The Last 299 Days of Humanity

When Chang Sheng's salvage team arrived at the valley, night had just fallen, and the surroundings were so quiet that only the roar of the rushing river could be heard, as if someone was crying in the embrace of the earth.

Three stealth vehicles glided along the river like ghosts, the low-frequency sound waves from their engines almost completely drowned out by the sound of the water. Captain Li Zhen carefully scanned the riverbank through his enhanced goggles, then suddenly raised his right hand—the entire team froze instantly, as if completely blending into the thick night, transforming into a group of silent sculptures.

“Something’s up,” he whispered through his bone conduction headphones. “Four thermal signals have been detected at the three o’clock position on the left bank, and they are moving.”

Sure enough, a group of figures dressed in black were working hurriedly on the riverbank. One of them took out a drilling device from his backpack and quickly drilled a hole in the riverbed.

“They are planting river quake bombs,” the deputy captain reported in a low voice, “attempting to trigger a localized earthquake that would cause the entire riverbed to collapse and crumble.”

Li Zhen sneered: "Amateur tactics. All personnel, on high alert. The decoy guns are charging; we need to take them out before they activate."

These uninvited guests were indeed using old-fashioned pulse energy weapons, their muzzles emitting a pale blue halo that stood out conspicuously in the darkness. Chang Sheng's team, on the other hand, was equipped with the latest type of decoy gun. This weapon didn't rely on kinetic energy to destroy the target's structure; instead, it fired a special "decoy stream" that disrupted the stability of the microscopic particles within the victim's body, triggering a chain reaction of collapse—in a sense, essentially "sending the target to another world."

The battle erupted suddenly and ended just as quickly. Chang Sheng's squad silently approached from the water's surface, unleashing twelve streams of decoys almost simultaneously. Eleven invaders fell to the ground, with only one managing to hold on for a few more seconds by standing in the water, but the second wave of concentrated fire quickly silenced him completely.

While clearing the battlefield, Li Zhen discovered a badge in the equipment of one of the intruders—a blood-red eye embedded in a cracked sphere. He immediately reported this to Chang Sheng via the quantum encryption channel.

“Red Eyes again,” Chang Sheng’s holographic image flickered slightly on the terrain vehicle’s command platform. “It’s the same group that ambushed Yu Qing last time. Outdated equipment but excellent intelligence, it’s really contradictory.”

The salvage operation was immediately launched. Underwater drones quickly located the stones covered with symbols, totaling 237. Each stone was densely covered with strange symbols, and some also had simple illustrations.

As the last stone was safely loaded onto the terrain vehicle, the eastern sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.
-
The stone was quickly transported back to Shengtian Company's Seventh Analysis Center and placed in a huge circular scanning chamber. Twelve multidimensional scanners operated simultaneously, performing a full-range scan of the stone's surface with a resolution of 0.1 micrometers.

Yu Jing stood in the observation room, watching the busy figures of the technicians, her brows furrowed.

"These symbols... are they the 'Guriye script' that Yaodan mentioned?" Chang Sheng asked. "We can't even recognize a single basic character. If only she could recognize a few."

“She only knows the name,” Yu Qing replied, “and only confirms that it might be Guliye script; she knows nothing else.”

Chang Sheng shook his head and said, "This is the first time I've ever heard of this kind of writing. It seems to be an extremely complex pictographic system. Without grammatical references or contextual clues, it's like we're trying to solve a riddle."

After the scan was completed, all the data was synthesized into a high-precision 3D electronic rubbing. Shengtian Company's supercomputing center, "Tianzhi," attempted to analyze it, but the results an hour later were disappointing:

“No matching pattern found in the language database,” Tianzhi’s synthesized voice said calmly. “We suggest obtaining basic grammatical data or referring to a dictionary.”

Just then, Yu Qing suddenly remembered that Yao Dan had mentioned that she learned about the Guliye script from Dr. Lu's book. Dr. Lu's "white coffin" must contain relevant documents!
He almost called Donghao to contact Yaodan through "Lingxi," but then abruptly dismissed the idea. He had just discussed these stones with Yaodan yesterday, and that very night someone attempted to blow up the valley. The Lingxi system had most likely been infiltrated; he couldn't take that risk again.

Go there in person? The risk is too great. Dr. Lu's "grave" is in a hidden location, and Yao Dan can only give a general description.

At that moment, he remembered someone—Chang'e, the humanoid beauty he had sent away. She could go to Yao Dan and ask for her exact location.

