Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

The furnace's residual heat hadn't yet dissipated, and the smell of burning filled the morning mist of the stronghold. Lin Ye lay on the haystack in the watchtower, the bandages on his back recently changed by Su Ya. The coolness of the herbs seeped through the fabric, but couldn't suppress the soreness from his bones healing. He gazed at the pale dawn breaking on the western horizon, where the low-lying area, once the stronghold of the zombie wolves, was now only a few wisps of black smoke drifting in the morning light.

"Grandpa Zhang said he's going to the cannery in the south today." Lin Xi climbed the wooden ladder to the top of the watchtower, holding a ceramic bowl in her hands. Inside was rice water that Zhou Mingxin had filtered, and there was a wild egg lying on it. "Uncle Li Hu and the others are sharpening their axes. They said they're going to get you a few cans of yellow peach preserves."

Lin Ye took the ceramic bowl, the warmth spreading through his fingertips. The cannery was discovered during reconnaissance last week, hidden beneath an abandoned food warehouse, and supposedly contained a considerable amount of unexpired canned goods. The original plan was to go after dealing with the pack of carrion wolves, but yesterday, when Zhou Ming checked the water tank, he found the filter cartridges were wearing out faster than expected, and a batch of sealing rubber rings was urgently needed—perhaps a substitute could be found in the cannery's packaging workshop.

"Have Li Hu take more people." Lin Ye scooped up a spoonful of rice porridge, the faint aroma of rice mixed with the bitter scent of herbs. "The south side is close to the chemical industrial zone, where the radiation concentration from the mutants is high, so be careful."

"Okay." Lin Xi swung her legs, a wild daisy tucked into her braid. "Sister Suya said that once you've memorized it well, she'll teach me how to make sunflowers grow, and then our fence will be covered in flowers."

Lin Ye smiled, about to say something, when the eastern sky suddenly darkened. It wasn't the gloom of dark clouds obscuring the sun, but a putrid, grayish-black, like spilled ink spreading with the wind towards the stronghold. The sentry below the watchtower suddenly shouted, "It's a rotten tide! Close the gates!"

Lin Ye sat bolt upright, the pain in his back instantly forgotten. He clearly remembered what Elder Zhang had mentioned about the "Rotten Tide"—a corrosive mist released when high-level zombies gathered. A single breath from it would cause an ordinary human to fester, and even those with superpowers would have to use their internal energy to resist it. Even more terrifying was that the Rotten Tide often harbored hordes of zombies that had evolved collective consciousness. They were no longer scattered individuals, but terrifying beings capable of coordinating like an army.

"Get down! Go back to the tent!" Lin Ye grabbed Lin Xi's arm and staggered towards the wooden ladder. The girl was so frightened by the sudden turn of events that her face turned pale, but she clung tightly to his clothes and didn't dare to cry out.

Chaos had broken out below the watchtower. Old Zhang, leaning on his iron cane, stood by the gate, banging his iron token (a communication token made of scrap iron for the outpost) loudly: "First team, guard the fence! Second team, take the women and children to the underground bunker! Su Ya, weave three layers of protection on the gate with vines! Zhou Ming, pour water on the fence, freeze it!"

The order spread like a pebble thrown into water, quickly creating ripples. Li Hu's newly polished axe, still stained with oil, was now leading his men to tie kerosene-soaked strips of cloth to the fence; Lin Jianjun, carrying a rifle, ran towards the entrance to the bunker, a cellar reinforced with steel plates from the steel mill, capable of protecting against radiation and impacts; Su Ya's green energy grew wildly on the gate, thorny vines layering and quickly weaving a dense, impenetrable green net, with sticky sap seeping from the vines—a corrosive liquid she had deliberately created to neutralize the acidic mist of the corrosive dampness.

Lin Ye pushed Lin Xi into the bunker, then turned and rushed towards Old Zhang: "How many zombies are in the Rotten Tide?"

"At least two hundred!" Old Zhang's face was ashen, his iron cane pointing at the dark gray mist. "And there's a leader. Look at the flow of that mist; it's being manipulated!"

Lin Ye's senses penetrated the fog and indeed detected an unusually powerful energy reaction deep within the decaying tide—it was a zombie nearly three meters in size, its skin dripping pus like melted wax, making a "gurgling" sound when its limbs touched the ground, and a fleshy, tumor-like protrusion on its head that pulsated slightly with its breathing.

"It's a tumor-like zombie king!" Lin Ye gasped. This kind of zombie is a product of the fusion of radiation and humus. It can not only control the decay tide, but also release spores through its tumors. Creatures parasitized by the spores will mutate rapidly and become its puppets.

As they spoke, the putrid tide had already reached the fence. The grayish-black mist sizzled as it hit the ice, and white steam rose up as the ice thinned at a visible rate. The thorny vines on the green netting began to wither, their sticky sap neutralized by the acidic mist, gradually losing its vitality.

"Light it!" Li Hu's roar was deafening. He threw the torch at the bound strips of cloth, and flames instantly leaped up, a wall of orange-red fire spreading out in front of the fence, temporarily blocking the advance of the putrid tide. The high temperature caused the mist to evaporate even faster, and figures could be vaguely seen swaying in the mist—humans parasitized by spores, their movements stiff yet exceptionally ferocious, frantically ramming their heads against the fence.

