Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

As the bone wings ripped open the corrugated iron roof of the chemical industrial park warehouse, Lin Ye was cornered against a wall by the bone spikes of the Blood Crystal Zombie. Dark red crystalline energy spread along the bone spikes, and wherever it passed, the concrete walls peeled away as if corroded by strong acid, revealing the rusted steel bars inside. He could feel that energy trying to penetrate his meridians, with a frenzied devouring desire, colliding fiercely with the purifying power of the "Devouring" mark beneath his skin.

"Lin Ye!" Su Ya's green energy surged like a tide, binding the bone spikes. The poisonous thorns on the vines pierced deeply into the scales of the blood crystal zombie, but were quickly dissolved by the black crystalline energy. The girl's face was as pale as paper; maintaining such a defense was clearly extremely taxing on her.

Mo Yu, in his blood crystal zombie form, let out a non-human roar, his bone wings flapping violently, creating a gust of wind that sent Su Ya flying. Lin Jianjun's rifle bullets arrived just in time, but were deflected the moment they touched the zombie's skin, the bullets twisting and deforming before falling to the ground with a crisp sound.

"This beast's hide is even tougher than the Stone Armored Corpse King!" Li Hu (who temporarily joined the support team) swung a long stick modified from a welding torch, and the iron hook at the end of the stick slammed into the zombie's joints, leaving only a shallow white mark.

Old Zheng led the Iron Hoof Alliance men through the back door, precisely throwing military grenades at the feet of the Blood Crystal Zombie. Explosions rang out, and amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the zombie's bony wings protected its vitals, though a few scales were shaken off, revealing the writhing dark red muscles beneath.

"It's absorbing the energy of the explosion!" Old Zheng's expression changed drastically. "This thing can devour any energy attack!"

Lin Ye's "Devouring" seal circulated wildly in his palm, dark purple energy quietly spreading along the ground. He could sense that although the energy within the Blood Crystal Zombie was violent, it was also extremely chaotic, like a pile of forcibly pieced-together fragments. Every time it absorbed external energy, it would produce a subtle repulsion reaction—this was its weakness!

"Use physical attacks! Don't use superpowers!" Lin Ye shouted, his military dagger glowing with dark purple energy as he aimed at the spot where the zombie's scales had fallen off.

The moment the dagger pierced his muscle, Lin Ye clearly felt the fierce confrontation between the "Devour" mark and the blood crystal energy. The dark purple energy, like greedy vines, tightly wrapped around the dark red crystal energy, attempting to purify it; while the blood crystal energy, like a mad venomous snake, devoured his meridians, bringing tearing pain.

"Roar!" The blood crystal zombie cried out in pain, its bone wings sweeping across. Lin Ye used the momentum to flip backward, dodging the attack while channeling more dark purple energy into his dagger—he was gambling that the "Devouring" seal could suppress this twisted energy.

Aying's figure flickered in the shadows of the warehouse, her dagger repeatedly stabbing towards the zombie's eyes. But Moyu's eye sockets were covered with thick crystals, and the dagger couldn't penetrate them at all. Instead, it was struck by the zombie's tail and slammed into a shelf piled with chemical barrels with a loud clang.

"Suya! Wrap the vines around its feet!" Lin Jianjun raised his rifle for cover, and the specially made armor-piercing bullet hit the zombie's leg, finally leaving a shallow blood hole.

Despite her pain, Suya unleashed her green energy once more. This time, she didn't attack; instead, she sent vines growing wildly along the ground, like countless green chains that tightly bound the blood crystal zombie's ankles. The suckers on the vines secreted mucus, adhering firmly to its crystalline skin and temporarily restricting its movement.

"Now!" Li Hu roared, hoisting the rocket launcher onto his shoulder and aiming it at the bloody hole in the zombie as he pulled the trigger.

The homemade cannonball whistled through the air and exploded at close range. Although the blood crystal zombies tried to absorb the impact with energy, this time, the cannonball contained Zhou Ming's specially made low-temperature agent, which released a chill upon explosion, instantly freezing the crystals around the blood hole.

"Click—"

The moment the crystal cracked, Lin Ye unleashed the full power of his "Devouring" seal. Dark purple energy surged like a burst dam, flowing down the dagger into the blood crystal zombie's body, frantically purifying the chaotic crystal energy. The zombie let out a shrill scream that seemed inhuman, its body began to convulse violently, and spiderweb-like white marks appeared on the dark red crystal surface.

"It's going to self-destruct!" Old Zheng shouted, pulling the soldiers beside him back.

Lin Ye did not retreat. He could feel that the core energy of the Blood Crystal Zombie was being disintegrated by the "Devouring" Seal. With just a little more effort, he could completely purify this distorted energy. He gritted his teeth and poured the last bit of dark purple energy into his body. His vision blurred, and his meridians felt like they were about to break at any moment.

Just then, the Blood Crystal Zombie's body suddenly swelled, and a dark red light shone brightly. Su Ya reacted quickly, and the vines she cultivated instantly wrapped Lin Ye in a green cocoon, separating him from the center of the explosion.

"Boom—!"

