"Is this Earth?"
Bardi looked around at the environment. The desolate Gobi stretched along both sides of the road. The yellow sand was gently stirred by the breeze, forming small dust devils that quickly dissipated. The heat of the sun seeped into Bardi's body, reflecting off his jade-white, stalwart form, infinite and mighty. The familiar sensation of Earth's air brushing against his face reawakened old memories, making Bardi exhale a deep sigh.
He and Kanna had been inside the Speed Force, where they devoured the continent formed by it.
Then, the Speed Force constructed a prison of nonexistence based on the concept of void time and space.
Of course, this so-called "nonexistence" still had to be built upon something. It was a hollow concept without substance. Unexpectedly, Bardi discovered it, sensed it, and devoured it directly.
The Speed Force is a conceptual creation, lacking a distinct consciousness. However, when faced with such an unreasonable being, one that evolved through consumption and existed as the only godlike figure, it truly did not dare to confine Bardi.
Because if things continued this way, Bardi would eventually consume the Speed Force entirely. Then, the force field that wrapped around the multiverse would collapse. The multiverses would crash, destroy one another, and all of time and space would reverse, leading to complete annihilation.
Clearly, releasing Bardi would harm one universe. But trying to contain him would destroy countless others. Even without a conscious will, the Speed Force could sense this. It could not trap Bardi, and doing so would only bring about greater destruction. So, it tore open a rift and hurriedly expelled him.
After endless consumption, even the Speed Force couldn't take it anymore.
At that moment, Bardi felt a rush of emotion and couldn't help but sigh. With pure willpower, he had eaten his way out of the Speed Force. It was truly remarkable.
Bardi looked toward the sun, his eyes filled with a sense of deep reflection. It had been an unforgettable experience being trapped inside the Speed Force.
Kanna, draped over his shoulder with her stomach on his back, excitedly patted Bardi's chest with her small white hands and exclaimed, "It's my Earth! I can feel it!"
Kanna moved her hands, her face glowing with excitement. That familiar connection surged in her heart again, reconnecting her with every spirit in the world.
She was the embodiment of Earth, the spirit of the universe. She and Bardi had once been lost, but now, they could feel it—this was their Earth.
Johnny Quick looked at Bardi's body. His muscular frame, chiseled lines, and flawless proportions were like a work of sculpted art. His ruggedly handsome face glowed under the sun like a god.
Johnny couldn't help but feel a flicker of envy. What stood before him seemed like the creation of a divine being, as if Bardi was the incarnation of perfection itself. It stirred jealousy and resentment deep within him.
"This is your Earth? This Earth belongs to me now!"
Johnny Quick's expression turned cold. He raised his chin slightly, looked directly at Bardi, and snorted with pride.
In his eyes, Earth was already in his grasp. This was the Syndicate's next territory. How could two people who just happened to arrive get in the way?
Bardi furrowed his brows, his expression turning sour.
He had only been in the Speed Force for a short while. And now even his Earth had been claimed?
Who was bold enough to do that?
Kanna gave Johnny Quick a strange look, then quickly connected with all life on Earth. Through their feedback, she gathered information.
"It's fine. We were only gone for about two years. Nothing's changed on Earth, but there are 20 million more babies than before."
Sensing the birth of 20 million new lives, Kanna beamed with happiness.
As the spirit of existence and the end of life, she had a natural love for all living things.
"Then what's going on with this guy? Trying to claim my Earth right in front of me?"
Hearing Kanna say everything was fine, Bardi felt more at ease. He didn't want war, destruction, or damage on Earth. It was his base.
"The weak spatial spots all over Earth must have been caused by the Flash moving back and forth. He's probably from another universe," Kanna said thoughtfully, her little face serious. She could sense the weakness in Earth's space and suspected that people from other parallel universes had been traveling through.
More importantly, she didn't sense any local universe aura from this speedster.
She was right—Johnny Quick had arrived in this world by accident.
