Card maker? No, I'm a mechanic!

At this point, the bumps in the vehicle gradually subsided, and it seemed that they had entered a paved road.

After Jiang Zhe returned the floating cannon to the card box, he quietly peeked out and glanced at the rapidly receding scenery around him.

This is quite a distance from the mining area, and the surrounding area appears desolate.

"It's about time to get off the bus."

After all, they didn't know where the truck was headed. If it drove straight into their base, wouldn't he be walking into a trap?

Having made his decision, Jiang Zhe slightly hunched over.

He had already grabbed the escape card in his hand, ready to use it to slip out of the truck bed.

"Buzz—!"

But just as he stood up...

The heavy truck beneath him suddenly let out a beast-like roar.

The engine roared up eight octaves, and the whole car seemed to be given a hard push.

In the blink of an eye, the speed of this heavy truck suddenly soared to its limit!

Holy crap!

Caught off guard, Jiang Zhe was thrown to the very back of the truck bed and slammed heavily onto the steel plate.

"Why did it speed up?"

Ignoring the excruciating pain in his back, he forced himself to twist his body.

Then the escape card was activated instantly, the airflow enveloped his whole body, and he was launched upwards into the truck bed like a cannonball.

But in the very next instant...

"Thump!"

A muffled thud.

Instead of jumping out of the vehicle as expected, Jiang Zhe was suspended half a meter from the edge of the truck bed when he crashed hard into an invisible barrier!

The enormous reaction force bounced him back into the truck bed.

"What is this?!"

Upon seeing this, Jiang Zhe was immediately alarmed and quickly extended his mental energy to sense the situation.

He also sensed the surface of the heavy truck that was constantly accelerating.

It was abruptly covered by an extremely tough energy film that resembled flowing metal.

This thin film also completely seals off the truck bed, turning it into an airtight cage!

"Trying to trap me? I refuse to believe it!"

A ruthless glint flashed in Jiang Zhe's eyes, and without any hesitation, his right hand was instantly covered by a hideous dark red arm armor.

"One-Punch Man, light the fire!"

"boom!"

A blue-purple tail flame erupted, and the iron fist, carrying violent kinetic energy, slammed fiercely into the steel plate of the truck bed beside it.

Since the authorities have sealed it off, let's smash the car!

But what happened next made Jiang Zhe's pupils shrink sharply.

Despite the punch that was powerful enough to shatter a troll's head, the steel plate only emitted a muffled thud.

It didn't break at all, and it didn't even leave a dent!

It turned out that the flowing energy membrane had changed the moment it was struck, easily dissipating all of his kinetic energy.

"Card attack... Is this the method of that level four expert, even from this distance?"

Jiang Zhe's arm went numb from the shock, and a chill ran through him.

"Since we can't get out..."

He steadied himself and quickly calmed down.

He then pulled out a communication card, attempting to connect to Professor Lin's mental imprint as a final effort.

however……

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

The communication card was not activated as usual; instead, only a faint electrical noise flickered within it.

"Sure enough, the signal was also blocked."

Looking at the unresponsive card in his hand, Jiang Zhe slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and put it away.

"I was still careless..."

While his increased strength brought him confidence, it also diminished his awe of the world.

Just as he was pondering these thoughts, a fainter engine whine suddenly came from behind him.

He frowned and quickly peered back through the gap in the truck bed.

Amidst the billowing dust, an unmarked SUV was seen trailing behind at a distance.

"It really does have a tail."

Jiang Zhe clenched his fists, and his gaze sharpened.

Although it was unclear why the level four expert did not personally chase after them.

But it's not possible to just let him go so easily.

"And why didn't they take action directly over there? Were they afraid the noise of a fight would attract someone's attention?"

"You think you can take me down by sending your underlings? Well, let's see what happens."

……

After more than twenty minutes of high-speed running.

The truck's speed then began to decrease slowly.

Jiang Zhe looked up and felt only a deathly silence around him.

In the distance, huge chimneys pierce the sky, and abandoned factory buildings are scattered haphazardly across the wilderness.

This turned out to be a large steel smelter that had long been abandoned.

"Creak..."

With a screeching sound of brakes, the truck came to a stop in an open area of ​​the factory.

At the same time, Jiang Zhe also keenly sensed it.

The thin film covering the car body began to flicker, seemingly because its energy had been depleted.

Without hesitation, Jiang Zhe jumped off the car and away from the vehicle the moment the membrane completely disappeared.

He didn't stay in place for even a second; after landing, he rolled to dissipate the force.

In a few quick movements, he rushed into the intricate abandoned factory and disappeared into the night.

That is, the very next second after he disappeared.

The SUV silently glided over and stopped next to the truck.

The car door opened.

Two men wearing gray trench coats stepped out of the SUV.

The one on the left is tall and slender, surrounded by a chilling aura.

The one on the right appears much more muscular, wearing heavy metal gauntlets on his hands, and a cruel smile plays on his lips.

"Don't be careless, Huo Chuan. Since the master specifically blocked the car, it means this kid has some tricks up his sleeve."

The tall, slender man spoke calmly, then turned his hand over and grabbed a silver card.

"Buzz..."

As his mental energy was injected, the card instantly dissipated, turning into two streams of light that entered his eyes.

In an instant, his pupils changed.

It resembled the vertical pupils of some kind of raptor, emitting a faint glow in the night.

"My heart is racing, my muscles are tense... I'm moving towards the boiler room in the northwest."

"This is an abandoned steel mill, not Tianlan City. He can't escape."

"Then let's not waste our time."

Huo Chuan stretched his neck, making a cracking sound, and then walked towards the truck's cab.

The driver inside was slumped in his seat, about to ask for help as someone approached.

"Click."

But the next second, Huo Chuan didn't even look, and casually punched the car door.

The next moment, the entire car door and the driver's cab were severely dented, and a muffled sound of bones breaking came from inside, followed by silence.

"Let's go, capture them alive."

The two exchanged a glance, their figures blurred into afterimages, and they rushed into the depths of the factory area.

……

Inside the abandoned factory, Jiang Zhe was moving quickly, clinging to a huge sewage pipe.

He kept his feet as loose as possible, constantly using the complex steel structure around him as cover and to observe.

"Two people, and they're moving very fast."

By glancing at his opponent before leaving, Jiang Zhe had already roughly assessed the opponent's strength.

"At least a level 2 peak, or even a senior card master close to the level 3 threshold."

"And judging from their movements, they are clearly well-coordinated, long-time partners."

This is a bit troublesome.