Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

The stench of burning insect carcasses hadn't yet dissipated when Lin Ye led the skinny monkey into the sewers on the west side of the fortress. The beam of a flashlight pierced the darkness, illuminating the pipe wall—where several white mycelia clung, wriggling like earthworms into the fortress. The red dots at their tips gleamed eerily in the light, the "red snakes" that had emerged from the clock tower ruins.

"This thing is harder to guard against than giant ants." The skinny monkey used his bayonet to pry open the mycelium. When the tip of the knife touched the red spot, it was burned and left a charred mark. "Alliance Leader Zhao once said that the sewers of the biochemical laboratory are connected to the underground pipe network of the old city. They may have already become channels for the mycelium."

Lin Ye's silvery patterns clung to the pipe wall, and dark purple energy slowly seeped in. The mycelium curled up immediately upon encountering the energy, but the red dots were unusually stubborn, pressing against the energy barrier like red-hot irons, emitting a sizzling sound. "They're looking for a crack." He turned off his flashlight; in the darkness, the red dots' glow was even clearer, like countless pairs of peering eyes. "Pass the word down: seal all sewer entrances with concrete, leaving three observation ports, and assign two people to guard them each shift."

When they returned to the ground, it was just dawn. The fortress was already bustling with activity; Ironhoof Alliance members were reinforcing the electric fence, while the survivors of the stronghold were replanting seedlings damaged by locusts in the greenhouses. Lin Ye had just reached the greenhouse entrance when he heard arguing coming from inside.

"I told you this batch of seeds should be cultivated into seedlings first! Why did you just scatter them on the ground?" Su Ya's voice was urgent, and green energy danced at her fingertips, clearly indicating that she was angry.

"What's the rush?" A short man from the Iron Hoof Alliance said nonchalantly, arms crossed. "It's just planting a seed. If it doesn't grow, we'll just plant another one. Why all the rules?"

"This has been soaked in antiviral serum! It can resist mycelial infection!" Suya pointed to the newly sprouted buds in the ground, the edges of the leaves already turning black. "If you sow it now, you're essentially giving the mycelium nutrients!"

As Lin Ye entered the greenhouse, the short man was still muttering, "You think your people are so precious? What's wrong with us Iron Hoof Alliance people eating some seeds without serum? At worst, we'll just die."

"Apologize to her." Lin Ye's voice was not loud, but the silver patterns gleamed coldly in the morning light.

The short man retorted, his neck stiff: "Why? She's just someone who makes weeds grow..."

Before he could finish speaking, the skinny monkey punched him in the face. "Shut up!" the skinny monkey roared, his eyes red. "Su girl was saving our lives!"

Everyone in the greenhouse stopped what they were doing. The Iron Hoof Alliance soldiers looked at Lin Ye, then at the blackened sprouts on the ground, and no one spoke. Lin Ye squatted down, his silver veins gently brushing against the sprouts. Dark purple energy seeped into the soil, and the blackened leaves slowly returned to green. "The serum seeds will be divided into two batches," he told Su Ya. "One batch will be used for seedling cultivation, and the other will be planted directly, separated by vines. Let's see which one has a higher survival rate."

After finishing with the greenhouse matter, Lin Ye went to Zhao Feng's temporary residence. It was a small hut against the outer wall of the fortress, containing only a wooden bed, a wooden box with a few old clothes belonging to Zhao Feng, and half a yellowed photograph—a picture of a young Zhao Feng standing in a sunflower field with a woman.

When Lin Ye picked up the photo, he noticed a line written on the back: "After we win, come back and plant sunflowers." His fingers traced the words, and he suddenly remembered Zhao Feng's last words, feeling as if something was blocking his heart.

"Chief Lin." Skinny Monkey stood at the door, holding a cloth bag in his hand. "This was found in the ruins of the clock tower. Old Zheng said it looks like something belonging to the Alliance Leader."

Inside the cloth bag was a tin notebook, its cover charred black. Lin Ye opened the notebook; the handwriting inside was messy, recording the Iron Hoof Alliance's supply list, the habits of the mutants, and several pages with strange symbols that resembled the eye symbols on the Corpse Mother's tumor.

Lin Ye stopped when he turned to the last page. There was only one line: "The core of the Corpse Mother is not in the clock tower, but in the freezer on the third basement level. The mycelium is just a decoy."

He suddenly remembered the rotten dragon cells in the hospital freezer, and Dr. Chen's mention of "white-scaled snake molts." Could the core of the Corpse Mother be related to the biochemical experiments of that year?

"Prepare the car." Lin Ye closed his notebook, his eyes sharpening. "Go to the biochemistry lab and find the freezer on the third basement level."

Skinny Monkey hesitated, "Go now? What if the fortress is attacked again..."

"The mycelium is just a decoy," Lin Ye pointed to the symbols on the notebook. "They're stalling for time, making us think the Corpse Mother is still in the clock tower." He looked at the green barrier outside the fortress. The buds on the vines were growing wildly, but they always withered inexplicably near the sewers. "The Red Serpent has already infiltrated the fortress. We must find the core, or we'll be destroyed from the inside sooner or later."

Before setting off, Lin Ye instructed Su Ya to cultivate a layer of "warning vines" beneath the foundation of the fortress—the vines would emit a red glow whenever the mycelium approached. He also had Li Hu lead a team to inspect all the observation ports in the sewers to ensure everything was in order.

