Kidnapped

But after five minutes, Song Lin no longer found it strange; instead, a sense of foreboding washed over him. The car was driving deeper and deeper into a residential area where people normally didn't go.

"Sir, I think you've taken the wrong turn. I wanted to go to Sector B, not the slums."

"Hmph, you clearly said you wanted to come here earlier. What do you mean by changing your mind now? Are you playing with me?" the driver said, but his tone held no anger whatsoever—if anything, there was only pity.

By now, Song Lin had deduced that something was amiss. He didn't reply to the driver but silently gathered his strength, checked his equipment, and observed the surroundings. When the car reached a turn, Song Lin made his move. He activated the Counter-Step Card—the airflow card Chen Ling had made for him. Instantly, a powerful counter-force erupted beneath his feet, propelling him violently against the car door.

*Crash!* Protecting his face with both hands, Song Lin burst through the car door, rolling several times on the ground before springing to his feet and sprinting in the opposite direction at maximum speed.

"Oh? Trying to run? It's too late for that now!" The driver wasn't surprised at all. He let out a soft chuckle, stopped the car, and stepped out. Activating an airflow card, he gave chase like a hunting leopard.

But when he saw Song Lin's figure fading into the distance, his composure vanished. Things were slightly outside his expectations; the target was clearly using a highly advanced three-star card, not something an ordinary ink master could afford. Nevertheless, such speed was still not enough to trouble him. He immediately accelerated to close the gap.

As for Song Lin, he ran like mad, not daring to delay for even a second. With every step he took, a blast of airflow erupted, propelling him over a dozen meters forward. This allowed him to run at a speed that rivaled his flying opponent.

When crafting the Counter-Step Card, Chen Ling had noted that Song Lin's physical condition was exceptionally good. Therefore, he applied a principle different from the norm: utilizing a counter-force with each step so that it didn't need to continuously emit airflow, thereby conserving energy. Additionally, because there was time to gather force, the resulting counter-force was much larger than usual, granting higher speeds. In return, however, the leg muscles had to endure immense pressure. If anyone other than Song Lin had used the Counter-Step Card, their leg muscles would have been ruined in just a few steps, or even a single one.

For Song Lin, this pressure was still within his limit, but not for long. After running over two hundred meters, his legs were already growing tired. Behind him, his pursuer was closing in rapidly. It had only been about ten seconds since Song Lin started running, and because the driver had taken some time to give chase, the distance between them was currently around a hundred meters.

Due to the significant speed difference, the gap closed extremely fast. By the time Song Lin had run one kilometer, the distance was down to just over thirty meters—a range well within the effective firing zone of most projectile-type cards. The driver activated his card, and energy gradually condensed in his hand into a dark orange energy bullet. After a second, the bullet was fully formed, and it shot toward Song Lin's leg at a terrifying speed of 500 m/s.

*Thud!*

The driver was surprised. He had clearly aimed carefully before firing, so why wasn't Song Lin injured? He fired another bullet.

*Thud!*

This time, by watching closely, he discovered that when the bullet reached Song Lin, a flash flickered before it dissolved into sparks and vanished in mid-air. "This guy actually has a decent barrier card," he thought. One must know that each bullet he fired carried a high-grade three-star attack power, with a piercing force comparable to a sniper rifle. To block such a bullet, the barrier card had to be at least high-grade three-star. To pierce that energy layer, he had no choice but to use his second skill. An orange energy spike began to take shape in his hand. This time, it would take a full five seconds to charge.

Running headlong, Song Lin couldn't pay attention to what was behind him. Being attacked twice sent cold sweat down his back; if not for his defensive card, he would have been dead by now.

"I can't let myself get hit again," Song Lin thought. Spotting an alley, he immediately veered into it. Changing directions was by no means easy; due to his high speed, his momentum was massive, and this sudden turn nearly sprained his ankle.

The driver was extremely frustrated. Just as the energy spike finished forming and was ready to fire, the target vanished from sight. Changing directions was not easy for him either; lacking a physical foothold like Song Lin, he had to fly upward to widen his turning radius. Three-star airflow cards lacked maneuverability, so turning without proper technique would result in crashing straight into the wall.

