101: Chapter 101: Having witnessed immortality, one now yearns for it.

Jiang Zhe's soul-searching question made Xiao Yu tremble uncontrollably.

A series of incredible answers surfaced in her mind.

In the livestream room, the viewers fell silent for a moment, and then the bullet comments surged in like a tide.

“????”

“My brain can't wrap around this!”

“So how exactly did humans come to be?”

“If there's no intermediate state, doesn't that mean we just appeared out of thin air?”

“Brothers, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about this!”

Meanwhile, in the living room of Qingfeng Temple.

Zheng Ming was the first to snap out of his shock, reflexively arguing: “Nonsense, this is absolute nonsense; how could humans not have an intermediate state? Aren't Homo erectus? Aren't Neanderthals? Aren't Denisovans? There are so many ancient human fossils!!!”

“Xiao Zheng, they aren't.” Dr. Zhou Ming interrupted Zheng Ming, “You are confusing [side branches] with [direct transitional forms].”

Zheng Ming was stunned, “What?”

Zhou Ming spoke with a deep expression: “Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and Denisovans are all our close relatives; they are parallel or slightly earlier branches in the evolutionary process. It's like you and your cousins, not your direct parents.”

“The [human transitional form] Xiao Yu's Brother mentioned should be...”

Zhou Ming fell silent, searching for an appropriate metaphor in his mind.

“It would be an [intermediate product] that looks both like a human and an ape, with morphological characteristics in a continuous state of change between the two.”

“But so far, there hasn't been a single fossil that the biological community can unequivocally identify as that semi-finished product [from ape to Homo sapiens]!”

His gaze swept across the face of the incredulous Zheng Ming and the somewhat curious Celestial Master Zhang.

“From a medical perspective, this can also be corroborated—during the development of a human fetus, structural features like gill slits and tails briefly appear.”

“That's because it's reenacting ancestral traits; but have you ever seen any human [atavism] phenomenon where someone reverts to a [half-human, half-ape] form?”

“No, we only end up with an extra tail—an elongated coccyx; hair all over the body—hypertrichosis; or even retaining some primitive features. These are all minor variations within the [Modern Homo sapiens] framework; they have never touched the [morphological chasm between humans and apes]!”

As he reached this point, Zhou Ming's voice gradually grew faint: “It's as if the blueprint for our bodies has had an independent and stable system from the very beginning. It allows for some insignificant errors, but it absolutely does not allow for a reversion to a semi-finished state.”

“This doesn't fit the logic of natural evolution, but it perfectly fits the parameter locking of humans after leaving the factory!”

“It's as if human atavism and evolution have been locked!”

“No intermediate forms will appear!”

Hearing the professional doctor's explanation, Zheng Ming was instantly speechless, goosebumps rising over his skin.

Even Celestial Master Zhang found it novel.

...

In the living room.

Jiang Zhe looked at Xiao Yu, whose face was gradually turning pale, and spoke to guide her: “Xiao Yu, what do you think?”

Xiao Yu swallowed hard, her voice trembling: “We... we... we were... created!”

“Created by whom?”

Xiao Yu's hand seemed to rise uncontrollably, pointing at the ceiling above.

Pointing at the Heavens above!

Instantly!

Boom—a sound like an invisible explosion instantly made the scalps of millions of viewers tingle.

“Holy crap!!!”

“Damn, are you for real??”

“The Heavens? Does she mean God?”

“No, not God, it's aliens, it's definitely aliens!”

“Exactly, only an advanced civilization could explain all this—an instantaneous species leap, skipping the intermediate state entirely!”

“This way, all the irrationalities have answers: design flaws are just compatibility issues; time anxiety is a genetic setting; no transitional state because we were directly transformed into Homo sapiens—there is no such thing as an intermediate state!”

“My scalp is tingling. No wonder our bigger and stronger relatives like the Denisovans and Neanderthals are all freaking gone!”

“...”

Meanwhile, in an office at the Yangcheng Library.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Teacher Chen Min stood up abruptly, his face full of resistance. “This is just too outrageous. How could it involve aliens? There must be natural laws or even evolutionary paths we haven't discovered yet!”

