The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 105 Intelligence is Paramount
From Mingshan to swordsmithing, Yu Qing completed the entire process while fast asleep. So much had happened in the past two days that he had barely slept a full night; today was the last chance he had.

Yao Dan shook him for a while before finally waking him up. As soon as he opened his eyes, Yao Dan said, "Your work is on again!"

Yu Qing rubbed his eyes and asked, "What kind of work? Why are you relying on me for everything?"

"There's nothing we can do; we can't count on Angelica sinensis."

Originally, Jian Gong was a university town, which later evolved into a gathering place for intelligent people from all over the world. Most people who go there will eventually pay someone to beat them up. As for being sold out and then helping the seller count the money, that's child's play in Jian Gong.

For this reason, in order to protect those who enter the sword-making profession from being so stupid that they lack the ability to protect themselves, a necessary intelligence test must be conducted before they enter the profession.

Humanoid beauties like Chang'e can enter directly; the swordsmiths disdain dealing with such artificial beings, so she has already entered the city smoothly. However, natural beings like Dang Gui are not allowed to enter the city until they pass the test.

Of course, if Yu Qing passes the test, he can take Dang Gui in as her guardian, on the condition that Dang Gui cannot leave Yu Qing's sight and act alone.

Actually, Yu Qing originally didn't plan to go into the city when he heard about this, because Chang'e and Yao Dan could handle the supply matters by going into the city, so there was no need for him to go through the trouble.

But the arrogant look in the swordsmith's eyes made him very uncomfortable. He wasn't afraid of a three-headed man, so what was so special about a swordsmith? So what if he had a big head?
To be fair, the swordsmiths' heads were indeed large, probably weighing no less than twenty pounds. But their limbs were pitifully small. Standing there, they looked a bit like sunflowers with large flower heads, supported by a thin stem.

In order to become smarter than others, they went to great lengths to modify their genes, making their brain capacity reach the limit that their torso could support.

They are reportedly researching how to involve people's buttocks in thought processes.

Yu Qing told Yao Dan and the others to go into the city first and wait, while he pulled Dang Gui to the tester's side, intending to take on the test.

The examiner glanced disdainfully at Danggui, then sideways at Yu Qing, and said, "Before you decide to enter the sword-making field, I must kindly remind you:
Here, the general rules of the secular world don't apply. Anything that is mutually agreeable is legal. If you have any doubts, you must clearly express your disagreement. Do you understand?

“I understand. As long as it’s consensual, sword-making is legal. For example, if someone wants me to stab them to death, and I actually do stab them to death, I’m still innocent.”

"That's right. Before you enter the Swordsmith's Workshop, I'd like to know how much you know about it. It's dangerous for someone who knows nothing about swordsmithing to enter the city rashly. May I ask you, guest: how many windows and how many side doors does our Swordsmith's Workshop have?"

Yu Qing cursed inwardly: Damn it, this is clearly a deliberate attempt to make things difficult, not a test at all!

But then a thought suddenly struck him, and he laughed, “That’s easy. Everyone in this world has their own special skills. I only need to take one look at the city to tell you in an instant.”

"You knew it at a glance? Do you have X-ray vision? Or even..."

Yu Qing interrupted him, saying, "Seeing through things is too childish. I have a pair of compound eyes that can calculate a thousand things."

"Alright, since that's the case, take a look. Now you should have seen it all ten times. Tell me how many windows and how many doors the swordsmith has."

"This requires a suitable angle. You're blocking my way right now. Let me stand here so I can answer you immediately!"

The tester moved to the other side of Yu Qing, letting Yu Qing stand in his position, while he himself stood in the spot where Yu Qing had just been.

But after waiting for a long time, Yu Qing didn't say a word, he just glanced at the tester.

The tester said, "Sir, who claims to have a thousand calculations and compound eyes, I'm waiting for your answer."

Yu Qing laughed and said, "As long as both parties are willing, it's legal, right?"

"Yes, that's true."

"But you just voluntarily switched places with me, which means I am now the tester and you are the guest. If you want to enter the city, please tell me now how many windows and doors the swordsmith has?"

The tester said irritably, "Nineteen thousand seven hundred and forty-one windows and three thousand seventy-two doors."

Yu Qing said, "You're wrong. There are only 3,071 doors left. You are not allowed to enter the city."

"That's impossible! You're wrong, I'm right!"

Yu Qing said in a serious tone, "But one of the doors was sealed off this morning."

"Huh? How would you know about such a thing while you were outside the city..."

