The Last 299 Days of Humanity

The vision of elevating Shengtian Company is currently just a blueprint in his mind, full of uncertainties, and its implementation is fraught with difficulties.

This is not a simple business restructuring; it is more like introducing a completely new set of rules, which even he himself has not yet fully understood, onto a complex and already worn-out chessboard.

He was like a captain who held a map of the future but had to repair the dilapidated ship beneath his feet first. The magnificence of the starry sky and the sound of leaking water in the cabin intertwined, making him feel anxious and urgent.

First, he needed to persuade Chang Sheng, who had just been forced back and harbored resentment. This was by no means an easy task. Although Chang Sheng had returned physically, his heart might still remain by that tranquil lake.

Yu Qing could almost picture Chang Sheng's expression—a mixture of weariness, mockery, and a barely perceptible pang of heartache—as he faced a mountain of pending documents and the probing of various forces in the newly reopened president's office on the top floor of Shengtian headquarters.

At each meeting, Chang Sheng's seemingly cooperative yet actually distant attitude was like a silent reminder to Yu Qing: You forced me to come back, so you'll have to bear the consequences.

He needs to balance the allocation of resources between the company's current and long-term interests, which is like walking a tightrope in a raging torrent: on one hand, there is the pressing issue of immediate performance recovery; on the other hand, there is the future technology research and development that requires continuous investment and is unlikely to yield results in the short term.

What he needs more is to find a delicate balance between his ultimate plan for his own existence and the management of this massive enterprise.

"Consciousness upload," "ultimate office," "parallel humans"... these words roared in his mind, clashing fiercely with real-world issues such as "quarterly financial reports," "market share," and "employee morale."

He felt as if his personality had been torn in two, one half gazing at the stars, contemplating the ultimate form of life and the mysteries of the universe; the other half, however, was forced to immerse itself in the quagmire of Earth's commercial society, dealing with endless personnel disputes and power struggles.

But in any case, he had to do something. Yu Qing realized that his relationship with Sheng Tian had to change from a one-way extraction to a more complex and powerful symbiosis.

This is not only to deal with the current crisis, but also for a larger and more ambitious future.

Shengtian can no longer be merely a "fuel depot" for his personal transcendence, but should become the "cornerstone" of his future blueprint. Only a stable, powerful, and innovative Shengtian can provide him with continuous resources.

This newfound "sense of responsibility" intertwined with the inherent "utilitarianism," giving rise to a bolder, even reckless, plan.

An eagerness for quick results seized him; he craved a miracle, something that could quickly turn things around and prove that he was not just a "bloodsucker," but a symbolic achievement that could truly bring about "evolution."

He remembered the mysterious box his aunt had given him—a creation that could accurately extract various parameters of the human body and contained the astonishing technology of Tianqing City.

The box sat quietly in a corner of his secret room, its streamlined shell gleaming with a cold metallic sheen. It had no visible interfaces or buttons, and its surface felt warm to the touch, as if it possessed a life of its own. It represented a level of technology he couldn't comprehend, a level bordering on magic.

If we could crack its secrets, even just learning a little bit about it—such as its non-invasive, real-time, multi-dimensional biometric information collection method—and integrate it into Shengtian's medical and health diagnostic equipment or biometric identification (creating an absolutely secure identity verification system) product line…

That would be enough for Shengtian to achieve a crushing technological breakthrough, completely leaving Shengdi's competitors, who were still complacent about improving their performance by a few percent, far behind, leaving them unable to even see its taillights.

Without further ado, Yu Qing secretly summoned several of the top experts in bioelectronics, micro-nano materials, and signal processing at Shengtian Research Institute under the pretext of "conducting highly confidential monitoring of physical indicators to make final preparations for consciousness uploading."

He carefully selected these people: there were science fanatics who were obsessed with technology and indifferent to worldly affairs; there were technical veterans who were extremely loyal to Shengtian and whose families had worked in the company for generations; and there were ambitious young geniuses who were eager to make a name for themselves.

He believes that this combination can both guarantee the ability to tackle technical challenges and maintain maximum confidentiality.

To maintain secrecy, the meeting place was chosen to be a newly opened laboratory deep within Wengshan Mountain, equipped with the most sophisticated shielding measures. This laboratory, hidden deep inside the mountain, had walls lined with expensive wave-absorbing materials, capable of blocking all known electronic signal detection.

The entrance is disguised as a geological monitoring point, requiring triple dynamic password and biometric verification for entry. Yu Qing believes this is the closest place on Earth to "absolute secrecy."

