The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 34 Turtle Man
Yu Qing and his group followed the convoy, flying over a vast lake and stopping in the square in front of a building.

The building occupies at least 50,000 to 60,000 square meters, but is only three stories high.

As Yu Qinggang stepped out of the car, a black carpet was already laid out at his feet.

He was surprised; he had heard of red carpets, but this was the first time he had ever seen a black carpet.

Without a doubt, this is the highest form of courtesy.

What's most unbelievable is that Wang Ling and his group also formed a ceremonial guard, consisting of twenty-four beautiful women crawling on both sides of Yuqing.

This made him very uncomfortable, but he could only do as the Romans do and stumbled toward the gate.

He felt like he was dreaming. He didn't listen carefully to what the people who came to greet him were saying. He just followed their example, nodding, bowing, and humming a few times in response.

Upon entering, you are greeted by a mascot that is about ten meters tall: a large, upright golden tortoise.

After passing the golden tortoise, we arrived at a huge lobby.

The lobby and the corridors on the second and third floors were packed with six or seven hundred people, all waiting to welcome his arrival.

Yu Qing felt a little guilty, wondering what he had done to deserve such a grand reception.

At this moment, a chorus of shouts erupted from the crowd, and he was afraid that he would lose his footing and embarrass himself.

He mechanically followed Yu Ling and the others' guidance to the stage, and imitated them by nodding and bowing to the left and right.

At this moment, Yu Ling stepped forward and shouted loudly, "Brothers and sisters! Today, with immense excitement, I welcome Mr. Yu Qing from the First Natural Paradise. He still retains 100% pure genes from our human ancestors."

At the same time, he also retained the virtues of benevolence and tolerance of our ancestors.

In this increasingly self-righteous world, he still loudly calls us brothers and sisters, acknowledging that we are all decent human beings.

It is absurd and ridiculous that those people, who only have 50% or 60% of the original human genes, actually made laws to classify us as outside of humanity.

Today, we welcome Mr. Yu, who is most qualified to define what constitutes human greatness, to speak! (Applause)

Yu Qing then realized why he had been treated with such courtesy. It turned out they wanted him to vindicate them and endorse their cause.

During a lull in their clapping, he finally realized that these people with human heads actually had turtle-like bodies.

Alas! He was extremely reluctant to agree with their definition, but now he was in a bind and could only go along with them and say a few words, otherwise he would never be able to get past this hurdle.

Yu Ling slapped the invisible microphone on his shoulder and pushed him forward, leaving him no choice but to speak. He said, "Brothers! Sisters. Please allow me to address you as such."

You and I share the same thoughts and speak the same language as humans, therefore you are naturally human.

Although we exist in different forms, this does not prevent us from living together peacefully.

Brothers and sisters! Please allow me to thank you for your hospitality and kindness. I wish you good health and longevity!

Yu Qing's phrase "May you live as long as a crane and as long as a tortoise" hit a nerve with everyone present, and the scene erupted in cheers. Dozens of girls ran onto the stage and almost kissed him so hard he vomited.

This is not hard to understand, because Malor is now inhabited by a single new species of human: the Tortoise People.

By introducing 50% modified genes from Adevita tortoises, they extended their theoretical lifespan to 842 years.

In fact, no resident has died in Maluo for 97 years, and the city now has a total population of 160,000, making it one of the most populous cities.

They believe that longevity is the most important thing, and whether or not one has long legs like primitive humans is not worth mentioning.

Today, Yu Qing not only "certified" their human identity, but also praised their "tortoise year," how could they not be moved to tears?

But what followed was really too much for Yu Qing to handle. Dozens of turtle-girls danced around him, occasionally rubbing against him with their hard backs, leaving him unsure of what to do.

What he found most unbearable was the smell emanating from them; it was truly indescribable.

Finally, they made it to the next segment, where they began toasting him. By this time, he was already distracted and made a huge fool of himself.

A young girl held up a plate with both hands, inside which was a large glass of wine, and next to it was a bowl of toothpicks.

Without asking any questions, he picked up his glass and drank it all in one gulp, eliciting gasps from everyone present.

It turns out that the turtle man only dipped the toothpick into the wine glass and sucked on it when he drank. He drank almost all the wine that was in the glass.

Yu Ling quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying:
"Mr. Yu is so generous; this shows his trust in us, the people of Maluo! Let's give him a round of applause! Shall we let Mr. Yu have another hearty drink?"

