Doomsday Reboot: My Superpowers Absorb Everything

In the morning mist of the cannery ruins, Lin Ye's military boots crushed the last crystal of red rashes mycelium. Dark purple energy flowed along the silver veins, leaving long streaks of light on the ground, scorching the mycelium that was trying to regroup. Skinny Monkey followed behind, leaning on his iron spear, the scales on his left leg gleaming blue in the sunlight, leaving a thorny mark on the ground with each step.

"This place is cleaner than I imagined." Skinny Monkey spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, a piece of rotting flesh still hanging on the tip of his spear, half a piece of Black Crow Hall clothing clinging to it. "It seems the last explosion destroyed the large mycelial clumps."

Lin Ye remained silent, his senses spreading along the underground pipe network. The map the scarred woman had given him clearly indicated that a secret passage lay beneath the cannery's wastewater treatment pond, leading directly to the Black Crow Hall's temporary stronghold. Suddenly, the silver pattern heated up, pointing northwest towards the cold storage—the energy reactions there were chaotic and chilling, like a pile of extinguished sparks, yet still faintly warm.

"Be careful." Lin Ye pressed down on the skinny monkey's shoulder, dark purple energy condensing into a shield in his palm. "The temperature in the freezer can preserve mycelium; there might be survivors."

The iron door of the freezer was rusted shut by the red scab mycelium. When Lin Ye smashed it open with his energy shield, a blast of cold air mixed with formaldehyde and the stench of decay hit him. The freezer was filled with frozen corpses, some mutants, some humans, all suspended from the beams by wires. Their skin was covered with a thin layer of white frost, and beneath the frost, one could vaguely see the wriggling red scabs.

"Black Crow Hall is raising 'stockpiles'." The skinny monkey's voice trembled as he thrust his spear into the chest of a corpse. The moment the ice cracked, a red mycelium suddenly emerged and coiled around his wrist like a snake.

Lin Ye's energy shield intervened just in time, the mycelium striking the shield and instantly freezing into ice shards. "They're dormant Red Raven larvae." He looked at the throbbing red tumor in the corpse's chest cavity. "The Black Crow Hall is preserving them at low temperatures; they can be awakened when needed."

The two walked deeper into the warehouse, and the further they went, the more corpses they found. At the far end of the warehouse, on a freezer, Lin Ye found a strange device—it looked like a metal cage, with a thick layer of red eczema mycelium inside. A wooden sign hung on the iron frame above the cage, with the words "Container No. 7" written in blood.

"This is... an incubator for cultivating Red Sha Corpses?" The skinny monkey's iron spear struck the cage, producing a hollow echo. "Container Seven... could there be six more?"

Lin Ye's silver markings suddenly adhered to the freezer. The moment the dark purple energy seeped into the ice, a faint knocking sound came from inside the freezer. He gestured for the skinny monkey to step back and used his energy blade to cleave open the ice shell—inside curled up a half-grown child, his body covered in scale-like frost, the red lumps on his chest throbbing slowly, but his eyes were still open, Lin Ye's image reflected in his pupils.

"They're alive!" Skinny Monkey's voice trembled. "The Black Crow Gang doesn't even spare children?"

The child didn't move, but stared intently at Lin Ye, his lips moving as if he were trying to say something. As Lin Ye leaned closer, he could make out the broken syllables: "...water...save..."

"He's still conscious!" Lin Ye's energy shield enveloped the child, and silver patterns gently brushed against his tumor. "Skinny Monkey, find something to keep him warm. We'll take him back to the fortress."

On the way back, the child remained silent, only staring at Lin Ye with his reddened eyes. The skinny monkey removed his own scaly vine protective gear and wrapped it around him, watching the writhing red welts, and suddenly cursed, "Those bastards from the Black Crow Hall, sooner or later they'll taste what it's like to be gnawed by fungal mycelium!"

When they returned to the fortress, Suya was directing the construction of the framework for the "steel forest." The migrants used sheet metal from the blacksmith's shop and branches of scale vines to build a support structure several meters high. Suya's green energy flowed along the support structure, infusing the grafted radiation-resistant seeds, causing them to germinate quickly and soon grow into thorny vines that wove a dense, impenetrable green net on the support structure.

"This thing can really stop the mutated vultures?" The scarred woman stood beside him, holding her child, looking at the blue light flashing on the vines. "Last time, the fire almost burned through the barrier."

"The sap of the scale vine is mixed with the serum of the white-scaled snake," Suya wiped the sweat from her forehead. Green energy was injected into the vine, making the thorns longer and harder. "This time, not to mention vultures, even red-skinned corpses would be riddled with holes."

When Lin Ye handed the child from the cryogenics to Su Ya, the girl's expression instantly changed. "His red marks have already invaded his heart." Her green energy probed into the child's chest, her fingertips trembling slightly. "Ordinary scale vine medicine won't work; we need the bile of the white-scaled snake."

Lin Ye's heart sank. Only he and the skinny monkey knew about the White-Scaled Snake. He didn't want to disturb that ancient creature again, but seeing the faint throbbing lump on the child's chest, he finally nodded. "I'm going to the underground lake," he told Su Ya. "Keep an eye on him, don't let the red marks spread."

On the way to the underground lake, Skinny Monkey remained silent. As they neared the entrance to the passage, he suddenly grabbed Lin Ye's arm: "Chief Lin, tell me... what exactly is the Black Crow Hall trying to do by cultivating so many Red Sha Corpses?"

