The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 61 Arrival at the Second Paradise
When Yu Qing woke up, he found a helmet on his head. He thought there had been another battle the night before, but when he asked, he found out it was to keep mosquitoes away.

Yao Dan was already impatient, waiting for him to tell them how to get down the cliff. Yu Qing laughed and said, "Didn't I say last night? We have to throw you off the cliff first."

Yao Dan laughed and said, "My husband must be joking, right?"

"I'm not kidding. But instead of just throwing you down, I'll put you in a zero-gravity backpack first, understand?"

Daji clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Hehe, how come we didn't think of that? It's so simple!"

“However, we still need to test it. Furong, you are in charge of stuffing all the non-essential items into a bag, and then you and Yan'er push it off the cliff from here. Let’s see how long it takes to float to the bottom of the cliff.”

Furong and the others acted immediately, and soon they were ready. They placed their backpacks on the edge of the cliff and gently pushed them down.

Everyone lay on the edge of the cliff to observe the backpack falling, and it took a full three minutes for it to hit the ground.

"Now do you believe me? This way, you won't die from the fall, but it'll be so slow it'll drive me crazy. Yao Dan, I can already see when I'll throw you off the cliff."

After Yao Dan descended the cliff, everyone's doubts were dispelled. Then Yu Qing followed suit, and the rest of the group, each carrying their remaining luggage, "jumped off the cliff."

Upon reaching the bottom of the cliff, they turned left and walked 600 meters to see the towering protective barrier of the Second Paradise. This barrier did not appear as smooth and bright as the First Paradise, perhaps due to the repeated impacts of falling rocks over the past hundred years, leaving many places covered with numerous pits and dents.

At that moment, Yu Qing was almost in tears, as if he had seen a long-lost relative. He left everyone behind and rushed over, pressing his face against the protective shield and peering excitedly inside.

But the scene before him suddenly made him nervous. The garden was overgrown with weeds, and the houses in the distance seemed to be mostly collapsed, appearing to be a long-abandoned ruin.

He found a slightly higher spot nearby, stood on tiptoe, and peered inside, but couldn't find any trace of human habitation there.

Clearly, everyone realized that the Second Paradise was abandoned, and no one dared to utter a sound. Only Chang'e quietly walked over and handed him her glasses, wanting him to take a closer look and see if it was still worth going in.

Yu Qing put on his glasses, and every corner of the entire park came into view. He searched for something most familiar, the place where synthetic food was made, but all he saw were some broken-down structures.

What made him most desperate was that the park's overall power system had also failed, and it seemed that a nest of wild rabbits or something similar was living there. This meant that even if they went in, they wouldn't get any supplies.

He found a rock and sat down, feeling an unprecedented loneliness. It was all over, he thought; there was no hope for a primal human like him to rise again.

He stared blankly at a line of ants not far away, carrying a dead insect back to their nest. "How much it resembled a funeral procession," he murmured to himself, then suddenly burst into tears.

Chang'e and the others quickly gathered around. Daji comforted her, "My dear, you still have us, don't be so sad."

Yu Qing wiped away his tears and sighed, "I see no ancients before me, nor any successors after me. Contemplating the vastness of heaven and earth, I am overwhelmed with sorrow and tears stream down my face."

After a moment of silence, Yao Dan asked, "Husband, what do we do now?"

“Going back is impossible; we can only keep going. Where will we end up if we follow this canyon? You can look it up.”

Chang'e said, "I've checked, it's water collection."

"Sinful water? Even water is sinful now? Does it frequently flood?"

"It's the 'collection' in 'collection,' not the 'crime.' I just don't know if this path will work."

"Then please explain the specific situation."

"We are currently above an underground river. If we go through the amusement park and continue for thirty kilometers, there is another cliff with the upper reaches of the river below. If we don't go through the amusement park and continue downstream, there is another cliff seven or eight kilometers away with the lower reaches of the river below. That river leads directly to Water City."

"So, to get to Jishui City, we need a boat, or we can swim? How long is the waterway?" "About 220 kilometers. Without a boat, we can only swim 220 kilometers. That should be manageable for me and Yaodan. But carrying the official on our backs while swimming in the river for a long time is quite risky. Even in ancient times, this river was known as the Devil's Spring..."

"Is there a way out if we go up this winding mountain road?"

“Going up there would be even more troublesome. Not only is there no road, but it's also the desolate Broken Soul Mountain Range, which is 500 miles long. There's too much uncertainty. It's better to go back up the cliff and head back.”

"Damn it, God is going to kill me!"

Furong said, "Why don't we rest under that big rock up there for a while, and then slowly think about our next move..."

Yu Qing said, "Fu Rong is right, haste makes waste. Chang'e, you should go and clean up the scene first, and see if there are any wild animals."

After a while, Chang'e and the others finished their inspection and beckoned Yu Qing over. Daji helped Yu Qing to rest and eat there.

Yan'er put on her glasses and looked around, eager to find a shortcut to leave this place as soon as possible.

Just as Yu Qing had swallowed half a pancake, Yan'er suddenly jumped up and shouted, "I saw it! I saw it!"

Yu Qing frowned and asked, "What's all the fuss about? Did you see a treasure?"

"No, baby, it's a child!"

Yu Qing jumped to his feet and asked, "You mean there are people in the amusement park?"

"Someone's here! They've climbed up from underground!"

Yu Qing took the glasses and looked in the direction Yan'er pointed. There really was a little girl of about twelve or thirteen! She was dressed in rags and was bent over doing something. After a while, she disappeared under a building with only half of its broken wall remaining.

Yu Qing said excitedly, "Yao Dan, find the Virtual Spear, let's go to the Second Paradise right now."

The group quickly arrived at the edge of the protective barrier, and Yao Dan took out the Virtual Spear, preparing to cut open the barrier.

Just as Yao Dan was about to act, Yu Qing signaled her to stop. Yu Qing touched the protective shield and found it had too many pockmarks and numerous faint cracks. He only allowed Yao Dan to make one hole in it to conserve energy.

"And then smash it open from here, is that right, my husband?"

"Let's try this first."

Yan'er immediately found a large rock, but after smashing it for a long time, it seemed to make no sound.

Yu Qing thought for a moment and then asked everyone to find as much wood as possible in the surrounding area, intending to set it on fire.

Chang'e said, "My lord, it cannot be burned."

Yu Qing said, "Who said I was going to burn it open? You all burn that hole as hard as you can, and then pour all our water into it to widen the crack. This is a method I learned from ancient human craftsmen."

"So that's how you open the shield..."

"This shield is already badly damaged, which is why it had this opportunity. If it were in perfect condition, this method might not have worked."

Everyone busied themselves following Yu Qing's method. When the last helmet of water was poured onto the protective shield that had just been burned, everyone heard a cracking sound. At this moment, Yan'er picked up a stone and smashed it several times, finally breaking open a large hole.

(End of this chapter)