Lin Li rubbed the USB drive Wells gave him with his right index finger and walked towards the underground training room, with Barry following behind him.
Upon reaching the underground training room, under Barry's curious gaze, Lin Li took out over a dozen boxes of ice cream from the refrigerator, inserted the USB into a tablet, and dragged the 16GB pure text file onto the tablet.
Barry looked at Lin Li, who was heartily eating ice cream, and hesitantly asked, "Lin Li, can I trust you?"
Because of the Speed Force in Lin Li's mind, Barry had always felt a strong sense of kinship with Lin Li, especially during yesterday's battle when Lin Li provided significant assistance, giving him a great deal of trust in Lin Li.
Lin Li didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stopped scooping ice cream and pondered what troubles Barry might be having at this point in the TV show.
According to the TV show, Barry should be at the peak of his confidence, full of self-assurance after defeating the Weather Wizard.
At the very least, he wouldn't be looking worried and asking Lin Li, 'Can I trust you?'
If it was about his messy relationship with Iris, Lin Li had no interest in listening to Barry's complaints.
Lin Li continued to eat his ice cream, saying, "Yes, the fact that you can ask me that question shows you trust me. It's just that there might be something difficult you're facing, but you want to confide in someone, or you want my help. If it's something you need to keep secret or a romantic issue, I suggest you keep it to yourself."
I'm not interested in your romantic drama.
Barry nodded to himself, "I trust you, Lin Li."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Li felt the surroundings blur.
Yellow electrical arcs swirled.
People, vehicles, and buildings turned into specks of light, then rapidly became streaks, sweeping past his vision.
He was being carried by Barry, running with the Speed Force.
In a moment.
The world paused again, stopping from its extreme speed.
Barry brought Lin Li into a house.
Inside Joe's house, Joe was sitting on the sofa, examining case files, with his black coffee for staying awake on the table.
Barry's sudden arrival scattered his files everywhere.
Lin Li patted the black T-shirt on his chest, where a smoldering spark was about to catch fire, and extinguished it with his hand.
He said rather impolitely, "Barry, I really don't like this behavior of yours. I still have seventeen boxes of ice cream, and I just started eating the first one. What on earth are you doing?"
Joe said, "Barry, what are you doing? Our research cannot be known by anyone close to Wells."
"Calm down, calm down, Joe. Lin Li will help us. I trust Lin Li."
Barry explained.
"Lin Li, Joe and I suspect that my mother's death is related to Dr. Wells. I need your help to monitor him at Star Labs and see if he does anything suspicious."
Lin Li's heart tightened. Suspicion so soon?
The plot was progressing too quickly.
Lin Li felt like they had already reached episode 20. Joe and Barry suspecting Wells so quickly was not a good thing. Barry's speed hadn't picked up yet, far from meeting the requirements, and Lin Li had only just started to glean some knowledge from Wells, which was completely insufficient. This sudden progress would disrupt all of Lin Li's plans.
"What evidence do you have?"
Lin Li said calmly. He now needed to replace Wells in stabilizing them. Discovering Wells's true intentions too early would not benefit them; it would only force him to act desperately. Most likely, he would threaten their families to make Barry run faster, thereby gaining the speed to return to the future.
Lin Li already knew. Joe also had no choice but to hope that Lin Li was truly worthy of Barry's trust, so he told Lin Li everything related to their suspicions.
"Based solely on your experience, Joe, and the fact that Star Labs was founded by Dr. Wells 14 years ago, and Wells showed some concern for Barry's safety, you suspect Dr. Wells has a problem?"
Fortunately, it hadn't progressed to the point of going to Star City to dig up a body or getting a blood sample from Barry's old house. It was still only the level of suspicion from episodes 3 or 4. Lin Li relaxed; this level of suspicion was easy to dispel. Without decisive evidence, Joe's original suspicion was dispelled by Wells's deceased wife.
Therefore, Lin Li referenced the original story, guiding their attention towards Wells's deceased wife. This would reduce a lot of suspicion, and both Joe and Barry were emotional people, easily swayed by feelings.
Or rather, in the first season of The Flash, everyone except Wells was very easily swayed by emotions.
Lin Li said, "Perhaps you should investigate Dr. Wells's wife. I believe at that time, in that state, he shouldn't have any connection to Barry's mother."
It's still too early for this. Revealing his true face too soon will only make him resort to desperate measures, and the ones who will get hurt are your friends, Barry. If you had Mach 2 speed, all of this would be easily resolved.
Mach 2 speed, twice the speed of sound, 680 meters per second, would be enough for Barry to collide with hydrogen protons in the particle accelerator, creating a wormhole and traveling through time. At that point, whether for Wells, for Barry, or for Lin Li, they would all have the right to choose a very good outcome.
None of this is for now.
Hearing what Lin Li said, Joe and Barry exchanged glances.
Barry said, "Lin Li, what do you know?"
This, there's no way to explain it. Am I supposed to tell you, Barry, that I actually know everything?
Lin Li said helplessly, "Your respect and admiration made me curious about what kind of person Dr. Wells is. I looked into some of his past, but other than that, I don't know anything else."
Finally, Barry and Joe discussed Wells for a while, and Lin Li also proactively offered some suggestions, but none led to good results. Cases from fourteen years ago are not that easy to investigate, especially with Lin Li having skewed some of their perspectives. In the end, Joe went to investigate Wells's past. As for whether Joe and Barry would temporarily give up investigating him because of Wells's wife, that remained to be seen.
After a discussion, finding no results or clues, they dispersed.
That evening, Lin Li prepared a hot pot. He watched the three of them clumsily use chopsticks, occasionally dropping a piece of lamb onto the table, which Lin Li insisted they pick up and eat, citing that food should not be wasted. The three of them made faces of agony while using chopsticks, which made them all laugh heartily at each other.
Lin Li's relationship with the people at Star Labs grew stronger.
For several days, Lin Li inquired about wormhole research data and, as Barry had asked, 'monitored' Wells. Of course, Lin Li knew that all of this was useless; such small tricks wouldn't work on Wells.
The few of them mostly analyzed and researched at Joe's house. Sometimes Lin Li would also go to the police station, to Barry's lab, to consult with Joe. Of course, Lin Li wasn't genuinely eager to expose Wells's true identity, but rather, in Barry's lab, Wells would monitor everything.
As long as Wells noticed all of this, Lin Li could rest assured and watch Wells thwart Joe's investigation.
Wells would be even less inclined to let Joe continue investigating. After all, Barry's speed was just starting to increase, and the benefits were just beginning. How could he tolerate Joe's actions? If something were truly discovered, fourteen years of effort would be wasted.
After some time, there was no progress.
Joe said, "I'll ask Wells to meet and test him."
Inside the Time Vault.
Wells watched Joe's image on the screen with an amused expression.