Night, late autumn.
Metropolis, southern suburbs.
The woods were quiet, the cool breeze of late autumn swayed the trees, and the chirping insects made the silence of late autumn even more pronounced.
Suddenly.
The air "swirled," twisted, and ripples lifted the dead, yellow leaves. The space tore open in the woods, spinning out a black hole, and two silhouettes fell through.
In the next moment, it closed quickly, and the dead leaves fell back to the earth.
Bardi held his stomach, resisting the urge to vomit. His retinas felt dizzy and uncomfortable, like motion sickness on a bus, and his heart pounded violently.
Pressing his hands to the ground, he rolled over mid-air. His strong chest and abdomen kept taking deep breaths, panting heavily. His pupils dilated and constricted, blood flowing turbulently like the rushing waters of the Nujiang River. In the next moment, he forcibly regulated his body's abnormalities and calmed himself.
The first experience of time travel had left him extremely uncomfortable.
However, his powerful control over his body allowed him to stabilize quickly. Instantly, he straightened his lumbar spine and looked around.
"This... is it that day?"
The slight chill of late autumn blew through Bardi's cloak, brushing against his skin and ruffling his black hair.
The leaves rustled continuously. Because of their sudden appearance in the woods, even the insects were startled into silence, not daring to chirp.
"Yes, we can't go back!"
The Flash lay on the thick layer of humus and dead leaves, smiling miserably.
"There are no metal prosthetic legs to replace mine. Without them, I can't sustain high-speed movement. Without frequent high-speed motion, I can't traverse time and space. I can only stay here and wait... until ten years from now, when I send you back again."
The Flash's metal prosthetic legs had been destroyed during their journey.
Now, he lay there, legless, on the thick layer of humus, his smile carrying an unmistakable hint of misery.
"Don't worry. I still have dozens of double metal prosthetics stored in my space."
Bardi glanced indifferently at the Flash lying on the ground.
The Flash's miserable laughter abruptly cut off, as if a rooster had its neck wrung. He closed his eyes in pain and fell silent.
"Stay here... and rest."
Bardi's eyes flashed coldly. A chill blue breath exhaled from his lips, freezing the struggling Flash before he could react.
The icy breath stretched from the Flash's thighs upward, freezing his lower abdomen, chest, neck, and finally his struggling head, sealing him completely.
In the late autumn woods, the cold air immediately spread, deadly and chilling.
Bardi could not bring the Flash along to rescue Jenny. Any noise, any movement could change the choice of every second. No mistakes could be allowed.
He turned his head and peered far into the distance, focusing his vision.
In the dark night, he saw through the woods and into General Vic's camp.
There, bright lights illuminated the camp as if it were daytime. Armed soldiers patrolled vigilantly.
In a dark corner, faint lights reflected off strips of steel glowing under the illumination. Deep in the darkness, terrifying monsters lurked.
A nearly ten-meter-high steel cage stood in the darkness.
Inside, Jenny's body was tall and monstrous. Her skin was thick, dark, and rough, with white bones and barbs protruding. Black blood constantly oozed from her form. Her terrifying figure breathed shallowly, and each breath brought painful agony to her lungs, throat, and nose, causing the surrounding air to tremble slightly.
Inside the steel cage, she lowered her head, lost in her own thoughts and memories. Her pupils were dry, bloodshot veins spread across the whites of her eyes, and her eyelids felt like sand scraping against her eyeballs, bringing an excruciating pain.
Seeing this, Bardi held his breath, and his pupils contracted sharply.
A sour and bitter emotion rose from his heart, spreading through every vein in his body.
At this moment, even with his Kryptonian body capable of destroying planets, he felt a heart-wrenching weakness.
He could feel Jenny's love for him.
And the unbearable pain she was enduring.
"Sorry, I'm here now."
Bardi inhaled the cold air deeply, his eyes opening and closing with firm will.
He had promised himself.
When he reversed time, he would save her from this moment.
Give her hope.
Give her laughter.
Give her love.
Now, he was here!
Under the dark night sky, the stars shone brightly.
In the woods, a cold wind blew.
His fluttering windbreaker, his frenzied black hair, and his black eyes traveled through time and space to save the one he loved from the darkness of the past.
Bardi's body floated silently into the night, the surrounding air twisting and distorting as he disappeared into the darkness.
He advanced, little by little, toward the enemy camp.
In the southern suburbs of Metropolis, under the starlit sky, the cold wind howled.
The closer he got, the stronger the feeling of nostalgia became in Bardi's heart.
"Ah."
Suddenly, Bardi's hidden figure paused.
Deathstroke appeared within Bardi's sight, gradually approaching the steel cage. He stopped in front of it, looking up at Jenny trapped inside.
Bardi recognized this scene. He had seen it before in Deathstroke's memories. There was no difference.
He halted and silently watched.
"I have a question for you."
"..."
Jenny, trapped inside the steel cage, did not speak. Speaking would only cause excruciating pain. She could only snort heavily through her nose, the sound shaking the air.
It was like the breathing of a giant dinosaur.
"Do you love Bardi... or do you want him to die?"
Deathstroke spoke, his gaze sharp and cold.
At his words, Jenny's bloodshot eyes contracted instantly.
For a moment, it felt as if the air was burning. A fiery heat wave erupted from Jenny's body, scalding Deathstroke's skin.
"Rrgh..."
She let out a deep growl, a painful sound torn from her throat.
Each word she tried to speak caused the muscles and bones of her throat to scrape against each other. Every cell felt like it was being ripped apart. She didn't know how much longer she could endure.
But Deathstroke continued coldly.
"You still love him. That's why you gave General Vic hope. That's why General Vic never truly reported Bardi's identity, clinging to false ambition and a desire for power."
"He thought he could restore his status through you."
"He thought he could regain power through you."
"He thought he could achieve supreme dominance through you."
"All of it... was his fantasy."
"All of it... was your temptation."
"Is it worth doing all this for Barmulodi?"
After finishing, Deathstroke turned and left without waiting for Jenny's response.
But Bardi saw it.
In the darkness, Jenny's giant pupils overflowed with blood, and blood poured from her eyes as she let out a faint, pained whisper from deep within her throat.
"Worth it..."
Bardi walked out silently from the darkness, a smile appearing on his face.
(To be continued.)