Amid cheers and applause, Yu Qing downed three more cups in a row. Chang'e quickly tugged at Yu Qing's sleeve and said, "My lord, you'll get drunk, don't drink anymore."

Yu Qing, his eyes glazed with drunkenness, murmured, "Good wine, good..."

Seeing that Yu Qing was already delirious, Yao Dan wanted to take him away. But Yu Ling said, "We haven't finished our hospitality yet, how can we leave now? Let me take you to the guest rooms to rest, and we can leave tomorrow."

Upon hearing the word "rest," Yu Qing quickly replied, "Okay, let's rest."

So Chang'e and Yao Dan had no choice but to help Yu Qing and follow Yu Ling to the guest room.

When they arrived at the client's room, they were dumbfounded again, because there was no bed at all, only a large sink. After Yuling left, Yaodan asked:

"Aren't you more knowledgeable than us? Please tell me, how do you sleep in a pool?"

Chang'e was also completely baffled, saying, "How...how should I know..."

Yu Qing could no longer stand. Seeing a spacious area in front of him, he forcefully shook off Chang'e and the others' support and fell into the pool with a splash.

Yao Dan reacted quickly and tried to pull Yu Qing up, but after only managing to turn him over onto his back, he was already snoring loudly and had fallen asleep floating on the water.

Chang'e laughed and said, "Is this how you sleep?"

Curious, Yao Dan pressed Yu Qing down a little, and seeing that he didn't sink, she said, "This water is very dense. It seems that the people here sleep floating on it like this."

Chang'e simply lay down on her back next to Yu Qing, while Yao Dan floated on the other side of Yu Qing.

So as not to disturb Yu Qing's sleep, Chang'e and Yao Dan stopped talking, and they lay in the pool with Yu Qing for the whole night.

Curiosity is a characteristic of every living being. The turtle-man from Malu was also filled with curiosity about how Yuqing, a primitive man from the First Paradise, rested.

From the moment Yu Qing and his group stepped into the room, their every move was broadcast live.

Actually, these turtle people were hoping to see some steamy scenes with Yu Qing and his companions, but Yu Qing was so drunk he was completely unconscious, and nothing happened except for him snoring loudly. However, the turtle people still found a topic that excited them: they firmly believed that primitive humans also liked to sleep floating on the water, and Mr. Yu was living proof of that.

Of course, the people of Maluo also inexplicably disliked Chang'e and Yaodan, because they also had human faces, could speak human language, and thought like humans, but these did not make them legitimate humans.

This creates a theoretical flaw in their claim to be human.

Chang'e and Yao never dreamed that they would be disliked by others.

The next day at daybreak, Chang'e quietly left the pool and wandered around the room. There she inadvertently discovered a very suspicious device.

She didn't make a fuss, and pretended not to know anything as she walked past.

After a while, she suddenly realized that the device looked familiar; it was a surveillance device!
Their every move is under the watchful eyes of others.

She casually circled around a few more times and found a hidden drying device by the pool. As she walked over, the moisture on her clothes was quickly absorbed.

She waved her hand, waking Yao Dan through information exchange, and conveyed her discovery to Yao Dan.

This was their way of communicating, surpassing that of humans. Yao Dan, realizing her current predicament, quietly stepped out of the pool and went to a dry spot to wash herself off.

They wandered aimlessly around the room, gazing out the window at the endless lake. Secretly, they discussed how to get Yu Qing out of there as quickly as possible.

Yao Dan telegraphed Chang'e: "Our vehicle is surrounded by other vehicles, so it can neither drive out nor spread its wings to fly."

Chang'e replied in telegram: "If he wanted to force his way out, my husband wouldn't have come here yesterday. I think he wanted to take this opportunity to learn more about what's been happening on Earth recently."

Yao Dan telegraphed, "But they're spying on us in the dark. What are they planning?"

Chang'e telegraphed: "It seems they have no intention of harming my husband for the time being, nor is there any need for it."

At this moment, Yu Qing also woke up and found himself floating on the water. He was so startled that he flailed his arms and legs and almost choked.

Yao Dan jumped over, pulled him up, and carried him to a dry place to dry off all the water on his body.

Yu Qing complained, "Why are you soaking me in water? I'm not a tea leaf!"

