The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 7 Sentiment Algorithms
Yu Qing slept like a dead man for the rest of the night and had no idea what happened afterward.

When he woke up, it was already broad daylight. He found himself wearing a helmet and protective clothing, being carried by Daji as they ran wildly.

He was drenched in sweat; it was so hot and stuffy. He yelled, "Honey, are you trying to kill me with this heat? You've bundled me up so tightly..."

But then he suddenly saw flames shooting into the sky ahead, and Daji and the others were leading him toward the burning area.

He asked in horror, "Are you all crazy? There's a fire over there! You want to burn me alive?!"

Daji said, "The fire is burning that way, so it's safest for us to run that way. Don't worry, we're still two or three hundred meters away from the fire!"

Yan'er said, "It's all because of that fire yesterday. I hope there's water in the burned area. We're fine, but I'm afraid the baby won't be able to handle it."

Furong said, "The baby can't take it anymore; the ambient temperature is 63℃ now."

Upon hearing that the ambient temperature was so high, Yu Qing felt even more ashamed that he was about to die from the heat.

At this moment, Daji suddenly stopped and comforted her:

"Don't be afraid, darling. The areas around us have already been burned, so no more fires will come. Just bear with it. As long as you don't take off your helmet, the smoke won't choke you, but it will definitely be stuffy."

"Are you all alright?" Yu Qing asked.

"We're fine. We were just mimicking breathing; it wasn't actual breathing."

But we're also afraid of fires reaching several hundred degrees Celsius.

Upon hearing the words "several hundred degrees," Yu Qing felt as if his flesh was being burned, experiencing extreme discomfort. Weakly, he raised his finger and pointed to the pocket of his protective suit.

Yan'er asked, "What do you want?"

"Dagger, dig a hole, dig deeper..."

Daji said, "Furong, you should go help too. He wants to dig a pit and bury him in it to cool him down!"

Yu Qing gave a bitter laugh: "I've taken off my protective suit too, I came into this world naked and I'll leave it naked, with no ties whatsoever..."

“We understand. But the soil temperature below isn’t much lower either…” Furong said.

Yan'er's big hands were very skillful; in less than half an hour, she dug a pit more than 2 meters deep.

Daji lowered Yu Qing down, and Yan'er then kept covering him with damp mud.

"I...go find water?" Furong didn't know what to do.

Daji surveyed the surroundings and said, "Don't go there. There's no water halfway up the mountain."

After saying that, she bent down and took off his helmet, saying, "The smoke isn't so thick here anymore, let's get some fresh air."

Furong then used the hem of her dress to fan him.

"Am I a troublemaker? I made such a commotion just by starting a fire!"

Daji said, "It's not just a big commotion. There are so many plants here that have been growing for one or two hundred years. It will probably take ten days to half a month to burn them. We can't go to Wengshan for the time being."

Yu Qing felt a little cooler, so he joked, "Now there's something more urgent. Can any of you give me some pee to drink? Please."

Daji also laughed and said, "We can't give you that, but I've thought of a way to get water."

"Really? Hurry...hurry up and get it done..."

Daji took out a handkerchief, covered the relatively damp soil that had been dug up, and then lay down and forcefully sucked the moisture from the soil under the handkerchief.

After sucking up a few drops of water, she immediately fed it to Yu Qing mouth-to-mouth.

Furong and Yan'er followed suit, digging out fresh, damp soil to fetch water.

Even more fortunately, Yan'er dug up a patch of banyan tree roots.

She cut the root into sections, squeezed it with her large hands, and a small stream of water flowed through the cloth and into Yuqing's helmet. In no time, the helmet was more than half full of water.

Just as Yu Qing was about to drink, Daji stopped him, saying, "You can only drink a little bit; there are risks involved in drinking too much."

Yan'er also said, "Drink less, and pour the excess water on your forehead to cool it down."

However, this can only alleviate the heat temporarily and cannot solve the problem at its root.

With fires raging all around and a frantic night of running for their lives, they have no idea where they are and can only passively wait for the fire to subside before making any further plans.

Furong disappeared without a trace.

Yu Qing asked, "Why is one of our treasures missing?"

Yan'er laughed and said, "If she hadn't flattered the master, we wouldn't be in this predicament now. It's fine if we lose her."

Daji said, "She went to find food for her baby. After the fire, she might be able to find some charred wild animals."