But her words only made Johnny even more annoyed.
His expression darkened as he sneered. "You two want to fight me for this world too?"
In an instant, Johnny Quick flickered, and yellow lightning surged around him. He was bathed in yellow light, grinning wildly.
Puff, puff...
Bardi stood still, not reacting at all.
A sudden gust of wind blew around him. Johnny Quick's body flashed again and again, creating countless afterimages laced with yellow lightning, circling Bardi in a storm of speed.
The surrounding sand and dust were swept up into the whirlwind.
Suddenly, yellow thunder cracked through the air, the storm howled, and sand filled the sky. A mighty gust blanketed everything.
"Hahahahahaha…"
A second later, a sonic boom exploded from within the sandstorm, clearing a space in the air. The billowing dust blasted outward like a wave. Johnny Quick's red figure reappeared in front of Bardi.
"What can you use to take this Earth from me?"
"You can't see me. You can't touch me. You can't sense me. I am your invincible ruler. I have superhuman speed."
He grinned, relishing the sight of Bardi standing still, covered in sand, seemingly helpless.
The wind and dust continuously buried Bardi, covering his body in grime and debris. He looked disheveled, which only made Johnny Quick snicker more.
Kanna simply took a deep breath.
Then, she began nervously patting Bardi's chest with her small white hands, trying to calm him.
"Don't get excited. Carefully control your magnetic force!"
"Don't get excited!"
"Don't get excited!"
"This idiot, let me take care of him. Don't lose your cool. If your power leaks, it'll cause a singularity field and destroy the Earth!"
Kanna was terrified that Bardi might react emotionally and release a field force reaction, triggering a singularity, forming a black hole, and destroying the planet.
She had never seen such a blind fool actually challenge a god face-to-face.
"I know!"
Bardi's expression was slightly irritated, but considering how powerful he was, he refrained from acting on Earth.
His gaze was icy, and though his body of white jade was now dust-covered, he looked like an antique porcelain sculpture, stained by sand.
"This idiot… I'll leave him to you," Bardi said with a frown as he looked at his body.
If it weren't for the danger of damaging Earth with a single move, this speedster would've been slapped into oblivion already.
Power had its difficulties.
Hearing Bardi say he would leave it to her, Kanna let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, Bardi had a good temper.
"Destroy the Earth!"
"Hahahahahaha…"
Johnny Quick clutched his stomach and laughed wildly. Bardi didn't dare act, and Kanna was just a little girl. He saw her as no threat, especially compared to his speed.
He burst into manic laughter, yellow lightning crackling across his body. His figure vanished, reappeared before Bardi, and looked at Bardi's flawless appearance now stained with dust. He spread his arms and mocked, "You should kneel and beg your ruler for mercy."
His arrogance was overflowing, his eyes filled with cruelty and bloodlust. He wanted to destroy the man before him out of pure jealousy, even if they had no past enmity.
He stood before Bardi, just inches away, sneering without a hint of fear. The Speed Force enveloped him. In his mind, even if Bardi attacked, he would be slower than a turtle. He believed Bardi couldn't touch him. The Speed Force gave him reflexes far beyond any ordinary being.
Kanna froze.
Then, Johnny Quick vanished.
Bardi's face was expressionless. He swatted his right hand like brushing away a fly.
Johnny Quick's grinning face twisted in horror. Before he could react, his body disintegrated at the atomic level. His upper body vanished without a trace, while his lower half turned into a pool of blood that splattered across the asphalt.
Then, from the left side of Route 6, a massive shockwave ripped through the air. The atmosphere was torn apart. From space, it looked like a powerful blast that completely shredded the cloud layer. A fan-shaped section of the atmosphere was obliterated, revealing deep fissures in the ground.
A crack over 100,000 kilometers long appeared, deep and bottomless, utterly terrifying.
The Earth looked like a watermelon sliced by a knife.
Kanna cried out loudly, "My Earth!"
(To be continued.)