Cisco stepped forward and removed the mechanical samurai's mask, revealing green circuit boards and a tangle of wires inside.
"Within 24 hours... bring back the Flash, or... Central City will be destroyed!"
An electronic voice sounded from within the mechanical samurai. In the next instant, over a dozen mechanical samurai launched from all corners of Central City, soaring into the sky and disappearing from sight.
This was a show of force, a demonstration that the mastermind behind the scenes possessed the power to destroy all of Central City.
"What a hassle," Hardy said, watching the robots ascend.
Gotham may be more chaotic, but with a tireless Batman working day and night, there's no fear of any major crisis. Central City, on the other hand—ever since the Flash was trapped in the Speed Force, the remaining second-tier heroes seem unable to defend it effectively.
Hardy just wanted to resolve these troubles quickly and return to Gotham—after all, with the Bat watching over Gotham, nothing too serious would happen. He could just lead the Hog United and be a model gang, enjoying a carefree life. Compared to the other gangs in Gotham, Hog United really counted as law-abiding citizens. If Batman wanted to cause trouble, he'd go after the other gangs first.
But with over a dozen mechanical samurai flying around and wreaking havoc across Central City at the same time, Hardy could only take them down one by one. Even though he could fly, by the time he finished dealing with all of them, half the city would be paralyzed.
Don't be fooled by how easily he defeated one—the thing moves fast and has a wide attack range.
In just this short time, at least two city blocks had already been damaged.
"I didn't expect there to be a Kuromyozawa behind these Japanese samurai. So... do we track down the mastermind, or try to bring Barry back?"
Wally, clutching his waist, climbed up from the ground and addressed Hardy and Cisco.
Kuromyozawa is a famous Japanese film director, known for many samurai movies and quite renowned worldwide, so Wally referred to the person behind the mechanical samurai as Kuromyozawa.
Cisco stared blankly at the mechanical samurai on the ground, saying nothing.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco quickly ran to a corner, hefted a white energy cannon wrapped in wires, and brought it to the group gathered around Nora.
"Guys, we have two options: one, find the mastermind; two, bring Barry back. With his speed, he could deal with all these mechanical samurai in no time. But both have to be done within twenty-four hours. The first option—we have no leads. As for the second..."
Cisco placed the oddly-shaped energy cannon on the table.
"I've been working on this for months, and I'm only one step away—just one step!"
"All I need is Barry's DNA. Combined with my vibing powers, I can directly pinpoint Barry's location in the Speed Force. Then, Wally, you'll need to keep running to generate a massive amount of energy to power this device, helping me open a portal to the Speed Force. Finally, we'll use an object containing Barry's DNA and with a mass close to his, to swap him out."
Cisco spoke excitedly.
"I want to ask—if we release Barry, will it destabilize the Speed Force again? Barry already sacrificed himself once. I can't accept him coming back only to leave me again," Alice said, her eyes red but her voice steady.
"No, it won't. I analyzed the Speed Force in Wally's body—it's stable now, so there shouldn't be any major problems," Cisco forced a smile, then looked expectantly at Victor.
"The only issue is, the structure of this device still needs improvement. Otherwise, before opening the Speed Force dimension, it'll accumulate too much energy in a confined space, causing the temperature to rise and possibly explode. But due to material limitations, I can't add any features to reduce energy leakage. Professor Victor, Caitlin said you're not only a leading figure in cryogenics but also highly accomplished in mechanical engineering. I was wondering if you could offer some advice?"
As Cisco spoke, he tapped on his tablet, bringing up the schematics for the Speed Force cannon.
Caitlin, catching on, took over Killer Frost's duties.
Only then did Victor take the tablet with confidence.
"Your design is already excellent. Even I couldn't do better. But since you're concerned about overheating, why not try using something for cooling? That's my specialty."
Cisco shook his head.
"I'm afraid that won't work, Professor Victor. If we cool it down, excessive heat transfer will reduce the energy activity."
Hardy squatted to the side, dismantling the mechanical samurai with a screwdriver. After listening to the conversation between the two, he looked up.
"Maybe, I have an idea."
...
...
The next morning.
On a straight road in the suburbs of Central City, Cisco and Caitlin were calibrating the Speed Force Cannon. But at the rear of the cannon, a dagger was embedded in its top.
It was a promethium dagger.
According to Cisco's tests, the promethium dagger was in an energy-depleted state, meaning it contained almost no energy. Based on his calculations, a promethium dagger weighing about one kilogram could completely absorb the energy that would be released by the Speed Force Cannon during activation.
Standing behind Cisco and Caitlin as they adjusted the equipment were Hardy, Wally, Alice, and Joe.
Except for Hardy, the others were all Barry's family. Naturally, they wanted to be there the moment Barry returned. Victor and Ang stayed behind at S.T.A.R. Labs to help care for the thawing Nora.
At the rear of the Speed Force Cannon, several cables were connected, the other ends plugged into a super treadmill brought over from S.T.A.R. Labs.
In front of the cannon stood a humanoid target—a dummy embedded with Barry's DNA.
"Pre-launch systems ready, Wally!"
Cisco called out to the back.
In an instant, Wally flashed onto the super treadmill and began running at high speed. The electricity generated by his sprinting surged through the cables and into the Speed Force Cannon.
"Great, now comes the most critical step in saving Private Barry."
Cisco took a deep breath. With his left hand, he aimed a vibro-blast at Wally, using the Speed Force energy from Wally to sense the Speed Force dimension. With his right hand, he sent another vibro-blast at the dummy, locking onto Barry's position.
As the energy peaked, Caitlin pressed the trigger on the Speed Force Cannon, firing a high-energy laser to charge Cisco's vibro-blast transmission.