The Last 299 Days of Humanity

This sudden discovery was like a tiny flame suddenly ignited at the bottom of a suffocatingly dark abyss.

A crystal-clear thought flashed through Yu Qing's mind: if he could figure out the source of this "extraordinary talent" and unravel the mystery of this abnormal resistance within him, would it mean that he could possibly bestow this "ability" upon Yu Yi, Yu Lan, and the others, or even...

All those lives struggling under the threat of "bacteria"? More than seven thousand symbiotes are like more than seven thousand swords of Damocles hanging over the heads of every native human, ready to fall at any moment, bringing mutation, madness or death.

The excitement brought by this hope was like a warm current washing over my entire body, but the cold reality followed closely behind, quickly freezing this warmth.

Even with the tireless efforts of Dong Hao and the others, Wengshan's technological level has improved to the point that it can only maintain basic survival and low-level technological applications. Faced with such profound mysteries involving the origin of life and the genetic level, they can do nothing.

His gaze returned to his enigmatic "aunt." Only they possessed such control and skill.

But can we completely trust her? Can we entrust such a core secret, concerning the fate of our people and the safety of our loved ones, entirely and without reservation, into her hands?
Yu Qing felt a strong hesitation deep inside him, almost suffocating him. He forced himself to calm down and, like an outsider, carefully reviewed every moment since he met his aunt.

From their first meeting until now, she seems to have had no ulterior motives. Her unseen hand often defuses crises for him from behind the scenes. Although she seems to have a certain obsessive, unquestionable "protection" and "arrangement" for herself…

The discomfort and oppression of being manipulated like a puppet still makes him feel uneasy when he thinks about it.

However, stripping away these unpleasant appearances and examining the situation objectively, it seems that... Auntie never actually showed any clear intention to directly harm him or completely destroy the original humans.

Her behavior pattern is more like a complex emotion derived from that thin but undeniable blood bond, a mixture of natural care and cold calculation. A condescending "help," an unyielding "guidance."

She seemed to genuinely believe that the path she had planned was the best option for Yu Qing, and even for all the native humans "worth living."

For the sake of the future of the native inhabitants of Wengshan, he had to seize every possible opportunity. In the end, he sent a request to contact his aunt.

Without much pleasantries, Yu Qing directly and solemnly stated his request:

It is hoped that she can allocate some of her top research resources and send an avatar with professional microscopic life information analysis capabilities to help explore the source of his abnormal resistance and "clean" endowment.

He deliberately concealed the details he could "see," describing it only as an "abnormal resistance phenomenon" inferred from his physical condition.

My aunt didn't ask for details or make any demands; she simply replied, "Very interesting. Authorization has been granted; depart immediately."

Just a few hours later, several almost completely transparent, jellyfish-like invisible avatars, whose outlines could only be barely seen under light refraction at a specific angle, silently penetrated the simple force field defense of Wengshan and entered the area where Yu Qing was located.

They did not alert anyone, not even the most astute sentinels and detectors. These avatars surrounded Yu Qing, beginning a series of unprecedented, nanometer-level precision live sampling and analysis.

Yu Qing only felt an extremely subtle, static-like sensation on his skin, and a strange, indescribable feeling deep within his body, as if his genetic chains were being gently tugged. The whole process was quiet, swift, and coldly precise.

The research results came out faster than expected.

When the data stream, shimmering with a ghostly blue light, was presented to Yu Qing and his aunt (through a holographic projection), even though they were somewhat prepared, they were still shocked beyond words.

The complex three-dimensional genome map rotated, highlighting a group of extremely unique and exquisitely structured heterogeneous DNA fragments. Like foreign gems, they were perfectly embedded in the core region of the Yuqing white blood cell gene sequence.

Database comparison results show that this set of fragments is fundamentally different from any known human genome map or even all recorded biological gene samples.

More importantly, the analysis of gene methylation modification traces showed that this set of fragments did not originate from heredity, and the time when it was "written" into other gene sequences can be considered a "recent" event relative to the long evolutionary history.

This set of heterogeneous fragments is expressed stably, producing a peculiar protein shell that is capable of continuous self-renewal.

This shell seems to possess life and intelligence, capable of accurately identifying most specific microscopic symbionts that attempt to invade cells. Upon contact, it releases complex biological pheromones, cleverly "deceiving" these symbionts, causing them to misjudge the target state and fail to complete the crucial parasitic anchoring or information intervention steps, ultimately leading to invasion failure.

"Natural evolution of such precise, efficient and broadly targeted gene fragments theoretically requires millions of years or even longer of environmental selection and the accumulation of countless accidental mutations. The process is full of trial and error and redundancy."

For the first time, her aunt's voice carried a hint of genuine confusion, even a touch of... gravity.