A deafening explosion rang out, blasting a large hole in the warehouse wall, sending rubble and fragments of chemical barrels flying everywhere. The blood crystal zombie's body was torn to pieces in the explosion, dark red crystal fragments scattering like a meteor shower, sizzling and corroding as they hit the ground.

As the smoke cleared, Lin Ye broke free from the vine-covered cocoon, his body covered in wounds and blood trickling from his mouth. Su Ya rushed over to support him, her eyes red-rimmed: "You scared me to death..."

The warehouse was a mess. Three Iron Hoof Alliance soldiers were killed, and the rest were all wounded; Li Hu's arm was cut by shards and he was haphazardly bandaging it with strips of cloth; A Ying leaned against the shelf, her face pale, but she still gripped the short knife tightly in her hand; Lin Jianjun was examining the crystal shards on the ground, his brows furrowed.

"They're all shattered." Lin Jianjun picked up the largest fragment. The crystal melted rapidly in his palm, leaving a pool of black liquid. "This thing is really weird. Even an explosion couldn't completely destroy it."

Old Zheng walked up to Lin Ye and gave a standard military salute: "Chief Lin, Alliance Leader Zhao is right, you are indeed qualified to speak with the Iron Hoof Alliance on equal terms." He paused, "These fragments need to be cleaned up, otherwise they will pollute the soil and water sources."

Lin Ye nodded, instructing Su Ya to gather all the crystal fragments together with vines, and then had Li Hu find flammable chemical reagents to burn them completely. The black flames emitted a pungent odor as they burned, and the rising black smoke dispersed through the holes in the warehouse, carried away by the wind.

After cleaning up the scene, everyone prepared to return. Looking at the land outside the warehouse contaminated by the blood crystal energy, Old Zheng suddenly said, "Alliance Leader Zhao asked me to pass on a message: he wants to make a deal with you."

"What kind of deal?" Lin Ye asked warily.

"Let's trade weapons for food," Old Zheng said. "The Iron Hoof Alliance has an armory, but lacks food; you have rice paddies, but lack heavy weapons. He said that instead of being wary of each other, we should join forces to survive."

Lin Ye fell silent. He knew what Zhao Feng was planning—trading weapons for food, which would solve the Iron Hoof Alliance's food problem, allow them to infiltrate strongholds through trade, and potentially even turn the strongholds into their vassals in the future. But undeniably, this trade would also benefit the strongholds; facing increasingly powerful mutants and other forces, they did indeed need more powerful weapons.

"I need to think about it," Lin Ye said.

On the way back, no one spoke. The radiation from the chemical industrial zone had left everyone exhausted, and the terrifying power of the Blood Crystal Zombies had left a shadow in everyone's hearts. Lin Ye leaned against the cart, looking at the outline of the stronghold in the distance, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

The deal with the Iron Hoof Alliance was like a hot potato; accepting it was problematic, and refusing it was equally problematic. While the Black Raven Hall had suffered another heavy blow, the appearance of the Blood Crystal meant that there would always be madmen trying to pursue power in this twisted way, and the threats in the future would only increase.

"Brother, look!" Lin Xi's voice suddenly came from the direction of the stronghold, filled with surprise.

Everyone looked up and saw that the fence of the outpost was now covered with small yellow flowers, the very same sunflowers Lin Xi had drawn on Zhou Ming's protective suit. These flowers bloomed vibrantly in the setting sun, their blossoms facing the sun like smiling faces, dispelling much of the gloom brought by the war.

"It was planted by Sister Suya." Lin Xi ran to Lin Ye's side, holding a bunch of sunflowers in her hands. "She said that seeing these flowers makes her know that life will get better and better."

Lin Ye took the sunflower; its petals still bore the morning dew and emitted a faint fragrance. He looked at the busy figures in the stronghold—Old Zhang was directing people to reinforce the granary, Zhou Ming was checking the newly filtered water, and the survivors, including Shi Tou, were replanting the trampled seedlings in the fields. Everyone's face showed exhaustion, yet it was full of vitality.

He suddenly understood. No matter how much scheming was behind Zhao Feng's deal, no matter how many monsters like the Blood Crystal Zombies they would encounter in the future, all they could do was protect the land beneath their feet, plant every seed well, and survive.

As for trade... it's negotiable, but the bottom line cannot be crossed. The stronghold can cooperate with the Iron Hoof Alliance, but it will never be subservient to anyone. Just like these sunflowers, even if they grow on a fence, they always face the sun and never bend over.

When they returned to the base, a campfire was already lit. Su Ya was applying herbal medicine to the wounded, Li Hu and Lao Zheng were counting the captured weapons, and Lin Jianjun was reporting the situation in the chemical industrial zone to Zhang Lao. Lin Ye sat by the campfire, put a sunflower in an empty tin can, and placed it by the fire. The flower head gleamed warmly in the flickering flames.

In the distance, towards the chemical industrial zone, the black smoke had dissipated, leaving only a deathly silence. But Lin Ye knew that the echoes there would not disappear; they would serve as an alarm bell, reminding everyone struggling to survive that the apocalypse was not over, and the battle had only just begun.

All they could do was preserve humanity in the battle, plant hope in the ruins, and let this small outpost, like a sunflower on a fence, stubbornly bloom on the land of despair.