346-350

Chapter 346: The Undying Black 

"My apologies." 

Cody had a slight guess about how Denton planned to deal with the Reverse-Flash, so he didn't ask too many questions. 

"The door's over there," he said, pointing to a nearby panel. "Once you're out, you'll be back at your place. I won't see you off." 

Denton thanked him, opened the door, and stepped out of the room. 

The door clicked shut behind him, but Denton didn't notice it immediately. He was somewhat stunned by the sight before him. 

"This is... isn't this my house?" 

The lawn, the fence, the front door, and the familiar house behind him—Denton recognized his location almost instantly. He turned back in disbelief, trying to see what Cody's room looked like, but behind him, there was only a thick, cold wall. 

"What the hell is this—?" 

Denton rushed to the wall, frantically running his hands over it, trying to figure out where he had come from. But the wall was just a wall; its texture felt nothing like a door, and knocking on it revealed no hollow parts. 

After fumbling at the wall for three minutes, he still had no clue about the situation. So, he had no choice but to run back to his front door and pull out his keys—sure enough, the door opened. 

"That's right, this is my house." 

Only then did Denton understand what Cody's "Once you're out, you'll be back at your place" meant. Though he had no idea how it was done, the other party truly was incredibly resourceful. 

He checked his watch; it was 1 AM, and time was running out. He had to move fast. 

So he rushed upstairs. 

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth!" He urgently shook his wife awake. "Don't sleep now!" 

"Darling, you have to leave Central City immediately!" 

--- 

### Star Labs: Three Days Later 

"This high-profile class-action lawsuit against Staiger Industries has now entered the discovery phase. Plaintiffs have begun submitting evidence, including document requests, interrogatories, and witness testimonies. This phase will take a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, because this case involves numerous old cases and a massive amount—approximately hundreds—of new evidence, the certification workload has skyrocketed. The trial might even be pushed back by two years." 

Cisco was engrossed in the news report on the TV, taking a bite of his pepperoni pizza. The food truck owner had recently grown tired of making pastries and decided to try some new items. Cisco was lucky; he happened to catch them. 

"Does this process seem normal to you?" he asked Caitlin, who was standing nearby. "I remember when Dr. Wells was on trial, there was a motion to dismiss process. Can Staiger really make this process move so fast?" 

"Staiger definitely wants to drag this out," Caitlin scoffed, also holding a slice of pizza. "But this is different from other cases, isn't it? People on the street have already started protesting outside the Staiger Building, and the crowd keeps growing." 

"Public outrage is widespread. Now the entire Central City knows about this major case," Dr. Wells, in his wheelchair, calmly glided into the main hall from the doorway. "Staiger wants to drag it out, but plenty of people don't want him to." 

"But I still think this case can't be judged too quickly," Cisco shook his head. "There's too much evidence. It really feels like it'll take a year or two." 

"Some people are already dead, they just look alive. Staiger will only have one outcome, even if he holds out until the end. Pleading guilty early might earn him a small reduction in sentence for some of the cases." 

--- 

"Even if all cases get a reduced sentence, it wouldn't matter, would it—" 

As the two talked, the TV anchor spoke again. 

"Despite numerous copyright disputes, Staiger Industries currently states that they will not halt the production or sale of any business or products. Although this move could lead to more severe penalties and a longer prison sentence if they lose the copyright lawsuit, Staiger doesn't seem to care." 

"So a reduced sentence won't matter," Cisco said with a disdainful expression. "With so many cases and cumulative penalties, even if only half of them stick, the punishment for Staiger will already be maximum—there won't be much difference between a hundred-year sentence and a three-hundred-year sentence." 

"Alright, Staiger's affairs aren't worth our time," Dr. Wells concluded. "He's finished; the only difference is whether he dies sooner or later." 

But the TV broadcast wasn't over yet. 

"Currently, the most noteworthy aspect of this incident remains the Staiger Medical Division's latest cloning research and organ transplant achievements. For this, we interviewed the plaintiff in the case this morning, Mr. Danton Black." 

"Hmm?" 

Wells sharply turned his head to look at Denton, who was confidently chatting with the host on TV. A flicker of icy killing intent instantly appeared in his eyes but quickly vanished without a trace. 

