadn't fully stabilized from his extreme speed state.
"Bruce? You… how did you end up like this?"
The rest of the words caught in his throat. How could the Gotham billionaire, always impeccably dressed with cold eyes, the Dark Knight who protected Gotham, be curled up like a homeless man next to a pile of junk?
What on earth had Gotham endured?
What had that person done to him?
Bruce smiled bitterly and shook his head, his voice hoarse as if abraded by sandpaper, every word imbued with an unresolvable hatred.
"Barry, your premonition was right. He stripped me of everything. The manor was burned to ruins, Batman's dignity was shattered and humiliated, and even my wealth was completely seized and frozen by him."
"He wanted me to die silently, like a wild dog, in Gotham's sewers."
Bruce clenched his fists suddenly, his knuckles turning white.
"But fortunately, I found an opportunity, or rather, an opportunity found me—a powerful individual who can correct all mistakes."
Barry's gaze followed Bruce's, landing on Li Yu.
Li Yu stood at the intersection of shadow and light, his white coarse linen robe motionless in the damp wind. He seemed to have stepped out of the last century, completely out of place with the surrounding dilapidated environment, like a static painting.
But the moment his gaze met Li Yu, the golden electric arcs around Barry suddenly surged wildly. The Speed Force shrieked in his mind—this was a warning that only occurred when encountering extreme danger, even more intense than facing that person's heat vision!
Almost instinctively, Barry's red figure instantly transformed into dozens of afterimages, rapidly zipping through the cave.
The Speed Force surged, bringing with it tiny electric sparks. Barry tried to capture Li Yu's energy fluctuations from various angles, analyzing this presence that made the Speed Force feel as if it were facing a formidable enemy.
But the next second, he saw a sight he would never forget: those golden Speed Force energies, upon approaching within a foot of Li Yu, suddenly seemed to be under a stasis spell, instantly solidifying into transparent ice crystals, suspended in mid-air in their rushing posture, then shattering into dust without a trace of energy residue.
This was not a dynamic confrontation, but space being forcibly frozen.
Li Yu didn't even blink. He simply turned his head slowly, his dark eyes precisely locking onto Barry's rapidly moving true form. His voice was not loud but pierced through the Speed Force barrier, directly landing in Barry's mind.
"There's no need for probing, Barry Allen. I am not your enemy, at least not now."
He paused, his tone flat but carrying an undeniable power.
"Your Speed Force is interesting, but not strong enough."
This sentence was like a heavy hammer, making Barry's rapidly moving figure suddenly halt.
He materialized, his chest heaving violently, cold sweat beading on his forehead, his eyes filled with unprecedented shock.
His proud Speed Force, so easily seen through and frozen?
The only person he had ever seen move freely within the Speed Force before was Superman!
"Stop, Barry!"
Bruce pressed the keyboard, and the computer screen instantly lit up, clearly displaying Li Yu's Absolute Zero temperature curve that froze nuclear explosions and the simulated animation of Chaos Lightning annihilating civilizations.
"He is an ally, our only hope against that person!"
Barry leaned closer to the screen. As a top researcher, he immediately understood the horror behind the data.
The Absolute Zero temperature curve was terrifyingly stable, and the energy readings of the Chaos Lightning broke through the instrument's measurement limits, even causing the control console to issue an overload warning.
He swallowed, his gaze at Li Yu shifting from wariness to shock.
"This… is this real? You can… freeze time and space?"
"There's no time for us to probe each other."
Bruce's voice grew firm. His previously hunched body slowly straightened, his shoulders no longer slumped, and the flames of vengeance ignited in his eyes. The gravitas of the Dark Knight once again solidified around him.