Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

The outpost was quietest at three in the morning, with only the occasional sparks from the campfire and the faint howls of wolves coming from outside the fence. Lin Ye crouched in the shadow of the tent, checking the equipment in his backpack—two military daggers, a bottle of concentrated nutrient solution, a flint, and a three-edged dagger that the blacksmith had hastily made overnight, its blade gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light, quenched with the juice that Su Ya had boiled with mutated poisonous herbs.

"Is everything ready?" Lin Jianjun's voice came from behind. He was carrying a modified rifle on his back and had a grenade tucked into his waistband. It was the one he had seized from the convention center last time and hadn't been willing to use.

"Hmm." Lin Ye nodded and looked at Li Hu beside him. The big guy was loading ammunition into the rocket launcher. The shells were homemade from fertilizer and metal scraps. The power was hard to say, but the noise would definitely be significant.

"Don't worry, this thing is more than enough to blast mutants." Li Hu patted the cannon barrel. "Last time we test-fired it, it blew up a level 5 wild boar so badly that not even a hair was left."

Old Zhang walked over, leaning on his cane, holding a map drawn on an oilcloth with the spring's location marked in charcoal. "Go out through the drainage pipe to the east, walk two kilometers along the abandoned subway tracks, turn at the red traffic light. The spring is inside the old waterworks; the iron gate there should still be usable." He paused, then pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket. "These are compressed biscuits; eat them sparingly. Remember, getting water is secondary; staying alive is the most important thing."

"Understood, Grandpa Zhang." Lin Ye took the map and cloth bag and stuffed them into his backpack.

Su Ya and Lin Xi followed. The girl held a cloth amulet with the character "安" (peace) crookedly embroidered on it: "Brother, take this with you."

Lin Ye took the amulet, stuffed it into his pocket, and pinched his sister's cheek: "Keep an eye on the fields at home, and don't let the iron beetles get in again."

Su Ya handed him a ceramic bottle: "This contains my newly made insect repellent. Sprinkle it on yourself, and low-level mutants won't come near." Her fingertips lightly touched the back of Lin Ye's hand, and she whispered, "Be careful."

Lin Ye nodded and said nothing more. The three followed Old Zhang to the hidden door on the east side of the stronghold. This was an escape route specially left by Lin Jianjun, disguised with thick wooden planks, and only made a slight "creaking" sound when pushed open.

"We're leaving." Lin Ye took one last look at the sleeping stronghold, then turned and slipped through the hidden door.

The drainpipes reeked of rust and mildew. The beam of a flashlight swayed on the damp walls, revealing countless claw marks—clearly, a mutant had once inhabited the area. Li Hu walked at the front, his machete dragging on the ground with a clanging sound, a way of scouting for danger ahead.

"Brother Ye, do you think the Wolf King might discover us?" Li Hu lowered his voice, his eyes scanning the darkness warily. "I heard that a level nine mutant's senses are even sharper than those of a superhuman."

"Probably not." Lin Ye's senses remained diffused, and there were only a few mutated cockroaches hiding in the cracks of the pipes around him. "We're traveling underground, so it's difficult for its senses to penetrate such a thick layer of soil."

Lin Jianjun held up the rear with his rifle, glancing back every now and then to make sure nothing was following. His breathing was steady, and his footsteps were almost silent, a skill he had honed in the army in his early years.

After walking along the subway tracks for about half an hour, the red traffic light that Mr. Zhang had mentioned appeared ahead. The rusty light pole leaned precariously beside the tracks, its glass cover long since shattered. The three of them turned into a side road, which used to be a staff passageway, but was now filled with collapsed concrete blocks, allowing them to pass sideways.

"There's light ahead." Lin Jianjun suddenly stopped and pointed his rifle forward.

Sure enough, there was a faint light at the end of the beam of light, accompanied by the sound of flowing water. The three exchanged a glance, slowed their pace, and carefully moved forward. At the end of the passage was an iron fence, beyond which was an abandoned waterworks. Moonlight streamed through the broken roof, illuminating the central reservoir, where spring water gushed from the cracks in the rocks at the bottom, shimmering in the moonlight.

"Found it!" Li Hu cheered in a low voice, and was about to step forward to open the fence when Lin Ye grabbed him.

"Don't move." Lin Ye's voice was unusually solemn. In his perception, there were more than a dozen familiar energy reactions lurking in the shadows next to the reservoir—they were people from Black Wind Stronghold!

The three quickly retreated into the passage, only peeking out to observe. Several tents were piled in a corner of the water plant, and One-Eyed Dragon and several of his men sat around a campfire, each looking exhausted and covered in blood. Beside them were several emaciated, mutated hyenas, clearly remnants of a pack of undead wolves.

"What's that one-eyed guy doing here?" Li Hu gritted his teeth. "Do they know about the spring too?"

"I'm afraid it's more than that." Lin Ye looked at the weapons in the hands of the Black Wind Stronghold members. In addition to the usual machetes and rifles, there were also several homemade explosive packs. "They want to blow up the spring."

Lin Jianjun's face darkened: "These bastards, they can't even survive themselves, and they won't let others have an easy time either!"

The Black Wind Stronghold members clearly hadn't noticed them. One-Eyed Dragon was roaring at his men, "Once we blow up the spring, Lin Ye and his gang will die of thirst in less than three days! Then all the seeds and food in the stronghold will be ours!"

"But young master, the pack of corpse wolves is still outside the stronghold..." one of the subordinates said hesitantly.

