The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 40 Stealth
Chang'e's timely departure from Fuping with Yu Qing was the best decision she ever made.

If they had arrived fifteen minutes later, they might never have left this place.

It took them only about eight minutes to leave Fuping, and then their car sped towards Changlin.

About five minutes after they flew away and calmed the area, something earth-shattering happened.

When Gu She returned to the lab, she didn't realize that the dopamine in the small bottle had been switched. After hesitating for about ten minutes, she decided to test its effects on herself.

As she injected the liquid into her body, anticipating the pleasurable experience, she was instead met with excruciating pain throughout her body. She quickly realized something was wrong, as the liquid was dissolving some of her body tissue.

They were well-versed in using a solvent to dispose of organs that needed to be discarded. Realizing she might have mixed up the bottles, she reviewed the video footage from the scene, and what she discovered was the entire process of Yao Dan switching the bottles.

Although the dosage she received was small, it has already caused irreversible and terrible consequences. Her body and face have suffered varying degrees of collapse and atrophy, and her appearance has become unsightly.

She immediately called for help and reported Yao Dan's evil deeds.

The defense system in Fuping was fully activated, but they discovered that Yao Dan and the others had all escaped.

Because Chang'e and her companions were unfamiliar with the roads in Fuping, they left the city along the same route they had taken from Maluo, leading the people of Fuping to mistakenly believe that they were fleeing towards Maluo.

Therefore, the people who had been appeased chased after them all the way to Maluo, while they were flying at high speed towards Changlin. As a result, the chase went further and further away, and they could never catch up with them.

After dawn, Chang'e and the others dared not fly anymore, and instead landed somewhere between Fuping and Changlin and lay in ambush.

Because Yu Qing had not fully recovered yet, and the experiences of Ma Luo and Fu Ping had left them with lingering fears, the best course of action they came up with was to stay away from anywhere for the time being.

Having faced numerous dangers along the way, they had become extremely wary.

They are now hiding on a large rock in a clearing in the dense forest.

They didn't even dare to let the car fold its wings so they could escape in time.

They sat in the car, waiting for Yu Qing to wake up so they could discuss their next course of action.

However, their reasoning system had already concluded that going to the Second Paradise was pointless. This was because they didn't understand that the people who had been "smoothed out" were not complete humans, and instead considered them to be over 90% primitive humans.

In their view, if the people of Fuping couldn't treat Yuqing kindly, then the people of the Second Paradise wouldn't be much better.

Therefore, going to the second amusement park now would be pointless. Of course, the final decision on whether to go or not is up to Yu Qing.

However, Yu Qing was still immersed in the illusion of his joyful interactions with Gu She.

He continues to expend his energy to maintain this virtual happiness.

Chang'e observed that Yu Qing was sliding into an inescapable quagmire of consciousness.

"We must wake the man up, or he'll go mad."

"But how can we wake him up? It seems like my husband can't hear us."

"No matter what method you use—pinch him, whip him, shake him, even stab him—you have to make him wake up!"

Chang'e and Yaodan pinched his head and his feet, constantly stimulating Yu Qing's nerves. Finally, they beat him repeatedly like a ball until he opened his eyes.

He was still lost in his dream when he saw Chang'e and Yao Dan tormenting him. He thought they were venting their jealousy and said, "You're getting bolder and bolder! Can't I have someone I like?"

When Chang'e saw that he had finally opened his eyes, she said, "Who do you like? She's a beautiful snake who can kill people without consequence."

"Nonsense! I'm taking her to Changlin to see a doctor..."

"Find a doctor? Husband, I think you're the one who needs to see a doctor. She pulled something out of you last night and almost killed you!"

Yu Qing was startled, only then remembering that Gu She had asked him for help.

At this moment, Yao Dan grabbed his hand, pointed to the pinhole camera, and said, "See this? You've been sold out by her and you're still helping her count the money!"

Yu Qing then fully regained consciousness and said weakly, "I'm hungry."

Chang'e quickly handed him the food and water she had prepared beforehand.

As he ate, he asked, "Where are we now?"

"My lord, it is somewhere between Fuping and Changlin, about two hundred li away from Changlin."

