Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

As the skinny monkey's left leg became entangled in vines, Lin Ye was squatting in the fortress's blacksmith shop, watching Old Zheng hammer a piece of red-hot iron. The iron sheet was covered with fine patterns, carved according to the design of white-scaled snake scales, and had several grooves along the edge, allowing it to be pieced together with other iron sheets to form a complete shield.

"Can this thing really stop the claws of the Red Sha Corpse?" Old Zheng swung his hammer with his one arm, sparks flying onto his tattered apron. "The last batch of steel shields were gnawed through like paper by the Red Sha fungus."

Lin Ye touched the iron sheet with his silver-patterned finger. Dark purple energy flowed along the patterns, and the iron sheet instantly glowed with a pale blue aura. "Su Ya soaked it in the sap of the scale vine for three days," he said, picking up a scrap of material and splashing some red rashes sample on it. The blue aura immediately surged, corroding the sample into white smoke. "Ordinary mutant claws definitely can't pierce it, as for the mirror image of the red rashes corpse..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but both of them understood—the Red Sha Corpse, capable of replication, was no longer something that could be dealt with simply through defense. Outside the blacksmith's shop came the laughter of children. Lin Xi was leading several of the migrant children in watering the Scale Vine. The silver-blue vines stretched out in the sunlight, like flowing armor adorning the high walls of a fortress.

"How's Skinny Monkey doing?" Lin Ye asked.

"His life is saved, but his left leg is probably ruined." Old Zheng paused with his hammer. "When that kid woke up, he was shouting that he wanted to blow up the ruins of the cannery, and he forgot that there was still half a warehouse of mycelium that hadn't been cleaned up."

Lin Ye frowned. He knew Skinny Monkey's temperament; once he made up his mind, nothing could sway him. But going to the cannery now would be like walking into a trap—although the Eye of the Corpse Mother had been blown up, the scattered red rashes mycelium had already merged with the viral soil underground, and no one could say for sure what kind of monster it would give birth to.

"Let him lie there for three more days." Lin Ye stood up; the patterns on the sheet metal had cooled and were gleaming with a cold metallic sheen. "I'll take him there in three days."

Just as Old Zheng was about to retort, a horn suddenly sounded from the watchtower. This time, the horn was rapid and frequent, indicating the highest level of alarm. The two rushed out of the blacksmith's shop and saw a group of dark shadows sweeping across the western sky of the fortress. Their wingspans were at least five meters wide, and they were clutching burning wood in their claws. These were mutated vultures infected by the red pustular mycelium.

"They're setting fire!" Suya's voice came from the direction of the greenhouse. Green energy transformed into vines that shot into the sky and wrapped around the wing of a vulture. But suddenly, the red pustule mycelium on the vulture's body erupted, corroding the vines and causing them to fall towards the scale vine barrier with flames.

"Crackling sound—"

The flames landed on the scale vines, instantly dimming their silvery-blue patterns, and the vines curled up like scalded vegetables. Several vultures seized the opportunity to swoop down, their sharp talons tearing open gaps in the barrier and hurling burning logs into the fortress.

"Use the serum!" Lin Ye shouted, distributing the white-scaled snake serum from his backpack to those around him. "Splash it on the vultures!"

The Ironhoof Alliance soldiers immediately used catapults to hurle the serum canisters into the air. The blue liquid exploded in mid-air like a refreshing rain. The vultures that were drenched let out mournful cries, the red pustule mycelium rapidly dissolved, their wings lost strength, and they all plummeted to the ground.

The battle lasted all morning. By the time the last vulture was entangled in the scale vines, three large holes had been burned through the barrier on the west side of the fortress, half of the glass roof of the greenhouse had been smashed, and all of Suya's new medicine had been destroyed.

The skinny monkey, leaning on his crutch, limped to the gap, staring at the charred scales, his eyes red-rimmed: "It's all my fault... If I hadn't let the mycelium escape..."

"It's not your fault." Lin Ye patted his shoulder, and the silver threads gently brushed across the charred vines, revealing tiny sprouts emerging from the ashes. "The scale vine can be reborn in fire, and so can we."