“But...” Zhang Yu reminded him in a low voice: “Teacher Chen, if the explanations for all other organisms and archaeological evidence are very strained—and even after explaining, there are still a bunch of loopholes—while the outrageous explanation from Xiao Yu's Brother... can suddenly connect all the contradictions...”

“Then maybe it's not so outrageous?”

A female student nearby murmured in shock: “The fermi paradox, the Great Filter; what if humanity itself was screened, or even deployed, by some higher civilization?”

As these words fell, Teacher Gao, the physics teacher, was so stunned by the train of thought of Xiao Yu's Brother and the students that he couldn't close his mouth.

“Oh my god... that's too terrifying!”

...

On the other side, in a living room in a Kyoto residential compound.

Old Liu, Old Chen, Old Qian, and Old Wang looked at each other, all seeing disbelief on the others' faces.

“From the perspective of historical research...” Old Chen took a deep breath, “If we introduce the variable of extraterrestrial intervention in ancient times, then many unexplainable archaeological and ancient cultural phenomena... suddenly become explainable and understandable!”

He looked deeply at his old comrades.

“For example, why did multiple ancient civilizations across the globe, while isolated from each other, all coincidentally develop complex astronomical observations and associate the movement of stars with deities?”

“The precision of the Mayan calendar, the Ancient Egyptians' mastery of the Sirius cycle, the Sumerians' knowledge of the Solar System...”

“Even if they were all incredibly brilliant, why did they all coincidentally link outer space with gods?”

“And where did this concept of 'gods' come from in the first place? Why did every nation in the world seem to agree that [they were not ordinary people, but gods]... Where did the concept of gods come! from!”

Old Qian's expression was grave. “Then there are the leaps in technology—bronze, iron, architecture, mathematics... they often appeared as mature systems in civilizations, lacking a gradual development process. This isn't just a deeper interpretation of the akashic records or the zero-point field that Xiao Yu's Brother mentioned before.”

“Instead, it's more like human civilization suddenly received the sparks and technology of civilization from somewhere!”

Old Wang added: “More importantly, collective memory. Myths from all over the world share themes like [gods descending from heaven to teach knowledge] and [restarting after a great flood]. The similarity is startlingly high. This isn't myth imitation; rather, many countries can find evidence of the same myth from a long time ago!”

“This also falls outside the scope of the akashic records and the zero-point field.”

As these professional words were spoken, the four old professors frowned deeply, finding it all inconceivable.

...

Inside Qingfeng Temple.

Zheng Ming was still arguing in frustration: “This is impossible! This is just too sci-fi! Evidence, where's the evidence?”

“Junior Brother Zheng.”

Celestial Master Zhang slowly opened his eyes.

“A perfect natural creation's desires should match its physiological limits.”

“Just as a lion does not crave the ocean floor, a fish does not crave fire, and a tiger does not crave wings.”

“Then, why would a body destined to age and rot crave longevity?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Zheng Ming and Zhou Ming were instantly stunned.

A body destined to decay... why... would it crave... longevity?

Savoring these words...

A chill involuntarily began to creep up their spines.

“This!!!” Zheng Ming's eyes widened, and he said in a daze: “Humans cannot imagine colors they haven't seen, sounds they haven't heard, or tastes they haven't experienced...”

“Once humans can describe a sound, color, or taste, it means our ancestors saw, heard, and tasted those things—they are etched into our genes!”

“And our ancestors... have seen... longevity!”

At this point, Zheng Ming's pupils shrank, and his body couldn't stop trembling, as if the shackles in his mind were snapped by Celestial Master Zhang's words.

“Therefore, we crave... longevity!!!”

After he finished, Celestial Master Zhang nodded slightly without responding.

However, the air in the room felt a few degrees colder.

...

In the living room.

The livestream room and various parties were still debating.

Xiao Yu's excited and fervent mood gradually calmed down, and her little brain was working at high speed.

Jiang Zhe took the opportunity to lead the topic to the next level:

“Xiao Yu, let's temporarily accept this bold hypothesis—that the appearance of humanity is related to extraterrestrial intervention.”

“Then, Xiao Yu, when did this intervention occur, and in what form was it recorded by our ancestors?”