At this moment, Chang'e is perched atop an abandoned communications tower, in a deep hibernation state. Since being banished by Yu Qing, she understands that she has been abandoned and is searching for a new node and obtaining new instructions according to the program, so she has temporarily taken refuge in this old tower.

Suddenly, a signal of a specific frequency penetrated her standby state—it was Shengtian Company's emergency call code, which had not been used for many years.

Chang'e slid down the communications tower and arrived at a half-collapsed building halfway up the mountain. This place used to be a transit station, but now only ruins remain. However, in the basement, an old piece of equipment was automatically activating.

The holographic image of the Victory Emblem flickered in the air, the signal extremely unstable, but it still managed to transmit the telegram:

"Chang'e, urgent mission. Please proceed to Wengshan immediately to find Yaodan and obtain the location of Dr. Lu's 'white coffin'. We need reference materials in the Guliye script, especially a dictionary."

The system then transmitted a batch of rubbings of the symbols. Chang'e's visual sensors quickly captured and stored all the data.

“These symbols were found on the rocks in the valley, but we can’t decipher them. Dr. Lu must have some clues, and Yao Dan knows the location.”

Chang'e's processor rapidly searched the memory bank. In fact, she didn't need to ask Yao Dan—she knew the place herself. Dr. Lu often visited her father at the hospital in Wengshan, where she had been a doctor.

However, her internal programming malfunctioned, resisting the instructions from Shengtian. Only when Yuqing's telegram reached her sensory system, informing her of the approximate location and how to open the "white coffin," did she immediately take action.

She piloted the vehicle provided by Shengtian—actually a modified missile with a payload—and sped toward the target location.

The location wasn't exactly hidden; it was even visible to the naked eye, but it was rarely visited. Chang'e found it in less than half an hour and successfully opened the "coffin's" lid.

She went straight to Dr. Lu's private archives, where his most valuable research findings were kept.

After six hours of meticulous searching, she finally found complete materials on the Gurkha script in an encrypted storage unit—including a Gurkha dictionary and grammar manual. She also discovered some of Dr. Rue's research notes, recording his deciphering results of this ancient script.

The notes indicate that Dr. Lu's research on the Gurry script was not out of interest in philology, but because the Gurry script recorded a substance called "Kido," which could inhibit gene mutations.

After digitizing all the data, Chang'e transmitted the data back to Shengtian Company through special scheduling and with the help of a secure satellite overhead.

Shengtian Company subsequently entered a state of high activity.
-
Inside Shengtian's analysis room, Yu Qing and Chang Sheng's holographic images reunited. The Tianzhi System was analyzing the symbols on the stone based on data transmitted back by Chang'e.

"The analysis is 73% complete," Tianzhi reported. "The main content is now understandable."

On the screen, the ancient Gurkha symbols were translated one by one into modern characters. As the content unfolded, the entire analysis room fell into a deathly silence.

The stone tells a terrible story:

About two hundred years ago, the Fourth Paradise was attacked by a group of unidentified individuals calling themselves the "Purifiers." They kidnapped residents to conduct some kind of biological experiment, with the aim of creating a biological weapon called the "Donkey-Headed Wolf."

This creature resembles a wolf in appearance, but has the head of a donkey. Once it bites a human, it injects a synthetic virus into the victim, rewriting their DNA and gradually transforming them into a donkey-headed wolf within 24 hours. After the transformation, it loses its reproductive ability and dies within one generation. The "Purifiers" plan to release hundreds of millions of donkey-headed wolves into major cities worldwide, thoroughly polluting the human environment in order to achieve their so-called "purification of the world."

However, an accident occurred during the experiment: a pack of donkey-headed wolves broke through the restricted area and attacked everyone. Almost all the "purifiers" were infected and transformed, with only one resident of the Fourth Paradise surviving—a Gulier who not only remained uninfected but also miraculously escaped.

These stones are inscribed with his accusations and warnings.

Yu Qing almost cried out in alarm: "My God, I was so close to them... If I had been bitten, I would be a donkey-headed wolf now!"

Chang Sheng quickly pressed on, "Was it in that river valley that you encountered them?"

Yu Qing recounted his experience in its entirety.

Chang Sheng's expression was grave: "So, all those who participated in the experiment should be dead. But the 'Purifiers' clearly still have remnants, and they may still be trying to carry out this insane plan."

"I still can't understand why those donkey-headed wolves didn't spread outwards at the time?"

