Barry's mind was racing. He needed time alone with the Flash from the other universe. Writing a paper was a perfect excuse.
This professor would surely understand that time within the divine speed force is infinite. As long as he put on a troubled face, the professor would definitely let him go into the divine speed force with the Flash to write the paper.
And because time in the divine speed force is infinite, they could do something else without him knowing.
Barry believed there was no need to let the current professor know about the future situation; even if he did know, it would be of no use.
Even years ago, Krypton had already been destroyed. If there were any behind-the-scenes manipulators, their plans would already be in motion. The intensity of someone like Hai'er couldn't be prevented just by precaution. There was no need to add more trouble.
Besides, if changing the timeline led Hai'er to come earlier, and the Justice League hadn't yet established defensive measures, without the Magical Defense Network, the situation would only get worse.
So despite the image of Hal's heart almost being pulled out constantly replaying in his mind, he pretended to be cheerful and nervously answered Professor Shearer's question.
Finally, he and the Flash from the other universe entered the divine speed force together.
His face immediately fell. The Flash patted his shoulder and said, "No need to look so troubled, it's just a paper. Where are you up to? Let me help you..."
Barry shook off his hand, stood in place, took several deep breaths, then forced a smile at the Flash and said, "Sorry, the divine speed force in my universe is quite dangerous, it's better if you don't touch me."
No matter which universe he's from, Barry is always sensitive and kind. The Flash saw Barry's somewhat pale face and asked, "What's the matter? Which point in time are you from?"
"We don't have much time, so I'll give you the short version. There's a monster invading Earth right now. I pulled him into the divine speed force, so we can counter-invade his timeline."
"Monster? Who is it?"
"Hai'er."
Seeing the Flash's confused expression, Barry knew that their universe probably hadn't encountered Hai'er yet.
Barry quickly introduced Hai'er's abilities, then said, "Now, I need you to go back to the past, to the time when my mother was just pregnant with me, and stop Hai'er's plan to make me completely disappear. Meanwhile, I'll invade his timeline to see if I can make him disappear."
The Flash didn't ask any more questions; he didn't even care how dangerous it was, he just nodded and said, "Alright, I'll do my best."
The two separated in the divine speed force, and Barry jumped into Hai'er's timeline as quickly as possible.
As expected, every point in time had Hai'er. As soon as he landed, he was immediately chased.
Barry's every action was purposeful. From his previous experiments, he had already discovered that if Hai'er had any weakness, it was that he couldn't withstand the corrosion of primordial dark energy.
He intentionally used primordial dark energy to resist Hai'er's attacks. On one hand, it allowed him to probe whether the opponent feared this power. If the opponent feared it, he could proceed with the next step of his plan; on the other hand, regardless of the outcome, Hal could see everything. If Hal successfully returned to Earth, he could report this information to Oliver and the others.
This information was very important because Barry knew Bruce was also using the same power to protect the sun.
If Oliver and the others knew that Hai'er also feared this power, they would know that the sun was temporarily safe. This way, they could free up more hands and wouldn't have to worry about the safety of the most important star. Moreover, they could use this power to counter Hai'er at the current point in time.
Since this power would harm Hai'er, past Hai'er would definitely do everything to hunt him down to prevent Barry from using this power to kill his younger self.
This way, Oliver wouldn't have to worry about any past version of Hai'er jumping to the present, causing them to face double the pressure. It would also allow them to prepare for a direct confrontation without constantly fearing a sneak attack.
However, next, the one who would bear the greatest pressure would be himself.
Barry didn't feel nervous; instead, he felt more alert. He knew roughly where Hai'er came from. This monster wasn't a natural product; he was an experiment.
In the information provided by Professor Shearer, it mentioned that though Hai'er himself was a clone, he hated clones. This proved that he didn't actually know he was a clone.
So today, Barry would make him realize it.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, attacking the mind is the best.
Barry jumped to the earliest timeline he could reach that related to Hai'er. As he landed, he felt dizzy. This was clearly not Earth; the gravity was completely different from Earth's.
This should be Krypton.
Realizing he couldn't adapt to Krypton's environment, Barry quickly returned to the divine speed force. But Hai'er soon chased after him.
Barry didn't plan to confront Hai'er directly. He started running in circles around the city, trying to find where Hai'er was at this point in time.
Since he was a clone, he definitely wouldn't be in the official defense center; he should be in the home of the person who created him.
Although it might not be Joe El, it would likely be related to him. In the information provided by Zod, Joe El had always been a scientist at Krypton's Energy Research Center.
Barry circled the city and finally found the building of the Energy Research Center on the eastern side of the city. He managed to see Joe El conducting experiments through the window.
