A beetle the size of a grain of rice reflected a reddish-brown light in the lingering twilight. In the moment when the reflected light entered Yu Zhen's eyes, the beetle opened its tiny elytra and flapped its hind wings, soaring into the air. A gentle breeze carried it, drifting towards the nearby bushes.
"We only have one Earth. Protecting the Earth is everyone's responsibility!" Suddenly, a little girl's voice echoed in Yu Zhen's mind. He instinctively turned his head, as if trying to find the source of the voice, but of course, it was in vain. He was already convinced that he was the last human being. He couldn't help but sigh, and lamented the absurdity of that public service announcement. After all, why would the Earth need protection? Humans only need to protect themselves. Now, considering that he couldn't reproduce independently, humans were essentially extinct, while the Earth remained stable in its orbit, and its biosphere had begun to slowly recover. Yu Zhen could even reasonably predict that when the ecosystem recovered to a certain extent, there would likely be another species explosion on Earth, after all, there were so many ecological niches waiting to be filled. However, none of that mattered to humans anymore.
Humans will be extinct today.
Yu Zhen chose a large, roughly one-meter long, half-meter wide, uneven stone as the final stage. It became the last judgment seat, as well as the plaintiff's seat, the judge's seat, the prosecutor's seat, the defense's seat, the jury's seat, and the bailiff's seat. Yu Zhen, representing all of humanity, would prosecute all of humanity and pass judgment on all of humanity in the name of all of humanity. He was humanity.
Yu Zhen sat down on the stone and gently placed the kinetic gun by his side. It was a bit uncomfortable, so he wondered and turned around to look, then picked up a small piece of gravel from the stone and gently tossed it away.
He sat back down and cleared his throat. The sound of "ahem" in the cold air was like the first shot fired by a North Korean during the Third World War, like an omen that made all of humanity tremble involuntarily.
"Today..." he spoke with a mournful voice and looked around, as if confirming whether he had an audience. "Today," he repeated, clearing his throat again, "we gather here to judge the crimes of all of humanity. As the legal representative of all of humanity, I accuse all of humanity of the following crimes..." Yu Zhen paused and looked around again, still no audience, perhaps only the little beetle was listening. He thought he could list countless charges, but it would be meaningless, just needlessly prolonging the trial. Ultimately, he only needed one excuse... no, one crime.
The crime against humanity, he decided, this was his choice, and it was certain, after all, it was humanity itself that had caused the extinction of humanity.
"I accuse all of humanity of committing the crime against humanity!" he shouted, then couldn't stop gasping for breath. He could feel his heartbeat suddenly accelerate, almost suffocating him.
He had to sit quietly for two minutes.
"What evidence do you have?" Yu Zhen suddenly asked.
"The entire Earth is the evidence." He answered his own question, "You have to believe it, because you are me."
"I know." He fell silent again.
One minute later, he stood up and said softly, "I plead guilty."
He slumped back down, covering his face with both hands, and then his body twitched, starting to sob. The sobbing grew louder and soon turned into wailing and howling.
He almost fainted.
Occasionally muttering phrases like "shouldn't have" and "why me".
He seemed to have turned into a madman, a madman in the courtroom, but he could provide valid testimony because the judge had already determined that everything happening here was valid evidence.
Finally, the emotions passed, like a storm finally calming, like radioactive dust finally settling.
He rubbed his eyes and pronounced judgment on all of humanity, "In the name of humanity, I hereby pass judgment on all of humanity. Humanity, due to its own actions, has caused the extinction of over 9.5 billion people within two years, committing the crime against humanity. The evidence is conclusive, and the suspect has confessed. By the decision of the judge and all of humanity, humanity is sentenced to death, in the hope that through this, humanity can forgive the hatred between each other and merge in the possible existence of hell or heaven. Does the defendant have any objections?"
Yu Zhen paused for a moment and said softly, "I have no objections."
He picked up the kinetic gun next to him, set the firing power to the maximum, and then put the muzzle into his own mouth. He knelt down and closed his eyes.
Splat~ The red and white chunks of human flesh burst and splattered, and a grain-sized reddish-brown beetle was shattered by the aftermath, becoming the only collateral damage victim.