Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

As the scarred woman's note burned in his palm, Lin Ye stood outside the barbed wire fence of the quarantine zone. The silver-blue veins of the scaly vines climbed along the mesh, gleaming coldly in the moonlight, gently enveloping the migrants' snores—after three days of treatment, the spread of the red marks had slowed significantly, and the boy with the spots on his back could even sit up and drink rice porridge.

"What is she hiding?" Su Ya's voice rang close to his ear. Green energy spread along the barbed wire, circling around the scarred woman's wooden house. "This woman's heart beats three times faster than normal, and... she's hiding something in the jade pendant at her waist."

Lin Ye's silver markings trembled slightly. He could feel the energy fluctuations within the jade pendant, like a hard and cold stone encased in jade, a texture unlike that of ordinary jade. "Send Skinny Monkey to the cannery tomorrow," he whispered, his fingertips touching the scale vines. "If the Corpse Mother's eyes are really there, we must destroy them beforehand."

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Skinny Monkey set off with three Iron Hoof Alliance soldiers. Before they left, Lin Ye divided the White Scale Serpent ...

The skinny monkey grinned: "Don't worry, Chief Lin. I remember how embarrassing the red-skinned corpse looked last time. Those mycelia are most afraid of this blue stuff."

After they left, Lin Ye went to the greenhouse. Su Ya was preparing a new medicine using the juice of the lepidopteran. The liquid in the ceramic bowl shimmered with a silvery-blue luster, and when dripped onto the red sha sample in the petri dish, tiny bubbles immediately rose. "The lepidopteran and serum are becoming more and more compatible." She held the petri dish up to the sunlight. "Give me three more days, and I can make a medicine that can cure red sha completely."

Just as Lin Ye was about to speak, the scarred woman suddenly lifted the curtain and walked in, clutching a blood-stained cloth in her hand: "This was found on the foreman, take a look..."

Embroidered on the cloth was a black raven totem, exactly the same as the Black Raven Hall's logo. Even more eerie was the red crystal embedded in the totem's eye, which resembled a miniature version of the Corpse Mother's core, gleaming with an eerie light in the sunlight.

"The foreman is from the Black Crow Gang." The scarred woman's voice trembled, the scars taut on her cheeks. "He opened the warehouse not to steal supplies, but to... awaken something hidden in the cans."

Lin Ye picked up the red crystal, and the silver patterns instantly erupted. The crystal struggled violently in the dark purple energy, emitting a sharp shriek like fingernails scraping glass, and finally turned into a pool of blood, leaving a hollow eye-shaped mark on the cloth. "It's an avatar of the Corpse Mother." His voice was as cold as ice. "The Black Crow Hall is conducting experiments in the cannery, injecting mycelium into food to turn those who eat the canned food into red-scarred corpses."

The scarred woman suddenly knelt down, her forehead pressed against the dirt: "I'm sorry everyone... Actually, I'm the cannery guard. The Black Crow Gang forced me to watch the warehouse. They said if I obeyed, they would treat my son's bruises..."

Su Ya supported her arm, and green energy gently brushed across the back of her hand: "Stand up and talk. What exactly is hidden in the warehouse?"

"It's a giant eyeball." The woman's voice was choked with sobs. "It's embedded in the wall of the underground warehouse. The Black Crow Hall people fill it with live people every day... I saw the foreman push thirty healthy people into the warehouse with my own eyes, and the next day these red crystals seeped out of the walls."

Lin Ye's heart sank. He finally understood what "the eyes of the Corpse Mother" meant—it was not a symbol or device at all, but a living organ that could devour life and nurture red rashes hyphae.

"Skinny Monkey and the others are in danger!" He grabbed his rifle and rushed out, the silver markings on his right arm flashing wildly. "Suya, you take the Migrants and reinforce the defenses, I'm going after them!"

Su Ya grabbed his wrist and slipped a vine-woven bracelet onto his hand. "This is a tracking vine. I planted some seeds in Skinny Monkey and the others' backpacks. Following the vine will save time." She tiptoed and gently touched his cheek. "Be careful. I'll wait for you to come back to prepare the medicine."

Lin Ye's face instantly flushed. Just as he was about to say something, the vine bracelet suddenly vibrated violently, pointing northeast—Skinny Monkey and the others were running back, and at an unusually fast speed.

He mounted his horse, the mutated warhorse's iron hooves pounding the morning dew, kicking up a trail of dust. The bracelet vibrated more and more rapidly, the silver patterns growing hot, as if an invisible thread was pulling him towards the center of danger.

As Lin Ye ran past the third block, he saw the mark left by the skinny monkey—a mutated locust tree that had been split in half, with a crooked "escape" character carved on the trunk, and a half-broken military knife covered in red marks stuck next to it.

"Oh no!" Lin Ye's heart pounded, and he spurred his horse to accelerate. Suddenly, the vines on the bracelet extended into the ground and crawled into the crack of a sewer manhole cover.

He dismounted and lifted the manhole cover, a strong stench of blood assaulting his nostrils. The sewer was filled with half a meter of black water, on which floated severed limbs, one of which was dressed in the uniform of the Iron Hoof Alliance, with a bone spur covered in fungal hyphae protruding from its chest.

"Skinny monkey!" Lin Ye roared as he waded forward, the silver pattern bursting with a bright light in the darkness, illuminating the corner ahead.

