The weather in July and August was as hot as usual.
Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan spend their days either working, training early in the morning and late at night, or entering the space to harvest grains, vegetables, and meat, or practicing swimming.
Qinghua Kingdom, along with other countries, remained peaceful and stable, without any disasters. This sparked a wave of online discussions about "returning to normalcy."
"Since the beginning of this year, there haven't been any more disasters here. The weather has been good, so does this mean the end of the world is over?"
"Yeah, I feel like I can do it again! Ahhh, God, I finally made it!"
"So now, is it time to restore normal social order? Will my company be able to come back to life?"
"Oh my god, I can spend the money in my bank card again, right?"
......
Online opinions are bombarding everyone's senses. Some optimists believe the apocalypse is over and they can now fully enjoy modern technology. They no longer need to farm any more land.
The wealthy scoffed at this claim, but went along with it, pushing the doomsday theory to the top of trending topics. Then, while the majority who followed the trend were still confused, they bought up this year's new grain at high prices and hoarded it.
For them, money is just a number, and whether or not the value of food depreciates later doesn't matter much.
Some astute citizens sensed something amiss. They knew that the wealthy had their own circles and could obtain information that the wealthy didn't. So they followed suit, buying up rice, flour, and cooking oil in large quantities, causing short-term market chaos.
The alliance, sensing this change, promptly released the message: "The apocalypse is not over!"
Those who deceive themselves don't believe it. They list various signs of improvement on the planet and refute the experts: "Look, if we were still in the apocalypse, how could we be so peaceful? Come to think of it, this year has been too smooth!"
This view has been accepted by many people.
After discussing it with the bigwigs, General Lee decided to announce the disappearance of the seawater directly.
The release of photos and videos stirred up a storm in everyone's hearts.
"My God, what is that? Shouldn't it be a beach?"
"That's the continental shelf! Could it be that our continental plate is drifting at high speed? No, our country's relative position hasn't changed!"
"Good heavens, where did the seawater go? Is this what we're going to face next? This is terrifying!"
Many people experience fear when they see pictures of the deep sea, marine life, or even deep blue-black colors. This is commonly known as thalassophobia.
But now, they can't even stand seeing this information about the shallow sea. Even though the photographer is on the shore.
"This is terrifying!" That was the only thought in everyone's mind.
Immediately, the question arose: what should be done?
“Those photos and videos were obviously taken in advance, which means that the alliance knew about it all along and kept us in the dark.”
"Yes, what are they trying to do? Why are they lying to us?"
"Are you trying to disregard human life?"
Online radicals began nitpicking, shamelessly hurling insults at the alliance and its supporters.
Some more rational people offered words of comfort: "Given the current situation, even if it were announced, what could we do? The league hasn't said anything, probably because they don't want us to live in fear. Knowing too much isn't a good thing."
"Right, if they had a plan, they would have done it already. Why would they bother fooling a nobody like you? Since the big shots haven't said anything, either they're trying to figure something out, or they're out of options. Either way, no matter how nasty your insults are, it won't change anything!"
With the two sides unable to reach an agreement, General Lee had no choice but to provide an explanation regarding the incident.
"Sea level drop is a phenomenon we observed last year. Initially, researchers worried they were mistaken. The sustainable, large-scale disappearance of seawater has forced us to take this event seriously. Experts speculate that the next disaster will be related to the ocean, but we are not sure whether it will be a tsunami, an undersea earthquake, or an undersea volcanic eruption. Or perhaps, the ocean will simply disappear."
The reason for not releasing relevant information in a timely manner was twofold: first, to avoid causing public panic; and second, as many had suspected, the expert team was indeed unable to resolve the issue.
This is a natural phenomenon we have never seen before, and its causes and consequences are unclear. The alliance has sent dozens of expert teams to the coastal areas to investigate, but to no avail. Therefore, we can only strengthen monitoring and consider alternative plans.
Last October, the Alliance recruited a large number of laborers, as I believe you remember. One group of them was sent to the Kunmeng Mountains to build shelters, which will be our last resort.
Currently, the first and second phases of the shelter have been completed, and preparations are underway for the third and fourth phases. We hope that, before the next disaster, all the people in the coastal areas can be relocated to the Kunmeng Mountains.
We will be recruiting workers again in September to begin construction in the Kunming-Mengshan Mountains. Young and middle-aged individuals interested in joining the construction are encouraged to register via the alliance's official WeChat account.
General Lee finally revealed the answer.
Parents who hadn't contacted their children for almost a year finally learned where their loved ones had gone and what they had been doing. Upon learning that they hadn't been engaged in dangerous work, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Some people who were worried about the dangers of the special jobs and didn't sign up now regret it.
The people in the coastal areas, who had been living in fear and despair, were moved to tears when they heard that the Alliance had never abandoned them and was actively preparing shelters. They realized that the Alliance had been quietly supporting them, and had never stopped.
The online war has temporarily subsided. Everyone seems to be more unified than ever before.
"A shelter? So the Alliance was secretly building shelters. That's wonderful!"
"Is it only allowed for people from coastal areas to stay? What about those of us from inland areas?"
"Pah! Those of us inland are so far from the sea, why would we need to seek refuge? If you want, how about we switch places? We coastal people would love to settle inland."
"Hehe, you're right, but the words 'shelter' really give me a sense of security."
"Yes, we still don't know what form the next disaster will take or how far it will spread. What's wrong with us inland people wanting to go to shelters?"
"There's no use in thinking about it so much. Let's see what the alliance decides."
"Yes, yes, yes, follow the alliance, and happiness will be yours!"
Seeing that public opinion was finally under control, General Lee said, "We are monitoring the ocean every minute and every second. Everything is fine at the moment, and there is no need to move to the shelter for the time being."
Once anything unusual is detected, the alliance and the guard teams will arrange for the evacuation of residents. Therefore, everyone simply needs to stay home and wait for further instructions.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but some were a bit petty and packed their belongings, heading straight to Kunmeng Mountain.
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