"Very courageous," he commented, his voice flat. 

Cisco chimed in with praise. "Indeed, not everyone would dare to go head-to-head with a major corporation like this." 

Wells didn't respond. 

But someone else spoke up. 

"Dr. Wells is right, Staiger's issue isn't important now, friends, friends!" Barry sped into the lab hall like a gust of wind. "Something's happened, and I need your help." 

"Didn't Joe tell you not to come to the lab anymore?" 

"We encountered a case this morning... a very strange one," Barry explained. "Although Joe still doesn't really want me to fight crime as the Flash, the metahuman crime investigation unit was going to be formed anyway, and he admitted we really need related scientific research consultation." 

"Keeping business and personal matters separate—I admire Mr. West for that," Dr. Wells smiled at Barry. "So, what exactly happened?" 

"A multiple murder case—over ten people, all dead in one night." 

The expressions of the three in the lab suddenly turned serious. 

"Over ten? My word." 

"Last night, the core leadership of the Durbin Rock crime family was having a party in a high-end restaurant. I don't know what they were planning—gang warfare, finding an informant, or internal family power struggles... Whatever they were planning, it's all for naught now." 

Hearing that a gang family had been wiped out, Caitlin and the other two felt a slight sense of relief. 

"Barry, you know, gang warfare is pretty common," Cisco said. "It's just rare for Central City to have such large-scale gunfight fatalities—situations like this are a bit more common in Star City." 

"No, they weren't wiped out by another gang. There was no gunfight, no gunshots. No clues were left at the scene except for the bodies," Barry replied. 

"I suspect this incident might involve a metahuman." 

Chapter 347: The Coincidence of Fate 

"High-end restaurant, doors and windows locked from the inside, key broken off in the lock." 

Barry concisely presented the case: "That restaurant was a Durbin Rock family stronghold. The doors and windows were replaced with bulletproof glass. The scene was essentially a completely sealed room. If it were in a novel, it would probably be a classic detective mystery." 

"But you said a metahuman was involved." 

"Right, so it turns into a sci-fi set," Barry sighed. "Over ten people all died from poisonous gas, but there's no equipment to store the gas at the scene, let alone release it." 

"What about the ventilation ducts?" 

"Nothing. We checked the ventilation system's surveillance from last night, and even sent a surveillance drone inside to look. Basically, we found nothing—so unless the perpetrator can turn invisible, it's pretty much impossible to use the ventilation system to release gas." 

Caitlin thought for a moment: "Poisonous gas and invisibility sound completely unrelated—a compound ability?" 

"Unlikely," Cisco replied. "And it doesn't seem like different applications of a single ability's essence." 

Barry continued, "Most importantly, those people were sitting at a table but didn't get poisoned simultaneously. It was one after another, as if someone was controlling the gas to attack them individually." 

"A metahuman who can control poisonous gas... interesting." 

"Communicating with gas at a molecular level? Honestly, that's awesome." 

"People died, Cisco. Be serious." 

"Oh." 

Caitlin then asked, "What are the specific components of those poisonous gases?" 

"Don't know yet; I came straight to you guys first," Barry scratched his head. "But I've already taken lung tissue samples, just waiting to get back and analyze them." 

"Alright, Barry, head back to the precinct for now," Dr. Wells replied. "We'll continue analyzing this suspected metahuman case here in the lab." 

Barry nodded. 

Meanwhile, Cody watched the surveillance footage and couldn't help but smack his lips. 

"Am I the only one who thought of the bulletproof glass as a dark humor point?" 

The rickshaw's headlights blinked twice, like rolling eyes. 

"Are you talking about them desperately shooting at the glass with handguns, but still being unable to escape?" 

Cody spread his hands: "And the bulletproof glass was installed by them for their own safety, too." 

"Well, that truly is pretty dark..." 

Barry initially planned to go directly from the lab back to the precinct to examine the evidence. However, after leaving the lab, he saw the familiar food truck owner on the street. 

"Buying something to eat won't really delay me much..." 

Thinking this, Barry instinctively jogged over to the food truck and greeted the owner. 

"Old Ma." 

"Oh, Barry." 

The food truck owner smiled, put down his phone, and returned the greeting: "Skipping work again to slack off?" 

Barry's face immediately looked a bit embarrassed. 

