I'm in an American comic book, and all my teammates are main characters and bosses.

Chapter 75 - A Shot Through the Steel Bones

A flash of black light, and Ron didn't even use the butcher's cleaver, just swung his arm. Then, his hand, imbued with the Speed ​​Force, transformed into black light and pierced straight through Swann's chest.

After being pierced through the chest, Swann appeared completely unchanged; even his suit remained undamaged. The only difference was that his eyes, once filled with hatred, now held terror, confusion, and bewilderment, before finally losing focus.

While ordinary speedsters could only enhance their defenses by using the Speed ​​Force to surround a field, Ron had already mastered how to shape the Speed ​​Force around a field into the form he needed.

"The Speed ​​Force scalpel causes the arm to vibrate at high speeds, briefly phasing the body and allowing it to pass through the atomic gaps of objects, directly massaging the heart..."

Ron flexed his hands a couple of times, looked at Barry, and sighed, "It's only because you can control yourself from killing intentionally. If you lost that bottom line, there probably wouldn't be many people in this world who could escape your assassination attempts."

Hearing Ron's exclamation, Barry simply scratched his head, a slightly embarrassed smile on his face—he had considered this ability before. But, to be honest, the effect wasn't very good.

At the very least, Barry lacked the confidence to use the Speed ​​Force scalpel against Swann, who also possessed the Speed ​​Force.

Because they both possess the Speed ​​Force, Swann only needs to vibrate his body to relatively break Barry's Speed ​​Force phase transformation. Ron, however, can easily slice into Swann's chest with a scalpel and kill him with a fatal blow to the heart without damaging his flesh or suit…

Just as Ron said, this means that although both are speedsters who have mastered the Speed ​​Force, they live at completely different speeds.

After glancing at Swann's body, Barry felt a pang of hesitation and doubt.

Having mastered the Speed ​​Force, Ron should theoretically be subject to its surveillance—though "surveillance" isn't entirely accurate, as it's more akin to the constraints imposed when the Speed ​​Force is granted to the fastest.

This is unavoidable, because without restrictions, an out-of-control speedster could easily destroy a world.

In this context, the vast majority of speedsters are forbidden from killing. Although there is no explicit rule, it is a tacit agreement within the Lightning family. This rule cannot be broken; if it is, the speedsters themselves will become the greatest threat to their world.

And now...

Not only did someone break the barrier, but they were still blessed by the Speed ​​Force...

Although Barry didn't share Swann's intense passion for mastering the Speed ​​Force—a passion so intense it was almost a matter of sacrificing everything—watching Ron use it without restraint, Barry felt a growing unease. He feared the Speed ​​Force might become a tool of violence.

But this worry didn't last long. Soon, in Barry's sight, the Speed ​​Force field surrounding Ron quickly dissipated and disintegrated.

With a sound like an engine shutting down, Ron, looking annoyed, tossed the Speed ​​Force ring to Barry: "Charge it for me."

"oh oh!"

Barry hurriedly took the ring, finally understanding why the Speed ​​Force had allowed Ron to use it without restraint. It turned out it was because it was a trial period, hence the maximum permissions.

While charging the ring, Barry asked curiously, "How did you master the Speed ​​Force so quickly? Even if the Speed ​​Force is willing to let you use it, this should only be the first time you've used it, right?"

"It's alright, it's mainly about the agreement with this world."

Ron shrugged and explained nonchalantly, "This world is doomed. I can even hear the wailing of this planet beneath my feet. Although it was just an unintentional remark, I did say I would do my best to help it resolve everything. Having gained the world's recognition, naturally, when I came into contact with the Speed ​​Force, it automatically helped me familiarize myself with all of this."

"Besides, it's still very upsetting afterward."

Upon hearing this, Barry's eyes showed a hint of doubt. Just as he was about to ask what the discomfort was afterward, the next moment, accompanied by a soft sound of flesh bursting open, a large spurt of blood erupted from Ron's back. The exploding blood was filled with eyeballs and teeth. Even after he had become a pile of sticky, minced flesh, Barry could still clearly see numerous tiny tentacles struggling and writhing within, resembling bloodsucking worms.

After swaying his bloodied body a couple of times, Ron pressed the swollen pupils in his eyes back into place and said helplessly:

"The Speed ​​Force enhanced my senses, allowing me to see a part of the reality of this world for a short period of time. I was naturally able to break free from it on my own. But the impact of this reality on the soul is lasting. Even if it's just an instinctive desire to understand this real world, the eyes, mouth, nose, lips, teeth, and flesh will continue to multiply under the throbbing of the soul."

"Won't it have any impact?"

Seeing that Ron was under so much pressure due to entering Speedster mode, Barry couldn't help but relax a little. But then, he tensed up and asked:

"If the cost is too high, then don't use the Speed ​​Force anymore. According to information from other world Flashes, many speedsters who have suffered mental breakdowns lose their minds and become spreaders of death because of it."

Ron chuckled and gave himself a thumbs-up, saying, "I'm a government employee."

Barry: "..."

Although he didn't understand what Ron was talking about, as a speedster, Barry had heard some of the shared information from other members of the Lightning Family. If he remembered correctly, beyond their multiverse, there were even more sublime omniverses, transcendental universes, and other higher-dimensional worlds.

Ron is clearly a member of these cosmic governing organizations...

Furthermore, given that he gained the world's recognition, it's no wonder that he was able to master the Speed ​​Force so quickly and unleash such powerful abilities.

Even so, thinking back to the days he spent painstakingly training and mastering his Speed ​​Force, Barry couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Tch, so what if you have a government job..."

"Of course!"