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Of course I know. You behaved so badly today, your family must have sealed the door and wouldn't let you in."

After saying that, Yu Qing pulled Dang Gui along and swaggered into the city.

Yao Dan and the others had been watching Yu Qing's performance with wide eyes inside the city. As soon as he stepped into the city, Yao Dan grabbed his hand and said, "I'm going to find a place to treat you properly!"

"Forget it, I'll be grateful if you don't cause me any trouble. The people here all think they're smart and love to scheme against others, so you'd better not fall for their tricks."

Yu Qing also specifically instructed Daji and Furong to keep a close watch on Danggui. Fortunately, Danggui only spoke ancient language, which provided a language barrier.

Chang'e and Eying returned and reunited with Yu Qing and the others. Yu Qing asked Chang'e, "Have you seen a place to eat up ahead?"

Chang'e said, "There's one about 300 meters away. Let's go over there together. I'll wait for you and Danggui outside the door."

"What? Afraid they'll rob us? The people here are very proud of themselves; they wouldn't do something so despicable. You all go and resupply the vehicles, make sure they're fully charged!"

"We and the vehicles have already been replenished."

"Alright, go and look around, see if there's anything new or interesting. Buy a little bit of anything that will make our journey easier."

Yao Dan said, "Daji and I will stay here and watch over some of the angelica for you."

"Alright, let's go our separate ways then. Meet up outside the restaurant in an hour."

The group split up and soon arrived at the restaurant. It had been many days since they'd had a proper meal, and this place even had all sorts of natural foods. Yu Qing wanted to take the opportunity to have a big meal, so he ordered eight dishes.

In most business establishments today, humanoid female servants provide services. Yu Qing has only seen this restaurant, where real people greet him, twice before.

Perhaps as a gesture of goodwill, Yu Qing ordered two large glasses of "nectar" drinks.

Before long, the big-headed man quickly set out eight large plates on the table, then turned and left. Yu Qing thought to himself, "The customs here are so bizarre—the plates are placed before the food is served."

Just then, a clanging and banging sound came from the kitchen; Big Head Man was preparing the dishes. But after a long time, he still wouldn't bring the dishes out.

After several urgings, he finally brought over two large cups of "nectar" and a small dish of pastries. Dang Gui was already starving, so she grabbed the pastries and swallowed them.

Yu Qing was intrigued by this so-called "nectar of the gods," so he picked it up and took a sip. He almost spat it out immediately. What utter nonsense about nectar of the gods; it was probably just a cup of dishwater.

Yu Qing suddenly remembered what the tester had said: "Anything that is consensual is legal." He had no choice but to endure it, since he hadn't asked what the elixir was actually made of.

He urged the big man to hurry up and bring the food up, saying he was hungry.

The big-headed man looked surprised and said, "Haven't you already eaten and drunk?"

Yu Qing asked anxiously, "We have eaten and drunk, but where is our food?" The big-headed man said, "Didn't you admit you've eaten and drunk? Do you want another serving?"

Yu Qing jumped to his feet, immediately realizing he'd been tricked. He should have eaten one dish before ordering the second; by ordering eight dishes at once, he was clearly being ripped off.

Getting angry now only makes you look foolish.

He said nonchalantly, "Then let's have another one. But I want to finish one plate before you bring another; I don't like food sitting on the table for too long."

The big-headed man replied, "No problem. I'll serve one dish first, and then serve the next one after you finish eating."

This time, the big man went to the kitchen and fiddled around for a while, and actually brought out a plate of food. Since the portion was small, Danggui finished it all with one chopstick.

Yu Qing said angrily, "It seems you don't have many ingredients left. If I want to order another serving of this dish, do you have any?"

The big-headed man said, "Yes. I have as much as you want."

Yu Qing said, "If I order too much, I'm afraid you won't want to cook it."

The big-headed man laughed and said, "When business comes, how can we not do it? Tell me, how many more dishes do you want?"

"Can we pay the bill after we finish eating?"

"Of course, but let me make it clear that I do not offer credit here."

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Of course. But I'm not ordering a few servings, I'm ordering 100,000 servings."

The big-headed man was taken aback and said, "This...this is too much..."

"Didn't you say you could order any amount? Were you lying?!"

The big-headed man snorted, "Fine, then I'll serve you 100,000 servings. But I didn't promise to serve them all at once, did I? You finish one plate, and I'll serve another, okay?"

Yu Qing stood up and said, "Alright, let's go."

