The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Yu Qing finally decided to go to Qingtian City to meet his mysterious aunt.

This decision was not easy to make. Before leaving Wengshan, he stood in front of the holographic map in the command room, gazing at the image of the city floating in the clouds for a long time, his fingers unconsciously stroking the Lingxi necklace he wore on his chest.

The cold metallic feel of the collar reminded him of the risks of his journey. Although he already suspected there might be something wrong with the collar, he had to risk wearing it in order to stay in touch with Yaodan and keep track of Wengshan's movements after he left Wengshan.

Of course, he had another intention—this item was given to him by his aunt, and bringing it along this time was a shrewd move, perhaps to probe for more information.

The meeting place remained the same elegant room at the Tea House. Artificial clouds, seemingly within reach, drifted past at a precisely calculated, almost perfect, slow speed outside the specially made transparent material, filtering the real sunlight from the outside world into a soft, yet unnatural white light that lacked natural rhythm.

The room was filled with the same elegant fragrance as last time, but this time, there seemed to be an invisible sense of distance in the scent, as if each wisp of fragrance was silently dividing the boundary between two worlds.

This time, Yu Qing didn't have to stand there; she provided him with an ergonomic chair. He sat back in the soft cushioned chair, his body appearing somewhat stiff, out of place with his surroundings.

"Aunt" hovered lightly opposite him, exuding a weightless elegance, as if she were one with the environment. With practiced ease, she lifted the temperature-controlled jade pot, and a slender, clear stream of water accurately poured into the thin-walled porcelain cup in front of Yu Qing, causing the surface to ripple slightly.

“You can drink it, don’t be shy,” she said with a smile, her voice gentle, but her eyes seemed shrouded in an unfathomable mist.

Yu Qing recalled that when he first met his aunt here, he had drunk the water, which was usually only used as a symbolic "washing away the dust," without understanding its significance. This was indeed a bit abrupt.

This time, he didn't touch the cup of tea. Instead, he followed their example and dipped a slender, willow-like green twig from the silver plate next to him into the clear water, then symbolically brushed it across his plain sleeve.

His movements were somewhat awkward, showing signs of deliberate imitation, which even he himself found somewhat comical.

At this moment, he still couldn't be sure whether the person in front of him, whose face was exactly the same as his aunt Yu Wei in his memory, was her true self, or one of the thousands of incarnations that carried her consciousness, who just happened to be sent to deal with him.

He opened his mouth, but swallowed the words back, ultimately too embarrassed to directly ask her about this issue concerning his identity.

"You still came." Auntie spoke, her voice filled with the concern of an elder, but behind that concern lay an almost absolute calm and detachment that had settled after the passage of time and the erosion of vast amounts of information.

"I knew you would come. The storms of Wengshan are almost over, aren't they?" She didn't exchange pleasantries; her words were like a precise scalpel, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

Yu Qing took a deep breath, trying to suppress the surging anxiety and layers of defensiveness within him:

"How much do you know? About that mysterious contact, about Little Stone, about... Old Chen?" He leaned forward slightly, staring intently into her eyes, trying to catch even the slightest ripple or emotional leak from that deep, calm gaze.

His aunt didn't answer directly, but gently pushed the celadon cup filled with tea a little closer to him. The bottom of the cup made a soft, crisp sound as it touched the table. "This time is different from last time. This is real tea specially prepared for you, picked from the misty peaks of Nanshan Mountain. It's drinkable."

Her tone was calm, revealing no extra emotion. Yu Qing glanced at the clear tea liquor; the aroma was indeed pure and mellow.

He nodded, his tone politely distant: "Thank you for your trouble." But he still didn't touch the cup of tea. Building trust is far more complex and difficult than tasting a cup of tea.

“I know the confusion and struggle you’re going through,” his aunt finally returned to his question, her tone calm. “That 'ghost' jumping around on your terminal… wasn’t at my behest, but I know a little about its existence. As for that child, Chen Jiang…”

She paused, seemingly choosing the right words, "His specialness was Lao Chen's choice, and also part of 'their' experiment. However, the direction and depth of this experiment have long exceeded Lao Chen's initial predictions and control, becoming... further and more dangerous."