"Uh, no, actually, I'm doing this for work—oh, are you selling pizza today?" 

"Pepperoni pizza, want to try some?" the owner smiled. "Of course, there are other flavors, but if your Italian friend sees 'other flavors' of pizza, you absolutely cannot mention my name." 

"I can probably guess what 'other flavors' refers to..." 

Barry gave an awkward but polite smile. "An Italian colleague at the precinct told me that if he ever saw pineapple pizza made by a Chinese person, he'd retaliate with strawberry-fried Mapo Tofu." 

Cody's face darkened. 

"Your Italian friend seems a bit extreme." 

"Anyway, I'll have a pepperoni pizza—huh? What's that?" 

Barry's gaze instinctively fell on Cody's phone lying nearby. The image playing on it suddenly caught his attention. "Can I see this?" 

"Oh? You mean this?" 

Cody, while packing the pizza, casually responded, "Go ahead, it's just for fun, might not even be real—ever since the police announced the existence of metahumans, there have been countless odd individuals popping up online every day, filming videos. It feels like half of Central City has become metahumans." 

"No, that's a bit too..." 

Barry gave an awkward laugh, took the phone, and stared intently at the screen. 

It was a bald figure in a prison uniform, with his back to the screen. From his build and frame, he seemed to be a man. 

One second, he was strolling under the moonlight, but the next, his body suddenly transformed into a cloud of green gas, drifting into the forest with the wind. 

"What the hell—" 

Barry's curse wasn't fully uttered. He always had excellent manners, and nearly swearing today was entirely due to the shocking situation before him. 

"Isn't that the criminal we want to investigate, the one who can communicate with gas? I just went to the lab, why is there already a video now?" 

Barry couldn't believe his eyes. It felt like aliens were invading Earth, declaring an imminent world-ending crisis, and then a glasses-wearing old man on the street suddenly took off his jacket to reveal a Superman costume underneath. 

Why would such a super important event be casually resolved by a street vendor!? 

"Old Ma, where did this video come from?" 

"Young people just don't watch enough videos," Cody pointed out. "A group member from the 'Stays' group filmed it on the street earlier, and they even uploaded it to UTube and X. You really didn't see it?" 

"Who would look for real metahumans among a bunch of fake metahuman videos..." 

Barry was speechless. He hastily grabbed his pizza, turned, and ran quickly towards the precinct. He needed to verify his theory in the lab. 

"Hello? Caitlin?" He immediately called Caitlin. "That criminal doesn't just control gas; he can directly turn into gas! I'm going to the lab to check the lung samples for any residual body parts of the killer in their gaseous state, meaning DNA." 

However, after he hung up the phone, something even more coincidental happened—Barry, having just finished his call, casually glanced up and suddenly saw a familiar figure at the mall entrance. 

A tall, slender frame, a round bald head, but he was wearing a black trench coat instead of a prison uniform. 

"Could that be the killer?" 

Barry couldn't be sure, but his feet instinctively followed. 

"Cisco, Caitlin, I'm going to attend a meeting—you two continue the investigation here for now." 

Hearing Dr. Wells's words, they both nodded. 

"No problem." 

"Alright." 

Wells smiled and then walked out of the main hall. 

The moment he entered the hallway, the smile on his face completely vanished, replaced by an icy chill. He no longer looked like the kind and benevolent professor; his demeanor and actions seemed to have completely changed. 

He opened the secret room in the hallway and slid inside in his motorized wheelchair. 

Three seconds later, a blood-red lightning bolt shot out of Star Labs. 

Chapter 348: Tactical Deterrence 

When Reverse-Flash burst into Denton's house, he was sitting in the living room eating pizza. 

News reports about the Styger Group's legal disputes were playing on the TV, and Denton sat calmly on the sofa. 

There was no one else at the table, which was also very clean, with no knives, forks, dishes, or side dishes or soup, just two pizza boxes. 

When he saw the man in yellow suddenly appear in the living room, Denton's face showed little surprise. Unlike the horrifying and sudden meeting last time, this time, he was psychologically prepared. 

He didn't even feel much fear. 

"Hello," he said, calmly gesturing with his pizza towards the man in yellow. "I'm eating right now. Could you perhaps come back a little later?" 