"Screw you!" One-Eyed Dragon kicked him. "Once Lin Ye and the others are dead, we'll take a detour to the north. There's plenty of water and food there!"

Lin Ye gripped his triangular dagger tightly. If they acted now, they were confident they could take care of these Black Wind Stronghold members, but the gunfire or explosions would definitely attract the pack of zombie wolves. At that point, forget about getting water; even getting back alive would be a problem.

"Wait." Lin Ye gestured for the two to be quiet. "They're about to make their move."

Sure enough, One-Eyed Dragon had two of his men carry explosive charges to the pipe valve next to the reservoir—the main outlet of the spring. If it was damaged, the spring water would flow away through the underground cracks and would not be able to recover for at least half a month.

"We can't let them blow it up!" Lin Jianjun's rifle was already loaded, his finger on the trigger.

Lin Ye shook his head, then suddenly pointed to the wall on the west side of the water plant: "Look there."

As the flashlight beam moved, everyone gasped—from the shadows of the wall, a dozen pairs of eerie green eyes had appeared, staring intently at the Black Wind Stronghold members by the campfire. Corpse Wolves! They had followed them!

The one-eyed man clearly sensed something was wrong, and he jumped to his feet, chain hammer in hand: "Who's there?!"

His answer was a mournful wolf howl. The silver-white wolf king leaped down from the wall, landing not far from the campfire. Its dark green eyes swept over the members of Black Wind Stronghold as if they were lambs to the slaughter.

"It's a pack of zombie wolves! Run!" The people of Black Wind Stronghold panicked and picked up their explosive packs, trying to run towards the back door.

But it was too late. The wolves on the wall leaped down, instantly blocking all the exits and forming a tight encirclement. One-Eyed Dragon brandished his chain hammer, trying to break through, but was swatted away by the wolf king's claw. The chain hammer crashed to the ground, overturning the nearby campfire and scattering sparks everywhere.

In the chaos, a Black Wind Stronghold member carrying a satchel charge was pounced on by a zombie wolf. The fuse in his hand was ignited by something, hissing and sparking. Terrified, the man threw the satchel charge haphazardly forward, where it landed right next to the reservoir!

"Not good!" Lin Ye shouted, pulling Lin Jianjun and Li Hu back into the depths of the passage.

"Boom—!"

A deafening explosion rang out, the roof of the water plant was ripped off, and concrete chunks rained down. The shockwave surged through the passageway, throwing the three people to the ground, their ears ringing, unable to hear anything.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Ye struggled to his feet, his ears ringing, his flashlight nowhere to be found. He groped his way to Lin Jianjun and Li Hu, both of whom had only suffered minor scrapes and were otherwise unharmed.

"The spring..." Lin Jianjun covered his ears, his voice hoarse.

The three men helped each other to the entrance of the passage. The sight outside chilled them to the bone—half of the water plant's reservoir had been destroyed, and spring water mixed with mud and sand gushed out from the breach, soon to flow into underground fissures. The pack of corpse wolves and the people of Black Wind Stronghold were gone, leaving only pools of blood and several torn corpses on the ground. One-Eyed Dragon's chain hammer lay in the pool of blood, its owner gone.

The silver-white wolf king stood beside the collapsed reservoir, its dark green eyes fixed on the passageway, clearly having spotted them. It lowered its head and let out a low growl at the ground. Immediately, a rustling sound came from the surrounding darkness, and more corpse wolves gathered.

"Retreat!" Lin Ye made a quick decision and turned to run back.

The wolf king didn't give chase; it simply stood there, coldly watching them disappear into the depths of the passage. It knew that without the spring, these humans would eventually die of thirst in the stronghold, so there was no need to waste its energy pursuing them.

The three of them ran frantically along the same path until they crawled back into the drainage pipes, only then daring to stop and catch their breath. Li Hu plopped down on the ground, pounding the earth in frustration: "Damn it! We didn't get any water, and that beast blocked our way!"

Lin Jianjun's face was also grim: "What do we do now? The water in the stronghold will only last for three days at most."

Lin Ye leaned against the cold pipe wall, closed his eyes, and carefully recalled the markings on the map. Old Zhang had said that this area used to be an industrial zone with a complex network of underground pipes. Besides this spring, could there be other water sources?

"I've got it!" Lin Ye suddenly opened his eyes. "Grandpa Zhang's map marked an abandoned purification station near the subway terminal. There should be water storage tanks there!"

"A purification station?" Lin Jianjun frowned. "That place is too close to the territory of the zombie wolf pack. It's said that there are mutated crocodiles guarding it."

"Crocodile is easier to deal with than wolf king." Lin Ye stood up, dusted himself off, and said, "Besides, we have no other choice."

Li Hu gritted his teeth and stood up: "That's right! They're just a few crocodiles, aren't they? I'll test the power of my rocket launcher!"

Without resting, the three immediately headed towards the subway terminus. The air inside the tunnel became increasingly humid, with a faint fishy smell. The moss on the walls grew thicker, and occasionally water droplets fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

Lin Ye's senses remained on high alert. He knew that after losing the spring, the purification station was their only hope. No matter what dangers lay ahead, they had to try.

From the darkness ahead, the faint sound of flowing water and the thud of some large creature turning over could be heard. Lin Ye gripped his triangular dagger and gestured to the two behind him to prepare for battle.

The purification station was just ahead, and the mutated crocodiles guarding it had already heard their footsteps.

A new and fierce battle is about to begin.