Chang'e laughed and said, "You jumped in yourself, didn't you? And you even said you wanted to drink all this water as wine."

She also pretended to tidy Yu Qing's clothes and whispered in his ear that there were surveillance devices here.

Yu Qing remained unfazed upon hearing this, and made an excuse that the lake outside was beautiful, asking Chang'e and the others to accompany him for a walk.

There were already more than a dozen turtle-woman girls waiting outside the room. Taking advantage of the opportunity when they squeezed through, Yao Dan removed several invisible monitoring devices from Yu Qing's body and stepped on them to the ground.

Chang'e also quickly checked herself and Yao Dan for anything similar.

Yu Qing readily accepted the tea and breakfast offered by the young girls. He was indeed a bit thirsty, so he drank all the tea.

But as he was swallowing his breakfast, he suddenly felt a small, hard object being swallowed as well.

Damn it, I've been tricked! Yu Qing was a little annoyed, but he held back. He told the girls that he just wanted to go out for a walk alone, got rid of their entanglement, and quickly led Chang'e and Yao Dan out of the hall to the lakeside.

He pretended to be affectionate with Chang'e, and whispered in her ear that he had been tricked. Chang'e then informed Yao Dan via telegram.

Yao Dan was about to erupt, but Yu Qing stopped her with a look. However, none of them dared to speak.

Yu Qing, looking relaxed, deliberately said loudly, "This lake is so beautiful! The brothers and sisters in Maluo are really loyal. How about we stay here for a few more days?"

Chang'e understood and said loudly, "A few days is enough? I want to stay for several months."

Yao Dan understood and echoed:
"I'd be happy to stay for a year, but I'm afraid they'll kick us out and laugh at us for being ungrateful."

Yu Qing said, "Alright then, we'll leave when they stop wanting to see us."

Chang'e and Yaodan then began discussing via telephony how to remove the particle inside Yu Qing's stomach that might be used for eavesdropping or detection. This matter was extremely complicated.

However, Yu Qing suddenly thought of a solution. He gently squeezed Chang'e and Yao Dan's hands, implying to them that he would handle the matter and that they didn't need to worry about it.

Yu Qing strolled casually along the lake, chatting and joking with Chang'e and the others.

He gestured for Yao Dan and Chang'e to chase and play with each other, but they didn't understand what Yu Qing was trying to do.

Yu Qing hurriedly made a movement as if he were falling into the lake.

Yao Dan and Chang'e then realized that Yu Qing wanted them to pretend to chase him and knock him into the lake.

So Yao Dan deliberately snatched Chang'e's headdress and ran away. Chang'e immediately chased after her, while Yu Qing pretended to stop them to prevent a conflict.

The interaction between the three was dazzling. Suddenly, Yu Qing was hit and fell into the lake with a splash.

Yu Qing held his breath and kept drinking lake water. Only then did Yao Dan and Chang'e realize his true intention. They jumped into the lake pretending to save him, but in reality, they were protecting Yu Qing so that he could drink enough lake water before pulling him out of the lake.

At this moment, Yu Ling arrived with a group of turtle people. Yao Dan and Chang'e quickly lifted Yu Qing upside down and kept pressing on his abdomen and chest.

Yu Qing began to vomit incessantly, expelling all the water and food he had eaten onto the ground.

When the suspicious little particle fell to the ground, Chang'e caught it in her hand with lightning speed.

When Yu Ling and the others arrived, Yao Dan and Chang'e had already helped Yu Qing to his feet.

Yu Qing, acting as if nothing had happened, said to Yu Ling:

"Those two guys were too naughty; they almost drowned me. Sorry for the commotion, brothers. Luckily, I'm alright now. I'll take my leave..."

Yu Ling said, "How can that be? We're all lining up to invite you to share this delicious food!"
As far as we know, the First Paradise still serves synthetic food; you definitely have to try our unique cuisine.

Their deliciousness far surpasses that of synthetic foods; their color, aroma, and flavor are all top-notch.

Yu Qing was filled with unease, thinking to himself, "How dare I eat your food again? Who knows what deadly contraband you might smuggle in next time?"

However, Yu Qing still remained calm and said:

"Great! I'd love to try them all. Unfortunately, I have to get going. Could I please pack one of each for me so I can enjoy them on the road?"

Yu Ling shook her head: "Food should be fresh. It's not too late to stay for a couple of days before leaving."

(End of this chapter)