The Last 299 Days of Humanity

When Yu Qing received the faint but clear survivor signal from the Fifth Paradise, he was analyzing the completely silent monitoring data from the Seventh Paradise in the control center of the Wengshan base. A chill ran down his spine.

The mysterious disappearance of the residents of the Seventh Paradise hangs like the Sword of Damocles over his head; and the protective shield of the Fifth Paradise, which has been forcibly torn open, has a potentially fatal security vulnerability that must be addressed immediately.

He could almost hear the frantic heartbeats of the last nine survivors through the cold screen. He knew they could never be put in danger again. Besides, their living conditions were terrible; the facilities were broken.

He could not stand idly by and watch the last, unmodified spark of primitive humanity perish in despair, or be silently abducted by that mysterious force hidden in the darkness for some ulterior motive, repeating the mistakes of the Seventh Paradise.

He immediately dispatched another elite team, led by Dr. Su Qing, a medical doctor known for her composure and empathy, carrying emergency supplies far exceeding the standard and advanced medical equipment, to rush to the Fifth Paradise to meet up with Nightingale, who had arrived earlier.

Their core mission is clear and urgent: to persuade and assist all survivors, at all costs, to immediately relocate to the relatively safe and well-equipped Wengshan base.

However, the harsh realities of life quickly shattered the ideal blueprint. The difficulty of persuasion exceeded everyone's expectations.

Yu Qing overlooked a crucial issue: the "new humans" who have undergone generations of genetic optimization and mechanical enhancement are now vastly different in physique and temperament from the "original" humans in the Fifth Paradise. This difference itself has become a huge chasm.

Su Qing approached out of friendliness, but her head, twice the size of a normal person and bearing extraordinary intelligence, was seen as an alien monster by the survivors, led by Old Chen.

When she bent down as much as possible, explained her purpose in a gentle manner, showed pictures of the beautiful scenery and tidy living quarters at the Wengshan base, and promised a safe environment, ample food, and comprehensive medical care, she was met only with deathly silence.

On the dirty, haggard faces of the residents of Fifth Paradise, there was not longing, but a deepening, almost incredulous, expression of doubt.

The nightingale nearby impatiently flapped her wings, which were made of a composite of metal and biopolymer, creating a slight airflow. This action made the surviving residents even more terrified, and the women even trembled with fear.

"We're doing this for your own good!" Her voice carried a sharp, efficiency-driven edge. "It's no longer safe here. Tomorrow, at the latest, we must leave!"

"Leave...leave here?" Old Chen suddenly raised his head, his chapped lips trembling violently, his eyes like those of a cornered, wounded beast:

“Outside…outside there are those flying ‘shadows’ everywhere…we’ve seen them with our own eyes! Anything that gets close to them disappears!”

Su Qing frowned, looking at Nightingale with confusion: "What is a shadow that flies around?"

Nightingale sighed and explained, "I think they were referring to something like the flying machines that occasionally fly over the park."

Generation after generation, they have huddled in this crumbling paradise, their technological understanding regressing to near-primitive levels. They know nothing of the outside world and are filled with absurd fantasies.

Su Qing patiently tried to explain the principles of the aircraft in the simplest language, emphasizing that it was a harmless means of transportation, and promising that they would leave in the same comfortable and safe aircraft.

However, this explanation only added fuel to the fire. Old Chen took a step back in terror, waving his uninjured arm and hissing, "No! We're not going anywhere! We'll stay here! This is our home!"

“Home?” Su Qing tried to keep her voice gentle. “Mr. Chen, the synthetic food system here has collapsed, the protective shield has failed, and the food and clean water sources are about to be cut off. There is no future here, and even basic safety cannot be guaranteed…”

"At least we're still alive!" Old Chen became completely agitated, veins bulging on his neck. "Staying here, we might be hungry, but at least we're alive! Going out? Getting into that weird bird-like iron box? That's suicide! You're trying to trick us into going out to feed those 'shadows'!"

The other survivors behind him, especially the two women of similar age with withered faces, looked away in fear, huddling together like frightened quails.

