Volume 4: The Last Day Chapter 85: Racer with Destiny
When Mason first entered this world, he saw the Amazons and Atlanteans fighting each other, and then he met the old man in Gotham.
At that time he thought this was the famous Flashpoint world.
But then when he fought with the Queen of War, he found that the other party was holding the Lasso of Submission instead of the Lasso of Truth. He guessed that this world might be the "Earth 2" of the N52 super time stream.
Or maybe this place that looks like Flashpoint but has all sorts of deviations in the details is just some damn mixed worldview.
Finally he met Lex Luthor.
After learning from the other party that this world has been changed twelve times in different disaster doomsdays, he realized that his previous thoughts were wrong.
It is very likely that his B-level promotion mission was not carried out in a "real world", which may explain why the world with special coordinates observed by Star Castle was completely unaffected by the impact event.
This may be a virtual place.
The real me might be sleeping in a biological cabin in a world with super advanced black technology. All of this is just an absurd yet real dream.
But now, he saw with his own eyes the truth hidden in the deepest part of this world, and realized that his imagination was still far from enough and reality did not agree with him logically at all.
When he saw the old Barry Allen in front of him, who seemed to have been drained of every bit of strength and was still running weakly, Mason finally understood the ultimate truth of this strange world.
It really exists in a parallel world system.
But Mason may be late.
"This world is dead, isn't it?"
He asked softly to the "skinny" version of Barry Allen, who was running breathlessly in the void in front of him:
"You used the Speed Force to distort time and forcibly create the illusion that it still exists. Did you turn time back to a moment before the end of the world?
Why did you do that?
"He cannot answer you, distinguished guest."
Another voice sounded behind Mason. It was an image that seemed to be "cut out" from time, like a portrait in a faded old photo.
The whole person and the air around him were glowing with the luster of the past.
He had a young face that was 90% similar to Barry Allen's, but that face was filled with the same fatigue as the real frail old man in front of him.
All the light has been lost in his eyes.
Mason looked back at this "time clone".
He knew that this was a special ability of the speedsters, a technique that allowed them to summon their past selves to exist for a short period of time.
"He has put all his strength, thoughts and wisdom into this long run, driving the complex speed force matrix to push the whole world forward or backward in the distorted timeline."
A silhouette from the old days floated beside Mason. Looking at his "future" self, he whispered:
"He can't hear you, he can't see you, he has bound himself to the Speed Force, and has become part of this huge system.
When Barry Allen began this final race against Doomsday, he was already dead.
All that remains here is a tired body waiting to be freed."
"I see."
Mason heard the explanation, but his eyes were fixed on the skinny runner in front of him who was stumbling along but could fall at any moment.
After a few seconds, he asked:
"How long has he been on the run?"
"Seventeen years, four months, 21 days, 15 hours, and 37 minutes..."
The silhouette of the past whispers:
"I can answer to the nanosecond, but I don't think you need such a watery answer. I know what you want to ask, Mason Cooper from the outside world.
Yes.
My world was destroyed when the first impact occurred. It was one of the first worlds to die in the dark star tremor, but we are luckier than other unknown worlds because we have the Flash.
The end of the world began seventeen years ago.
But to this day, it’s not over.”
"You extended the time!"
Mason suddenly turned around and looked at the young Barry behind him. He said:
"Is that the 'Speed Force Matrix' I saw outside?"
"No, we twisted the timeline."
Barry explained:
"Although it sounds similar to time distortion, these are two completely different concepts. When Doomsday came, Barry intercepted a period of time from the super-time flow and used the Speed Force Matrix to 'encapsulate' it.
It is very difficult to do this.
Fortunately, he had begun preparing before the first impact and was able to do just that.
The price is that the entire Flash family is swallowed up by the Speed Force the moment the matrix is activated, thus making the Speed Force grow to the point where it can cover the world.
Only Barry is left here running alone to drive the matrix to take effect until today.
As for the matrix itself..."
The silhouette of the past hesitated for a moment, and then he spoke truthfully:
"I can't explain its existence to you. It's not that I don't want to, but you don't have the recognition of the Speed Force and you simply can't understand the principle that I'm going to spend a lot of time explaining next.
I can only tell you that the lightning matrix you see outside is only the most insignificant part of the entire system."
"Oh, I see."
Mason was not disappointed.
He nodded and said:
"So, this is Barry Allen's 'legacy' to the next speedster who arrives here?"
"You could say that."