Seeing Denton's fearless demeanor, Reverse-Flash clenched his fist. 

Whoosh— A piercing red lightning bolt instantly rushed towards Denton, kicking up a surge of air that nearly blew the pizza to the floor. 

The man in yellow, a blur of afterimages, gripped Denton's neck, violently slamming him against the wall and lifting him up. His voice was filled with anger and murderous intent: "You think by hiding Elizabeth, I'm helpless against you?" 

"Black, you have no idea what I'm capable of. You have no idea how fast I can be. You can let Elizabeth run to the ends of the earth, or painstakingly hide your tracks, but no matter how far you run, you'll still be dancing in the palm of my hand." 

"Do you think Santorini is far? In an hour, you'll see me back in Central City with Elizabeth's fingers and her herself." 

"You shouldn't have provoked me, Black—I'll make you experience a fate worse than death." 

"Cough! Cough! Cough, cough..." 

Denton, whose throat was clutched, couldn't utter a word. His face was turning slightly purple, but he didn't struggle wildly. He just reached out and patted the arm gripping him, signaling for the man in yellow to put him down. 

So Reverse-Flash immediately let go, dropping Denton to the floor. 

Thud! 

"Ah! That really hurts, damn it!" 

Denton complained as he got up: "I suggest you go a bit easier on me. It'd be best if you didn't kill me." 

The man in yellow sneered and raised his hand blade. 

"Is that this body's last words?" 

"No, it's not. In fact, none of my clones will die today, and I also advise you not to look for Elizabeth." 

"Did you hear me?" Denton warned, staring into the man in yellow's blurry eyes: "Stay away from her." 

Pffft— "Ugh!" 

Reverse-Flash plunged a hand blade directly into Denton's stomach: "Black, you might be a little disoriented. Do you need me to remind you how it felt last night, that pain and fear—" 

"If you dare to use that hand blade on me again, I swear, your photos and video information will appear on every social media platform the very next second." 

Denton directly cut him off: "I know you can easily kill any of my clones, but I also know you don't want to expose yourself to everyone." 

"I don't know why you're so careful about hiding your information, but I do know that since you'll go to any lengths, even kill, to hide it, then this matter must be very important to you." 

The man in yellow's expression suddenly changed. 

"So you see, the situation is like this..." Denton grinned: "You can't find my true body for now, and I will absolutely not wander around as my true body." 

"And you can't find Elizabeth either. I've made preparations, so you won't find her—you can check that I bought tickets to Santorini, but I certainly didn't have her take a plane there—I'm not that stupid." 

"I can't deal with you, but you can't kill me either." 

After a moment of silence, the man in yellow pulled his hand blade out of Denton's stomach. Then, he actually smiled and applauded Denton. 

"A very clever strategy, extremely clever, Black. I'm increasingly finding you to be a promising individual." 

"Let me guess? Your true body is currently hidden in some unknown small space in Central City, and once I find Elizabeth, or find your true body, my videos and audio will be directly uploaded online, right? You know very well that if I find either one, you're dead." 

"It's not just me and Elizabeth. Anyone you could question to find my true body, whether my family or friends, if you lay a hand on them, I'll release your information." Denton clutched his stomach, hobbling to the sofa. Though his breathing was slightly short, his tone remained calm: "Since you won't let me go, then I'll use all my strength to cause you some trouble before I die." 

"A friend of mine once told me that there are only two ways to make an unreasonable bad guy cooperate with you. The first is if you can offer them enough benefits; and the second is if you can cause them enough trouble. Most of the time, the second is even more important than the first, because they learn from getting hit, not from eating." 

"If there's ever an opportunity, I'd really like to meet this friend of yours." 

"Let's not. My friend doesn't like psychopathic killers." 

At this point, Denton let out a long breath: "Look, you and I don't have any common interests, but we don't have any deep-seated hatred either, do we? You want to hide yourself, I want to protect myself. Neither of us wants to get into unnecessary trouble." 

"Our situation right now is this: if I expose your information, my family and I will surely die. But if you make the first move against my family, I'll cause you some consequences even if it means my death." 

The man in yellow had already guessed what Denton wanted to say. He nodded again. 

