Chapter 251: Wish

—The door opened.

No, it blew up.

The whole peeling anti-theft door was ripped from its frame by an overwhelming, matchless force, accompanied by a screech of twisted metal, and slammed hard into the narrow living room inside, kicking up a choking cloud of dust.

"Ah!"

In the dim yellow light, the frail youth named Wen Liang jumped up from before the easel in fright, his paintbrush falling to the floor with a clear sound.

He instinctively opened his mouth, a shrill cry for help about to burst from his throat.

But he didn't get that chance.

A black afterimage flashed past, too fast for his retina to catch.

The next second, a large hand closed around his throat.

That was not a human hand.

Cold, hard, with a bony feel, its five fingers like iron clamps forged from Reinforced Steel Bar, sinking deep into his fragile neck flesh.

"Uh..."

Wen Liang's feet left the ground, his whole body easily lifted into midair.

The sensation of suffocation instantly flooded his brain; his face turned liver-colored, his eyeballs bulging from lack of oxygen.

He stared in terror at the man before him.

He wore a crisp Black Combat Suit, tall and slender, but his face was shrouded in shadow, indistinct.

The only thing visible were his eyes.

What kind of eyes were they?

No pity, no anger, not even any emotion.

Only a pure, dead gray-white.

"How do you use the Wish Bottle? Tell me."

Ouyang Feng spoke, his voice hoarse like two rusted iron plates scraping.

He asked very calmly.

So calm that Wen Liang felt he was facing not a person, but a corpse that had just crawled out of a grave, able to walk.

"I...... I......"

Wen Liang struggled desperately, his hands scrambling at the arm that choked his life, but he could only leave a few pale scratches on the hard leather glove.

"Speak."

Ouyang Feng increased the pressure of his hand.

Crack!

Wen Liang heard the grating groan of his own neck bones.

Intense pain made him abandon all resistance.

"Paper... slip..."

He squeezed out a few broken syllables with his last breath.

"Put... put the wish... written on... a slip... and stuff... it in..."

"Please... spare... me..."

"I understand."

Ouyang Feng nodded.

He got the answer he wanted.

Click!

A crisp sound like snapping a dry twig.

Wen Liang's head lolled at a weird angle, the light in his eyes quickly fading.

That young, still-warm body, like a discarded ragdoll, was tossed aside by Ouyang Feng and slid to the deformed iron door.

Ouyang Feng's gaze never lingered on that corpse for even a second.

He walked straight to the easel.

There, a bluish-white porcelain bottle sat quietly.

The bottle's body was smooth, its lines graceful, and in the dim light it emitted an eerie sheen.

That was it.

Ouyang Feng's breathing, for the first time, grew slightly hurried.

The dead gray-white in his eyes finally sparked a tiny flame.

That was the flame called fervor.

Downstairs.

Inside the black business car, it was deathly silent.

Only the windshield wipers swung back and forth tirelessly, making a monotonous 'shush' sound.

Nie Yang cradled his precious Thermal Cup, but his brows furrowed tightly.

He glanced at L.

"What's the situation?"

On L's laptop screen, the green dot representing Ouyang Feng's vital signs and comms signal had vanished.

All that remained on the screen was a blaring red warning.

【Signal Lost】

【Target Lost】

L nudged the heavy black‑rimmed glasses, and their pallid face showed no expression at all.

"Captain Ouyang should be fine, but for some reason our communications were cut off, including the signal from his combat recorder."

"This could be the effect of Wen Liang or the Wish Bottle."

Her voice was as straight as a line.

"According to the contingency plan, an abnormal signal interruption can be regarded as an emergent situation requiring reinforcement; should we now......"

"Wait a little longer."

Nie Yang interrupted her.

They unscrewed the lid of the Thermal Cup, took a sip of scalding hot water infused with goji berries, and tried to suppress the growing unease in their heart with the warmth.

They looked up at the Tongzi Lou, which loomed like a giant beast lurking in the darkness.

"With Captain Ouyang's strength, any Weird below A Ji should be manageable; if he can't handle it, we would be going up just to die in vain."

Nie Yang's trust in Ouyang Feng was built on that man's invincible battle record from countless past missions.

That man was the Federation's sword and had once been the Investigation Bureau's ace.

"Give him three more minutes."

Inside Room 502.

Ouyang Feng greedily stroked the icy bottle.

They could feel the mutated Ghost Spine inside their body trembling excitedly, emitting a yearning hum as the bottle drew near.

They needed to make a wish.

Now, immediately, at once.

They looked around, searching for paper and a pen.

Their gaze finally settled on the half‑finished sketch on the easel.

The drawing depicted a middle‑aged woman lying in a hospital bed, gaunt‑faced yet smiling gently.

That was Wen Liang's mother.

Ouyang Feng expressionlessly tore the drawing paper off and flipped it to the back.

The brush that had fallen to the ground had its tip broken.

They simply extended a finger and dabbed it on Wen Liang's neck wound, where warm blood was still flowing.

Then, using blood as ink and the finger as a brush.

They began on the back of the paper that bore the smiling mother's portrait, writing their blasphemous and insane grand wish.

Each character carried a heavy scent of blood.

【I want to possess power that surpasses all】

【Surpass Jiang Yuan】

【Surpass Chen Shao】

【Become, without dispute, the strongest】

By the end, their finger, strained from overexertion, had its Bone Spike pierce the skin, carving a fierce slash into the paper.

But they didn't mind at all.

They looked at the Blood Characters on the paper and added one more line at the end.

【No matter the price paid】

Finished.

They carefully, with a near‑pilgrimage‑like reverence, rolled up the blood‑stained, desire‑soaked slip and slipped it into the tiny bottle mouth.

The slip slid into the bottle.

Everything returned to calm.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Nothing happened.

Ouyang Feng's brows furrowed.

Could it be......

Just as a hint of doubt arose in their mind.

Buzz—

The pale‑blue porcelain bottle shuddered violently!

An indescribable, colossal force erupted from the bottle's mouth, instantly flooding them!

Ouyang Feng was bathed in the torrent of that power, unable to suppress a rapturous roar!

They could feel it!

They could feel their body being reshaped!

The Ghost Spine inside them was no longer parasitic, but perfectly fused with each vertebra, becoming part of their body!

Beneath the skin, brand‑new, jade‑like crystal Bone Spikes proliferated wildly, piercing flesh and blood before retracting inward!

Power!

Power like never before!

This feeling was thousands of times stronger than when the Ghost Spine was first implanted!

Jiang Yuan? Chen Shao?

Now, they felt a single finger could crush them!

He succeeded!

He really succeeded!

Ouyang Feng ecstatically felt the ever‑rushing power within his body, and his whole being fell into a god‑like immense sense of satisfaction.

However.

At that moment.

The Wish Bottle, at its mouth, suddenly glowed with a strange crimson light.

Immediately after.

A folded strip of paper of the same material was slowly, inch by inch, spat out from the bottle's mouth.

On the paper, the characters, written in a script that looked like solidified blood, formed a line of crooked tiny words.