Because this is Hai'er's timeline, Hai'er must have been born. Joe El shouldn't have brought the child to the laboratory, so it's at his home.
Barry remembers Zod saying that scientists and researchers have assigned houses, and they should be not far from the energy center.
Also, they are a couple, they shouldn't leave a child alone at home, even a clone needs care. So, El's wife, Laura, should be at home.
Barry wandered around the laboratory, and finally locked onto a small house on the east side.
It wasn't because Laura was conspicuous, but because to make a clone at home would surely require equipment. You just need to find a house with some suspicious equipment.
At this moment, Laura was placing a gray-skinned baby on the experimental table, scanning the baby's toes with some kind of instrument, seemingly conducting some sort of test.
Barry emerged from the Divine Speed, but he didn't alarm her, instead, he quietly hid in the bathroom.
He couldn't understand what those instruments were for, nor did he know what Laura was doing. But Hai'er definitely knew, as he grew up on Krypton.
Soon, through the bathroom door, he saw a tall figure walk into the living room, turning his head as if searching for him. But soon, his attention was drawn to the figure standing by the experimental table.
They were speaking Kryptonian language, Barry couldn't understand a word, but he could discern their tone.
In the beginning, Hai'er's tone was very gentle – this gave Barry some information: this monster's relationship with his adoptive parents was surprisingly good – he seemed to be explaining who he was and why he came here.
But Laura was very nervous, even fearful, constantly retreating and not letting Hai'er approach.
Hai'er quickly noticed something was wrong. He seemed to recognize the purpose of the instruments behind Laura – Barry guessed those might be gene screening and injection devices, though they could also be modification instruments.
Hai'er became incredulous. He angrily questioned Laura about something. Laura displayed both fear and sadness.
At this point, Joe El rushed in.
Laura must have contacted her husband somehow. And Joe El had a weapon, he raised his gun aiming at Hai'er.
The tones of both were tinged with anger, they were practically shouting at each other. Joe spoke in a furious yet slightly sad tone for a long while. At last, Hai'er left, devastated.
Yes, he just walked away, not intending to chase Barry, nor caring if he would be erased. His tall figure revealed endless sadness and desolation.
Barry sighed deeply. He didn't know if Hai'er would come back, but he knew he had to talk with Clark's biological parents. He needed to know what really happened back then.
He opened the bathroom door and walked out.
Joe and Laura were startled again. Barry raised his hands and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, I was being chased by him..."
Seeing the laser gun charging up, Barry raised his voice and said, "I'm a friend of your biological son, Carl El."
Upon hearing this, both were stunned. Laura whispered something. Joe's eyes were still skeptical but he looked Barry up and down.
"Do you have a translation device? Can you give me one?"
Seeing that Barry posed no threat, Joe tossed him a small metal piece. Barry placed the metal piece on the back of his neck and soon could understand what they were saying.
"How does he know we would name our son Carl?"
"The key is, how does he know we would have a son? Reproductive information is confidential. Could it be..."
"I know it's complicated," Barry interrupted, "but time is limited. I'll keep it brief. Soon, Krypton will be destroyed. You will send your son to a place called Earth. There, he meets a loving adoptive family. But recently, a monster named Hai'er invaded Earth..."
In the Metropolis Luther Group's hospital, a pale-faced Hal lay on the hospital bed. Green Lantern energy was constantly repairing his wounds, but some power was interfering with his recovery, making it slow. Fortunately, his life wasn't in danger.
Hal told everyone what he saw. Oliver immediately responded, "So he isn't immune to Dark Energy?"
"Yes," Hal said, "but you can't use this power to infect him, or it may not kill him, but rather cause him to fall."
Oliver's brief joy vanished. He remembered a detail in Hal's description, that this power merely made Hai'er's skin turn pale.
Speaking of pale skin, it easily brings to mind the Laughing Bat. This means the Dark Energy's corrosion of Hai'er could likely cause a mutation, rather than weaken or kill him.
Using just a little might confuse and repel him; but if used in large quantities, it could recreate a Laughing Hai'er, and that would indeed be disastrous for the entire Multiverse.
"Fortunately," Oliver tried to comfort everyone, "at least our star is safe."
No sooner had he said this, the communicator crackled with Bruce's slightly urgent voice: "That guy appeared! He's now frantically attacking the solar shield! He's gone completely mad!!"
Oliver immediately projected Bruce's transmitted images onto the wall. Everyone saw, beside a massive black sun, a figure recklessly crashing into the sun – like a moth, knowing the danger but still crazily and sadly flapping towards the light.