A scarred woman from among the migrants suddenly approached, holding a ceramic jar in her hands: "These are the seeds I hid. I snatched them from the cannery. They can withstand high temperatures and might be useful for replanting in the greenhouse."

The seeds in the ceramic jar gleamed with a strange metallic sheen. Suya picked one up, infused it with green energy, and the seed rapidly swelled, sprouting scaly roots. "It's a radiation-resistant seed!" Suya's eyes lit up. "It's genetically very similar to the scale vine, able to grow in soil contaminated with mycelium!"

Looking at the seeds, Lin Ye suddenly had an idea. "Old Zheng," he shouted in the direction of the blacksmith's shop, "turn the remaining iron sheets into seedling pots and soak them in sap from the scale vine!" He then said to Su Ya, "graft these seeds with the scale vine. We're going to grow a 'steel forest' around the fortress."

Over the next few days, everyone in the fortress was busy rebuilding. Ironhoof soldiers reinforced the barriers, migrants cleared the ruins, and Suya led the children in cultivating new grafts. Lin Ye and Skinny Monkey studied the cannery map, marking areas where mycelium might remain.

That evening, the scarred woman found Lin Ye and handed him a smooth stone with a crookedly carved character "An" on it. "This was carved by my man," the woman said in a low voice. "He used to be an engineer at a cannery. After discovering the Black Crow Hall's conspiracy, he was beaten to death in the warehouse. This stone was broken off from his hands."

On the back of the stone were several lines of finely engraved text, a map of the cannery's underground pipe network. One pipe was marked in red, its endpoint near the fortress's well. "The mycelium can spread along the groundwater," the woman's voice was filled with fear. "My husband said that the Black Crow Hall had long planned to contaminate the entire area with groundwater."

Lin Ye's heart sank. He immediately gathered everyone and rushed to the well with their tools. Sure enough, the soil around the well was tinged with a faint red. Using the silver probe, he could feel countless tiny mycelia crawling up the well wall, like a swarm of greedy ants.

"Quickly drain the well!" Lin Ye shouted, his silver veins erupting as dark purple energy flowed into the water along the well rope. The well water instantly boiled, red mycelium swirling within the energy before finally turning into foam and rising to the surface.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Suya scattered the grafted seeds into the well. Upon encountering the energy water, the seeds immediately grew wildly, their scaly roots piercing the well wall like steel needles, firmly locking in the remaining mycelium. "This will prevent the mycelium from spreading along the groundwater." Suya wiped the sweat from her forehead, green energy flickering slightly at her fingertips.

Lin Ye looked at the thriving new plants in the well, but he felt no relief. He knew that this was only a temporary defense, and as long as the Black Crow Hall was still active, and as long as the red rashes mycelium was still lurking in the soil, they could never let their guard down.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the cannery," Lin Ye said to Skinny Monkey, folding the map and putting it in his pocket. "This time, we're not just going to clean up the mycelium, but also find the Black Crow Gang's lair."

Skinny Monkey gripped his military knife tightly. Although his left leg hadn't fully recovered, his eyes were filled with determination. "Good," he grinned, "let those bastards see who the real owners of the cannery are."

Night had fallen. Lin Ye stood atop the fortress's watchtower, gazing towards the distant cannery. The sky there glowed a faint red, like a congealed scab. He took out the stone the scarred woman had given him; the character "安" (peace/safety) gleamed faintly in the moonlight, as if telling of a father's hopes for his child.

Lin Ye knew that everything they did was for the sake of "peace." To allow the people in the fortress to sleep peacefully, to allow the children to run in the sunshine, to completely eliminate the red rashes mycelium, and to restore vitality to this polluted land.

His silver markings glowed slightly, echoing the red light from the distant cannery, like a silent contest. Lin Ye clenched his fist, dark purple energy gathering in his palm, carrying the purity of the white-scaled snake serum, the resilience of the scale vines, and the hopes of everyone, preparing to face the impending battle.

Deep within the ruins of the cannery, a figure enveloped in red ecliptic mycelium slowly rose, its empty eye sockets flashing red light. It tightly gripped half a stone engraved with the character "安" (peace) in its hand and walked step by step toward the fortress.