Chapter 377: Fear spreads unrest
A dozen or so minutes after the New Year's Eve announcement ended, the television broadcast returned to the Spring Festival Gala.
The festive atmosphere on-screen amply demonstrated the hosts' and performers' acting prowess, yet the contrast with what had come before lent it a sense of absurdity.
This year's gala was destined for a lukewarm reception. People did not even bother holding their usual roast fest.
Across the world, countless people sat bewildered at home, while countless others vented their fear and unease over the phone and on social media.
All sorts of dubious religious groups sprang up to declare that "God's punishment" had arrived.
Some calmer people also went online to analyze everything that had happened.
Some records of the changes with lower security classifications were released online. People could search and browse the relevant information simply by visiting the announced government websites.
But the more advanced the information was, the more terrifying it became. Rather than helping ordinary people avoid danger, it might have the opposite effect.
The "Memo Plan" was not just about making the warning of the apocalypse public. Its second step involved preparations for the apocalypse by the entire population.
Once the Dark Tide was made public, ordinary people were never going to return to their former lives. The memo represented the things that had to be done before the "collision."
Here, however, the member nations of the World Anti-Dark Tide Convention Alliance had made a rare miscalculation.
They had hoped to give the public at least a week to familiarize themselves with the material, which should have been just enough time to digest the information.
Once people understood the government's predicament and fully grasped the gravity of the problem, the next phase would begin: the final step of nationwide