Chapter 97: I'll Be Back Next Time
Orin Vale shrank back to his normal size and walked into the temple through the main entrance.
The spatial energy reading in his bracelet reached its peak. Evidently, the Speed Force energy in this place was even more abundant.
Entering the temple, his gaze slowly swept over the ancient murals. The old carvings silently told a story lost to some unknown era.
The protagonists of the story were a group of gorillas.
One day, a primitive gorilla tribe was suddenly baptized by lightning. A powerful electric arc descended from the heavens, its brilliant light piercing the sky and landing in the rolling mountain range.
The lightning brought enlightenment, and it seemed, even wisdom. The primitive tribe began to develop a civilization; the gorillas learned to forge tools and erect buildings. They gradually evolved, growing stronger. They worshipped the lightning that had sparked their sapience and bestowed its gifts upon them, building a temple and an altar for it and holding regular sacrificial rituals.
This was why a huge lightning-shaped symbol hung in the very center of this great hall. It was not only the symbol of the gorilla civilization that built this temple, but also a representation of their faith.
The golden ore in the center of the altar, crackling with lightning, was perhaps a naturally formed product of this space, possessing the properties to store the Speed Force. Over the long ages, the stone had absorbed and accumulated a great deal of energy from its surroundings.
A thought crossed Orin Vale's mind. He quickly realized that if he could bring this stone back to his laboratory, it would surely be of great benefit to his future research.
And just as he stepped forward, reaching out to touch one of the stones...
An electric arc flashed.
A blue bolt of lightning, wrapped in a blurry afterimage, shot straight from the direction of the great hall's entrance. At an incredible speed, seemingly accompanied by a savage roar, it clawed viciously at his back!
Its speed was astonishing.
But unfortunately for it, Orin Vale's base speed attribute on his panel had just received a massive, enlightening boost.
He was even faster!
Almost as a reflex, he dodged diagonally to the side without even looking. The giant figure moving at extreme speed lunged at empty air. Orin Vale took advantage of the momentum, grabbing and guiding it, gently redirecting it along its charging path. The giant figure instantly lost its balance, flailing its limbs as it shot forward under its superspeed inertia.
Trailing a string of lightning, it crashed through the temple wall with a boom and went tumbling far into the distance.
Orin Vale's feet left the ground, and he floated lightly through the smoke screen in pursuit. He saw the giant figure take a supersonic face-plant into the ground, but it quickly shook its head, spat out some dirt, and jumped back up.
It was a gorilla.
It had a massive and powerful physique, with bulging, well-developed muscles. Thick black fur covered its entire body, and electric arcs and black smoke still flickered across it.
A supersonic gorilla?
A thought stirred in Orin Vale's mind, and he quickly performed a scan on its body. Just as he expected, it had a considerable amount of Speed Force energy stored within it.
This gorilla was likely one of those "lost travelers" within the Speed Force he had heard about. It had accidentally gotten lost in the Speed Force field and had been stranded here for an unknown amount of time. Although it wasn't chosen by the Speed Force like a speedster, it had naturally absorbed Speed Force energy over the years by being in this space, thus gaining a degree of super speed.
Of course, the speed gained this way was far inferior to a speedster's, and it would quickly disappear upon leaving the Speed Force field.
"Roaaar~!" the black gorilla bellowed, looking furious.
Through telepathy, Orin Vale quickly understood its meaning.
This is my home! Everything here is mine!
Without waiting for a reply, the black gorilla let out a roar and pounced again on all fours.
It was another supersonic burst. Speed Force lightning erupted from the black gorilla's body as its huge paw swiped directly at him. But that speed, so fast it was almost invisible, was still clearly visible to Orin Vale. Its lunge, its jump, its exertion of power, the aggressive intent in its eyes, the twitch of its muscles before the attack—every detail was clearly reflected in his vision.
Although the gorilla buddy possessed super speed, its combat awareness and technique were clearly a mess. Its attack route and intentions were written all over its face almost before it even began to charge.
So, Orin Vale preemptively swayed to the side and extended his right foot, waiting for his opponent to come to him.
Sure enough, a flash of blue lightning shot past where he had placed his leg. The gorilla not only pounced on nothing but was also tripped at supersonic speed, tumbling into a dark, furry ball that rolled far into the distance.
But just a moment later, it jumped up again, a look of defiance on its face. It let out a great "Roar" and repeatedly beat its sturdy chest with its arms, as if showing off its muscles to this outsider.
Orin Vale's right fist shot out, striking the mountain peak beside him.
BOOM!
In an instant, it was as if the entire space trembled violently. The mountain rumbled, and a massive shockwave pulverized all the overturned stones in the space into flying fragments. The mountain grass was torn apart, the earth quaked, and a destructive power spread outwards, forming layer upon layer of invisible waves.
The steep mountain peak was instantly flattened. Under that single punch, the entire mountain turned into an avalanche of falling stone, and an exaggerated cloud of smoke and dust filled the air.
An ordinary-looking punch had shattered the mountain and split the earth.
Orin Vale shook his hand as if he had just done something trivial, not worth a second thought.
The black gorilla froze in its chest-beating pose, its mouth agape.
Uh... this...
Shattered a mountain with one punch?
Holy crap, did I really just rush out to attack this monster?
How could I be so brave?
Seeing this, the gorilla's fur nearly stood on end. It felt as if its spine had been violently poked, and at the same time, it was secretly relieved, thinking that it was only thanks to the man's magnanimity that it was still breathing.
At this thought, the black gorilla slowly lowered its chest-beating fists, and the rage on its face gradually disappeared.
Replaced by... a hint of sycophancy?
It scurried back to the temple entrance and made an extremely polite hand gesture toward Orin Vale.
Orin Vale perceived its meaning as well.
It was roughly: "Please, come in, come in. Make yourself at home, don't be a stranger."
So, after that little interlude, Orin Vale returned to the temple, picked up a piece of the ore, examined it with a scan, and then stored it in his bracelet's space.
The black gorilla watched pitifully from behind, not daring to make a sound, but its heart was bleeding.
It chanted silently in its heart.
Stop taking them, stop taking them! There's really going to be nothing left!
Then it saw the other party pick up another piece.
You're still taking them!
Fine, take them.
*Depressed gorilla.jpg*
Of course, the wisdom granted by the Speed Force was enough for it to understand that it was also just an accidental castaway here. It had merely discovered this temple first; calling itself the master of the place was a bit of a stretch.
But it was still so heartbreaking...
Finally, Orin Vale stopped.
Seeing that this terrifying humanoid creature had finally stopped taking things, the black gorilla couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
It's finally over...
"Alright, I'm about to leave," Orin Vale said, turning to look at it and asking in a friendly tone, "Do you want to get out of here? I can take you out."
The gorilla shuddered and then shook its head repeatedly.
No, no.
When it first stumbled in here, it was filled with despair and frantically wanted to go home.
But as time passed, it now felt that this place was quite nice, much better than its old life. This place was super interesting; it didn't want to leave at all.
"Alright then, I'm off."
The gorilla was ecstatic.
Then it heard Orin Vale say, "If this isn't enough, I'll be back for more."
The gorilla: "!"
Huh? You're coming back?
(end of chapter)