"The 'evolution' that is happening to you is so fast, so goal-oriented, and so efficient that it completely violates the basic laws of biology."

This strongly suggests that you are not the result of natural selection, but rather were facilitated by a powerful external force outside your own life system. Some kind of…artificial, or rather, unnatural 'gift'.

She deliberately emphasized the word "gift," as if to suggest that there might be an unknown price to pay.

External forces at play? A deliberate gift? Yu Qing frowned, his heart clenching as if gripped by an invisible hand.

He desperately tried to recall all the trials and tribulations he had experienced since leaving the First Paradise, the various people he had met, the bizarre places he had visited, and the near-death experiences he had had...

Memories flash back like dusty film, frame by frame, trying to find the "existence" or "event" that might have tampered with him.

Was it a mysterious person you brushed past? Was it some unknown drug? Or was it a seemingly ordinary environment that actually concealed a hidden mystery?

It seems... not.

Although he encountered many setbacks, he never encountered anything that was obviously beyond common sense and could directly and silently rewrite the underlying code of his life.

Just as the fog of memory was thick and he was about to despair, a long-forgotten and almost ignored image suddenly broke through the blockade of his consciousness and flashed clearly into his mind.

That…the mysterious little courtyard where Professor Lu finally rests! And that unique, exquisitely beautiful “Immortal Tree” in the courtyard, exuding an ethereal aura!
He vividly recalled his brief stay in that small courtyard... He sat on that banished immortal tree and picked and ate many of the unique flowers that bloomed on the banished immortal tree, which emitted a refreshing fragrance and had a warm, jade-like color!

"Could it be... those flowers?" Yu Qing blurted out, his voice slightly hoarse with excitement.

Without further hesitation, he told his aunt the whole story of this potentially crucial clue, including the location of the courtyard, the strange appearance of the Immortal Tree, and how he ate the flowers and how he felt at the time.

My aunt fell into a brief silence on the other end, as if she was processing the sudden message at lightning speed.

When she spoke again, her tone was faster and more serious than ever before, even carrying a hint of an unquestionable command:

“Yu Qing, listen up! Immediately stop telling anyone else, including your most trusted Dong Hao, Yu Yi, and Yu Lan, about the ‘Immortal Tree’ and your consumption of its flowers! This matter may involve far more complex and dangerous aspects than we currently imagine. Professor Lu… what he left behind was never simple. I will personally arrange for the use of the highest level of security resources to secretly investigate the mechanism and characteristics of this ‘Immortal Tree’.”

To further verify his guess, Yu Qing suddenly remembered the parting gift the robot named "Evil" had given him when he left Professor Lu's courtyard: a juice carefully brewed from the branches of the Immortal Tree.

He had always carried it with him, using it only once to detoxify Yuwa. At this moment, he immediately retrieved the bottle of water and handed it to the avatar sent by his aunt for analysis.

Soon, a preliminary composition report was returned. The report confirmed that the water in the stone bottle did indeed contain an extremely small amount of an unknown active ingredient with an unusually complex structure.

This component can gently stimulate cell activity, promote metabolism, and even have a slight positive regulatory effect on gene stability. Its molecular structure is associated with the biomarkers of the *Impatiens balsamina* (a type of tree). This confirms that the *Impatiens balsamina* is indeed extraordinary.

However, the report also clearly pointed out a key issue: the concentration of the active ingredients in the water was far too low, far too low to cause such a dramatic, precise and targeted gene evolution and writing in Yu Qing's body in a short period of time.

"The key to the problem may very well lie in the whole, fresh 'immortal flowers' that you are eating directly."

My aunt made a quick judgment, her voice carrying the keen insight of a researcher.

"The key substances that are truly effective in flowers may degrade or become inactive rapidly after being picked, or their effectiveness may depend on a specific and complete biological environment—for example, your unique constitution may just be an indispensable 'initiator' or 'catalyst'."

We must obtain fresh, intact, and just-picked *Impatiens balsamina* flowers for the most precise, real-time in-situ extraction and analysis to determine its true mode of efficacy and underlying principles.

The goal became crystal clear: they had to re-enter Professor Lu's courtyard and obtain fresh Immortal Flower.

However, things are different now. Today's Yuqing is no longer the inconspicuous nobody who could act quietly and without attracting attention.

As a target closely watched and viewed with hostility by forces such as "Dadian," his every move could be exposed to the scrutiny of countless powers.

If he were to personally go to that sensitive courtyard at this time, the risk would be extremely high. It would be tantamount to putting himself and the secret of the Immortal Tree directly under the spotlight, attracting interference from "Dadian" or other unknown forces, and possibly even triggering unpredictable conflicts and disasters.