However, the biggest obstacle wasn't technology, but people—the ten invisible guards his aunt had sent to follow him like shadows. Yu Qing knew his aunt would never allow him to conduct research on his own, or even attempt to replicate the technology of Tianqing City. He had to find a way to temporarily get rid of these "watchers."

These guards were like his extended shadows, or rather, like invisible shackles attached to his fate. They were not usually felt, but once he tried to deviate from the path set by his aunt, they would immediately show their powerful binding force.

Thus began a farcical game of hide-and-seek. Yu Qing first tried the simplest method—claiming he needed to engage in deep meditation, demanding absolute silence, and forbidding anyone from approaching his core living area for three hours.

He even lit sandalwood incense, which he believed was helpful for "spiritual elevation," and sat cross-legged on a futon, assuming a posture with his palms facing upwards.

Less than half an hour later, he triggered a micro-vibration alarm by trying to slip away through the ventilation duct and was "politely" asked to return by a guard who suddenly emerged from the shadows.

The other person thoughtfully handed him a cup of calming tea, as if to say, "Stop struggling, just meditate." Yu Qing took the perfectly heated tea, feeling as if his intelligence had been silently insulted.

Next, he attempted to use technical interference. He had his men procure several high-level, high-power signal jammers, turn them to their maximum setting, and try to disrupt the communication and location tracking between the guards.

He thought to himself, even if your technology is parallel to that of humans, it still has to follow basic physical laws, right?
Unexpectedly, this stirred up a hornet's nest. The laboratory lights flickered on and off, all the electronic equipment screens flashed wildly, and a strange low-frequency hum filled the air, as if an unseen beast was roaring in a deep voice.

The figures of the ten guards did not disappear amidst the interference; instead, they became clearer due to the energy disturbance. They seemed to be enveloped in a distorted halo, like reflections in water tossed with pebbles.

They all turned to look in Yu Qing's direction. Although they didn't speak, their silent gaze was more oppressive than any warning. Yu Qing could even feel the air thickening, making it difficult to breathe.

He quickly turned off the jammer, and the world returned to normal. One of the guards even went up to check the smoking jammer, patting it gently as if lamenting the loss of a broken toy.

In his most comical instance, he meticulously planned a feint. He arranged for a double, who bore a striking resemblance to himself, to wear his usual suit and depart from Wengshan in a high-profile manner in his private aircraft, heading towards the city, in an attempt to divert the attention of most of the guards.

He then donned a maintenance worker's uniform he'd somehow acquired, smeared some grease on his face, and prepared to sneak into the lab to meet with the experts. He even sprayed himself with a large amount of strong perfume in an attempt to conceal his biological characteristics (he stubbornly believed that the guards tracked him by smell or some kind of biofield).

Just as he thought he had successfully fooled everyone and tiptoed open the laboratory door with a smug look on his face, he found that all ten guards were there. They were standing neatly in the laboratory waiting for him, like ten perfect sculptures, even their postures were exactly the same.

The lead guard was holding a live feed of the double he used for his "feint"—the double was leisurely drinking coffee in the city and even made a "V" sign at the hidden camera.

The guard merely tilted his head slightly, his gaze beneath the mask seemingly carrying a hint of mockery, as if asking, "Mr. Yu, what is your next plan?" Yu Qing wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground, and could only cough twice, take off his repair clothes, and mutter, "Wrong turn."

Just as Yu Qing was racking his brains and even began studying "Qimen Dunjia" and "Sun Tzu's Art of War" in an attempt to find a way to deal with the invisible guards (he had been planning and devising strategies such as "crossing the sea under cover of darkness" and "crossing the Chencang pass in secret" in the books, and felt that the wisdom of the ancients must be useful), his aunt's people appeared uninvited in his study.

She didn't walk in through the door, but rather appeared silently on the chair by the window, like a figure rendered in a traditional Chinese ink painting.

She looked at the military books spread out on the table and the haphazardly drawn operational maps on the floor, a mixture of helplessness and amusement on her face. It was like an adult watching a child try to build a skyscraper with blocks.

“Xiaoqing,” his aunt’s voice was as calm as ever, yet it was like a sharp scalpel, precisely cutting through all his thoughts.

"Don't waste your energy. Even if you tricked all ten of them into a box wrapped in lead plates and sunk into the Mariana Trench, you still wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on in that box." Her analogy was so concrete, as if she could see through some more extreme plan of his that had not yet been implemented.

Yu Qing's heart skipped a beat, and he wanted to explain, "Aunt, I just wanted to..." He tried to organize his thoughts to explain that it was for the well-being of Shengtian's thousands of employees, for the advancement of Earth's technology, and even for a better understanding of the greatness of Tianqing City...