Being deceived was extremely embarrassing, so he didn't want to ask them how they got here. He simply said, "Let's rest for a bit and then we'll go."

"My lord, do we still insist on going to the Second Paradise? We..."

"If we don't go to the Second Paradise, where can we find refuge? The outside world is no longer our domain. Is there a direct route to the Second Paradise?"

Chang'e said, "We need to resupply along the way, so we can't avoid making short stops in some places."

"To be honest, I don't want to stay in the outside world for even a day longer."

Yao Dan suddenly said, "Husband, why don't we go back to the First Paradise? At least we can live carefree there."

"In that case, all our hardships along the way have been for nothing. Besides, going back to the First Paradise is now farther than going to the Second Paradise, so why should we go the long way around?"

At this moment, Daji and the others got out of the car and ran over to knock on Yu Qing's car window.

Yu Qing asked his second sister to open the car window and asked, "What is it?"

Daji said, "Nothing much, we... have been staying in the carriage. When are we leaving?"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "You mean to say that it's your turn to sit in my car, right?"

"I...I don't know, darling, that's your decision."

Chang'e nudged Yao Dan and said, "The eldest brother wants us to go sit with Third Sister. Let's go."

As Yao Dan got out of the car, she muttered, "She's not proactive in her work, but she's always complaining about that."

Yu Qing felt slightly unhappy because Chang'e and Yao Dan had a stronger sense of autonomy and could help handle more things when danger arose, while Daji and the others were more inclined to serve.

Therefore, he called Chang'e and Yaodan back and asked one of them to stay in his carriage in order to deal with complicated situations.

But he didn't know who to keep, so he signaled to Daji to decide.

Daji said, "That carriage also needs someone in charge. Let Chang'e go."

So Daji and Chang'e switched places.

After Yu Qing finished eating and drinking, he sighed, "You guys are so lucky. Once you're fully charged, everything's fine. But I need to relieve myself again." Yao Dan laughed and said, "Just go ahead and do it. But it's dangerous here. Don't leave this big rock. We'll turn our faces away, and you can take care of it right here."

Yu Qing was afraid that if he went too far, he might encounter something strange, so he actually relieved himself right behind the two cars.

After he finished, he tried to rub himself clean with some moss from the edge of the stone, but he couldn't get it off no matter how hard he tried. Looking at himself more closely, he was so frightened that he pulled up his pants and ran. As he ran, he shouted, "Run, run, run..."

Unaware of the reason, the group waited until Yu Qing got into the car before taking off and flying towards Changlin.

At this moment, Yao Dan asked, puzzled, "Husband, did you see something again just now?"

Yu Qing said, "Damn it, I went to pull off that moss, and who knew it was actually the skin of a huge monster. They've ruined this earth; it's no longer suitable for people like us to live on."

"Husband, how come we didn't notice it? How big is it?"

"How big is it? It's covered in moss. I think it's waiting for the right moment to swallow us all."

Suddenly, Daji sniffed inside the car and said, "Could some little monster have crawled into the car?"

Yao Dan was taken aback, then burst into laughter, saying, "You really know how to rub salt in the wound! Don't you know our husband rushed to the carriage before he even had a chance to wipe his bottom?"

Yu Qing rolled his eyes at Daji and said, "Later, find a place for you to take off your skirt and use it as toilet paper for me!"

When the car sped across a stream, Yu Qing insisted on stopping the car so he could wash himself.

But Yao Dan and the others dared not let him get out of the car and risk his life. They forcibly pressed him back into the car, and Daji actually tore off a corner of her skirt to clean him up.

Yu Qing retorted somewhat awkwardly, "So now you all know about rebellion!"

Yao Dan smiled and said, "As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

Daji chimed in, "That's right. When we get to Changlin, you'll have to compensate me for a dress."

Yu Qing said, "Who said we were going to Changlin? Let's just fly there."

Yao Dan said, "The car and we need to eat too. Without electricity, we're all useless."

Actually, many vehicles used to have solar power generation devices, but as charging infrastructure became more widespread, those devices disappeared.

Yu Qing thought for a moment and said, "I have a plan!"

Yao Dan laughed and said, "Husband, you don't mean to generate electricity by hand, do you? I'm afraid it would only be 2 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 800 kilograms of manure for one ton of grain."

