The first night after the Ground Return Plan began.
Public discontent was gradually building.
Even in his own room in the residential area, Lu Bai could sense the undercurrents stirring outside.
The first sign was the sporadic outbreaks of unrest.
Over the course of that afternoon, Lu Bai lost count of how many small-scale clashes had broken out at Forward Base.
They were all limited in scope, involving at most three or four people. Most of the time, it was just one person stepping forward to voice their discontent.
These small-scale disturbances were violently suppressed by the armed forces almost as soon as they began, only to flare up again shortly afterward.
Put one down here, and another would spring up somewhere else.
The seemingly endless security incidents left the armed forces responsible for maintaining order mentally and physically exhausted.
At first, the Coordination Committee had only arrested the more radical protesters, hoping to ease the hostility between those in charge and those being governed.
Unfortunately, these incidents happened far too often. The armed forces soldiers working on the front lines were especially fed up, and simply began shooting troublemakers on the spot.
But the more they did this, the more the public's pent-up rage grew.
People looked at the armed forces with undisguised hatred.
In turn, the soldiers on duty regarded the public as potential rioters. They kept the safeties on their guns off, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.
By now, the situation was almost on the verge of spiraling out of control.
The only reason a full-blown riot involving everyone hadn't erupted was that the authorities still held overwhelming force.
The Coordination Committee had clearly realized this, but faced with a situation boiling like a pot of water, they had no good solutions to offer.