Lin Ye gazed at the eerie blue light deep within the passage, recalling "Container No. 7" in the cryogenics: "They're looking for a 'container' that can perfectly fuse with the red sha mycelium, like..." He paused, remembering the red crystal at the core of the Corpse Mother, "like cultivating a new Corpse Mother."

The white-scaled snake seemed to know their purpose. When Lin Ye said he needed bile, the huge snake head lowered slightly, allowing Lin Ye's silver-patterned hand to come close to its scales. The pale blue bile seeped out from the gaps in the scales, and the moment it landed on the silver-patterned hand, it transformed into a crystal bead, floating in Lin Ye's palm.

"It seems... to be helping us." The skinny monkey looked at the blue light in the white-scaled snake's eyes and suddenly felt that this giant beast was not so scary.

Lin Ye carefully placed the bile beads into the earthenware jar and bowed deeply to the white-scaled snake. The snake nodded slightly, and its massive body sank back to the bottom of the lake, leaving only ripples on the surface.

It was already dark when they returned to the fortress. Suya was guarding the child, a barrier of green energy firmly locking the spreading red bruises inside. Just as Lin Ye handed over the bile beads, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded from the watchtower—this time it wasn't a horn, but the screams of Ironhoof Alliance soldiers.

As the two rushed to the fortress gate, they saw that the green netting of the steel forest had been torn open, and dozens of red-skinned corpses were pouring in through the gap. Their bodies were covered with a layer of black carapace, which the sharp thorns of the scale vines could not penetrate. Behind the horde of corpses stood a figure dressed in a Black Raven Hall robe, wearing a bronze mask with two red crystals embedded in the raven eyes on the mask.

"It's Elder Crow's henchman, 'Bloodface'!" The skinny monkey's iron spear creaked as he gripped it. "He was the one who controlled the bone slaves in the valley last time!"

Bloodface didn't speak, but simply raised his bronze-gloved hand and pointed to the warm shed in the center of the fortress. The horde of crimson-skinned corpses immediately surged towards it like a tide, the sound of their shells clashing together like drumming.

Lin Ye's silver markings and bile beads erupted simultaneously, a pale blue light exploding amidst the horde of crimson corpses. The carapaces, upon encountering the blue light, instantly dissolved into pus. "Su Ya, take the child into the underground fortifications!" he shouted, his energy blade slashing towards the blood-red surface. "Skinny Monkey, close the door!"

The bronze mask, its surface stained with blood, cracked under the energy blade, revealing writhing red welts beneath. "You destroyed my vessel," his voice snarled, like two stones rubbing together, "and you'll have to pay with the entire fortress!"

The horde of crimson corpses grew larger and larger, causing the green net of the steel forest to sway incessantly, and the grafted vines to begin to wither. Lin Ye watched the soldiers fall one after another, then suddenly tossed a bead of bile into the air. The energy of the silver patterns spread along the vines, causing the entire green net to glow with a blue light.

"Grab him!" Lin Ye winked at the skinny monkey, then rushed towards the blood-stained face, his dark purple energy transforming into chains that bound the other's wrists.

The skinny monkey's iron spear pierced the blood-stained face's shoulder with precision. In the instant the bronze mask shattered completely, Lin Ye saw a face covered in red bruises—the face of a middle-aged man with a crescent-shaped scar on his left temple, which perfectly matched the "An" character engraved on the stone given to him by the scarred woman.

"Is he...her man?" The skinny man's voice trembled.

Bloodface—or rather, the scarred woman's husband—suddenly let out a piercing roar, his body began to swell, and red scab mycelium exploded outwards, devouring the surrounding red scab corpses into flesh and blood. "I am not a vessel… I am… the new Corpse Mother!"

Lin Ye's silver patterns and bile beads erupted to their peak simultaneously, forming a huge energy shield with pale blue light that enveloped the entire blood-red surface. The red sha fungus struggled painfully in the blue light, eventually turning into a pool of blood, leaving only a stone on the ground engraved with the character "An," the very stone the scarred woman had given to Lin Ye.

By the time the battle ended, dawn was breaking. Most of the green netting of the steel forest had collapsed, and the glass roofs of the greenhouses were shattered, but the horde of red-scarred corpses had been completely wiped out. The scarred woman sat silently weeping amidst the ruins, clutching the stone. Her son lay beside her, the red marks on his chest fading, his breathing gradually becoming steady.

Lin Ye walked to her side and handed her the remnants of the bile beads: "He was protecting you and the child until the very end. The red sha fungus couldn't completely devour his consciousness."

The woman took the scraps, tears dripping onto the stone, spreading a dark stain. "Thank you," she said hoarsely. "I know where the Black Crow Church's headquarters is. It's in the basement of the church in the old town. There... there are six more containers."

Lin Ye gazed towards the old town, where the clock tower's spire gleamed like a bloodstained needle in the morning light. He knew the real battle had only just begun. The Black Crow Hall's container plan was merely the tip of the iceberg; the shadow of the Corpse Mother had not yet dissipated, and the Red Sha mycelium still lurked in the soil.

But he was no longer afraid. Looking at the busy people around him—Suya was repairing the steel forest, the skinny monkey was leading people to clean up the remains of the red-skinned corpses, and the scarred woman was holding her awakened child, her eyes shining again—Lin Ye's heart was filled with strength.

His silver markings glowed gently in the morning light, echoing the blue glow of the steel forest, like an inextinguishable flame illuminating the smoke-filled land. As long as they were together, as long as the steel forest continued to grow, nothing could destroy this fortress built with faith and flesh.

On the church steeple in the old town, a raven stares with scarlet eyes toward the fortress, a bloodstained strip of cloth in its beak bearing the unfinished container number "six".