“I know you want to find a technological shortcut for your Shengtian Company.” His aunt interrupted him, her eyes sharp, as if she could pierce his skull and read his brainwaves.

"But let me tell you clearly, it's impossible. Your cognition and intelligence—I'm referring to all carbon-based life forms—have reached their limit. You cannot understand, or even observe, the dimensional laws and information encoding methods that constitute the fundamental principles of that box."

It's like trying to get an ant to understand and replicate the internet. It can't even truly grasp the concept of 'information,' so how can it 'learn'? All it sees are grains of sand and chemical signals, nothing more.

She paused, her tone carrying an undeniable pity—a pity not born of arrogance, but of an understanding of an objective, cruel disparity, like a human's pity for a moth unable to comprehend a flame.

"The gap in intelligence between us and parallel humans is widening exponentially; we are no longer on the same dimension. Stop wasting your precious time and energy on these futile endeavors. You need to settle down and focus on completing the next stage of your consciousness transfer."

Yu Qing's heart sank, not only because his plan had been completely seen through and rejected, but also because of the despairing gap in their social standing revealed in his aunt's words.

All his ambitions, calculations, and cleverness seemed so laughable and insignificant in the face of this dimensional gap. A profound sense of powerlessness gripped him, as if he had always been jumping around at the bottom of a well, yet believing he could shake the sky.

Seeing his distraught state, his aunt softened her tone slightly, but the words became even heavier, like two depth charges dropped into a calm lake:
"Also, don't think you're safe now. That Dadian in Haiyuan, although abandoned by the mainstream parallel humans who migrated to other planets, is the 'old, weak, sick, and disabled,' but in your words, 'the maid was beaten and the young lady was made ugly.'"

They're holding back for now, solely because of Tianqing City's stance. She gave Yu Qing a meaningful look. "Our patience and protection are not without limits, nor are they without cost."

"Tianqing City is protecting you, but it's not entirely because of me." Auntie revealed a deeper reason, which made Yu Qing realize that he was just a pawn in a much larger game.

"The arrogant behavior of those people in Haiyuandadian, especially their radical and reckless 'clean up the earth' plan, has crossed our bottom line."

It's true that Tianqing City aspires to migrate beyond the Milky Way, but before completing its final preparations, it still needs Earth as a relatively stable 'cradle' and 'stepping stone.' Any attempt to prematurely 'cleanse' this cradle is unacceptable to us.

Therefore, protecting Yuqing is, to some extent, also Tianqing City's way of safeguarding its own interests and order, and serves as a warning to Haiyuan Dadian for his transgression.

His aunt's words were like a cold wind from the depths of space, scattering Yu Qing's newly ignited ambition to revitalize Shengtian and bringing new and deeper worries.

He originally thought that after uploading his consciousness, he would gain some kind of eternity and security, but now it seems that even becoming a member of Tianqing City means getting involved in a grander and more unknown conflict and mission.

The other side of security never really existed; it was just a matter of jumping from one whirlpool into an even bigger one.

"Aunt..." Yu Qing's voice was a little hoarse as he asked the question that had been lingering in his heart but which he dared not delve into.

"If I... become one of you, will I eventually... fly to that place that I don't even dare to think about now, that is so far away?"

This question, like a boulder thrown into the already turbulent sea of ​​his heart, stirred up even deeper and farther waves. The temptation to transcend death still existed, but the price and direction behind that temptation seemed heavier and more confusing than he had imagined.

However, Auntie smiled, her smile carrying a worldly-wise indifference and a hint of barely perceptible sarcasm: "Of course, you can also choose to clean up Tianqing City's mess and stay on Earth. Nobody is forcing you."

Or they might roam the earth like the old, weak, sick, and disabled who remained at Haiyuan Dadian. But I can tell you, those people are all unfinished products and defective products with incomplete programs. No truly complete parallel human would choose to stay in this small world.

Once you truly become a parallel human, your perspective, your needs, and your cognitive dimensions will undergo fundamental changes. You will abandon your current ridiculous, clinging-to-the-nest mentality.

“Maybe…” Yu Qing responded softly. He couldn’t imagine such a “fundamental change”; it sounded like the demise of the self.

"It's not maybe, it's inevitable." Auntie's tone was resolute, carrying a statistical certainty based on countless samples. "Under different objective conditions, thoughts will differ. The chemical fluctuations of the carbon-based brain determine your fears and attachments..."

Yu Qing fell silent. (End of Chapter)