The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Yu Qing suddenly realized that his "movement" no longer required his legs—his consciousness could freely adjust its phase as it projected into the real world, passing through solid matter as easily as passing through a thin mist. Yet he still maintained the posture of a human walking, as if this reminded him of who he once was.

But everything before my eyes was different. The light looked...wrong. It wasn't the stable spectrum of natural or artificial light, but a distorted, pulsating light with strange colors. Like looking at distant objects through a heatwave, everything was warped and distorted.

The alarm from the safe house system still echoed in my mind: disturbances to the real structure, attempts at dimensional penetration, and an escalating threat level.

Yu Qing paused at the exit, extending his perception further. The scene he "saw" caused a violent fluctuation in his core consciousness—if he still had a heart, it felt like cardiac arrest.

First Paradise is no longer the oppressive but at least orderly manor of my memories. The spatial structure of the entire area is undergoing severe distortion.

The walls of the main house flowed like melting candles, the plants in the garden grew wildly and withered instantly under some unseen force, the sky turned an unnatural purple, and the clouds spun in a way that defied the laws of physics.

At the heart of all this distortion, in the courtyard in front of the main house, stood a figure.

The person stood with their back to the exit of the passage, gazing up at the changing sky as if admiring a work of art. Their silhouette was somewhat blurred, as if constantly adjusting the frequency of their existence, but their basic form remained stable.

Then, the man turned around. He introduced himself as Professor Lu.

But this Professor Lu is different from the one who appeared in the safe house before. This Professor Lu seems more real. It's not that the previous one seemed fake, but rather that this one feels more grounded in reality.

His presence didn't feel like a strong "interface layer projection," but rather more like he came directly from somewhere in the real world.

His attire was also simpler: an ordinary gray research coat, stained with some dirt and plant sap, and in his hand he held a faintly glowing plant—the Immortal Flower.

His eyes weren't as unusually bright as the previous one, but they were more profound, as if they carried too many unspeakable secrets.

"You've arrived," Professor Lu said, his voice calm but tinged with weariness. "I guess you're wondering which one is the real Professor Lu."

Yu Qing felt himself float up, standing on the twisted grass of the courtyard in a complete consciousness form. If an ordinary person could see him now, they would see a semi-transparent outline of Yu Qing composed of soft light, with countless tiny streams of data flowing inside.

"What do you mean?" Yu Qing asked, his voice vibrating directly in the air without needing vocal cords. "Which of you is the real Professor Lu?"

Professor Lu—or rather, the Professor Lu of today—gave a wry smile. “This is an interesting question. In a sense, both are ‘true.’ But only one is me.”

He moved closer and carefully examined Yu Qing's current state. "The consciousness upload is very successful. Better than I expected. It seems Yu Yunshan really did leave you the best equipment."

"Who exactly are you?" Yu Qing's voice was filled with suppressed anger and confusion. "Why are there two Professor Lus? Why did you both appear during my consciousness upload? What do you want from me?"

Professor Lu didn't answer directly, but instead gestured for the main house to open up. "Let's go inside and talk. Although it's not very stable there right now, it's at least better than being out in the open. Besides..."

He looked up at the distorted sky. “Something’s watching us. We shouldn’t stay out here too long.”

Yu Qing hesitated for a moment. His new perception told him that Professor Lu did not show obvious hostility, but he had not fully opened his consciousness connection either.

Moreover, the distortion of reality around us is indeed intensifying, and there is an unsettling "pressure" in the air, as if the entire space is being squeezed, stretched, and reconstructed.

"Okay," Yu Qing finally said.

The two entered the main house. The scene inside was even more bizarre: furniture was floating in mid-air, figures in the paintings on the walls were moving slowly, and the floor was rippling like water.

But Professor Lu seemed oblivious to all of this, heading straight for the study—the place Yu Qing remembered the old man most liked to be.

The study is relatively stable. The books are still obediently on the shelves, although they occasionally open and close on their own.

The huge mahogany desk was still in its original place, with even a cup of steaming tea on the tabletop—looking particularly out of place in this unstable environment.

"Please sit down." Professor Lu sat down in a chair first and carefully placed the 'Immortal Flower' on the table.

Yu Qing did not sit down—he didn't need to right now—but instead conjured a more stable form opposite the desk, which looked almost identical to a real person, except for a slight halo around the edges.

“Now, explain,” Yu Qing said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Professor Lu nodded, placing his hands crossed on the table. "Where should we begin? Perhaps we should start from the very beginning. From Yu Yunshan and me, from our collaboration in our youth and our subsequent falling out."

He paused for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, and then began to speak:
“More than a hundred years ago, Yu Yunshan and I were both budding scientists. He focused on quantum physics and information science, while I studied biological neuroscience and the nature of consciousness. We collaborated on an interdisciplinary project and quickly discovered that our research was surprisingly complementary.”

“We shared a common dream: to break the limitations of human consciousness. We believed that if we could liberate consciousness from the constraints of the body, humanity could achieve true evolution and no longer be bound by disease, aging, and death.”

"The first ten years were wonderful. We shared data, exchanged ideas, and designed experiments together. The Shengtian Group was founded during that time, initially as a small cluster of laboratories that provided funding and technical support for our research."

"The problem arose after we discovered the 'interface layer'." Professor Lu's gaze drifted into the distance, as if recalling something:
"It was a coincidence. During a high-intensity consciousness mapping experiment, our device's sensors captured something that shouldn't exist. A dimension parallel to our reality but different from it, a space composed of pure information and possibilities."

“That is what later became known as the ‘vast ocean,’ or the ‘interface layer.’ We discovered that human consciousness can briefly access that dimension under certain conditions, gaining knowledge and perceptions beyond the realm of common sense.” “But we also discovered something else.” Professor Lu’s expression turned serious. “That dimension is not empty. There is something there. Some ancient, powerful beings that transcend our understanding.”