"Old Chen's choice?" Yu Qing's heart tightened suddenly, as if gripped by an invisible hand. "He really is with 'The Vast Universe'..."

“Not entirely, or rather, not entirely voluntary,” his aunt interrupted him, her tone still flat, as if stating a fact unrelated to herself.

"He sought power, a 'shortcut' to enable his family to gain a foothold and even an advantage in this rapidly changing new era, but he greatly underestimated the purpose and the boundaries of 'Dadian's' methods."

He thought it was an equal collaboration, but in reality, from the very beginning of the agreement, he had been designated as a vehicle for a much larger experiment and… a bridge connecting the inside and outside world.

"May I ask... how did they make Chen Jiang... so exceptionally intelligent?" Yu Qing pressed, his brow furrowed.

“It’s not too difficult for us,” Auntie explained, her tone as if describing a common technique.

"This is a technology for the coordinated control of brain cells, essentially a highly efficient neural focusing method. It allows consciousness to eliminate most distracting thoughts and immerse itself in a single, focused problem within a specific timeframe."

Humans in their natural state, limited by the inherent mechanisms of the biological brain and survival instincts, cannot achieve such extreme single-mindedness.

"It's just an auxiliary technology, what's so special about it that you're experimenting with it so secretly?" Yu Qing was puzzled, and at the same time, he felt a little uneasy.

"Don't you think that with this kind of technology, native humans appear stupid and incompetent?"

My aunt countered with a calm yet profound question: “When a person’s focus and information processing efficiency are elevated to the extreme, will they still view ordinary people the same way? This is not just an elevation, but a separation of cognitive levels.”

The conversation inevitably turned to a more fundamental and lengthy debate: the meaning of life, core human values, the nature of true evolution, and the foundations worth upholding.

Yu Qing upholds the dignity and uniqueness of primitive humans, opposes the overuse of technology on himself, and speaks with an almost obsessive passion.

He believed that the meaning of life lies in its complete process of natural conception, growth, and decay, rather than endless distortion. Only the intertwining and binding of genuine emotions can reveal the brilliance of humanity—struggling, creating, and shining amidst infinite predicaments with limited wisdom and strength.

“This body,” he said, pointing to his chest, his voice trembling with emotion.
"It may be fragile, it may get sick, it may age, but it carries our collective memory, our loves and hates, our resilience and vulnerability. It is not a burden, it is the irreplaceable foundation that defines us as 'human'!"

Aunt, or rather, at this moment she fully represents the perspective of "parallel humans," and with a transcendent calm, she expounds on the eternity of consciousness and the inevitability of transcending the limitations of matter.

"Clinging to a perishable carbon-based body, like a fledgling bird clinging to a broken eggshell until death. We share the same bloodline; Yu Yunshan's genetic code has shaped you and me. Look at me..."

She spread her hands slightly, her posture elegant, "Consciousness has already transcended the limitations of a single substance, existing in countless incarnations, simultaneously experiencing a vast world and time scale that your limited senses cannot imagine."

This is the direction that human civilization should resolutely take next. What you cling to as 'purity,' in the long run, is nothing more than a self-imposed limitation.

The two men drew upon numerous classical texts, discussing everything from the historical divergences of biological evolution to the ultimate questions of philosophical speculation, and extrapolating from the rise and fall of ancient civilizations to countless possible future directions. Their arguments were heated, with each trying to persuade the other using their own logic and understanding.

But this long and exhausting intellectual clash did not eliminate the fundamental differences between them. Instead, it acted like a hard whetstone, sharpening their beliefs and making them even more unwavering.

Yu Qing became even more convinced of his determination to protect his existing compatriots and defend the name of "original"; while his aunt became even more convinced that this nephew, who shared the same blood, was so stubborn that he urgently needed to be "removed" from the dangerous ship that she saw as doomed to capsize.

