Caitlin couldn't fall asleep, but she didn't dare move or speak. All she could do was force herself to ignore Su Sheng's presence beside her. The idea of escaping never crossed her mind—she knew it would be impossible. Despite her situation, Caitlin wasn't angry with Su Sheng. His temper and behavior were unpredictable; he could do something that seemed bad but turned out to be for the greater good.
Take the Reverse Flash incident, for example.
At first, everyone thought Su Sheng was being unreasonable by targeting Reverse Flash, but in the end, he was right. Su Sheng might have acted purely for his own amusement, but there was no denying that he had helped Barry and the team. Who knows what would have happened if Reverse Flash had continued his deception?
Caitlin felt guilty about having helped set a trap for Su Sheng and for having misunderstood him.
It's strange how human thinking works. Someone can do good deeds all their life, but one mistake can brand them as a bad person forever. Conversely, a person who has done terrible things might be forgiven if they do one good thing. It's like the saying, "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot."
Even though she had been taken from her home in the middle of the night and threatened with mind control, Caitlin just saw Su Sheng as someone who was too self-centered, someone who didn't care about others' feelings or try to fit into society.
After thinking for a while, Caitlin finally drifted off to sleep.
When she woke up, Su Sheng was gone.
Startled, Caitlin quickly dressed and walked out, only to find someone new in the operating room.
"Who are you?" Caitlin asked tentatively.
"Laura."
"And you and Su Sheng are...?"
"Breakfast is over there. You need to keep working on what he told you to do. Also, he asked me to tell you not to worry about S.T.A.R. Labs; he's already been there. Once you succeed, he'll let you go." Laura said this and then turned to leave.
Caitlin called out a few times, but Laura didn't stop, so she gave up. After eating breakfast, Caitlin returned to working on the speed serum.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco Ramon had just finished helping Su Sheng acquire the Tachyon Matrix and had integrated it with nanotechnology to upgrade Su Sheng's new suit.
"It's done!" Cisco exclaimed after some time, clapping his hands in excitement. "With the Tachyon Matrix, the suit's energy power is massively boosted, and the speed increase is incredible. Even an ordinary person could reach speeds like Barry's wearing this. Plus, the nano-shrinking tech allows the suit to exist as a bracelet, expanding to cover the entire body in three seconds. This is the most perfect piece of equipment I've ever made. I need to give it a powerful name."
"I think it's still missing a self-healing ability. The suit's material isn't top-notch, so there's still a high chance it could get damaged," Su Sheng commented as he examined the bright red suit.
"A self-healing suit? There's no tech for that yet. That's a very challenging direction," Cisco admitted.
"Also, change the suit's color. Bright red is too dull. Make it black with gold accents—a black base with gold trim," Su Sheng suggested, quickly drawing up a design at super speed.
Cisco was about to start working on the changes when the computer's alarm suddenly went off.
"A bank robbery?" Cisco glanced at the screen to alert Barry, while also pulling up the surveillance footage to check out the situation.
The robbery seemed unusual. Inside the bank, people were attacking each other as if possessed, their anger making them look terrifying. Amidst the chaos, the robbers walked out easily with the money.
"This case is strange—it's like they're all possessed or something," Cisco murmured, thinking of some horror movie and shivering slightly.
"Rainbow Raider," Su Sheng said with a chuckle.
"Rainbow Raider?" Cisco turned to look at Su Sheng. "You know him?"
"What's Barry doing?" Su Sheng asked, ignoring the question.
"He's probably dealing with personal issues. He was with Iris when the tsunami hit, so... Iris knows his identity now, and it seems they're at a critical point. It's like something out of a movie," Cisco replied with a sigh.
If Barry had time-traveled into the loop at that moment, he might have prevented the events that exposed his identity to Iris. But now, things were complicated, especially since Iris still hadn't broken up with her boyfriend.
"I'm going to take care of Rainbow Raider. Finish coloring my suit," Su Sheng said.
"What? You're going to handle it? But you need to find him first..." Cisco started, but before he could finish, Su Sheng had already disappeared.
Lightning-fast, Su Sheng zipped through the city, finding Rainbow Raider in a rental house in no time.
"The Flash? You're not in costume!" Rainbow Raider exclaimed, surprised by Su Sheng's sudden appearance. But he quickly regained his confidence as his eyes began to glow red.
Rainbow Raider's ability could provoke anger by direct eye contact, affecting the emotional center of the brain—particularly the central nervous system responsible for behavior control. This nerve prevents people from acting on subconscious impulses, but once affected, people fall into uncontrollable rage and do irrational things. It was a form of mind control, similar to other psychic abilities.
But this ability was perfect for causing chaos!
Just as Rainbow Raider tried to use his power, Su Sheng copied the ability and, before it could affect him, swiftly stabbed Rainbow Raider in the heart. The red glow in Raider's eyes vanished instantly as he convulsed and collapsed to the ground.
Dead.
It was quick and precise!
Su Sheng turned and sped back to S.T.A.R. Labs.
Cisco was still sitting at the computer.
"He's dead. Now finish coloring my suit," Su Sheng said, patting Cisco on the shoulder. Cisco could only stammer, "That... that was fast."
"You think I'm Barry? Always bragging about being fast, only to get shown up every time!" Su Sheng quipped, dragging Cisco to get the suit finished.