As he spoke, Ron also threw Swann's body into the Infinity City—Swann had mastered the Speed ​​Force through the Speed ​​Force remaining on the Flash suit in the 20th Century Time Capsule.

Now that Swann is dead, Ron naturally won't let his body go. Even without any remnants of the Speed ​​Force, the body tissue of a speedster is a treasure trove waiting to be explored.

Afterwards, everyone went to the bottom floor of the laboratory.

Because martial law was in effect before the apocalypse, the room where Superman was imprisoned is still firmly encased in thick metal.

"Kra... Superman is in here." Looking at the sealed iron cage in front of him, Barry Allen, the Flash, said with some emotion, "I'm not sure if Superman has been infected by the virus, but if he has, then Superman is definitely the greatest threat to this world, without a doubt. That's why I didn't try to open this cage."

"You did the right thing; Superman has been infected."

Upon hearing Barry's words, Cyborg nodded, his electronic eye on his left cheek flashing incessantly as he scanned the numerous messages on the third-layer local area network at an astonishing speed.

Each level of the military base is an independent local area network, and now, having reached the third level, Steelbone has also learned about a great deal of data and events happening in this area through the cables.

After confirming the information he had seen, Cyborg took a deep breath and said, "This guy you call Superman has become the carrier of the World Virus. In fact, the World Virus realized his power immediately. According to the information I saw, a soldier suddenly lost control during an experiment and lunged at Superman in the laboratory. Subsequently, the virus officially broke out."

"But if, as you say, this guy called Superman is the most powerful person on this planet, then without a doubt, the world should already be destroyed... Well, Superman resisted the invasion of the world virus. However, his condition is still deteriorating at an alarming rate."

Cyborg said gravely, "After discovering this, the military replicated Superman using the red sun lamp in the escape pod that crashed in Metropolis, and then shone the red sun lamp on Superman. But after that, there was no further news."

Upon hearing this, Ron, who was standing to the side, also curled his lip and said, "So it's Schrödinger's cat, huh?"

Schrödinger's cat is one of the four mythical creatures of physics. Although it is called a mythical creature, it does not actually exist, but rather is an explanation of quantum mechanics.

That is, a cat is placed in a sealed container containing a small amount of radium and cyanide. The decay of radium is probabilistic; if the radium decays, it will trigger a mechanism that breaks the bottle containing cyanide, and the cat will die; if the radium does not decay, the cat will survive.

According to quantum mechanics, since radioactive radium exists in a superposition of decaying and non-decaying states, the cat should logically exist in a superposition of dead and alive states. This cat, which is both dead and alive, is the so-called "Schrödinger's cat".

And now, Superman is in the same situation.

Inside a completely sealed house, filled with the red sunlight, Superman is infected by the global virus. Unlike ordinary people, this world's Superman tenaciously resists the virus's attack. However, confined to this house and exposed to the weakening red sun, no one can be certain of Superman's exact condition.

The red sun rendered Superman powerless, rendering him no different from an ordinary person, unable to break free of the cage constructed entirely of special alloy. However, at the same time, Superman had also been infected by the World Virus. While it couldn't be confirmed whether Superman could resist the World Virus's mental attack, one thing was certain: until this cage was opened, no one knew what the outcome would be. "Simple."

Sensing the hesitation and uncertainty among the crowd, Ron snapped his fingers and said, "Ciri!"

Ciri: "..."

Upon hearing Ron's words, Ciri remained silent for a moment before saying somewhat helplessly, "Why don't you try to extract and replicate my abilities later? I feel like my only purpose here is to provide ancient blood."

"Sigh, Ciri, don't belittle yourself like that."

Upon hearing this, Ron said with a dissatisfaction, "If I could copy it, I would have copied it already. Why would you tell me?"

"But the ancient bloodline is a kind of arcane talent that cannot be mastered easily. Although your power in the Origin World is average, your ability to develop arcane powers far surpasses that of ordinary worlds. If I could replicate the ancient bloodline, I would have gone out on my own long ago."

After a pause, Ron added, "Of course, the power of your Origin World is generally only relevant to you and Geralt. In fact, there are quite a few people in your world whom I would have to call 'senior'."

The Witcher world is a story centered around Geralt. While Geralt is considered very strong by ordinary people, he's just so-so to Ron. It's the background characters in the Witcher world, who only exist in the lore, who are what truly interest Ron.

But there's no point in talking about that now. At least, after hearing Ron's words of comfort, Ciri just rolled her eyes, then took a deep breath and activated the ancient blood within her through magic. With a panting sound, a short-range world portal appeared before Ron and the others.

"This door is one-way." Ciri glanced at the people around her and said in a low voice, "The other side of the door is the inside of this iron cage. Although I opened the gate to the world, to be honest, even I don't know what the other side is like. So, who wants to go first?"

Upon hearing this, the group exchanged glances, and then Cyborg said, "I'll go first."

"Um?"

Facing the questioning gazes of the crowd, Cyborg calmly stated, "I have scanned a great deal of data about the World Gate. While the abilities of those present may surpass mine, I believe my understanding of these technologies far exceeds that of any of you. Even if Superman on the other side has been infected and possesses unimaginable power, my knowledge of the World Gate alone is enough to guarantee my immediate evacuation."

Hearing Cyborg's confident words, the group exchanged glances and nodded. Among them, Ron, though sensing that Cyborg was inexplicably raising his flag, did not deny it.

He was simply hoping that Cyborg might glean some valuable information. Having finalized his plan, Cyborg didn't hesitate. However, out of caution, he first placed his hand into the portal to the world before him.

But in the next instant, accompanied by Steelbone's scream, an arm suddenly shot out from the Gate of the World!

(End of this chapter)