After serving dishes non-stop, Big Head Man quickly collapsed from exhaustion, realizing he'd been tricked. But he thought Yu Qing would probably be in even worse shape, and he'd be bankrupt by then. So he gritted his teeth and continued the game.

Seeing that it was getting late, Yu Qing pulled Dang Gui along and prepared to leave.

The big-headed man stopped Yu Qing and said, "You haven't paid your bill yet, you can't leave!"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Didn't we agree to pay the bill after we finish eating? I've only eaten a little over three hundred dishes, and you still have over ninety-nine thousand dishes to serve!"

The big-headed man was speechless for a moment, and Yu Qing took the opportunity to leave with Dang Gui.

Outside the door, Yu Qing glanced at his watch and said, "The rest of them should be back by now."

"My dear husband, you were completely focused on your magical duel with that big-headed guy at the restaurant. Chang'e and the others are having a little trouble and might not be back for a while."

"I really didn't pay attention to what 'minor trouble' means?"

Yao Dan said, "Fu Rong has always been steady and never caused trouble. When she was passing by a place called Boyi Garden, she saw two people playing Go. She said something and was detained."

"This is outrageous! No matter what she said, she can't just detain people like that!"

She said that the chessboard was wrong; it should be a 19x19 grid.

“Furong is right, Go is a 19x19 grid.”

"The problem is that the Go board here is different; theirs is a 76x95 square grid. After hearing what Furong said, those two people called her a brain-dead person who brought low-level stuff, and said that only mentally challenged primitive people would play 19x19 Go."

Hearing that they had insulted you as well, Furong retorted, "If my precious one were here, neither of you two could defeat him." That's why they insist on seeing you before letting her go. Chang'e is currently negotiating with them.

"What's there to negotiate? We'll go take a look right away."

When Yu Qing arrived, Chang'e was still pleading with the two big-headed men. But they insisted on bringing their master over to see what real Go was like before they would give up.

余庆走上前去，说：“本人就是你们说的那个脑残的主人。19x19的围棋在我们那儿都是类人姝在玩，儿童呢就玩你们这种76x95的。至于成人嘛，我们玩的棋盘都是99x99的。你们敢玩吗？”

A big-headed man laughed and said, "You don't have a big head, but you talk a big game. How about we play 99x99? If you lose, you have to become my apprentice, how about it?"

Yu Qing said, "If you lose, from now on you can only play 19x19 chess. Stop pretending to play 76x95 chess, okay?"

"That `s a deal!"

Another large-headed man had already brought over a board, on which he drew 99 horizontal lines and 99 vertical lines. Then he asked, "Who will take the black piece and go first?"

Yu Qing said, "When guests are in a situation, the host will decide. You may play black."

Big-Headed Man didn't stand on ceremony and placed his piece first. Yu Qing ignored him, focusing only on securing his own territory. After a few rounds, Black clearly had the upper hand. However, the chessboard was indeed too large, requiring thirty sets of pieces to be used.

After playing for most of the day, Big Head Man calculated that he had won without a doubt. But Yu Qing insisted on finishing the game before he would stop.

Once the big-headed man realized that he had a significant lead in the territory he had occupied, he was too lazy to get entangled with Yu Qing, so he filled his occupied area to the brim, leaving only two eyes empty.

Seeing that Yu Qing still had no intention of admitting defeat, the big-headed man said impatiently, "You've lost terribly, are you still trying to cheat?"

Yu Qing said, "It's not certain who will win or lose yet. Let me ask you, it's my turn to make a move next, right?"

"Yes, then go ahead and go down there. Let's see how you come back to life."

Yu Qing placed a piece in the eyes of the big man, and a large group of black pieces was captured.

The big-headed man pressed down on Yu Qing's hand and said, "Are you really going to cheat? I have two eyes here, they're living pieces!"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "But in our 99x99 Go game, three eyes are needed for a game to be considered alive!"

The big-headed man said angrily, "This is outrageous! There's no such logic in the world!"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "Don't be angry yet. Let me ask you: Do living people need to breathe? They need to inhale and exhale to live, right? If I block one of your eyes, you can only exhale and not inhale. When will you die? Only three eyes can block the two that are exhaling and inhaling."

"I have never heard of such a ridiculous rule."

"Rules are made by people, not created on their own. Playing on a large, high-stakes chessboard naturally has its own set of rules. Why insist on applying the rules of a small chessboard to a large one? Isn't that just being overly clever?"
Besides, I didn't force you to play Go on our 99x99 board; it was your own choice, right?

(End of this chapter)