"The solution to the problem is simple, isn't it? We just need to mind our own business. I'll fight my lawsuit, and you'll be your phantom." Denton concluded: "We won't interfere with each other, and this way, no one's interests will be harmed. What do you think, deal?" 

"Heh..." Faced with Denton's offer of peace, Reverse-Flash considered it briefly, then a chilling smile finally spread across his face. 

"Deal." 

"Excellent." 

After the scarlet lightning vanished from the room, Denton, covered in cold sweat, immediately collapsed onto the sofa. Then, he pulled out his phone and made a call that was answered instantly. Elizabeth's voice came from the other end. 

"Denton." Her voice was a little uneasy: "Can I come home now?" 

"Yes, Elizabeth, yes," Denton said with a smile into the phone: "You can come home now." 

He hung up and saw a new file appear on his phone, with no name attributed to it. 

"Congratulations on surviving, Mr. Black—if there's a chance, we'll work together again next time." 

Chapter 349: Just Wear a Mask, Right? 

While Denton was at home celebrating his narrow escape, things weren't going so smoothly for Barry. 

"Caitlin? Cisco?" 

He moved clumsily through the mall crowd, feeling incredibly sneaky as he called out to S.T.A.R. Labs for backup through his earpiece: "Is Dr. Wells there?" 

"Barry?" 

In front of the computer, Cisco and Caitlin were watching the video of the person turning into gas on their "little blue bird" (referencing Twitter). Hearing Barry call out again, they were both a bit surprised. Cisco replied, "Dr. Wells went to a meeting; he's not in the lab right now. Barry, what's wrong? Do you need help with something?" 

"I... I know this might sound crazy, but I think I just ran into the guy who can turn himself into gas." 

Barry was currently hiding around a corner, secretly glancing at the bald man in the trench coat ahead. The man hadn't noticed him and was simply walking into a women's clothing store in the mall. 

"I saw him at the mall entrance, so I followed him. He's wearing a black trench coat now, and it looks like... it looks like he's following someone." 

"What a coincidence!" 

Caitlin thought for a moment and told him, "Barry, you need to be sure it's him. And this guy can turn into toxic gas. We don't have any countermeasures or plans for him yet, and if you go in unprepared, it'll be very unsafe. You could die." 

"But I have to go, Caitlin." Barry sighed, "He's following a woman... that woman is even on the phone picking out a dress for her daughter's evening get-together. I can't just sit by and let her get murdered." 

Caitlin froze. 

On the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion, her boyfriend, Ronnie, who was S.T.A.R. Labs' chief engineer, personally went into the Particle Accelerator pipeline to manually shut down the accelerator and stop the experiment that was about to go out of control. 

"I know how to operate the shutdown valve. If I don't go shut it off, it'll be a disaster when the explosion happens." 

"I have to go." 

Ronnie's and Barry's words at this moment were eerily similar. 

"Alright, Barry." Seeing Caitlin suddenly go silent, Cisco took the initiative to speak, "I agree with you, we do need to save people, but that's different from a suicide mission. You need to ensure your own safety, don't confront that guy face-to-face, prioritize rescuing the person, okay?" 

"No problem." 

"Good." Cisco nodded, "Since that's the case—" 

"Since that's the case, you should put on your breathing gas mask." 

"Huh?" 

"No, no, it wasn't me talking." Barry hastily explained to Cisco, "It's a TV in the mall. It looks like it's playing a show, and the dialogue from the TV suddenly got really loud..." 

Cisco nodded, "But seriously, I don't think the TV dialogue was wrong. You're facing a gas man this time, Barry. Wearing a gas mask can at least ensure your safety." 

Barry thought about it; Cisco's words made sense. Although he couldn't be sure if the other party's gas could poison people through the skin, the victim's skin at the scene didn't show any special signs of ulceration or burns. For now, Barry thought this gas was probably fatal when inhaled through the respiratory tract. 

"But... Cisco, I've used a masked suit once before, and that gas mask hindered my breathing." Barry asked, "If my body doesn't get enough oxygen, my speed will definitely be affected. I'm even worried about just passing out while running." 

"Run slower! Gan!" 

At this moment, the volume on a nearby large screen suddenly increased again. 

"What's wrong with this TV? Why is it acting up so much today?" 