It seemed neither could convince the other in the short term. The aunt's gaze inadvertently swept over Yu Qing's neck, noticing the spirit necklace he was still wearing. She abruptly changed the subject, her tone as casual as if commenting on the weather, but it undoubtedly dropped a bombshell on Yu Qing's ears:
"I know you frequently use the Spirit Collar to communicate with your people, right?"

“That’s how it used to be…” Yu Qing’s heart skipped a beat, and he answered cautiously.

"Do you think that unique encryption method based on biological neural signals can guarantee absolutely confidential communication?"

Aunt shook her head slightly, "The underlying principles and the special energy ripple characteristics generated during signal transmission were basically mastered and cracked by 'Dadian' many years ago."

Your so-called secret communications, in the eyes of their highly sophisticated monitoring network, are most likely like shouting in a completely silent valley—the echo is clear, and there's no secrecy involved whatsoever.

Yu Qing's expression changed drastically; the color drained from his face instantly, and his fingers instinctively reached for the collar around his neck. A chilling coldness shot up his spine to the top of his head.

He realized that he had been unknowingly revealing all of his own information! The feeling of being completely spied on sent chills down his spine.

Seeing his barely concealed shock and frustration, his aunt continued, her tone carrying a subtle, almost pitying undertone:

"Chang Sheng's destruction of Haiyuan City may seem like a resounding victory, but it was just an insignificant outpost among the many outposts that 'Dadian' has set up on Earth."

Their true core, their command center and main force, were relocated to Jupiter's orbit several years ago. There, relying on the resources of the gas giant and the more stable space environment, is where they focus their operations.

To them, these conflicts on Earth may merely be a slightly larger-scale entertainment program for observing the internal interactions and stress responses of lower civilizations.

But if they decide to take the matter of the Abyss seriously, tell me, with the current strength of Wengshan, how do you plan to resist them?

Finally, she brought up the matter again, her gaze becoming earnest and profound, as if trying to see into the depths of Yu Qing's soul: "Yu Qing, give up this futile struggle. Take the initiative to break free from that fragile body destined to decay, come to Tianqing City, and join us."

The conflicts of the world and the survival of a particular species are too heavy shackles that you should not, and cannot, bear alone.

You can possess a broad perspective that transcends individual limitations, experiencing a near-eternal form of life. This is the most sincere help and protection I, as your former blood relative in this world, can offer you.

Yu Qing remained silent for a long time. The only sound in the elegant room was the faint tinkling of the artificial spring. The clouds before him continued to drift according to their predetermined course, and outside the window, Qingtian City displayed its prosperous and orderly appearance beneath the clouds. Everything seemed so perfect, yet so distant and unreal.

He slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping over the cup of tea that had long since gone cold and lost its aroma, but he didn't touch it again.

“Shelter…” he repeated the word in a low voice, a bitter smile, a mixture of helplessness and determination, tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Thank you for your 'kindness,' Aunt. But some burdens are destined to be borne by someone from birth. Some paths, even if you know that there is an abyss ahead, or that there are thorns everywhere, you still have to grit your teeth and walk on. Because... that is the path that we have chosen, the path that belongs to 'humanity.'"

He said no more, turned around, and walked out the door with heavy but unusually firm steps. His back was straight, as if he were trying to hold up the sky that was about to collapse.

“I will protect those I need to protect in my own way. As for ‘Dadian’…” He paused, his voice not loud, but clearly carrying back into the room, “If they want to come, let them come.”

Watching his resolute figure disappear completely into the automatically closing doorway, Aunt, or rather, her alter ego, finally gently put down the now-cold teacup she had been toying with.

A fleeting, extremely complex emotion flashed across her deep eyes. It wasn't the annoyance of a failed plan, but rather a mixture of regret stemming from blood ties, worry about the future, and a sigh of "as expected."

She spoke softly to herself, her voice barely audible, as if afraid to disturb the carefully crafted tranquility:

"Stubborn fellow... This all-encompassing storm has begun. May you... hold on a little longer." (End of Chapter)