The old Barry nodded and said:
"That was the best we could have predicted, but it seems to be working out better than we thought. We now have two Speedsters to take over, and even an extra 'option'.
Although you arrived much later than we expected, you arrived here almost at the countdown to the end of the world."
"etc!"
Mason frowned and said:
"You mean, Reverse-Flash is also one of the inheritors of the 'legacy'?"
"Um."
Young Barry said:
“We watched him.
He also came here with a mission of exploration. Although he didn't care about the changing fate of this world, as the operation of the Speed Force Matrix has reached its limit, we don't seem to have any better way..."
"Hold on!"
Mason sensibly reached out his hand and interrupted Barry's story.
He came back to his senses and lay on the closed matrix behind him, shouting to Flash who was still playing "hide and seek" with Reverse-Flash in the time maze outside:
"Barry Allen! I give you ten seconds to kill that bastard! Otherwise, we and the world will be doomed. Think about your Iris...
Get started! "
As Mason shouted, Barry, who was dodging at high speed, stopped and was caught by Reverse Flash and kicked away.
But in the air he found the "secret weapon" given to him by Mason.
Barry was kind-hearted after all, and before throwing the stone spear, he aimed at Reverse-Flash's left leg instead of his head.
Then, amidst the lightning and thunder, the God King's rebuke and Reverse Flash's strange cry were heard, and a dazzling lightning spear with a [must hit] effect pierced through the time maze.
Amid the echoes of terrified screams and piercing sounds, Reverse Lightning screamed and escaped from the time maze like a wild dog with broken bones.
This made Mason breathe a sigh of relief.
He turned around to look at the silhouette of Barry Allen in this world who was standing there in a daze, snapped his fingers, and said in a relaxed tone:
“Problem solved!
You don't have to think hard, we have made the decision for you, and now you only have one successor left. Let Barry Allen come in and prepare to teach him the skills.
I will help you protect the Dharma."
"etc!"
This world's Barry Allen crossed his arms.
He didn't care about Mason's move to eliminate Reverse Flash through "malicious competition", but grasped the core of the problem and explained:
"This matter is not as simple as you think, Mason Cooper. We will pass on all the knowledge of the Speed Force Matrix to your friend Barry Allen, but we have a small request."
"I understand. I understand. I want benefits."
Mason nodded and said with an old-timer attitude:
"Tell me, how many people are still alive in your world? Let me calculate the number of transfer gates needed for emergency rescue. Don't worry, I have done this job more than once or twice.
I know it very well.”
Such a straightforward response once again stunned the old silhouette, and then he smiled bitterly and said:
"I have prepared a long speech to deal with your inquiry, and even prepared a sad manuscript to beg you for mercy. I mean, we do expect rescuers from the outside world, but I didn't expect you to be so straightforward.
Don’t you even ask why?”
"Nothing to ask."
Mason waved his hand.
After taking a look at Barry Allen, who was rubbing his bloody forehead and stumbling into the core of the Speed Force Matrix and was stunned by the scene before him, he said to the time clone in front of him:
"Your situation obviously requires assistance, and I have the ability to help you. In fact, you have already tested my ability in this area in the previous timeline deduction...
That was a test, right? "
"Well, I'm sorry that I mobilized resources to kill you before, but it wasn't just a test."
Old Silhouette explains:
"Only part of the conclusions drawn by Lex Luthor from his thirteen studies are correct. We are indeed manipulating the Speed Force Matrix to make the world constantly change.
But this is not just to find a solution to the end of the world from within, a big part of the reason is that we need to keep people in the world alive in the time flow affected by the Speed Force Matrix.
Rather than 'freezing' them all in time, it is obviously a better idea to let them continue to maintain a normal social form.
The so-called doomsday simulation is just a process incidental to this purpose.
As for why every deduction will eventually end in doomsday, the reason is very simple, because we are already in the doomsday that has not yet ended.
The end point of this intercepted and encapsulated timeline is the moment of doomsday. "
At this point, the Barry Allen from the old days also sighed, and he whispered with a hint of sadness:
“We have changed the background of the times and the direction of the doomsday events thirteen times to deduce whether this matter can be resolved from within.
Unfortunately, we failed twelve times, and the last time we were terminated was due to the influence of you, the 'unknown variable'.
It turns out that relying on the internal efforts of a single world cannot avoid the arrival of doomsday. Only assistance from external forces can help us get out of this predicament.
To defeat the doomsday, multiple worlds must work together.
We have tried to deduce the origins of this tragedy.
