Chapter 249: News of the Wish Bottle

Federal Weird Investigation Bureau, Level 17 underground, Isolation Testing Room B701.

Cold metal and glass made up everything here.

Ouyang Feng was shirtless, his body connected to hundreds of tangled wires, like a specimen nailed to the center of a spiderweb.

He stared expressionlessly at the researchers in Doctor's Lab Coats rushing outside the glass wall.

Their gaze at him held no awe, no fear, only the fervor and scrutiny of treating a rare experimental specimen.

"Vital signs are stabilizing, but at the cellular level irreversible ossification mutation persists."

"Energy fluctuation peaks can reach B Ji, but are unstable, showing clear signs of backlash."

An elderly researcher wearing Gold Thread Glasses adjusted his frames and pointed at a complex data model on the screen.

"Alas... compared with the Shadow Lord case, the gap is too obvious."

"Shadow Lord's energy model is a perfect blend of consumption and symbiosis, pure energy, and possesses limitless growth potential. As for Captain Ouyang..."

Another young researcher shook his head, his tone laced with unabashed regret.

"Too crude."

What the researchers didn't know was that

Because of the ossification, Ouyang Feng's hearing had been greatly amplified.

Crude.

Those two words entered Ouyang Feng's ears with crystal clarity.

His hands resting on the metal railing clenched, knuckles bulging from the strain, and beneath his skin the pale outlines of Bone Spikes faintly floated.

In his mind, the scene from the top floor of Fog Mountain Sanatorium replayed uncontrollably.

The figure, surrounded by countless monsters, with a single wave of the hand swallowed an A-level Weirdness that even a life‑sacrificing effort could not shake.

Jiang Yuan.

The young man who had once been content merely by earning his approval.

Now, he had become an unattainable benchmark for measuring his worth.

And he, Ouyang Feng, the Federation's former ace, the strongest "human".

Now he is merely a... crude, potentially falling‑apart failure.

How ironic.

Half an hour later, Director's Office.

Wei Gong's office remained as succinct as ever, the air suffused with a faint scent of tea and ink.

But today, that tranquility was shattered.

"Oh hoho! B+ level! Codename 'Abyss Walker'! Not bad, not bad, this name barely fits my contingency!"

Liang Wen held a freshly issued rating report, striking an extremely embarrassed pose as if a star taking a bow under spotlights.

In fact, Liang Wen had also become a Weird Controller in the sanatorium.

His weird ability was highly unique, strictly classified by the Investigation Bureau, even other Core Captains were unaware, only Wei Gong knew.

Wei Gong, holding a teacup, ignored his adolescent delusions, his murky gaze sweeping to the silent, statue‑like Ouyang Feng standing nearby.

"Ouyang Feng."

Wei Gong's voice was flat as water.

"After merging with the weird, your physical condition has been greatly enhanced, regeneration is excellent, short‑term destructive power approaches A level."

He paused briefly, then shifted his tone.

"But the backlash is also strong; the integration of Anomalous Power with the body is low, presenting a high risk of loss of control, overall rating..."

Wei Gong pushed another report over.

"B Ji. Codename, 'White Bone Sword Ghost'."

Ouyang Feng's breathing halted in that instant.

He didn't even dare to reach for that report.

Wei Gong seemed to think the blow wasn't enough, and added another sentence.

"As for Li Qi, his ability is unstable but possesses strong reconnaissance and support value, rated as C+ level."

C+.

That waste who trembled throughout the Weird Domain, doing nothing but screaming, actually also obtained a rating.

And it was only half a level lower than him.

An indescribable sense of humiliation, mixed with raging fury, surged wildly from that mutated spinal bone deep within, nearly overwhelming his sanity.

Why!

Why did I abandon my humanity only to get this result!

Why could that Clown get B+!

Why could that waste also...

The whites of his eyes began to crawl with blood vessels, the pallid pupils' depths showing needle‑sharp black dots violently contracting.

"What's wrong?" Wei Gong set down his teacup; the bottom struck the table with a soft clink, yet it sounded like a heavy drum beating on Ouyang Feng's heart.

Ouyang Feng jolted, snapping back from the brink of loss of control.

He stared at Wei Gong's ancient, still eyes, as if they could pierce all the dark thoughts within him.

"... Nothing."

"Hmm."

Wei Gong nodded, pressed a button on the table, and the wall behind him slowly opened, revealing a massive electronic screen.

On the screen, a file marked Top Secret appeared.

The file's title is only three characters.

【Wish Bottle】

"This is the latest intelligence intercepted by the Intelligence Department, a Weird Object of the rule type possessing the Causality Law characteristic."

Lord Wei's voice grew serious.

"Its rule is simple: it grants any request. But it seems to make the user pay an irrecoverable price."

On the screen, a blurry surveillance video began to play.

In the footage, a ragged beggar held a porcelain bottle.

He slipped a slip of paper into the bottle, and his phone lit up afterward.

The beggar picked up the phone, looked at the message, and instantly felt as if he had struck gold, ecstatic.

But shortly after, the porcelain bottle spat out a slip of paper.

The beggar took the slip, and his complexion changed drastically upon reading its contents.

The next second.

The surveillance image twisted violently for a moment.

The beggar vanished.

Another piece of data popped up on the screen.

"Target: Zhao Si, a vagrant. Disappeared after contacting the 'Wish Bottle'."

"In the period before his disappearance, a new account registered with his identity information appeared out of thin air, and was injected with five billion Federal Currency. At the same time, he became the sole legitimate heir of the Tianhong Group in Tai Tao City."

"The entire process took less than three seconds."

"However, he no longer has the chance to enjoy this sky‑splitting wealth."

"Instantly realized......" Ouyang Feng stared at the four glaring red characters on the screen, his pupils dilating sharply.

His heart began to pound uncontrollably.

It was not fear.

It was greed! It was yearning! It was the ecstatic joy of grasping a lifeline!

Surpass Jiang Yuan! Crush Chen Shao!

This is true power!

This is his only chance!

"This mission is assigned to you," Lord Wei's voice rang again, pulling Ouyang Feng from his fantasy back to reality, "L and Nie Yang will serve as your aides, assisting from the side."

"Remember, your mission is containment; use force only if necessary."

Ouyang Feng slowly lifted his head; no emotional fluctuation could be read on his face, and he calmly nodded.

"Yes."

He stepped out of the Director's Office.

In the oppressive corridor, only Ouyang Feng's heavy footsteps echoed.

He could feel the Ghost Spine behind him warming slightly due to his inner agitation.

At the end of the corridor, a familiar figure flashed by and vanished around the corner.

It was Jiang Yuan.

Ouyang Feng's steps halted.

He raised his hand and gently touched his subtly aching lower spine.

For this pitiful power, he paid the price of becoming a monster.

But that bottle... that bottle can make him a god.

Price?

In Ouyang Feng's eyes now, the price no longer matters.

He needs a power that surpasses humanity—no, that surpasses everything.