The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 93 Another Trouble
This was like stirring up a hornet's nest. The man's shouts disturbed the sleeping residents nearby, drawing a chorus of curses. Perhaps the man's shouts were too loud, triggering a chain reaction similar to a nuclear explosion.

Fortunately, Daji reacted quickly and slipped back into the carriage before the humanoid Shu, who was patrolling Wuding, arrived.

The sloth that had been peed on was so busy wiping the liquid off its face that it didn't even see who had done it.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Yu Qing had Chang'e and Yao Dan quietly push the car forward two blocks to get away from the scene of the trouble, so as to avoid getting into trouble themselves.

What followed was a complete uproar in Wuding over such a trivial matter, with everyone blaming each other and assuming the other was the culprit.

However, Wuding's audio-visual recording equipment was documented, and they quickly located the unfortunate sloth. As for his explanation, no one believed him, because he had already wiped the evidence off his face and head.

To see how the Wuding people would deal with that unfortunate fellow, Yu Qing postponed his departure by twenty minutes. Leaving ten minutes before the closing time would still be enough.

To Yu Qing and his group's astonishment, the people of Wuding were so enraged that they unanimously demanded that the authorities execute the unfortunate man.

Even more strangely, people's demands were quickly met; he was immediately sealed inside a metal sphere and sent outside the city to be buried.

Upon hearing this news, Yu Qing shouted, "They've gone mad! They've all gone mad! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Their car sped away from Wuding at top speed, heading towards the outskirts. There were two routes to the Third Paradise, but they hadn't decided yet, so they decided to go to a place about 20 miles outside Wuding, pause for a moment, and then carefully consider their options.

Heading west through Changxi and Mingshan, you'll reach Jiangong. The route is relatively bustling. It's 800 kilometers from Wuding to Changxi, 528 kilometers from Changxi to Mingshan, and 380 kilometers from Mingshan to Jiangong.

Heading north, they crossed the desert to reach Jian Gong, a distance of 1100 kilometers. The journey was desolate, with no supplies available. Their vehicle could normally fly 1500 kilometers, but in the event of unforeseen storms, lightning, or other extreme conditions, they would have to risk venturing into the desert.

Yao Dan and Daji believed they should head north, which would allow them to reach their destination in one trip. In case of an emergency, they could temporarily stop in the desert without much risk. After all, they had successfully crossed the desert not long ago and it wasn't as terrible as they had imagined.

Chang'e and Yan'er firmly opposed taking the northern route, believing that although the western route was more than 600 kilometers longer, it was less risky and had more room for maneuver, so they should take the western route.

In fact, Yu Qing had already decided to take the western route. He wasn't considering the distance and risks, but rather wanted to take the opportunity to investigate the current situation in Changxi and Mingshan, so that he could find an ideal place to live after gathering his kind in the future.

His strategy of letting Yaodan and Chang'e have a full discussion was merely a tactic. Making each of them feel valued helped to motivate them and foster their interest in deep learning.

Now he had to admit that, although he was emotionally more inclined to favor Angelica sinensis, who was also human, reason told him that they were much more reliable to him than Angelica sinensis.

A person who has lost the support of culture and wisdom is merely a humanoid existence in a biological and ethical sense, far less useful than a composite robot like the humanoid Shu.

Such a perception is a harbinger of the disintegration of human society. When people no longer trust or rely on each other, they can only temporarily distance themselves, seeing each other as worthless, and thus forced to go their separate ways, perhaps even never to see each other again. After Chang'e and Yaodan argued heatedly, Yu Qing cleverly used the excuse that Danggui was unsuitable for long-distance flight to decide to head west. Any dissatisfaction Yaodan and Daji might have could only be directed at Danggui.

His subconscious, preventative attempt to shift blame surprised even himself. If things went wrong on the western front, it wouldn't be because he wasn't brilliant enough, but because Dangui was utterly incompetent.

He thought to himself, "Humans are just animals that want to shift blame. They want to take all the good things for themselves and all the bad things, the hard work and the tiring work for others. In ancient times when technology was underdeveloped, they tried every means to enslave and exploit others. Now that humanoid goddesses have appeared, they have turned around and are driving them around as much as they can."

Now that the route was determined, Yu Qing gave the order, and the car sped towards Changxi.

They had only been airborne for less than ten minutes when Dangui wet her pants. She had only urinated halfway when she was startled back down by that unfortunate man's shouts, and a series of subsequent events made her even more afraid to speak.

Later, Daji told her that her urination had caused a death, and she would never dare to mention it again.

Over the past few days, she's come to realize that she's a huge problem and a complete waste of space in this team. More importantly, she can tell that Yu Qing doesn't like her at all. This has dealt a heavy blow to her confidence and exacerbated her feelings of inferiority.

Fearing she might be unable to leave Wuding due to the trouble she had caused, she secretly did something incredibly foolish. While Yaodan was pushing the stroller, she pulled on a wire she had found under the seat. She wanted the stroller to break down so that if it couldn't move, it would be because of a problem with the stroller, not her.

At this point, Yu Qing noticed that the car was getting increasingly stuffy, and since Dang Gui needed to change her clothes, they put the car back on the ground.

Daji and Danggui went to the back of the car to change clothes. Yuqing checked and found that the car's air conditioning was malfunctioning. He couldn't find the wire that Danggui had broken, so he simply switched cars with Chang'e and the others.

After all, compared to him, they are hundreds or thousands of times more adaptable to temperature and air quality, so whether or not there is air conditioning doesn't matter to them.

However, Chang'e remained silent in the car, clearly not wanting to switch cars with Yu Qing, but welcoming him to hers. Yao Dan and Fu Rong had no choice but to return to their original cars.

Frustrated, Yao Dan and Fu Rong sped ahead, leaving Yu Qing and the others far behind. Because her car was lightly loaded, it was naturally much faster than Yu Qing's.

Yao Dan was almost at Changxi, while Yu Qing and his group were still dawdling more than 100 kilometers behind. Moreover, Yao Dan and her group had successfully avoided a torrential downpour, but Yu Qing and his group were facing a fierce storm and terrifying lightning ahead.

Yu Qing could only move the car back to the ground to take temporary shelter.

This time, they almost fell into an abyss of no return. Between Changxi and Wuding lies one of the largest man-made scars on Earth. It is the "Changxi Bomb Crater," a crater about 40 kilometers in diameter and 8 kilometers deep, left over from World War Sixth.

Because the torrential rain impaired their sense of direction, their car stopped less than three meters from the edge of the Changxi crater. If it had been a few meters further, they would have fallen in unexpectedly.

(End of this chapter)