"These are...people from the southern settlement!" one of the team members suddenly cried out. "I know the one in the blue shirt, he's Carpenter Wang!"

Lin Ye's heart sank. The southern settlement had sent people to exchange seeds just last week, but unexpectedly, they had become puppets of the tumorous zombie king in just a few days. He looked in the direction of the zombie king, who was hiding in the fog. The spores on the tumor drifted towards the fence like dandelions, landing on the burned zombies. New muscle tissue was rapidly growing from the wounds, wriggling with slime.

"Don't let the spores get in!" Zhou Ming shouted, splashing more water onto the fence. The pale blue energy caused the water vapor to condense into ice, building another ice shield behind the fire wall. The spores that landed on the ice quickly lost their activity.

But this was only a temporary measure. The flames on the fence grew weaker and weaker under the corrosive tide, and the ice layer continued to thin. The parasitized humans and zombies crashed against the gate like a tide, and the groans of wood rubbing against steel grew louder and louder, as if it would fall apart at any moment.

"Aying!" Lin Ye suddenly shouted, "Use your speed to get behind the Corpse King and throw this over there!" He took out a ceramic jar from his backpack, which contained the juice that Su Ya had boiled with radiation grass and poison vine, specifically designed to suppress the regenerative abilities of mutated creatures.

Aying's figure flashed in the shadows, and the instant she caught the pottery jar, she had already dashed out of cover. The girl's speed was several times faster than before, her figure weaving through the swarm of decay like a pale blue lightning bolt; the spores and acid mist simply couldn't keep up with her pace.

The tumorous corpse king seemed to sense the danger; its tumor suddenly swelled, spewing out a thick cloud of black mist. Aying couldn't dodge in time and was struck on the shoulder by the mist, letting out a cry of pain and noticeably slowing her speed.

"Now!" Lin Ye's dark purple energy spread along the fence, creating an energy barrier in front of A Ying, temporarily blocking the black mist.

Ah Ying gritted her teeth and smashed the pottery jar hard against the Corpse King's tumor. The jar shattered, and dark green liquid splashed all over the Corpse King. The creature let out a roar that was not human, and the tumor quickly dried up, causing the flow of putrid fluid to become chaotic.

"The opportunity has arrived!" Lin Jianjun's rifle rang out, and a specially made incendiary shell was accurately fired at the chaotic horde of decay. Flames burned wildly in the out-of-control mist, and the parasitized humans and zombies struggled in the fire, quickly turning into charred remains.

Taking advantage of the situation, Li Hu led his men to reinforce the fence. The broken steel bars were re-welded in place, and the loose wooden planks were firmly fixed with new nails. Su Ya's vines grew wildly again, this time with even more vibrant life, wrapping the fence into a giant green wall.

As the last wisp of decay was dispersed by the sunlight, the stronghold's fence was unrecognizable—the steel was twisted, the vines charred, yet it still stood stubbornly. Lin Jianjun helped Zhou Ming out of the bunker; the old man, having exhausted his energy to maintain the ice shield, was as white as paper. Su Ya slumped on the ground, her fingers still trembling slightly; the last line of defense of the green net had almost exhausted her powers. A Ying's shoulder was swollen and red, covered in blisters where the black mist had swept, and Lin Xi was carefully applying herbs to it.

Lin Ye stood by the fence, gazing at the spot where the Corpse King had fallen in the distance, where only a pool of pus emitting white smoke remained. He picked up a stone eroded by the putrid tide; its surface was covered with honeycomb-like holes, and it crumbled into powder with a gentle squeeze.

"The settlement to the south..." Li Hu's voice was low, and the axe in his hand was still dripping black water.

"Send someone to check," Old Zhang said, slamming his iron cane on the ground. "We need to see them alive or dead. And while we're at it, look for any usable supplies, especially rubber bands."

Lin Ye nodded and turned to walk towards the cover. He knew that although the tide of decay had receded, the real crisis had only just begun. The appearance of the tumorous zombie king that could control the tide of decay meant that the evolution of zombies had entered a new stage. They were no longer simple predators, but enemies who understood strategy and cooperation.

Inside the bunker, the children's cries gradually subsided, replaced by Zhou Ming's story—how he used an ice pick to pierce the heart of a mutated catfish at the purification station. Lin Xi was bandaging A Ying's wounds; although the girl's face still bore tear stains, the fear in her eyes was gone.

Lin Ye leaned against the steel plate of the bunker, the pain in his back causing him to frown slightly, but his heart was unusually calm. He thought of the vines sprouting new buds on the fence, the uncorroded iron sheet under Zhou Ming's ice shield, and the resolute blue lightning bolt that A Ying used when she charged towards the Corpse King.

The tide of decay can erode steel, but it cannot erode the will to survive; the Corpse King can control puppets, but he cannot control the hearts and minds of people.

He took out the wild egg Lin Xi had given him; the shell was already warmed by his body heat. He gently cracked it open, and the yolk flowed into his mouth, carrying a faint, sweet, and slightly fishy taste—the taste of life.

The distant cannery gleamed metallically in the sunlight, like a treasure waiting to be discovered. Lin Ye knew that once they repaired the fence and treated their wounds, they would set off again.

Because survival is never about waiting passively for opportunities, but about finding new paths and planting new hopes amidst repeated challenges.

Like a wild daisy sprouting from a crack in the fence, quietly unfolding its petals amidst the desolation after the decay.