Chapter 318: Damn It, I'm Lainer!

Barry looked at the firefighter suit Cisco had produced, feeling quite relieved; he never wanted to experience the embarrassment of his clothes tearing off in the middle of the street a third time.

Perhaps after some time he would be able to precisely control his speed, avoiding such awkward wardrobe malfunctions caused by running too fast, but for now, this battle suit that allowed him to run freely was indeed of great significance to him.

"Alright, now everything is ready." Barry nodded. "Next, we just need to find Clyde Mardon."

"About that..." Caitlin held a tablet in her hands. "I just used S. T. A. R. Labs' satellites to check for abnormal weather patterns in Central City—there's a location where atmospheric pressure is changing rapidly."

Cisco patted Barry on the arm. "Dude, we got him."

"Joe, do you think we can catch Clyde Mardon?"

"I can't say for sure, Eddie, but before that plane crashed, the last place the Mardon brothers came to was this farm; this is their hideout. Speaking of which, if we could confirm he's here, we could at least call in the major units to back us up."

Joe took a deep breath, his expression slightly serious; the memories this warehouse held for him were not pleasant, but fortunately, his partner Singh hadn't died here. Being able to retire alive was already a decent ending.

"Be careful," he warned Eddie. "Draw your weapon and stay on alert; one of my colleagues was already shot here once. Don't let history repeat itself."

"Okay."

The two entered the farm building cautiously; the sun had already set, and the light inside remained dim, everything looking exactly like it had on that day.

But this time was actually different from last time; Joe and Eddie had only walked a few steps inside when they saw someone sitting quietly within. A familiar figure, familiar hair color—Joe recognized his identity at a glance.

Looking at the calm and composed Clyde Mardon, Joe grew increasingly vigilant. Nine months ago, this guy had been like a homeless dog, daring only to hide in the farm and launch sneak attacks with a pistol; yet today, facing the same situation, he stood unashamedly under the lights in the center of the building.

After acquiring superpowers, the arrogant and violent side of this man seemed to be becoming increasingly prominent along with his abilities.

"Hands behind your head, stand up." Joe signaled for Eddie to aim his gun at Mardon while he pulled handcuffs from his pocket, preparing to move forward and cuff the man. "It's over, Mardon."

"Oh, you found me."

Facing Joe's warning, Mardon didn't even bother to turn his head to look behind him; he smiled with complete ease. "Remember that night, Detective? S. T. A. R. Labs exploded, followed suddenly by that storm, and our plane crashed within it."

"When I woke up on the ground, I discovered I had survived a great disaster and gained this power. From that moment on, I understood completely—I am God."

"Oh, just shut the hell up." Joe rolled his eyes; he truly couldn't stand such chuunibyou, childish, and self-centered rhetoric. It was like a frog at the bottom of a well fantasizing that the world revolved around it, imagining the sky was only as big as the well's opening, and shamelessly calling itself God.

Arrogant, ignorant, and stupid, not to mention a criminal with neither morality nor capability, who even liked to deny the real world based on his own fantasies; letting such a person wield even a sliver of power or authority was a crime against everyone.

Just as seen now, the very second Clyde gained his abilities, he began plundering Central City; the Gold Bank robbery was merely the third heist he had committed this month.

Joe held the handcuffs while Eddie held the gun; Clyde, appearing very cooperative, raised his hands, so the two officers walked directly behind him, preparing to arrest him.

"Whoosh—!"

Just as Joe and Eddie drew near, a powerful wind pressure suddenly erupted from beside Clyde; a terrifying air cannon blasted the two several meters away.

Joe was an experienced veteran detective; he rolled on the ground to dissipate some of the impact force, but when he looked up at his side, Eddie's body had already smashed into a haystack, unconscious. Clyde sneered disdainfully: "You think you can stop God with a gun?"

"Why the hell would a God go rob a bank?"

Joe's casual rhetorical question left Clyde speechless for a moment; even Ma Ma Zhaodi, hiding in the shadows, couldn't help but strongly agree in his heart: "So right, so right, bro. This bird-man might still be some distance away from being a god, but he's already very far from being human."

A pure god-tier idiot.

Unexpectedly, Joe's questioning didn't cause Clyde to break down; looking at the two fallen officers, he answered coldly: "You're right."

"My perspective before was indeed too small."

In the span of a few sentences, a terrifying high-speed airflow had formed around him; it grew larger and larger, finally tearing completely through the roof of the farm greenhouse, forming a tornado visible to the naked eye.

Joe exerted all his strength to carry Eddie out of the room; he watched as Clyde walked within the eye of the storm. With each of his steps, the tornado moved slowly as well, heading toward the direction of Star City.

"Tonight, Central City will understand that they must obey the will of God!" Clyde's arrogant shouts raged amidst the gale.

"Obey you?"

Joe drew his gun and fired rapidly, but several bullets shooting into the storm were like mud oxen entering the sea, failing to raise even a ripple; the only fortunate thing was that Clyde was currently devoting all his effort to controlling this storm, leaving no spare energy to retaliate against Joe's counterattack.

"Oh my god..."

At this moment, Ma Ma Zhaodi, hiding in the warehouse, saw the situation turning bad and immediately grabbed a tranquilizer gun; with only Joe remaining conscious on the field, he could adapt slightly, knock the opponent out directly, and then begin clearing the scene.

"San San Bengzi, prepare to launch."

"Received."

Just as the man and vehicle were poised to strike, Ma Ma Zhaodi suddenly reached out and pressed down on San San Bengzi: "Wait, someone's coming."

Swish—!

A streak of red light sped rapidly through the night sky; like a meteor, dragging a shimmering golden tail, it appeared directly in the tornado's path.

Meanwhile, Joe widened his eyes, staring intently at that red figure: "What the hell is that?"

Barry Allen, the Red Speedster, the Flash, was now rushing to the battlefield; at this moment, Central City finally welcomed its destined hero.

"Huff, huff..."

At this moment, Barry's breathing was slightly short and rapid; he casually pulled off the filter mouthpiece on his mask, exposing his nose and mouth to breathe more efficiently, which would allow him to run faster.

"Barry, you need to hurry," Francisco's voice rang out in his earpiece. "That tornado's speed has already reached two hundred miles per hour, and it's still increasing rapidly."

"You need to deal with it quickly!"

(End of Chapter)