The situation was now highly unfavorable because the driver was high up, with an extremely clear line of sight. When he turned into the alley, Song Lin had not yet run far. Instantly, the energy spike was unleashed.

A streak of orange light flashed through the air, aiming straight for Song Lin's leg. But at that exact moment, another streak of blue light flew backward from in front of Song Lin in a beautiful arc, intercepting its trajectory.

*Thud, thud, thud!*

The blue light collided with the orange light. A flash of blue sparks flared and vanished, followed by a spray of blood. Clearly, the driver's energy spike had pierced through Song Lin's leg, leaving a deep gouge in the hard pavement.

"Ah!" Song Lin let out a miserable cry as he crashed to the ground, rolling a long distance due to momentum. His body was covered in scrapes and bruises, and his left leg throbbed with agonizing pain, but he didn't dare delay, scrambling to his feet. Gritting his teeth, he watched his approaching opponent, gathering his strength to wait for an opportunity.

"Hmph, why go through all this trouble to run? Wouldn't it have been better to just sit quietly in the car and follow me?" The driver stepped closer, the target now practically in his grasp.

"Why do you want to capture me?" Song Lin asked, his mind highly focused.

"Haha, why ask? Just come with me and you'll find out."

The driver drew closer with every step. If he was caught, there was no telling what Song Lin's fate would be. According to Song Lin's deductions, there were only two possibilities behind the kidnapping attempt. First, some faction wanted to coerce him into surrendering his high-energy card ink formulas or force him to manufacture exclusive card ink for them. This possibility was still somewhat acceptable, as his life wouldn't be immediately threatened. But the second possibility was far worse: Jeong Mun, whom Song Lin had suppressed this morning, had sent someone to seek revenge. If Song Lin were captured, he would either be killed outright or, worse, brutally tortured before being put to death. Neither scenario boded well. Song Lin refused to be captured, and he didn't intend to let it happen.

Because he still had one unused card. When the driver was only five meters away from him, the card was activated.

"Ah!" This time, it was the driver's turn to let out a miserable shriek. Just as he was casually reaching out to grab his target, a powerful wave of mental energy slammed directly into his mind, leaving him dazed. His mental sphere vibrated for a long time before stabilizing, yet he remained dizzy and unable to fully recover immediately.

As for Song Lin, the moment his opponent was hit, he activated the Counter-Step Card and fled. The wound on his left leg throbbed with sharp pain, causing him to grimace. Blood flowed continuously; if it wasn't stopped soon, he wouldn't be able to run much further. In fact, after running barely a hundred meters, he was already panting heavily, his face pale. This time, he didn't burst with maximum speed, choosing instead to weave through the labyrinth of alleys.

"Tsk, how troublesome. I didn't expect you to have a mental attack card. However, you're already injured—you won't escape my grasp!" It took more than ten seconds for the driver to fully recover. If Song Lin had been wiser and stayed to attack instead of fleeing, he might have defeated him by now.

The driver lost track of Song Lin, but he spotted the bloodstains on the ground. He followed the trail of blood to continue his pursuit; as long as the blood trail remained, the target could not escape. Furthermore, he hadn't expected this mission to be so troublesome. He had thought capturing a three-star ink master, who was at the same level as him, wouldn't be too difficult, since ink masters rarely used cards for combat, and their airflow and defensive cards were far inferior to those of card cultivators. He hadn't expected to let his target slip away once. He comforted himself by treating it as a learning experience.

As for Song Lin, after running more than five hundred meters, he was completely exhausted. The blood was still flowing with no sign of stopping. Fortunately, the energy spike had missed his main artery, otherwise he wouldn't have made it this far. Even so, Song Lin had lost a massive amount of blood. He didn't dare stop to bandage the wound, only forcing himself to run and run. For the first time in his life, he felt such a profound sense of danger, his strength almost entirely depleted. Yet, his will to survive acted like a sturdy pillar, constantly supporting him to push forward, even though his steps had now reduced to short hops. Though his energy card still had plenty of power left, his legs had completely lost all sensation.

Then, at some point, he collapsed. Before his consciousness faded entirely, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a girl standing before him. Though his vision was blurry, Song Lin still recognized her as the one he had secretly loved for so long. Was he about to die, and thus hallucinating her presence?