The door to the biochemical laboratory was tightly shut. The breach that had been smashed open by the Corrupted Dragon was now covered by vines. Su Ya's green energy left a faint glow on the vines, indicating that someone had been maintaining it. Lin Ye brushed the vines with his silver runes, and the barrier automatically parted, revealing a staircase leading underground.

The third basement level was colder than I had imagined, the air thick with the stench of disinfectant and rotting flesh. The freezer door was sealed shut by a thick layer of ice, covered with white mycelium, with red dots peeking out from beneath the ice.

"It really is here." Lin Ye's silver markings flared intensely. He could feel a powerful energy pulsating behind the ice layer, more than ten times stronger than the Corpse Mother Tumor in the Bell Tower. "Zhao Feng is right, the one in the Bell Tower is just an avatar."

The skinny monkey raised a rocket launcher: "Blow it open with explosives?"

"No." Lin Ye pressed down on his shoulder. "The walls of the freezer are made of specially made lead plates. If they explode, they will release the virus inside." He looked at the mycelium on the ice and suddenly had an idea. "Suya's vines can absorb the energy of the mycelium, so maybe they can melt the ice."

He took out a ceramic jar from his backpack, which contained vine seeds that Suya had prepared in advance, mixed with antiviral serum. Lin Ye scattered the seeds on the ice, and Silver Pattern infused them with energy. The seeds sprouted instantly, and green vines climbed along the mycelium, like countless small snakes burrowing into the cracks in the ice.

Upon encountering the mycelium, the vines immediately began to grow wildly, the green energy intertwining with the red mycelium, causing the ice layer to melt at a visible speed. When the ice layer was half melted, the freezer door suddenly made a "crack" sound, and a beam of red light shot out from the crack, striking the roots of the vines.

The vines withered instantly, and black sap flowed through the cracks in the door. Lin Ye's silver patterns erupted in time, and the dark purple energy blocked the spread of the red light, but he was still shaken so badly that his blood surged and he spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

"Chief Lin!" Skinny Monkey supported him, his face pale.

Lin Ye wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes growing even more determined: "It's scared. Prepare incendiary bombs, and throw them in the moment the door opens!"

The freezer door slowly opened, and a biting gust of cold wind rushed in, carrying with it a strong stench of blood. Lin Ye raised his flashlight, the beam shining inside—in the center of the freezer, suspended a huge red crystal, a full five meters in diameter, covered with vein-like patterns. Countless white mycelia extended from the crystal, connecting to the surrounding metal shelves, on which hung hundreds of frozen corpses, the victims of the biological experiments years ago.

"This is the true core of the Corpse Mother!" Lin Ye's voice trembled, the silver patterns almost extinguished in the red light, "It's evolving using the energy of the corpse!"

The red crystal suddenly emitted a sharp shriek, and countless mycelia shot out from within, lashing at them like whips. Lin Ye threw an incendiary bomb at the crystal, while Skinny Monkey simultaneously pulled the trigger of his rocket launcher.

Flames and explosions erupted in the freezer, red crystals engulfed in flames, emitting painful howls. But the mycelium surged towards the flames like a tide, gradually extinguishing them. Lin Ye watched the ever-increasing mycelium and suddenly remembered the symbols in Zhao Feng's notebook—those weren't eyes, they were the scales of a white-scaled snake!

"Skinny Monkey! Use this!" Lin Ye pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket, containing white-scaled snake slough powder left by Dr. Chen. "Sprinkle it onto the crystals!"

The skinny monkey sprinkled the powder onto the red crystal. Upon encountering the red light, the powder suddenly burst forth with a dazzling silver light, like countless tiny blades cutting through the mycelium and crystal. The red crystal let out a shrill scream, and cracks began to appear on its surface. Red sap flowed along the cracks, rising into white smoke on the ground.

"We did it!" the skinny monkey shouted excitedly.

Just then, the floor of the freezer suddenly collapsed, and Lin Ye and the skinny monkey fell into a bottomless pit. In the instant of falling, Lin Ye saw a claw covered in scales emerge from a crack in the red crystal, looking exactly like the legendary white-scaled snake.

"So... the White-Scaled Serpent didn't go extinct..." Lin Ye's consciousness gradually blurred, and the silver pattern emitted its last light in the darkness, illuminating the depths of the cave—there, a huge White-Scaled Serpent was coiled up, its eyes flashing with a ghostly blue light, as if waiting for something.

Inside the fortress, Suya's warning vines suddenly glowed red, and the vines of the green barrier began to wither wildly. She looked up towards the direction of the biochemical laboratory, the green energy trembling violently in her palm, and an ominous premonition welled up in her heart.

Lin Xi ran to her side, her little hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes: "Sister Su Ya, brother will come back, right?"

Su Ya gazed at the distant biochemical laboratory, where an eerie red light emanated from the sky, echoing the red glow of the clock tower, like two open eyes coldly watching the newly formed land. She nodded vigorously, green energy flowing into the ground beneath her feet, causing more vines to sprout and extend towards the laboratory.

"Yes, he will." Her voice trembled, but her determination was unwavering. "He promised us he would come back and plant sunflowers."

Deep within the cave, the silver patterns of the forest and the blue light of the white-scaled snake intertwined, forming a strange pillar of light. Fragments of red crystals and scales of the white-scaled snake danced within the pillar, like a belated judgment, or a new beginning. The battle was far from over, and their fates seemed to be inextricably linked by some unseen force.