Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

The rice paddies at the outpost finally saw their first ears of rice. The pale golden ears of rice hung heavily from the stalks, swaying gently in the morning breeze, and a faint fragrance of rice filled the air. Several old farmers squatted on the edge of the field, stroking the rice ears with their rough hands, tears welling up in their cloudy eyes—this was the first crop they had grown with their own hands since the apocalypse.

Lin Ye stood beside the scarecrow, watching Su Ya use her supernatural abilities to accelerate the growth of the last few late-maturing rice plants. Fine beads of sweat appeared on the girl's forehead as green energy flowed from her fingertips into the soil, and the rice ears visibly plumped up, with glistening dewdrops still clinging to the grains.

"It'll be harvest time in three more days." Su Ya straightened up, rubbed her aching back, and wore a tired but satisfied smile. "Grandpa Zhang said he's going to make new rice cakes and give everyone a piece."

Lin Ye nodded, but felt uneasy. His perception range had expanded to five kilometers outside the stronghold, and in the past few days he had been able to detect sporadic energy fluctuations, as if someone was spying on him in the dark. Stone and several other survivors from the Black Crow Hall also said that they had heard the sound of hooves in the distance at night, not the hooves of mutated hyenas, but more like... the iron hooves of warhorses.

"Any news from the 'Iron Hoof Alliance' in the north?" Lin Ye asked Lin Jianjun, who was reinforcing the granary. The granary was built with steel plates from the steel mill and was exceptionally sturdy. Li Hu was leading his men to weld iron spikes onto it to prevent mutants from climbing.

"The scouts we sent haven't returned yet." Lin Jianjun put down the wrench in his hand, his brows furrowed. "This group is even more troublesome than Black Wind Stronghold and Iron Hand Gang combined. It's said that their leader is a retired military officer, and they have hundreds of men under their command, along with heavy weapons."

The Iron Hoof Alliance is a recently risen force in the north, reportedly composed of veterans and superhumans. They are ruthless and expand rapidly, having already annexed three nearby outposts. Their symbol is a warhorse clad in iron armor, and their leader is said to possess the ability to manipulate metal, even forcibly melting the cores of mutants into weapons.

"What if they come and steal our food?" Xiaoya walked by carrying a bundle of freshly cut straw, her face filled with worry. After her younger brother was killed by the Black Crow Hall, the child had become exceptionally sensitive, always worried that the peace she had finally achieved would be shattered.

"You can't take it." Li Hu walked over carrying a welding torch, pointed to the ground around the granary, and said, "See that? I buried thirty landmines, all made with explosives from the cannery. Anyone who dares to come near will be blown to bits!"

Lin Ye, however, was not so optimistic. Since the Iron Hoof Alliance dared to expand, they must have a way to deal with the traps. He walked to the fence, looking north, and the energy fluctuations he sensed became clearer and clearer, as if an army was approaching, its steps were orderly, and its energy reaction was powerful and unified.

"They're here," Lin Ye said in a low voice. "At least fifty people, some with superpowers, and they have firearms."

Everyone's expression changed. Li Hu quickly put down his welding torch and grabbed a rocket launcher from the side; Lin Jianjun ran towards the watchtower, his rifle already loaded; Su Ya told the children to hide in the underground bunker, while she stood by the rice paddy, green energy surging in her palm, ready to sprout thorny vines for defense at any moment.

A moment later, a troop of people appeared on the distant horizon. They rode tall, mutated warhorses covered in iron armor, and the riders wore uniform black uniforms with iron hoof badges on their chests. They carried rifles or machetes and charged menacingly towards the stronghold. Leading them was a burly middle-aged man wearing a black trench coat, a military knife at his waist, and a scar running from his brow bone to his chin. His eyes were sharp as an eagle's.

"It's Zhao Feng, the leader of the Iron Hoof Alliance." Stone's voice trembled. He had seen this man before when he was in the southern settlement. "It is said that his metal ability can withstand the attack of a level nine mutant."

Zhao Feng stopped a hundred meters outside the fence, reined in his horse, and the mutated warhorse neighed, pawing the ground with its front hooves. He looked at the rice paddies in the stronghold, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Lin Ye? Come out and have a chat."

Lin Ye gripped his military dagger and walked out from behind the gate. Li Hu and Lin Jianjun followed closely behind. The three of them stood in a triangular formation inside the fence, confronting the Iron Hoof Alliance.

"What brings Alliance Leader Zhao here?" Lin Ye's voice was calm, and dark purple energy quietly circulated in his palm.

