The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 11 Yulin Zoo
The next day, early in the morning, Yu Qing and Yao Dan walked out of the tomb hand in hand, preparing to continue their journey to Wengshan, only to find that Daji and the other two were gone.

"Weren't they put into hibernation? How could they have disappeared!"

Yao Dan said, "I can only let them rest for a few hours. They must have woken up in the middle of the night, got angry, and left you!"

Yu Qing was skeptical, but said, "Then let's hurry up and catch up with them. We can fly, which is faster than them on the road. We should be able to catch up in a morning."

However, seeing Yao Dan's delighted expression, Yu Qing suddenly felt that things weren't so simple, and it didn't make sense either, so he said again:
"Let's wait a little longer; maybe they've gone for a stroll around the neighborhood."

He looked around and figured it was unlikely that Daji and the others would simply leave.

Given Yan'er's temper, if she were truly angry and left, why would she take his helmet and other belongings with her? She would definitely have thrown them on the ground.

Daji was not one to easily admit defeat. Furong was absolutely loyal, and even though she had no choice but to leave with the other two, she would still leave behind some kind of hint.

The scene is so clean and perfect now. They must have been fast asleep in the middle of the night when Yao Dan came out to cause trouble, carrying them away and hiding them somewhere while they were still asleep.

Carrying them to a nearby place would make them easy to be discovered; carrying them one by one to a place that is too far away would take too much time and I would be worried that they would be discovered when they woke up.

Therefore, Yu Qing deduced that Yao Dan hid them in the tomb.

But he couldn't expose Yao Dan's lie. Her tears, stemming from her fear of the truth about Dr. Lu's death being discovered, show that Yao Dan also possessed a sense of right and wrong.

Proving she lied in person could overwhelm her with emotional stress.

So he deliberately circled the coffin, as if he had suddenly discovered a new continent:
"Yaodan, look, there are scratches from the rollers on Daji and the others' boots."

This means they must have sneaked into the tomb and hidden somewhere while we were at the First Paradise yesterday!

Yao Dan hurriedly said, "Then let's go back and take a look!"

Sure enough, we found Daji and the others in Dr. Lu's lab! They were still in hibernation.

Fearing that Yao Dan would be emotionally pressured, Yu Qing said, "These three dared to play tricks on us. How about we move them out and play tricks on them too?"

Yao Dan agreed and immediately set to work.

Yu Qing instructed Yao Dan to position Daji and the others head-to-head with their buttocks sticking out on the ground, and then wake them up.

When Daji and the others woke up, they were bewildered by their appearance. Yu Qing slapped Furong's bottom and said:
"What are you three looking for while you're lying on the ground?"

Furong said blankly, "We weren't looking for anything."

Daji and the others were convinced that Yao Dan was responsible, but they didn't dare to question him. They just stood up with unhappy expressions.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yu Qing put the zero-gravity backpack on Daji and secretly winked at her, saying, "You're punished to carry my new equipment!"

Daji clearly understood; this way, Yaodan wouldn't be able to make her leave her beloved's side.

Yao Dan herself made a mistake, and it was already good enough that she wasn't exposed, so how could she have the nerve to raise any objections?

And so, Yu Qing finally got his team in order and was ready to set off.

However, Yao Dan was not wrong. The two of them could have flown forward, but now that they had Daji and the others with them, they had to travel on land, which was both slow and dangerous.

According to Yao Dan, this area had been deserted for decades.

In contrast to the continuous expansion of human settlements in early times, human territory began to shrink dramatically after 2B89, with inhabited areas now covering less than 5% of the Earth's land area.

But Yu Qing is not worried about the dangers on the road. This is also a good opportunity to see with his own eyes what the earth has become.

If it just flies by in the sky, we might miss a lot of first-hand information.

Without saying a word, Yao Dan carried Yu Qing on his back and walked ahead, with Daji and the others following closely behind.

What annoyed Yao Dan was that she and Yu Qing, who could have flown, now had to walk. But she didn't have gliding boots, so she walked even slower and with more effort than Daji and the others.

Daji and her group deliberately set the pace, sometimes leading the way, sometimes keeping pace.

Yao Dan finally had no choice but to stop and let them go ahead for a while, then fly to catch up with them, and then stop again...

Whenever Yao Dan was about to have an outburst, Yu Qing would kiss her on the cheek, which would immediately calm her down.

After marching like this for a whole morning, Yao Dan said:

"We can't go any further along the road. Decades ago, a flood washed away several of the side roads here."

So the road to Wengshan is hidden in the forest on the right, and you can't see the road for about 20 kilometers.