Yu Qing tapped Yao Dan on the head and said, "I won't go into Changlin. You can take one vehicle in to resupply each time. Once you and the two vehicles are fully resupplyed, we can set off again."

"Honey, this method is really reliable."

"My nemesis, do you think this method is feasible?"

"Husband, that's fine. It's just a bit of a waste of time."

It's easy to say, but when Yu Qing and his group actually arrived outside Changlin City, they ran into trouble. They found several temporary lodging locations outside the city, but they had no confidence in their safety.

Now they are filled with distrust of all mountains and rivers.

They even considered abandoning their plan to resupply in the city and instead looking for charging facilities on the highway outside the city, just like they had done before.

However, the situation is different here. In relatively densely populated areas, the distance between towns is not too far, so there is no need to waste resources building charging facilities outside the city.

Yu Qing ultimately chose a place no one would have expected as his base: a protruding platform on a cliff face. The car, parked there, remained poised for flight.

Chang'e and her companions rode on the third sister's vehicle directly to Changlin to replenish their energy and investigate the situation.

The parking spot in Yuqing was extremely small, barely enough for their car to securely park its four wheels. It was surrounded by bare granite on all sides, devoid of any vegetation—a veritable no-man's-land. Surely no living thing could possibly appear in such a place.

He jokingly called his car a tortoise shell, saying that as long as he kept his head inside, he was practically foolproof.

He sighed and said, "After millions of years of evolution, in the end, humans have nowhere to live."

Yao Dan laughed and said, "Hundreds of years ago, someone invented something called 'Noah's Ark.' Why don't we just go and buy one?"

"You can hide on the first day of the month, but you can't hide on the fifteenth. You'll eventually have to come out and find food and water, won't you?"

It now seems that humanity was prescient; these seven paradises are like several large Noah's Arks, possessing a self-sufficiency capability that the original arks lacked.

Yao Dan said, "Husband, I'm not trying to discourage you. What if the second amusement park isn't as lucky as the first one, and all the facilities malfunction, or even if there are holes in the outer enclosure and other animals invade?"

"As long as there are people, everything can be managed; at worst, we can start all over again from primitive society. But if there are no people left, then I'll be like a deposed monarch..."

Daji said, "My dear, we should always look on the bright side. Even if the second paradise is destroyed, we can still go to the third paradise."

"Yes, yes, the boss really has a grand vision. We won't give up until we've visited all six other parks. This Earth is only the size of a palm, what's there to be afraid of?"

When Yao Dan saw Yu Qing praising Daji, she said unhappily, "I was just reminding my husband to have a contingency plan, so that we won't be caught off guard when the time comes."

Yu Qing realized that he had overlooked Yao Dan's feelings and quickly said, "Yes, yes, Yao Dan, this is what you call the consideration of a wise man."

After saying that, he looked at Daji again and said, "Daji, that's called the Wish of a Sage."

Seeing the joy on Yao Dan and Da Ji's faces, Yu Qing sighed, "When we get to the Second Paradise, even if there are ten thousand women, I will never take two wives."

Yao Dan smiled and said, "Husband, you keep your word."

Daji said, "We are the most suitable and dearest partners. Human wives are just women who bear children for him."

"That's going too far, Daji. You can't judge human emotions with reasoning. Yaodan is much more cunning than you, making me call her 'enemy,' which is plundering human emotions, isn't it?"

Yao Dan said smugly, "Exactly. You bastard..."

Daji quickly changed the subject, asking, "Are we just going to stay here like this until Chang'e and the others come back? Darling, do you want to take a nap?"

"Of course I'm going to sleep. Even if Chang'e and the others come back, I'll just change to another car and keep waiting. You guys still need to get Second Sister over there for supplies."

At this moment, Yao Dan gestured for everyone to be quiet. After a brief silence, they all heard some noises coming from below the platform.

Everyone's heart tightened, and they all became somewhat worried. Clearly, there were still unidentified animals below. Yu Qing's mind was in turmoil again.

He thought that most of the people who could come to this cliffside place were winged creatures, and he hoped they were just minor characters.

(End of this chapter)