"Let's not beat around the bush." ​​Zhao Feng drew his military knife, the blade gleaming coldly in the sunlight. "Your rice paddies are quite good, enough to feed my men for a month. If you know what's good for you, hand over the grain, submit to the Iron Hoof Alliance, and I can make you the vice leader."

"What if you don't hand it over?" Li Hu roared, pointing the rocket launcher at Zhao Feng's head.

Zhao Feng acted as if he hadn't seen the rocket launcher, pointing his saber at the rice paddy: "You won't hand it over? Then don't blame me for flattening your stronghold and turning this rice into fertilizer along with you."

The knights behind him raised their weapons, the safety catches on their rifles clicking, and the atmosphere instantly became tense. Lin Ye could feel the energy surging within Zhao Feng's body; the military knife at his waist began to heat up, its metallic luster growing brighter, clearly indicating that he was gathering power.

"We can share half of the food with you," Lin Ye suddenly said, "but surrender is out of the question. The people in our stronghold survive on their own."

Zhao Feng was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Lin Ye to concede, then sneered, "Half? Are you trying to fob me off?" His military knife suddenly pointed to the sky, "Let's show them what we've got!"

A superhuman in a black uniform stepped out of the ranks, placing his hands on the ground. Suddenly, metal fragments around the base flew up, gathering above the fence like countless small knives, gleaming with a cold light. He was a metal-type superhuman, and quite powerful at that!

"If you don't move aside, these fragments will become deadly weapons." Zhao Feng's voice was threatening.

Su Ya's face turned pale. Although her thorny vines were tough, they might not be able to withstand the attack of the metal fragments. Lin Jianjun held his rifle, his finger on the trigger, but dared not fire easily—the enemy outnumbered them, and if a battle broke out, the stronghold would definitely suffer heavy losses.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from the east side of the stronghold. Aying's voice was filled with panic: "A horde of zombies! A horde of zombies is coming!"

Everyone turned to look, and saw a dark mass of zombies, at least two hundred, pouring out of the ruins to the east, rushing towards the stronghold. Leading them was a gigantic mutated zombie with skin as hard as rock and bone spurs on its arms—the very same Stone Armored Zombie King that had attacked the southern settlement last time!

"How can there be so many zombies?" Li Hu was both shocked and furious, and the sights of his rocket launcher involuntarily turned towards the horde of zombies.

Zhao Feng's face also darkened. In his perception, these zombies seemed to be targeting not only the stronghold, but also their Iron Hoof Alliance! The Stone Armored Corpse King's energy reaction was exceptionally powerful, more terrifying than any mutant he had ever encountered.

"It was the Iron Hoof Alliance that attracted them!" Lin Jianjun suddenly shouted. "You've fought your way here; the smell of blood must have attracted the horde of zombies!"

Zhao Feng didn't refute, clearly realizing this as well. He glanced at the approaching horde of corpses, then at the woods in the stronghold, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

"Let's join forces," Lin Ye suddenly said. "Let's deal with the zombie horde first, then we can talk about food."

Zhao Feng hesitated for a moment, then brandished his military knife: "Fine! But if you dare to play any tricks, I'll raze your stronghold to the ground first!"

The knights behind him quickly turned around, their rifles aimed at the charging horde of corpses. Zhao Feng himself leaped off his warhorse, the metallic gleam of his saber gleaming brightly, and charged towards the stone-armored corpse king.

"Li Hu! Take a squad to guard the granary!" Lin Ye shouted to Li Hu. "Dad, you take the second squad and reinforce the Iron Hoof Alliance with rifles! Su Ya, use vines to seal off the breach on the east side!"

At the command, the people in the stronghold immediately sprang into action. Suya's thorny vines grew wildly, weaving an impenetrable green wall outside the eastern fence, temporarily blocking the onslaught of the zombie horde; Lin Jianjun led archers and riflemen up the watchtower, bullets and arrows raining down on the zombies, causing them to fall continuously; Lin Ye rushed towards Zhao Feng, channeling dark purple energy into his military dagger, preparing to join forces to deal with the Stone Armored Zombie King.

Upon seeing Zhao Feng, the Stone Armored Corpse King let out an angry roar and slammed its arm, covered in bone spikes, down. Zhao Feng's military knife instantly grew to enormous size, acting as a shield to block the attack. With a crisp clang, both men staggered back several steps.