But we failed, we couldn’t come to a conclusion.”
"Don't be so sad, you have done enough ."
Mason comforted:
"In another place, as far as I know, there is a group of the smartest people from the entire parallel world system who are trying their best to use their wisdom to find the answer, but so far they have found nothing.
But I just noticed what you said, you said to maintain the "vitality" of the entire world..."
He blinked and said:
"Barry, don't tell me you guys managed to save everyone in the context of the impact?"
“It’s difficult.”
Barry's silhouette gave a modest smile and he said:
"But fortunately, we did. We activated the Speed Force Matrix and intercepted the timeline before the two worlds collided and triggered a series of apocalyptic disasters.
Apart from the innocent people who died in various accidents at the beginning, we have safely preserved most of the lives in this world. It is estimated that there are about 7 billion people...
Um?
Mason, why do you look so grim?
Facing his question, Mason rubbed his forehead with a headache and said:
"Because the upper limit of the number of people that can pass through a normal transfer gate within 28 hours is one million. Don't question this data. We just tested it ourselves a week ago.
The number of transfer gates you would need just to transfer your 7 billion people would be astronomical.
The only good news is that we still have time, right?"
He looked at the old man who was running hard in the air above his head.
Then, as Mason and Barry watched in horror, the frail, skinny old man stumbled forward and nearly fell, causing Mason to even want to reach out for help.
But fortunately, he was still strong despite his age and managed to stand firmly and started running again despite his weak condition.
Mason looked at the old silhouette who was explaining the story. The latter coughed a few times with an awkward expression, and explained in a rather obvious way:
"Well, even though I look so weak, I can still run for a long time... Well, at least I can run for another day."
"Isn't it over yet?"
Mason rolled his eyes. Xiao Shan beside him took a deep breath. He stepped forward and volunteered:
"Let him down, I'll run up!"
"You can't hold on!"
The Barry Allen of this world didn't give his own time-space alter ego any respect. He looked Little Flash up and down and said:
"Your connection to the Speed Force is too immature to bear the burden of keeping the world running. You will be drained in 72 hours at most."
"That at least buys us 72 hours, doesn't it?"
Xiao Shan was not discouraged.
His face was covered in blood, he clenched his fist and said:
"Even if it's only three days, it's fine. You want me to give up 7 billion people and let them turn into ashes in front of me. I can't do it! If I just do nothing and run back in shame...
I will definitely be kicked out of the Justice League.
Being part of that group is one of the greatest honors of my life.”
Having said that, Flash suddenly turned around and looked at Mason.
The expectation in his eyes made Mason feel overwhelmed. The captain complained:
"Now I finally know how Zack Kang feels when I tell him I have an idea. I'm really impressed by you troublemakers!"
Mason turned around and complained , looking at the empty space inside the Speed Force Matrix. He said:
"This place is not affected by the distorted timeline and can be connected to the outside world, right?"
"Um."
The old silhouette replied:
"Because the Speed Force Matrix is on the verge of shutting down, the time and space blockade has actually been lifted across the entire world. You can turn around and leave now...
We don’t blame you for this, but the situation is really a bit overwhelming.”
"If you don't expect assistance, then you should have said this at the beginning. We have come here through our own efforts. It is really difficult for us to give up now.
You are really a clever little ghost."
Mason complained bitterly, he took out a piece of letter paper that Zha Kang had made earlier, wrote a few words on it and sent it to Star Castle.
A few seconds later, another roaring letter was sent back and fell in front of Mason and then floated up again. Then the extremely helpless voice of Hunter Ciri was heard from it.
She said:
"We've discussed this before, Mason. At your current level, you can't talk directly to Old A! You're making things difficult for me. I think you really deserve a beating."
"This is nothing personal, Ciri."
Mason glanced at the two Barrys beside him, and the thin old man who was still running hard overhead. The latter's wrinkled face and flowing white beard looked so desolate against the backdrop of the speed force.
He said to the Howler:
"I must talk to Mr. A in person. I have sufficient reasons."
"Tell me about it."
Ciri's tone was full of disbelief; she obviously thought that this was another case of Mason adding useless workload to herself.
Mason coughed and said sternly:
"You shouldn't be exposed to this with your authority, Ciri. This matter is too big for you to handle. Don't make trouble for yourself. Please help me contact Old A.
I waited for him for fifteen minutes.
If he is too busy, I will have to contact other important figures in the Hope Council. I believe they will be able to find time."