Chang Sheng's image flickered slightly: "Perhaps the quantity is not enough... or perhaps they don't want to expose themselves too early. This also explains why some people want to destroy these stones—they don't want the warning to be made public."

At this moment, Yu Qing suddenly thought of something and said, "Perhaps they still have one technical hurdle to overcome. Why are those Guliye people immune to infection? Didn't Dr. Lu mention a substance called 'Kido' in his notes just now?"

"You mean they're worried that people will use Quito to counter the cleanup plan, causing all their previous efforts to be wasted, so they're rushing to find a solution?"

"It's possible. But I think they definitely have other plans to achieve their goals. At the very least, ambushing me and launching 'Operation Lutai' is part of it."

Chang Sheng remained silent for a long time, then muttered to himself, "What exactly are they after?"

"Yes, what is the purpose? The Fourth Paradise is inhabited by pristine people who have no connection with the outside world. Using them for experiments is obviously not for the 'purification' of all mankind."

Just then, a new analysis report was presented to everyone—about the old-fashioned pulse weapon used by the attackers.

The main contents of the report are as follows:

"Although the weapon is an outdated type, its energy core is a highly advanced quantum battery, and its technology far surpasses that of the weapon itself."

Chang Sheng zoomed in on a 3D model of a weapon and slowly said, "This technology... is only mastered by a few top companies, including our Shengtian."

Yu Qing's eyes sharpened: "You mean, these people are backed by a large organization?"

"To be more precise, they may be outposts or branches of a larger organization, and their equipment has been deliberately downgraded to avoid being traced," Chang Sheng replied calmly. "The red-eye badge... might just be a decoy."

"Perhaps there are other reasons. They secretly produced those weapons a long time ago and are now upgrading them to continue using them, which can mislead others. Besides, although these weapons are outdated, they are faster than decoy guns in killing unarmed people on a large scale."

"Possibly. Everyone is keeping a close eye on the production of weapons of mass destruction right now, so using secretly stockpiled old equipment might be a more covert option."

Just then, Donghao rushed in and said, "Your Excellency, we have detected abnormal financial activity—in the past 24 hours, the stocks of several biotechnology companies have been heavily shorted, and the stock prices of several protective equipment manufacturers have been abnormally driven up."

“Someone is preparing for a biological crisis,” Chang Sheng said in a deep voice, “or rather… they know what’s going to happen and are taking the opportunity to raise more funds to continue advancing their plans.”

Yu Qing laughed and said, "We can do the opposite. President Chang, let's immediately acquire all the short-selling biotech companies, the more the better!"

“I have to remind the chairman that once the news about the donkey-headed wolf gets out, all biotech companies will likely face public outrage, and state authorities may immediately shut them down temporarily. That would result in huge losses for us.”

"I don't see it that way; we might make a fortune from it."

"Sorry, I don't quite understand."

"As the old saying goes, he has his Zhang Liang's plan, and I have my ladder over the wall."

Could you explain it more clearly?

"You can't go wrong by listening to me. Don't wait for the donkey-headed wolf thing to spread slowly. We'll immediately announce to the world that we've discovered someone wants to use the donkey-headed wolf to exterminate humanity, and then we'll buy all those stocks when they've hit rock bottom."

"This is too risky; I really don't understand the logic behind doing this."

"The logic is simple. After we complete the acquisition, we'll announce that we've found the key to thwarting this vicious plan, and that we've found the Gurya people's 'Kido'."

"Brilliant! This will quickly quell the donkey-headed wolf incident, and the authorities will also require us to mass-produce Quito in case of a possible attack."

Yu Qing sighed, "But we still don't know what Guido is. I think we should make all the information about the Guliye script public and let everyone go to Guido to prevent a sudden attack. It would be best to find the Guliye person who carved the inscription."

"Who knows if he's even alive today? Besides, in this vast sea of ​​people, finding someone without any records is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Maybe we don't need to look for him. He must be hiding with hatred in his heart. Once he finds out that we have discovered the information he left behind and made it public, he will come looking for us himself."

"He might not dare to show his face."

“There is a way; he will definitely show up. We can put rubbings of the inscriptions on the stones in the valley up for public sale. That person will definitely want to see if they are genuine, so he will subscribe. We just need to carefully check those who have subscribed, and he will be among them.”

"Chairman, I must admit that although you lack experience in managing a company, your understanding of human nature is far deeper than mine." (End of Chapter)