"This beast's shell is really hard!" Zhao Feng cursed, and his military knife suddenly split into dozens of small knives, stabbing towards the eyes of the stone-armored corpse king.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Ye circled around behind the Corpse King, his dark purple energy condensing into claws that tore open the skin on its back. The Stone Armored Corpse King let out a painful roar and turned to pounce on Lin Ye, but was entangled by Zhao Feng's military knife and unable to move.

"Now!" Zhao Feng shouted.

Lin Ye's "Devouring" seal instantly pressed against the back of the Stone Armored Corpse King's neck, and dark purple energy surged into it wildly. This Corpse King's energy was even more violent than the Tumor Corpse King's, carrying a strong rocky aura that caused Lin Ye's meridians to ache. However, the "Devouring" seal's purification ability was also operating simultaneously, gradually transforming the Corpse King's energy into pure energy.

"Roar!" The Stone Armored Corpse King struggled frantically, its body expanding as if it wanted to self-destruct. Seeing this, Zhao Feng reassembled his military knife into a shield, desperately holding off the Corpse King's onslaught and buying Lin Ye time.

Just then, the metal-type ability user from the Iron Hoof Alliance suddenly screamed in agony. The metal fragments he was controlling were smashed by a speed-type zombie in the horde of corpses, and he was knocked to the ground and instantly torn to pieces.

"Xiao Wang!" In the instant Zhao Feng was distracted, the Stone Armor Corpse King seized the opportunity, and the bone spurs on his arm pierced through his shoulder, instantly staining his black trench coat with blood.

"Watch out!" Lin Ye roared, injecting all his dark purple energy into the Corpse King's body. The "Devour" seal burst forth with dazzling light, and the Stone Armor Corpse King's body began to rapidly wither, its rock-like skin peeling away layer by layer, eventually turning into a pool of black pus.

The horde of zombies, having lost its leader, descended into chaos. The Iron Hoof Knights seized the opportunity to counterattack, their rifles and machetes relentlessly reaping the lives of the zombies; those inside the stronghold also rushed out from behind the fence to fight alongside the Iron Hoof Knights.

When the last zombie fell, the battlefield was a scene of utter devastation. The Iron Hoof Alliance had lost more than a dozen knights, and Zhao Feng's shoulder was still bleeding. Several people in the stronghold were also injured. Su Ya's thorn vines were smashed to pieces by the zombie horde, and a large area of ​​the rice paddy edge was trampled, with pale golden rice ears scattered all over the ground, stained with dark red blood.

Zhao Feng clutched his bleeding shoulder, looking at the scattered rice stalks, then at Lin Ye, his eyes filled with complex emotions. The knights behind him remained silent; the battle they had just witnessed had demonstrated the stronghold's fighting capabilities, and they had realized that Lin Ye's strength far exceeded their expectations.

"Food..." Zhao Feng was about to say something when Lin Ye interrupted him.

"I'll share half with you." Lin Ye's voice remained calm, "but not because I'm afraid of you, but because we fought side by side just now."

He turned and walked towards the stronghold, leaving Zhao Feng and his knights standing there. Sunlight shone on the blood-stained rice stalks, giving them an eerie sheen. Lin Ye knew that this alliance did not signify peace; the threat of the Iron Hoof Alliance remained, and the road ahead would be filled with conflict and battle.

But he didn't care. As long as the people at the outpost were still there, as long as the rice paddies were still there, as long as they could still plant new seeds and harvest new crops, they would have the courage to face any challenge.

Back at the base, Suya was bandaging the wounded. Seeing Lin Ye, she asked worriedly, "Will the Iron Hoof Alliance keep its promise?"

Lin Ye looked at the trampled rice in the field and suddenly laughed: "Whether they obey or not, we have to harvest the rest of the rice. After all, eating is more important than fighting a war."

Looking at the busy figures in the stronghold from a distance, Zhao Feng glanced at the military knife in his hand, finally sighed, and said to the knights behind him, "Gather half the grain, then retreat."

The sound of iron hooves faded into the distance, and the stronghold returned to silence. The setting sun cast its light on the rice paddies, the blood-stained ears of rice swaying gently in the wind, as if telling the story of the battle that had just ended. Lin Ye crouched down, picked up a trampled stalk of rice, and infused it with dark purple energy. The stalk slowly straightened, its grains still plump and full.

He knew that as long as the roots remained, new rice would grow here again next year. And those of them who were struggling to survive in the apocalypse would, like these rice plants, rise again and grow tenaciously in the sunlight, no matter how much wind and rain they endured or how much they were trampled.