Yan'er continued her "tunnel" work and finally dug out a horizontal hole two or three meters deep along the tree roots, allowing Yu Qing to crawl inside and avoid the rising sun.

Taking advantage of the break, Daji went to a high place to check the fire's progress and scout the way for everyone.

Nothing is absolutely good or bad. Although the fire caused them trouble, from another perspective, it also created an easier path for them.

The road, built over a hundred years ago to serve as a viewpoint, has long since become a mystery, lost in the wildly growing forests. Without a GPS system, even those who venture inside would struggle to find their way.

A wildfire inadvertently created a panoramic view of the distance for them.

Yu Qing secretly rejoiced that he had met Daji and the other two humanoid beauties who were even more loyal than humans; otherwise, he really didn't know what would have become of him.

Yan'er was worried that the pit wasn't deep enough, so she kept digging with her bottom sticking out. Yu Qing tugged at her skirt and said, "Baby, that's enough, don't dig anymore."

Yan'er turned around and said, "I think it might be cooler in the deeper parts."

Seeing her face covered in mud and her body hunched over like a groundhog, Yu Qing couldn't help but pull her into his arms and kiss her deeply.

Yan'er looked blissfully happy, but she misunderstood Yu Qing's intentions and hurriedly went to take off her clothes.

Yu Qing quickly pressed Yan'er's hand down, saying, "No, I was just saying... just a little something..."

Unexpectedly, this scene was witnessed by Daji upon her return, who stamped her foot and exclaimed, "Don't you guys know where you're going...?"

Fearing that Daji would get angry again, Yu Qing hurriedly lifted up and pulled her down as well. Without saying a word, he embraced her and kissed her deeply, saying, "I am truly grateful to each and every one of you. I have no other intentions."

Daji's anger turned to laughter, and she said, "What do you mean by 'everyone'? We're not human!"

Yu Qing said, "I said you are human beings, and you are human beings!"

Daji tilted her head back and said in a serious tone, "Then will you sign?"

Yu Qing asked, puzzled, "You need to sign this too? You don't want me to kiss you a little more, do you?"

Yan'er said, "Of course we have to sign! Signing means you acknowledge our status as equals."

"Does it make any difference?"

Daji said, "The difference is huge. If you grant us the same status as humans, we can enjoy the same rights as your human wives and inherit your entire estate."

Yu Qing laughed loudly, "Damn it, I'm not even dead yet and you're already eyeing my property! But what use is property to you?"

Yan'er said, "It's useful. After handing over 30% to Shengtian Company, we can freely use the remaining 70%." Yu Qing laughed, "So what? Buy electricity?"

Daji said, "Why buy electricity? Electricity on Earth will be free in 2B19."

"With the money, we can find you a better burial plot and repair your tombstone..."

"Pah! Pah! Pah! Are you deliberately cursing me? Once I die, who knows where you'll go after you get the money!"

Yan'er said, "That's impossible. After you die, we will sit in front of your grave forever and never leave."

"Is this really how it has to be?"

"Is that really how it should be?"

"That damn Shengtian Company is really bullying you guys."

Just then, Yu Qing looked up and saw Fu Rong standing outside the tunnel carrying a dark object. He said, "Baby, you're back. Come down."

In fact, Furong had returned long ago. Seeing them hugging and laughing together affectionately, she felt an indescribable sense of loss, so she stood there motionless.

Daji said, "That looks like a charred roe deer!"

Furong whispered, "The outside is burnt, but there's still some edible stuff inside."

With both hands busy, Yu Qing could only point to his front and say:
"Come sit here with me and let me try the good stuff my darling got. Thank you for your hard work."

Furong was in front of Yuqing, and the four of them were huddled together.

Yan'er used a dagger to remove the charred parts, and the three humanoid girls tore off pieces of meat and fed them to Yu Qing.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Daji asked, "I didn't have time to say it just now, my dear, how should we plan our itinerary next?"

I was able to roughly determine the direction of the barbican by the shadows, and luckily the fire was burning in that direction.

We can keep a certain distance from the wildfire and follow it, but now that we're approaching the hottest time of the day, I'm worried you might not be able to handle it if we set off now.

If we rest here now and leave at night, the weather will be a bit cooler, but the road will be dusty everywhere. Our night vision is limited, and we're afraid you might slip and fall if we stumble.

"Have you decided whether we should stay here for the night and set off again at dawn tomorrow?"

"It would be better to leave tomorrow morning. By the way, what did you mean when you said your night vision capabilities are limited?"