The skinny monkey was entangled in mycelium against the wall, his left leg already turned dark red, desperately trying to cut off the mycelium creeping towards his neck with his military knife. The two soldiers beside him lay on the ground, their bodies completely covered by the red mycelium, like two writhing cocoons.

"Chief Lin! Don't come any closer!" Skinny Monkey's voice was hoarse, and his military knife suddenly fell into the water. "This place is full of the Corpse Mother's eyes, they can..."

Before he could finish speaking, countless red eyeballs suddenly sprouted from the wall, densely packed and staring at Lin Ye, their pupils reflecting his image. Then, red viscous fluid sprayed from the eyeballs, coalescing into a giant net in the air, which descended upon him.

Lin Ye's silver markings and dark purple energy erupted simultaneously, forming a purple-silver shield. The slime struck the shield, emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound, but failed to penetrate it even slightly. He seized the opportunity to rush to the skinny monkey's side and splashed the white-scaled snake serum onto the mycelium. Wherever the blue liquid touched, the red marks immediately melted away, revealing the mangled, bloody skin beneath.

"They're mimicking my energy!" the skinny monkey grimaced in pain. "We just chopped off an eyeball, and three identical red-skinned corpses popped up, even their attack patterns are the same as ours!"

Lin Ye then noticed that in the shadows deep in the sewer, there stood three red-skinned corpses with similar builds to the skinny monkey, each holding a military knife, and they were approaching step by step.

"It's a mirror image." Cold sweat beaded on Lin Ye's back. "The Corpse Mother's eyes can mimic the form and abilities of those who devour life." He grabbed the skinny monkey and shoved the last vial of serum into his hand. "Run east! There are vine seeds that Suya planted there. Follow the vines back to the fortress!"

"And what about you?" The skinny monkey grabbed his arm tightly.

"I blew up the cannery warehouse." Lin Ye stuffed a grenade into his pocket. "Tell Su Ya not to wait for me."

He shoved the skinny monkey aside, turned, and charged at the red-skinned corpses. Dark purple energy condensed into claws, tearing apart the chest of the first one. But more mycelium immediately surged from the shattered pieces, piecing together two new red-skinned corpses on the ground, even faster than before.

Lin Ye fought and retreated, deliberately leading the red-skinned corpse towards the cannery. The silver pattern on his palm grew hotter and hotter, and he could feel the Corpse Mother's eyes right in front of him, like a beating heart, greedily sucking up the life energy around her.

The cannery's iron gate had long been smashed open, and the yard was piled high with rotting cans, each covered with tiny red fungal filaments that writhed gently in the sunlight. The entrance to the underground warehouse was wide open, from which came the sickening sounds of chewing, and countless eyes gleamed in the darkness.

Lin Ye pulled out all the grenades, ripped off the fuses, threw them into the warehouse, and then turned and ran. As the explosions rang out behind him, he felt the ground shake, and countless red crystal fragments flew out of the warehouse like a strange rain of blood.

When he rushed out of the cannery, he found that Skinny Monkey was still there, waiting for him at the gate on his mutated warhorse. The red marks on his left leg had spread to his knee, but he was still gripping his military knife tightly. "We agreed to go back to the fortress together for a victory celebration." The kid grinned, revealing a missing front tooth.

Lin Ye's eyes welled up with tears, and he mounted his horse. The two hadn't gone far when a deafening roar suddenly came from the cannery. The ground of the entire factory area collapsed, revealing a huge pit tens of meters in diameter. At the bottom of the pit was a giant eyeball covered with red ecchymosis hyphae, with countless blood vessel-like hyphae piercing into the ground, as if drawing nutrients from the earth.

"That is the true Eye of the Corpse Mother!" The skinny monkey's voice trembled.

The giant eye suddenly opened, its pupils reflecting their figures. Then, countless red-skinned corpses crawled out of the pit and ran wildly toward them. Among them were the appearances of Iron Hoof Alliance soldiers, the appearances of migrants, and even... the faces of Lin Xi and Su Ya.

"Don't look back!" Lin Ye roared, his silver markings bursting with unprecedented light, and purplish-silver energy flowed through the reins into the warhorse's body. The warhorse let out a long neigh, its speed suddenly increasing, leaving the horde of red-skinned corpses far behind.

The sweet scent of lepidopteran wafted in the wind, and Lin Ye knew that Su Ya's vines had spread here. He looked down at the tracking vine on his wrist; the vine was growing wildly towards the fortress, like a path leading home.

The roar of the giant eye gradually faded into the distance, but Lin Ye knew this was not the end. Although the Corpse Mother's eyes had been destroyed, the scattered red fungal hyphae had already penetrated the soil and would soon take root and sprout in new places.

He glanced at the pale, thin monkey beside him, then touched the medicine bottle Suya had given him in his arms. A strong desire suddenly welled up in his heart—he wanted to become stronger, strong enough to completely purify all mycelium, strong enough to ensure that everyone in the fortress could sleep peacefully.

The distant fortress loomed in the morning mist, its silvery-blue shimmering branches like a gentle barrier, softly embracing the homeland. Lin Ye spurred his horse forward, its iron hooves pounding the blood-stained earth, galloping towards the light, towards the one who awaited him.

Behind them, amidst a pile of canned food fragments covered in red tartar hyphae, a tiny red light quietly appeared, like a stubborn spark flickering in the wind.