Chapter 18: Memes and Wish Machines

"Human wish machine?"

Ji Donglai raised an eyebrow at the term, his eyes filled with surprise.

"Yes, Group Leader Ji," said Yang Lao.

"This is the term provided by your Object Identification Technique. This life from another world is, in essence, a human-shaped wish machine."

"What they call techniques are merely manifestations triggered by their wishes—I suspect every alien is a small self-wishing machine."

"Interesting. Everyone's a superpower user? This is the truth behind Wu Gong!" Ji Donglai said, his eyes tinged with regret.

After all, they didn't have this "wish machine" term, proving they couldn't practice those techniques.

Superpower users have always had shockingly weak self-preservation abilities, overdeveloping in just one direction, making their strengths and weaknesses extremely obvious; if these alien techniques could compensate, it would be quite valuable.

"Group Leader Ji, the real focus is on the previous meme term," Yang Lao reminded him. "This small wish machine has self-replication and proliferation capabilities."

"Any life form possessing self-awareness that comes into contact or physical touch will be irreversibly infected and turned into a human-shaped wish machine."

Ji Donglai suddenly gasped: "You mean…"

"Yes. The term for F-Superman and the other dozen or so individuals should now include an additional wish machine meme."

Yang Lao smiled bitterly: "To prevent further meme infection, the entire Longyin Base has been sealed off and quarantined—no entry or exit permitted."

"Probably unnecessary," Ji Donglai groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Hundreds of other places where energy tides erupted likely already have people coming and going—it's too late to stop it."

After a moment of silence, Ji Donglai said: "Then let's leave it at that. Keep studying that experimental specimen. I've found an even better one—I'll send it over once I capture it."

Before he could end the call, a video request from Li Huowang appeared, stirring a bad premonition in him.

"Laoda, trouble's here," Li Huowang grinned in the video. "Guess what? I lost him—he's a real pro at vanishing."

Ji Donglai scowled, too bored to respond. "Fine. Write a three-thousand-word reflection report on this failure and send it to me. And don't video-call me again—have your liaison handle all future communications."

"No, Laoda, why so sudden? Just one giao, I'll gi…"

Without giving Li Huowang a chance to launch into pre-Destruction internet memes, Ji Donglai hung up and rubbed his temples. "That experimental specimen we just discussed escaped—I'll send it to you once I catch it."

Yang Lao nodded, then asked curiously: "Was that just now Li Huowang?"

Upon receiving Ji Donglai's confirmation, Yang Lao understood immediately.

Li Huowang was a man who constantly used internet memes, no matter the time or place—sometimes cramming two or three trending jokes and regional gags into a single sentence. His reputation was so widespread that nearly everyone had heard of him.

…

In the afternoon, after Fang Can finished his nap, he heard a distant booming explosion.

"Are they demolishing something over there?"

Fang Can frowned slightly, sensing something odd—the distant sound was a continuous series of roars.

Not just him—the students in the classroom also turned their heads toward the explosion, only to see countless massive fire columns surging into the sky.

"This is definitely a battle between superpower users!" someone exclaimed in shock.

At this moment, across the entire city, an invisible aura accompanied by thunderous roars emanated from the Xicheng district of Z City.

The feeling was like being late for work or school on a Monday morning—everyone's heart grew heavy, tinged with a faint panic, and the closer one got, the stronger it became.

Ten kilometers away: the anxiety of being late for work. Five kilometers away: the stress of a failed gacha pull. One kilometer away: the terror of realizing you're giving a speech in front of everyone… wearing only underwear…

Within a hundred meters, it was no longer mere pressure—it was unbearable. Ordinary people who approached would instantly lose consciousness.

'This feeling…' Fang Can couldn't help frowning. 'Why does it feel so familiar? Probably a mental-type superpower user.'

As Fang Can pondered, the massive fire columns ahead began spreading, and the roars rolled toward the city center, followed by the citywide wail of air raid sirens.

With the sirens blaring, the entire city efficiently and orderly evacuated—incidents like this happened several times a year, and everyone was used to them.

Fang Can silently followed the school's evacuation, but everyone knew this was just another false alarm.

Because previous superpower battles rarely lasted long—they ended within minutes.

Sure enough, less than two minutes later, while Fang Can was still descending the stairs, the air raid siren cut off, the fire columns vanished, and the teacher turned around to announce everyone could return to class.

"I knew it—always like this…"

"So boring. If it had lasted a bit longer, we wouldn't have had class today…"

"Boring. I wanted to see blood flowing in rivers…"

Hearing his classmates' muttered complaints, Fang Can stayed silent, but internally questioned: Was that inexplicable pressure just a coincidence?

Unperturbed by the brief interruption of the superpower battle, Fang Can continued methodically playing the role of an ordinary student, progressing steadily in his studies.

Compared to the grueling daily training in the other world—where he'd practiced until his hands cramped up and occasionally had to self-harm to boost his talent—his current studies were downright tranquil.

But the more tranquil it became, the more uncomfortable Fang Can felt, as if time was being wasted uselessly in the classroom.

After all, in a world where he could be teleported to another dimension at any moment, who knew what conditions awaited him there? Every bit of improvement mattered.

Knowing this inexplicable restlessness helped nothing, Fang Can casually swallowed a grain of arsenic during study, letting the calmness of his Genius Mode suppress the negative emotions.

'Can't waste too much time at school. All this knowledge can be mastered in one night—I should consider how to exit this educational phase.'

Fang Can calmly contemplated: How long would Talent 2 take to heal a broken arm or thigh?

And whether the learning time gained outweighed the cost.

After weighing all factors, the day's study ended quickly. When Fang Can returned home, he paused slightly before pulling out his key, then continued as if nothing had happened and opened the door.

But only he knew: his "From Bad to Good" talent had activated passively, and his heightened intuition now sensed a top-tier predator lurking somewhere inside the room.

(End of Chapter)