Yan'er interrupted, saying, "We are all basic versions of humanoid beauties. If we need stronger night vision capabilities, we will have to pay Shengtian Company for an upgrade."

Daji said, "What's the use of saying all this? We can't connect to the satellite now, so even if we pay, we won't get Shengtian's upgrade package!"

Yu Qing said, "From now on, anyone who utters the words 'Sheng Tian' again will be punished!"

Furong asked quietly, "How will I be punished?"

"If I say I'll conquer the heavens, she'll carry my clothes and helmet by herself for three days!"

Daji and Yan'er said in unison, "You just said that we'd have to carry our own things tomorrow!"

Furong retorted, "Baby means we can't say 'victory over heaven'..."

Halfway through her sentence, Furong realized she had misspoke and quickly said, "I'll carry it, okay?"

Everyone laughed.

After nightfall, they played around for a while longer. Daji then pulled Furong to sit on either side of the tunnel to keep watch, leaving Yan'er and Yuqing alone inside the tunnel.

Yu Qing held Yan'er in his arms and continued chatting with her, mainly telling her about his experiences at the First Paradise.

He would gently stroke Yan'er's hair from time to time, which pleased her greatly. The "emotional" algorithm interpreted this action as affection, so she wanted to touch his face in return.

When Yu Qing saw Yan'er stretch out her big hands, he quickly pressed them down, wishing he could bury them in the ground.

Afraid of upsetting her, he held her tightly and said, "You're tired today, get some rest."

Yan'er said, "Baby, you've got it all wrong again. We're different from humans. As long as there's enough electricity, we can work 24/7 without sleep."

"I had forgotten about that."

Although it was still very stuffy in the tunnel, Yan'er's body felt cool and comfortable against it.

The humanoid creatures also have something similar to blood vessels under their skin, but instead of blood, they contain a liquid called R-variant entropy.

This so-called R-variant entropy has extremely high temperature sensitivity; in short, it expands rapidly when heated and contracts immediately when cooled.

Humanoids have one heart on each side. The left heart controls the constant flow circulation of fluid throughout the body, while the right heart controls the expansion and contraction of R-type entropy.

When the body temperature is above 38°C, the left heart simply draws a portion of the R denaturation entropy into the right heart; when the body temperature is below 38°C, the right heart replenishes the R denaturation entropy into the left heart.

There's no need to understand the principle so clearly; in short, these are all simulations of the human body's constant temperature.

However, this consumes a lot of electricity, and when the humanoid is not in contact with the human body, it can allow the heart to rest.

Yu Qing was thinking that the humanoid goddess was already so close to perfection, and it was still based on technology from over a hundred years ago.

What will it have developed to today, more than a hundred years later? I can't even imagine how far the humanoids of 2C64 have progressed.

In his heart, he felt that he had come to see them as human beings just like himself.

They are even more human than Ya Ya and the others.

But he was also confused; it didn't make logical sense. If you copy B from A and then say B=A, doesn't that mean A=B?
At that moment, he vaguely sensed that Yan'er was forcibly lowering her body temperature to alleviate his heat. Although she was only doing this through a so-called "emotional algorithm," he was still deeply moved.

He thought that humanity might very well be defeated by this kind of "emotional algorithm".

He turned Yan'er's head and gave her a heartfelt kiss.

“Honey, don’t force it to cool down. It’s a waste of electricity. We still have a long way to go, and we don’t know where we’ll be able to charge it next.”

"If I run out of power, will you just leave me in the wilderness?"

Yu Qing was startled; she was engaging in the same thought processes as humans, and he had to be careful.

So he gave her a human response: "I will definitely carry you to the next charging station."

The swallow smiled happily, just like a human, and looked up, saying, "I want you to feel cooler!"

But Yu Qing sighed inwardly. He thought that if Yan'er really ran out of power halfway through, he would most likely still abandon her.

Humans are less reliable than machines! They can tell lies that sound more real than the truth itself.

At this moment, Daji suddenly said from outside the tunnel, "What if the three of us run out of power? Will we still be able to carry it?"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "I'll carry one on my back, one in my left arm, and one in my right hand. Is that alright?"

Furong interjected, making everyone laugh again. She said:

"I'm fat, so it'll be softer for you to carry me. Carrying Yan'er is too uncomfortable."

This is what the future will look like; there's no doubt about it.

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(End of this chapter)