Clearly, they were filled with extreme fear of leaving this familiar, dilapidated "nest" that had provided them with their last shred of refuge.

For them, the unknown outside world was far more terrifying than the hunger and danger of their immediate survival. The boy, around ten years old, clung tightly to the hem of one of the women's clothes, his face deathly pale.

On the other side, the sisters known as Xiaoya and Daya, and another thin, taciturn girl, had a faint, longing glimmer in their eyes because of the promise of "ample food".

But under Lao Chen's fierce opposition and the intense fear of the others, that glimmer of light quickly dimmed, and they lowered their heads deeply, not daring to look Su Qing and the others in the eye.

Time ticked away in the agonizing stalemate, and both sides' patience dwindled.

Nightingale and Su Qing tried every method they could think of: explaining more patiently, offering high-calorie nutritional pastes and synthetic meats as bait, and even suggesting that they could first transfer a portion of the people to Wengshan to experience it firsthand...

But Old Chen, like a frightened bird, harbored the deepest distrust towards all the suggestions, causing all the efforts to go to waste.

Yu Qing was extremely anxious as he received repeated reports at the Wengshan base that progress was minimal and even the situation was deteriorating. He knew that conventional communication methods had failed.

Left with no other choice, he gritted his teeth and issued a new directive: "If reason fails to persuade, then initiate a 'guided transfer' strategy. Appropriately... blur the boundaries, emphasize the absolute safety and comfort of Wengshan, and downplay or even ignore potential risks."

If necessary, promises can be made with things they can't verify. The goal is singular: lure them out of that dangerous area! And as quickly as possible!

This decision made Su Qing, who adhered to scientific ethics, and Nightingale, who was used to being straightforward, feel very embarrassed and uncomfortable.

However, just as they were steeling themselves and beginning to try this more "guiding" (or rather, deceptive) persuasion, and even privately assessing the possibility of taking mild coercive measures in extreme circumstances, an unexpected accident erupted in a bloody manner. The ten-year-old boy next to Old Chen, still innocent and childlike, was annoyed by the oppressive atmosphere around him, and his attention was drawn to a half-open supply box at the feet of the team members. The brightly colored, brightly packaged environmental disinfectant tablets inside the box seemed to him like some kind of strange food.

Taking advantage of a moment when no one was looking, he suddenly grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth. A team member nearby caught a glimpse and was terrified—that was a high-concentration chemical disinfectant! The team member exclaimed and rushed over, reaching out to pry the pills out of his mouth.

To Old Chen, this swift movement was tantamount to attacking his child. "What are you doing!" he roared like a wild beast. Almost instinctively, he thrust forward with all the strength and precision he had in his hand, gripping the sharpened bamboo pole tightly!

"Pfft-"

A dull, teeth-grinding sound rang out. The bamboo tip pierced the team member's neck with perfect precision.

The team member froze instantly, his eyes wide open, his face filled with disbelief. He made a few unintelligible "hoarse" sounds from his throat, and bright red blood gushed out like a burst water pipe, splattering Old Chen and the boy's faces and bodies.

Everything happened so suddenly. Su Qing's scream, Nightingale's stern shout, the figures of the other team members rushing forward, intertwined with the image of that team member falling heavily to the ground, convulsing violently in a pool of blood until he fell completely silent, plunging the scene into chaos.

Old Chen was stunned. He looked at his blood-stained hands and bamboo pole, then at the team members who had already lost their lives on the ground, and then at the cold and hostile gazes around him. He was overwhelmed by immense fear and despair at the terrible disaster he had caused.

"Go! Go now!" he roared, grabbing two equally terrified women and his son who was vomiting and trying to vomit up the pills. Like a mad bull, he smashed through Su Qing and another team member who tried to stop him, and plunged into the treacherous, dark, and dense primeval forest outside the Fifth Paradise without looking back.

With a few undulations, their figures were completely swallowed up by the dense, impenetrable vegetation.