If you continue along this road, you'll be back where you came from yesterday.

"Have you walked through this forest?" Daji asked.

“We’ve never been there before. It’s dangerous for us, let alone for you, my husband, who is made of flesh and blood.”

“Then you take your baby and fly over this forest first, and wait for us on the other side,” Furong said.

Yu Qing firmly disagreed, saying, "You can't even tell which way is which in the forest, who knows where you'll end up!"

Yao Dan said, "I have an idea. Doesn't my husband also have a flight suit in his bag?"
Furong and I flew to the forest a few miles ahead and stopped there. Furong stayed there without moving.

Then I'll bring back Furong's flight suit to pick up my husband and meet up with Furong.

After repeating this process twice, they brought Daji and Yan'er to meet up.

This way, we can ensure that my husband has someone protecting him, and we can also ensure that we don't get separated.

Daji suddenly asked, "How foolish. Can you still fly while carrying your lover's words behind your back?"

Yao Dan was speechless for a moment.

Yu Qing, fearing she would be angry, quickly said:

"If you carry me while flying, the speed will be slower, and then you won't be able to fly at the same speed as Furong. Won't we get separated?"

"Hibiscus can also carry one..."

"My flight suit can't carry two people..."

Yao Dan snorted and said, "I can bring two people, but they can only bring themselves if they wear it."

Carrying two people requires additional power; they don't have that capability.

Yu Qing hurriedly said, "Let's not argue anymore. Yao Dan is right. Let's do as she says."

Yao Dan explained to them how to use the flight suit, then had Fu Rong put it on and flew her to a place ten miles away to land.

Yao Dan didn't fly out of the forest all at once because of safety concerns; she was worried that Yu Qing would be out of sight for too long and she wouldn't be able to take care of him.

She told Furong to return the flying suit, stood still, went back to pick up Yuqing, and handed him over to Furong to guard before going to fetch Daji and the others.

Unexpectedly, on her way back, Yao Dan encountered a large, brightly colored bird, which flew away in panic behind her.

It wasn't that she was afraid of it, but rather that her own recognition system couldn't identify what kind of creature it was.

Worried that Yu Qing might be harmed by the bird, Yao Dan didn't pick up Daji and the others yet, and quickly went back to check on them to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

Seeing that only Yao Dan had returned, Yu Qing anxiously asked, "Where's Daji? Did you lose Daji?"

Yao Dan snorted and said, "How could I dare to lose your darling! I just saw a large, unidentified bird flying over and was afraid it would hurt you."

Yu Qing quickly smiled apologetically, "I misunderstood you, my darling, I'm fine. Hurry up and bring those two useless things over here."

Yao Dan flew back angrily to pick up Daji, and gave them a cold look when he saw them.

She had no other intentions at first, but now she couldn't help but want to play a trick on them.

Meanwhile, Daji and Yan'er, having waited anxiously for so long, were both hatching their own schemes. They both wanted to leave first, lest they be left all alone in this gloomy forest later.

When Yao Dan landed, they instinctively wanted to get the flight suit first, so they rushed over to greet her.

Yao Dan guessed that they were afraid of standing alone in the woods and waiting, so he came up with a way to tease them.

She first gave the flight suit to Daji, who was walking behind Mingming, and then flew forward with Daji.

Instead of joining Yu Qing and the others, she stopped a hundred meters away from them, leaving Daji all alone there.

Yao Dan claimed he was going to pick up Yan'er, but actually flew to the area between Daji and Yan'er.

She leisurely enjoyed the scenery from the treetop, leaving Daji and Yan'er anxiously waiting below.

Yu Qing and Fu Rong stood there anxiously, seeing that Yao Dan and the others hadn't arrived for most of the day and wondering what had happened.

Yu Qing was pacing back and forth, dazzling Fu Rong. She had no choice but to hug him from behind and comfort him.

"They'll be fine, wait a minute."

Yu Qing muttered, "It shouldn't be this long. Why don't we sit here and wait?"

"it is good."

Furong saw a rock between two big trees and sat down there with Yuqing in her arms.

Yu Qing sat on Furong's lap and teased, "Baby, having a big butt has its advantages. Look how stable and comfortable this is."

Before Furong could reply, the trunks of the large trees on both sides of the stone bent over, clamping it down like a pair of pliers.

Before she could even react to what was happening, countless tiny barbs sprouted from the tree trunk.

Furong was shocked because she did not have such a plant in her database.

All she knew was that some rainforests had a tree called the strangler fig, which would strangle and kill the trees next to it in order to compete for sunlight.