Yu Yunshan's first reaction was: control. He believed we could study these beings, understand how they worked, and then utilize their power. My reaction was: vigilance. I thought we were playing with fire, and some powers should not be touched.

"This marked the beginning of our first major disagreement."

Professor Lu took a sip of tea, which looked cold. "But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that we discovered a way to permanently connect human consciousness to the interface layer—what later became known as 'parallel human' technology."

“Yu Yunshan wanted to conduct human experiments immediately. He wanted to be the first ‘evolved’ human. I objected, I thought the technology was not mature enough and the risks were too great. But we all know what kind of person Yu Yunshan is—once he decides to do something, no one can stop him.”

“He conducted his first self-upload experiment without telling me.” Professor Lu’s voice lowered.

"The experiment was a success. His consciousness did indeed connect to the interface layer, gaining unprecedented abilities and knowledge. But he also changed. Not suddenly, but gradually. He became increasingly indifferent, increasingly controlling, and increasingly unlike the Yu Yunshan I knew."

“At the time, I thought it was just a side effect of immature technology, a cognitive distortion caused by consciousness adapting to a new dimension. I tried to find ways to counteract this effect, to study how to maintain humanity, and how to gain powerful abilities without losing myself.”

“I’ve discovered the Immortal Flower.” Professor Lu gently touched the plant on the table. “This peculiar plant has neuroactive components that can help consciousness establish a more stable anchor point between the interface layer and reality.”

It acts like a buffer, mitigating the cognitive shock of dimensional shifts. Most remarkably, it also contains active ingredients for humans and animals in the modern world, enabling their cells to possess a degree of self-judgment.

"But I soon discovered that Yu Yunshan's research on the Immortal Flower had another purpose. He didn't want to use it to help people transition smoothly, but rather to use it to control those beings who had become parallel humans."

The Immortal Flower can strengthen anchor points of consciousness, but overuse or specific modifications can also cause a consciousness to become dependent on other consciousnesses, much like an addict's dependence on drugs.

“He wants to create an army.” Professor Lu looked directly into Yu Qing’s eyes. “A parallel human army that is completely loyal to him and under his control. Tianqing City is his first testing ground.”

Your aunt Yu Wei, and all the parallel humans in Tianqing City, have been influenced and controlled by him to varying degrees.

Yu Qing felt a chill. It wasn't a physical cold—he no longer had any physical sensations—but a tremor on a conscious level.

He thought of the uniform high-rise buildings in Tianqing City, of his aunt's perfectly synchronized avatars, and of that unsettling sense of order.
“But Yu Yunshan’s plan doesn’t stop there,” Professor Lu continued. “He wants to control more than just parallel humans. He wants to control the entire reality. He believes that through the existence of the interface layer, he can adjust the basic parameters of reality and make the whole world operate according to his will.”

"The Deer Terrace Project, the Mirage Project, all those things you thought were defensive measures were actually his control tools."

Professor Lu's tone was full of sarcasm: "'Lutai' is not a weapon used to close off the real world, but an engine used to reconstruct reality. It can rewrite the physical laws of a certain area according to Yu Yunshan's will."

“‘Mirage’ is not a disguise system, but a reality overlay device. It can create a false reality layer that overlays the real world. In this false reality, Yu Yunshan can set rules at will and manipulate people’s perceptions and memories at will.”

“Those ‘visual glitches’?” Yu Qing asked, his voice a little strained.

"The vulnerability is caused by the instability of the 'Mirage' system," Professor Lu said. "Yu Yunshan is testing the system and he is constantly expanding its coverage, but the technology is not perfect yet. Those distortions and malfunctions are real reality trying to 'penetrate' through the false layer."

"What about external enemies? What about those entities that attempt to 'invade'?"

Professor Lu remained silent for a few seconds.

"This is Yu Yunshan's biggest lie. There are indeed native entities in the interface layer, but most of them are neutral, or even harmless to us. Yu Yunshan exaggerated their threat and created the illusion of 'external enemies' to justify his actions of controlling reality."

"Just like ancient emperors needed external threats to justify their centralized power," Yu Qing murmured.

“Exactly.” Professor Lu nodded. “But that doesn’t mean there’s no danger at all. Yu Yunshan’s own activities at the interface layer, his attempts to control and manipulate the existence of the interface layer, have indeed caused some existing and counter-effects.”

There were indeed things hindering him, but that was more like self-defense than unprovoked aggression.

"The 'you' who appeared in the safe house before."

“It’s Yu Yunshan’s creation,” Professor Lu said with certainty. “He knows me too well, he knows my way of thinking, my speaking habits, and the things I might say. He created a projection of ‘Professor Lu,’ a puppet that speaks according to his script.”

What's the purpose? I think it's to persuade you to join his side, or at least to make you believe his version of the story.

"Why does he need me?" Yu Qing asked the most crucial question. "If he is really that powerful, if he has already taken control of Tianqing City, if he is implementing such a grand plan, why would he need me?"

Professor Lu's expression became complicated. "There are several reasons. First, you are his direct bloodline. In parallel human technology, blood relations affect the compatibility of consciousness connections. You may be one of the few people who can directly access his core control system without being rejected."

"Secondly, you are young and have potential. Although Yu Yunshan is powerful, his consciousness has stayed in the interface layer for too long and has begun to show symptoms of 'reality detachment'. He needs a fresh and stable consciousness to help him maintain control over reality."

“Third,” Professor Lu hesitated for a moment, “I think he might genuinely see you as his successor. Not emotionally, but practically. He wants to pass on his ‘career,’ and wants the Yu family’s control to last for generations.”

Yu Qing processed this information. (End of Chapter)