The confused store clerk complained as they walked over, and Barry had no choice but to turn and leave the corner. 

"Barry, I think that TV is right," Cisco asked, "What do you think?" 

"...Alright, alright." Barry replied helplessly, "I'll go back and get a mask now." 

"If possible, I really wish you'd just wear the lab's firefighting hazmat suit to face that guy. That would minimize the risk," Cisco shook his head, "But I guess you wouldn't like running in those bulky clothes." 

"Hey, Cisco, don't worry, I'm just going to save someone. That gas man won't be able to catch me," Barry laughed, "As long as the skin contact time is short enough, no gas can penetrate through the skin and keep up with my metabolic rate." 

"Just make sure you know what you're doing." 

With the plan set, Barry turned to glance at the bald man. At this point, he seemed to be following the woman towards the elevator. Neither of them seemed aware of what was about to happen. 

The next second, Barry transformed into a lightning bolt and sped out of the mall. 

Entering the high-speed running state again, Barry was already accustomed to it. He looked at this almost completely silent, quiet world. The speed of the crowd became extremely slow, water flow looked like some kind of toy gel, the clouds in the sky were motionless, the wind was almost stagnant, and the world's motion became extremely subtle. 

Only his actions were normal, even much faster than normal. With one step, he could leap several meters, dozens of meters away. This was the Speed Force pushing him forward. 

Initially, such a world was miraculous, and even now, Barry still loved this feeling. 

At this time, he was still so young and didn't truly understand what the "loneliness of a speedster" meant. 

Barry quickly returned to the lab and put on his mask. When he started running again, he felt the same restricted feeling he had when facing Mardon that day. The mask filtered the air, and it also meant he was inhaling less oxygen. 

"Run slower, Barry, slower...::::" 

He slowed down, adjusting his body's balance, and just as he passed the catering cart, his eye suddenly caught a small glass bottle by Old Ma's hand. 

It was a small, corked bottle, looking unremarkable, with a bit of dust on its surface, as if picked up from the roadside. 

"What does Cody want with this thing...::..." 

Barry mumbled as he ran past. The next moment, he suddenly realized something. 

"Oh, right, this bottle will come in handy." 

He casually grabbed the bottle and quickly ran back into the mall, and at this moment, the bald man had just followed the woman into the elevator. 

Barry's heart jumped. The elevator was a completely enclosed environment. If the bald man chose this as his attack location, the woman would have absolutely no chance to escape in the elevator. 

So he quickly held up the bottle and ran towards the elevator. 

Chapter 350: Barry's Taunting Ability 

The woman carried her clothes into the elevator. 

She hummed a tune, putting her phone back into her small handbag – she had just spoken to her daughter, and she was in a great mood. 

"Should I buy her two more outfits…?" 

She lowered her head, thinking about her daughter's evening class reunion, and didn't notice a bald man quickly approaching the elevator. 

The elevator doors swiftly closed, but just as they were about to shut, a pair of hands suddenly pried them open again. 

A figure aggressively burst into the elevator and stood directly in front of the woman. She looked up in surprise, and to her shock, saw a familiar face. 

The bald man in a black trench coat looked at the woman, a sinister smile on his face. 

"Judge Howard, still well?" 

The woman's shock immediately turned into extreme panic and confusion. "You… you were supposed to be dead." 

"Thanks to you – yes, I nearly died." 

As he spoke, the man's smile widened. 

"I still remember the last thing you said to me in court – 'May God comfort your soul.' And now, I return those words to you." 

The moment he said that, the man's body suddenly transformed into a strange green mist, which surged towards Howard, who watched in horror. 

At this moment, the elevator doors slowly opened behind him. 

A golden flash of lightning split the narrow elevator space. Barry, wearing a gas mask, watched the man follow the woman into the elevator and was so anxious he was practically pressing sparks out of the elevator buttons outside. 

Fortunately, the two inside the elevator were busy reminiscing and hadn't pressed any floor buttons, otherwise it would have taken Barry some time to open the door. 

[When writing this, I hope readers remember our domain 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝐤𝐚𝐧.𝐜𝐨𝐦] 

When he rushed into the elevator, he found himself enveloped in a strange green mist, and the man in the trench coat was gone. He immediately realized he hadn't been mistaken; this man was indeed the culprit of last night's murder. 