These two trees are clearly trying to strangle them and use them as fertilizer! Are they killer trees?
Furong struggled for a moment, but her buttocks were already firmly clamped down.

She held onto Yu Qing tightly and couldn't let go, and Yu Qing couldn't break free either; it looked like their heads were about to be squeezed together.

Furong cried out in alarm.

Daji was actually just over a hundred meters away, but the trees were blocking their view.

Hearing Furong's call, he responded and rushed over.

When Daji rushed up to him, Yu Qing was already almost out of breath. She raised her foot and kicked the tree, then used her hands to push the trunk apart as hard as she could.

Yao Dan, having had his fill of playing, flew back here and rushed over upon hearing the call.

Before landing, she activated her finger laser, slicing the upper parts of the two tree trunks into several pieces.

With the injured tree losing its strength, Furong and the others seized the opportunity to break free.

Yu Qing, panting heavily, slowly recovered under Yao Dan's care.

Only then did everyone notice that Furong had fallen to the ground and hadn't been able to get up for a long time.

Daji and the others helped Furong up, but she could only stand with difficulty. One of her feet was no longer able to take a step, and she had lost the ability to walk independently.

At this point, Yao Dan was still taking his anger out on the two trees, almost tearing them to pieces.

She kept repeating, "These people really did it!"

Upon seeing that there was something resembling intestines inside the tree trunk that Yao Dan had cut down, Yu Qing was so frightened that he took a step back and asked:
"What...what kind of monster is this?"

Yao Dan said, "It should be the amphibian that Dr. Lu mentioned, a life form made up out of thin air."

"Who did this? What are they trying to do?"

"It was a zoologist named Yu Lin, and this is the 'Yu Lin Zoological and Botanical Open Garden' that they proposed to build back then."

This project became extremely popular, attracting numerous investors from around the world.

Dr. Lu was one of the biggest opponents back then, which is why he moved his lab here in an attempt to stop them.

"What is Yu Lin trying to do?"

"They have a huge plan, the first step of which is to create all the animals and plants described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas."

At the same time, they plan to perform cross-species grafting on various plants and animals to break down all reproductive barriers.

Yu Lin's ultimate goal was to prove he could create any kind of life, while capital wanted to turn this place into a tourist attraction for the curious.

"So, everything here might be a monster."

"You could say that. But I think their plans might not be going very well, and this place looks deserted."

But I just saw a bird, it must be the legendary phoenix. Looks like they really did create it.

Yu Qing hurriedly said, "No more, no more, let's leave here right away!"

"What should we do if Furong can't walk?" Yan'er asked.

Yu Qing said, "No matter what, we can never be separated again. My nemesis, is there any better way?"

"Sometimes I do, but I'm afraid I won't be able to keep going..."

"Then there's no need to consider it."

"Is there any other way? Let's do it this way! Daji, my husband's safety will depend entirely on you later, I..."

Yu Qing said, "We can't take any risks. Let's stick together and slowly walk out of the forest. Yao Dan will keep watch and keep track of the direction from the air."

"No, that would be too slow, and we might encounter unforeseen problems."

Daji, in a moment I will turn off all other functions and fly at full power, so that I can carry Furong on my back, pick up Daji and Yan'er on either side, and fly quickly through the forest.

My husband, holding onto my clothes, flew alongside me alone.

But there's one thing I need to mention: after flying out of the forest, I'll have to immediately enter a deep hibernation for two hours.

After my body's functions were readjusted, I was defenseless for the next 24 hours.

Daji said, "We've come to protect you and my dear."

Yao Dan said "Okay," unfurled his flying suit, slung Furong on his back, then, with Daji in his left arm and Yan'er in his right, stood still for a moment before calling out:
"My lord, tug at my clothes!"

Yu Qing also unfurled his flight suit and tightened his grip on Yao Dan's clothes.

Yao Dan took to the air, and Yu Qing followed closely behind. The five of them flew towards the edge of the distant forest.

In mid-air, Yu Qing glanced at Yao Dan and noticed that her face had turned dark, so he asked in surprise, "What's wrong with you?"

Yao Dan hurriedly said, "No...don't look...it's so ugly."

As they flew like this, Yu Qing felt that time was passing too slowly.

Finally, Yao Dan saw the end of the forest. Suddenly, she accelerated, and after passing the last few trees, she hurriedly landed on the distant grassland.

But Yaodan seemed to have discovered something else, and suddenly pulled upwards again, rushing towards a more distant slope...

(End of this chapter)