The remaining two sisters, Xiaoya and Daya, along with the frail girl, were completely stunned by the sudden bloodshed and violence. They stood frozen in place like three clay or wooden sculptures, trembling violently. In addition to the original fear, their eyes were filled with a chilling and bewildered feeling that went deep into their bones.

Nightingale immediately led two team members into the air, and relying on vital sign trackers and thermal imagers, they quickly located the Chen family of four, who were huddled together like startled birds, in a shallow cave hidden by vegetation a few kilometers away.

"Target locked, hiding in a cave 3.7 kilometers southeast. Requesting instructions!" Nightingale's voice came through the communicator, calm yet suppressing anger. She believed that Old Chen was wild and untamed, extremely dangerous, and probably could not be dealt with by gentle means.

On the other end of the communication line, Yu Qing fell into a long silence. A direct assault? With the quality and equipment of the Shengtian Squad, subduing or even eliminating Old Chen would be a piece of cake.

But that would mean a complete falling out, irreversible psychological trauma to the child, and a complete distortion of his original intention to save these "primitive humans." This cold, hard weighing of the options made his chest tighten.

“We cannot launch a direct assault,” Yu Qing finally ordered with difficulty, enunciating each word clearly. “Establish concealed observation posts around their perimeter, maintain a safe distance, and provide remote protection. Ensure they are not attacked by wild animals, or… anything else we haven’t yet detected.”

We need time for both sides to calm down, and we also need time... to find a better solution.

Thus, a helpless stalemate formed on the edge of the primeval forest. Shengtian's team had constructed a concealed perimeter, with advanced equipment firmly locking onto the cave, but they could neither get any closer nor leave.

Inside the cave, the Chen family struggled to survive on the meager food they had hastily grabbed during their escape and their rudimentary survival skills. Every rustle of wind and movement made them extremely nervous, and their hostility towards the "monsters" outside only grew stronger.

In the end, they had no choice but to leave a portion of the humanoids behind to hold the fort, while the others quietly withdrew.

This operation, which involved a great deal of manpower and resources in searching for the native humans of the Fifth and Seventh Paradises, only brought back the sisters Xiaoya and Daya, who were extremely shocked by Old Chen's murder and developed a slight dependence on the relatively "gentle" Su Qing and her friends in extreme fear.

Oh, and there's that little girl who's always silent; that makes a total of three people.

They were almost numbly helped and carried onto the aircraft bound for Wengshan.

Before the cabin door closed, Xiaoya subconsciously turned around and looked out the porthole at the boundless dense forest that, under the setting sun, shone with a dark, blood-red hue, like a giant beast that had devoured Old Chen's family. Large tears finally rolled down her cheeks, mingling with the lingering fear on her face, leaving only endless bewilderment.

The aircraft climbed, passing through the clouds; the journey was so smooth it was almost deathly still.

Back at Wengshan, facing Yu Qing who was already waiting there, Su Qing removed her protective mask, her face filled with exhaustion and guilt: "...Chairman, we...we only brought back three people. Old Chen and the others...we can't do anything about them for now. Our team..."

Yu Qing raised his hand, stopping her from saying anything more. He couldn't find a reason to blame them. His gaze passed over Su Qing and landed on the three girls behind her, huddled together, trembling like candles in the wind.

He looked at their terrified eyes, then thought of Danggui and Yuxuan, who were still stranded in the Third Paradise with an unknown situation, and of the family of four who disappeared deep in the forest, their fates unknown, and of the still silent and mysterious Seventh Paradise...

A profound sense of powerlessness, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed his heart.

This last, faint ember of primitive human civilization is not only flickering and on the verge of extinction, but also threatened by an unknown storm that could suddenly extinguish it completely.

Moreover, he was deeply worried that Dadian's forces hadn't been completely eliminated, and that their remnants might soon cause trouble again. What would he do if they began to retaliate?

He suddenly felt a sense of weariness. Since leaving the First Paradise, he had been facing all sorts of unexpected challenges every day; hardly a single day had been peaceful. When would this end? (End of Chapter)