Thanks to the mask's excellent protection, Barry was in good shape, despite feeling a slight discomfort on his skin. He threw the uncorked bottle he was holding directly into the green gas. 

After letting go, the small bottle's movement visibly slowed down. By the time it hit the green gas cloud, Barry had already moved several steps forward and scooped up Judge Howard. 

Whoosh— 

In an instant, Howard was carried out of the elevator by Barry, and even taken directly outside the mall. Barry propped her against a wall to prevent her from falling in her panic, then quickly ran back into the elevator. 

At this point, the small bottle was still floating in mid-air, and it had already collected a faint green mist inside. Barry was very pleased with this. He immediately reached out, corked the bottle, and put it away. 

He stopped and stood at the elevator entrance. At this moment, time began to flow normally again. 

The green mist surged wildly in the elevator, but two seconds later, he suddenly realized that after a flash of golden electricity, Judge Howard, who should have been directly poisoned by him, had vanished from the elevator. 

Barry watched as the poisonous gas reformed into a bald man in a shell-like suit. Only then did he understand that even the man's clothes were a disguise formed by gas, a part of himself, not actual fabric. 

The man turned his head and immediately saw Barry standing at the elevator entrance. He was no stranger to this guy in strange red clothing who created sparks and lightning when he ran. This figure's presence in recent news had even rivaled the high-profile lawsuit against Steiger Corporation. 

Rescuing people from fires, instantly saving kidnapped hostages, delivering robbers directly to the Central City Police Department – Barry had done a lot during this time. Since the authorities had long ago acknowledged the existence of metahumans, the name "The Flash" had been widely reported on TV and in various media. 

Although there were no photos of Barry in the media yet, the accounts of many rescued individuals had coalesced to form the image of this newly appeared speed hero: a red blur, golden lightning, incredibly fast, able to save people from danger in the blink of an eye. 

The moment he saw Barry, the bald man instantly understood what had happened, and his mood immediately soured. 

"Kid, did you save her?" 

"You can't hurt her now," Barry replied. "Not while I'm here." 

"Kid, I advise you not to meddle in my affairs – stop trying to be a hero, you'll live longer." 

"Or what? Are you going to try to poison me through my gas mask?" Barry chuckled. "Oh, I'm so scared." 

"That's just killing the conversation," Cody couldn't help but comment while watching the monitor. "His words are too venomous; he's practically a natural at drawing aggro." 

Sure enough, as soon as Barry spoke, the bald man's expression immediately began to contort, and his face started to flush. 

Barry watched his twisted, angry expression and felt his plan to provoke the enemy had succeeded, or perhaps, it had succeeded a bit too well. 

So, he turned and ran directly into the nearby fire escape. 

The enraged bald man, as expected, no longer cared where the judge had gone. His body turned into a cloud of smoke and followed him into the fire escape. 

"Coward! Can you only run?" The smoke reformed into the man's shape, chasing after Barry. "So, the hero is just a coward hiding behind a mask?" 

"Reverse psychology won't work on me – do you want me to take off my gas mask and fight you? You're dreaming." 

Barry delivered his second taunt, then charged forward and threw a punch at the man's face. However, his fist and body passed completely through the opponent, feeling like he was fighting a cloud of air. 

"Can't hit him…" Barry thought, realizing how tricky this was. "I can still keep his attention for now, but if he gets angry and starts releasing poison gas indiscriminately, I might not have a way to stop him." 

With a flash of electricity, Barry vanished again. This time, he ran directly out of the fire escape and exited the mall. 

The bald man once again transformed into smoke and chased after him. He was thoroughly annoyed by Barry at this point and pursued him relentlessly, only wanting to rip off his gas mask and kill him. But when he reached the bottom of the mall, he couldn't find any trace of Barry. 

Meanwhile, at S.T.A.R. Labs, Dr. Wells rolled into the main hall in his wheelchair. 

"Cisco, Caitlin," he casually asked, "you two pulling me out of a meeting better have a good reason." 

"Doctor, it's Barry—" 

"I found the gas man!" 

In a flash of lightning, Barry appeared in the lab and handed a small bottle to Cisco. 

"Quick, Cisco, help me analyze the contents!" 

(End of this chapter)