After weighing the pros and cons, the aunt decided to take action herself.

She dispatched a more powerful avatar equipped with the latest stealth and infiltration modules, which, with its mobility beyond conventional physical limitations and near-perfect optical and energy camouflage, attempted to sneak into the courtyard and retrieve the flowers unnoticed.

But the result was disappointing, even frustrating.

That seemingly simple and rustic courtyard, which blends seamlessly into its desolate surroundings, is actually equipped with an unusually sophisticated and powerful defensive mechanism.

It does not rely on the high-tech energy shields or complex quantum password locks commonly found in Tianqing City, but is an extremely rare composite defense system that integrates Professor Lu's own bio-information recognition, the layout of ancient Qimen Dunjia formations, and the linkage of precise physical mechanisms.

This system is simple and straightforward, not pursuing fancy confrontations. Its core logic seems to be only one: to identify "abnormal life fluctuations" and "unauthorized" visitors.

Once the alert is triggered, the system will not attempt to fight or expel the intruder. Instead, it will immediately and decisively activate the preset self-destruct program, erasing all traces of the courtyard and everything inside without leaving any room for retreat.

This extreme design philosophy of "better to be a broken jade than a whole tile" even made my aunt, who was used to overcoming all obstacles with technology, feel helpless.

Her avatar then tried a variety of infiltration methods: remote high-precision energy scanning was used to construct an internal structure map, but it was found that the scanning wave was distorted and absorbed by a certain force field;

It attempted to break down into a stream of microscopic particles to infiltrate, but was identified as having non-living characteristics, triggering a self-destruct warning.
They even tried to simulate Yu Qing's life fluctuation frequency to achieve energy synchronization, but failed due to the lack of a certain key "biomarker".

Throughout the entire process, she was unable to find a foolproof method to safely enter the Immortal Tree without any damage.

The courtyard was like a sealed, top-secret safe that only accepted a specific key; any attempt to open it by force or trickery would result in the permanent destruction of its contents.

Just as the research reached another impasse and a sense of powerlessness filled the air, Yu Qing suddenly raised his head, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

He recalled the two peculiar "beings" who managed that small courtyard—the pair of robots with bizarre behavior patterns and strikingly straightforward names: "Evil" and "Ugly".

They were the last guards left behind by Professor Lu before his death, responsible for the daily maintenance, cleaning, and security of the courtyard, and had the authority to review entry and exit permits within the courtyard.

“Perhaps… we can find a breakthrough in ‘evil’ and ‘ugliness’,” Yu Qing suggested.

“They are robots, creations. As long as they are creations, they should have control protocols, backdoor programs, or the highest level of authority left by their creators, right? If we can control them, we might be able to indirectly take over the courtyard, or at least gain the right to enter safely and pick the Immortal Flower.”

This is a seemingly feasible idea. "Evil" and "Ugliness" were custom-made security and service robots commissioned by Professor Lu from Shengtian Company through special channels.

In theory, as the manufacturer and original designer, Shengtian should have a backup of the highest-level access key or control protocol.

For Yu Qing, obtaining all the original design files, core code, and delivery records for the two specific robot models, "Evil" and "Ugly," was a piece of cake. He hoped to find a way to control or influence their behavior.

However, according to the only surviving event record in the archives (the detailed technical data has been permanently deleted), when Professor Lu received "Evil" and "Ugliness," he made an extremely strong and non-negotiable special request:
All critical data concerning these two robots, including core design drawings, underlying control protocols, backend access keys, and even the highest-level authority transfer process, were irreversibly physically destroyed after delivery and acceptance were completed and signed off.

Out of respect (or perhaps a certain apprehension) for Professor Lu, a special client, Shengtian Company strictly adhered to the agreement.

All the relevant data carriers have been reduced to a thin page of delivery event record. Apart from the time, place, signatures of both parties, and a brief statement that "the special security unit has been delivered and subsequent technical support has terminated as agreed," there are no substantive technical details.

The last, seemingly most reliable shortcut has also been completely blocked.

It seems the only feasible solution is to "reclaim" the two robots, "Evil" and "Ugly," whose thought patterns are different from those of ordinary people, who only obey Professor Lu's predetermined program, whose strength is unknown and may be extremely powerful, without triggering that extreme self-destruct program.

He wasn't even sure if he could obtain that seemingly random "entry permit," which might actually imply some special or even unique conditions, for some unknown reason, just like last time.

He had to go back to that little courtyard that held countless secrets.

This time, however, the purpose was no longer a simple visit, remembrance, or seeking a temporary stay. It was to confront the two loyal yet dangerous robot guards who represented Professor Lu's final will, to fight for that slim chance of control, and to gamble on a possibility concerning the future. (End of Chapter)