The Beginning of War

"Bruce, I don’t expect you to trust me, nor do I need you to believe me. But at the very least, we currently share the same enemy. And once this is all resolved, Pietro and I will leave this universe, so you don’t need to focus too much attention on us."

Zhang Ye’s tone was calm. As for leaving this universe, that had been his plan from the very beginning.

Though this universe might break free from its original shackles after General Zod was dealt with, becoming a free timeline that could develop steadily, that was precisely what made it dangerous for Zhang Ye.

It was because this universe had become "free" that anything could happen in its future. Even Zhang Ye himself could not guarantee his own safety, much less peacefully settle down in this universe.

Besides, this universe had been artificially created because of The Flash. Its safety was even less assured. Another world-ending catastrophe might emerge within a few years.

In truth, once Little Barry Allen had fully charged the Time Twister, Zhang Ye had been able to leave at any time. The only reason he stayed was to do his part. After all, Little Flash had charged the device for him, and Batman had provided him with equipment.

Old Bruce Wayne’s reaction to Zhang Ye’s words was calm. He merely raised a question.

"I’m just curious, Zhang. Are you really not from some organization dedicated to protecting the Multiverse?"

"No." Zhang Ye spoke each word clearly. "You’ve misunderstood. Just as I said, I’m merely a Multiverse scavenger."

"Then there’s nothing to worry about." Old Bruce Wayne smiled, seemingly having received an answer that satisfied him.

He then stood, picked up the bag of stones from the table, and headed toward the laboratory deeper inside the Batcave. After taking two steps, he turned around. Seeing that Zhang Ye had not moved, he added, "Come with me. I need more intelligence on Kryptonians, as well as the specifics of our battle plan."

"What about us?" Little Barry Allen could not help asking when he saw Zhang Ye follow Bruce. After what had happened earlier, he was a little afraid of Kara.

"You stay here and look after Barry Allen and Kara. Pietro, go buy some food."

After saying that, Zhang Ye and Batman immediately disappeared into the laboratory.

By the time Barry Allen woke from his coma, it was already the following morning.

To everyone’s relief, he had indeed regained his Speed Force. More than that, he seemed to wield its power more smoothly now. The sensation of that power returning to him eased some of the anxiety that had plagued him during this time.

But there had been a minor incident in between. After he woke up, Kara came to see him and began discussing the birth of this parallel universe and the mistake Barry Allen had made.

Barry Allen might have looked a little slow-witted, but he had been a superhero for many years. He had also often worked with Batman and grown considerably because of it, so he could tell at a glance that Kara had come to hold him accountable.

Knowing how terrifying Kryptonians could be, Barry Allen naturally had no intention of provoking Kara. He weighed every word carefully, afraid of angering the Kryptonian girl before him.

Very quickly, under Barry’s guidance, the conversation shifted from Kara coming to make trouble to Barry telling her about Superman’s life in another world. Naturally, he concealed the fact that Superman and Doomsday had perished together.

That approach proved quite effective on Kara. Hearing that her cousin was living well in another parallel universe, and had even found a wife, gave Kara an indescribable sense of relief.

"Can you take me to see him?" Kara asked.

The question immediately twisted Barry Allen’s expression. "Kara, traveling through timelines freely is extremely dangerous. I’ve come to deeply understand my mistake, so I don’t think you’d want to make the same one, right?"

"Not even if I only look at him from far away?"

"Probably not. I can travel through timelines because of the Speed Force, but I’m still nowhere near capable of taking someone through time. Besides, bringing you from this future into another future is simply impossible." Barry Allen spread his hands.

"Then how does Zhang Ye do it?" Kara glanced at Pietro, who was playing on his phone, and continued, "He and Zhang Ye can travel freely between timelines and parallel universes, can’t they?"

"Those two are exceptions. Honestly, I want to know their backgrounds even more than you do, and how they travel through parallel universes without damaging those universes’ timelines."

Barry Allen rubbed his temples, then leaned closer to Kara and lowered his voice.

"You know, Zhang Ye once said that he uses professional tools to make ‘traveling through time’ ‘reasonable.’ So I suspect the two of them might be time police, specifically tasked with managing people like me who mess up timelines."

Kara merely rolled her eyes at Barry Allen’s confident guess. She might have been mentally young, but she was not stupid. If Zhang Ye truly were some so-called "time police officer," he would have acted the moment Barry Allen changed history. Why would he have waited until now?

Still, Kara did have some thoughts about the professional tool Barry had mentioned. She quickly thought of the strange machine in Zhang Ye’s possession.

Could it make traveling through time reasonable?

Seeing Kara fall silent, apparently lost in thought, Barry Allen breathed a slight sigh of relief. He had been attending to this "big sister" ever since he woke up, and he was truly exhausted in both body and mind.

So while Kara was distracted, he immediately sneaked over to the nearby table and began devouring the various delicacies Pietro had brought back. He was starving, especially now that he had become a speedster again.

At that moment, the wall-mounted television across from the dining table interrupted its broadcast with an emergency news report. It showed footage of a war filmed from afar. Though it was unclear, military planes and tanks could vaguely be seen exploding one after another.

Below the news footage was a headline—ALIENS HAVE LAUNCHED AN ATTACK!!!