Victor took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and said, "Clark is right, you're a damned madman!"
He looked down at the small box in his hand, then looked up into Shiller's eyes. Shiller was staring intently at Victor, his gaze often this focused.
But now, Victor realized, this was a symptom of loneliness, excessive attention, excessive calmness. When this slightly childish look appears in an adult's eyes, it looks more like a neurosis.
The hand holding the box started to tremble. Now he understood, the reason he used to think Shiller was okay was simply because this kind of madness hadn't befallen him.
He thought that it wasn't dangerous for Shiller to flounder in the water without a lifebuoy, purely because the sea was not his field of expertise.
Just as Shiller was about to step forward, Victor quickly pulled out his Freeze Gun from his waist. With a swish, the ice cones were shot out, freezing Shiller into an ice block.
"You better not think about dispersing into a mist, or I'll paste the draft of Bruce's psychology paper that he left with me on the notice board downstairs."
Shiller blinked in the ice, his expression seemed to be saying "what the hell are you doing?"
Victor put the box into his own pocket and then pushed the block of ice with Shiller inside it into the lab. He picked up the phone in the lab, dialed a number, and said, "Hello? Wayne Hospital? I have a patient here who needs a full body examination...."
Suddenly, the ice block was empty, and a grey mist floated out through the window. Victor shouted from the window, "Shiller, you're finished! I'm going to post the paper now!"
"No problem, I've already expelled him anyway!"
Barry looked at Shiller slowly taking shape and was a bit confused. Shiller patted him on the arm and said, "Go to Central City."
Half an hour later, Shiller and Barry stood at the mouth of an alley in Central City. A member of the Rogues in a jacket pointed to a house on the left and said, "That's where the Allen Family lives. They just moved here recently because the neighborhood is safe."
Barry started to realize what Shiller was going to do. He anxiously wanted to rush into the building, but Shiller stopped him and said, "First think about how to win over your parents. Not everyone can accept the claim of coming from the future."
Barry stood still, feeling his thoughts in a bit of a chaos. Shiller lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his umbrella and said, "Wait, you go in first. Your task is to convince them that you're their son and tell them it'll be dangerous if they continue to stay here. Leave the rest to me."
Shiller patted Barry on the back. Barry took a deep breath, walked up to the door plucking up his courage, knocked on the door. As Shiller stood on the street, looking at his back, he recalled the story of The Flash and the Flashpoint world.
The Flash's mother was unfortunately killed in his childhood, and his father was wrongfully imprisoned.
When he grew up, he gained the power to travel through time and space using the cosmic treadmill and Divine Speed.
So, Barry wanted to go back in time to save his own mother, who was killed by Professor Zoom. He wanted to go back and stop Professor Zoom, but no matter how he tried, he failed time and time again.
The universe where Shiller is didn't belong to Barry's original universe. The timeline was earlier than the one where Barry currently existed. At this moment, Professor Zoom hadn't set his sights on the Allen Family yet.
In other words, as long as precautions are taken earlier, it might be possible to ensure their safety and avoid the series of tragedies that Barry was going to encounter while trying to save his mother in the future.
Soon, Barry successfully got into the house. About ten minutes later, Shiller arrived at the door, where a mask-less Barry, with tears streaming down his face, opened the door for Shiller.
A Caucasian couple and a young boy stood in the living room, their expressions somewhat bewildered, but mostly worried.
Shiller wasn't worried about Barry failing to win their trust. Parents who love their children can always tell their own offspring apart. More importantly, Barry hadn't grown old enough to not recognize his own face yet. He was still a young man, his features hadn't changed much.
"I'm sorry, both of you, I believe your son has already explained the current situation to you. Staying here may pose a risk, so you might need to live elsewhere for a while," Shiller said.
"But where can we go that is safe?" Mrs. Allen asked.
With no rush, Shiller walked into the living room, looking at the photographs hanging on the wall.
"No need to be nervous, from the photos, you seem like a fishing enthusiast, don't you?" Shiller asked, turning to Barry's father, Mr. Allen.
Mr. Allen nervously nodded. Shiller continued, "Then you must have heard of the recreational fishing festival in Seashore City? You could go there for a month-long vacation, compete with anglers from all over the world. Once your son has resolved the issues, it won't be too late to come back."
"But what dangers does he have to face?" Mrs. Allen asked apprehensively. She was confident that the Barry standing in front of her was her son, no mother in this world wanted their child to take risks.
"Don't worry, madam, he's done me a favor, and I will naturally return the favor. Ensuring your own safety would be the best way to help him."
After a lot of persuasion from Barry, his parents reluctantly agreed to go on vacation to Seashore City due to young Barry's interest in the recreational fishing festival mentioned by Shiller.
Barry took everyone to Seashore City where Shiller, along with the Allen family of three, arrived at their rented apartment building. Using a key, he opened the doors to their pre-rented accommodation and showed them around their temporarily new home.
As the Allen couple were packing in their room, Shiller went out and met Barry at the door. Barry, frowning, asked, "Are things really settled now? But running isn't a solution. Professor Zoom of this universe is bound to be fast too. It's only a matter of time before he finds us."
Suddenly, as if an idea crossed his mind, Barry said, "Wait, will the me from this universe also try to travel back in time to prevent Professor Zoom? And then during their fight, accidentally kill my mother?"
"No, I have to go back. I have to tell my younger self never to do that! Never try to travel back in time in the future!"
Just as Barry was about to go back inside, Shiller stopped him. Barry anxiously said, "Their fight here, by accident, it could have severe consequences!"
Shiller looked up towards the ceiling and said, "Indeed, severe consequences...someone would lose their hair again."
Before he could finish speaking, a flash of yellow light leapt over from the horizon. For someone like Professor Zoom, who could jump through time, nothing was ever random, it had all been premeditated.
Just as Professor Zoom landed, another red flash leapt forward from the horizon and another shout of The Flash was heard: "Bastard! Stop!"
With crossed arms, Shiller intended to wait for the awakened Lucifer to stop this farce.
Instead, The Flash, who had just landed, drew a blue gun from his waist. With a "bang", an ice cone hit Professor Zoom, who had landed before him, freezing him into a block of ice.
The Flash flung the Freeze Gun in his hand and glanced at Professor Zoom, frozen within the ice. He said, "Jason was right, this thing really works."
Only after he said that did he start to look around, and the moment he looked up, he saw Shiller standing at the door and another himself.
In shock, The Flash gasped, keeping the Freeze Gun quickly.
"You..."
Before Shiller could say anything, The Flash quickly extended a hand, pointed at the sky and said emphatically,
"Professor, I swear, the first draft will definitely be submitted tomorrow!"