Southern Weekly, October 15, 2014 — "Shanghai Is Blessed": Shanghai has entered its best weather in 30 years. For a full week, Shanghai's PM2.5 index has been excellent, and for the last two days it's stayed below 15 all day, making it the city with the best air quality in the country—even better than many scenic rural towns surrounded by green hills and clear waters...
Oriental Perspective, October 16, 2014 — "Blue Skies Return, New Moves from Smog-Fighting Heroes": In recent years, air pollution and smog have become issues of public concern, but (content omitted)... In the current dilemma where it's tough to balance smog control, environmental protection, and economic development, Shanghai has taken the national lead and broken through. Thanks to a series of new measures, Shanghai has become the city with the best air quality in the country. And the team that crafted these blue skies is the leadership group headed by ***...
Sina News, October 17, 2014 — "Fog Blocks Roads, Mist Enshrouds the City, In and Out Is Tough": Recently, Shanghai has been shrouded in thick fog, with visibility so low that city transport is seriously affected, causing supply problems and leading to stockpiles outside the city and rising prices for meat and eggs inside. To deal with the special weather, the Shanghai government has rolled out countermeasures. (Cut to a meeting, where a leader is speaking:) We must strengthen the supervision of daily necessities prices by the commerce department to completely stamp out price gouging...
Travelers' Channel, October 18, 2014 — "Weather Wonder, Can't-Miss Earth Spectacle": Hello, fellow travelers! Recently, an unprecedented weather phenomenon has appeared in Shanghai—a ring-shaped fog. Check out this photo, taken from the air: the whole city looks like it's been surrounded. Word is, many travelers are already heading to Shanghai to experience this once-in-a-lifetime atmospheric spectacle. Now, let our editor walk everyone through the cause of this marvel...
Internet Home, October 19, 2014, 9am — "What's Up with the Massive Server Lag?": These past few days, servers from all major internet providers have been lagging to varying degrees. Timeouts, no response, online games are basically unplayable, and even if you manage to get online after a struggle, you'll get kicked in seconds. Half of online life is paralyzed. Even trying to read a web novel is impossible—the Dian Niang website won't load at all. Seriously, what is going on?
Financial Times, October 19, 2014, 11am — "Online Banking, E-commerce, Massive Shutdown": Today, e-commerce took a huge hit. Any transaction, payment, or purchase involving Shanghai is completely stalled. As of press time, the Shanghai stock market has almost entirely shut down. Experts say foreign hackers have launched a massive attack on our financial system, reminding us once again of the importance of information security...
Forum Post, October 19, 2014, 12pm — "It's Like the City Is Cut Off": I've noticed Shanghai keeps having problems lately. Planes, trains, communications, logistics—everything's disconnected. Can't open forums, can't get on official sites, everything's hard to get in or out. My family's in Shanghai, and now I'm suddenly worried—what if they all just got isekai'd? Hahaha...
People's Daily Online, October 19, 2014, 1pm — "Missing! City in Crisis, Unknown Danger!": (This news was later deleted)...
Xinhua News, October 19, 2014, 2pm — "Completely Cut Off! Natural Barrier Surrounds the City!": (This news was later deleted)...
Forum Post, October 19, 2014, 3pm — "The Army Has Surrounded Shanghai, Sent Many in on Suicide Missions, Only One Special Forces Soldier Made It In—And Found It Was a Ghost Town!": (This post has been deleted)...
Phoenix Net, October 19, 2014, 4pm — "Shanghai Faces Its Biggest Crisis Ever! Military Mobilized on a Massive Scale!": (You can read the original in Traditional Chinese by using a VPN) Since noon today, all contact with Shanghai has been lost, and the situation has become extremely serious. Armored battalions and the East Sea Fleet have been urgently mobilized, and the PLA is rushing to Shanghai, but so far they can't find a way into the city...
People's Daily Online, October 19, 2014, 5pm — "No News at All, The Whole Nation Prays for Shanghai": The crisis in Shanghai has touched the hearts of people across the country. Five hours have passed, and still no news. The military spokesperson said: No way has yet been found to contact anyone inside the city...
Xinhua News, October 19, 2014, 6pm — "Good News! Lockdown Lifted, Shanghai Is Back!": (Deleted after fifteen seconds)...
Xinhua News, October 19, 2014, 6pm — "World-Shocking Massacre, City Scene Too Horrible to Look At, Corpses Everywhere": (Deleted two minutes later)...
7pm, on TV, two anchors look visibly uncomfortable: "Good evening, viewers. Today is October 19, 2014, lunar calendar September 26. Welcome to tonight's news broadcast. Here are the headlines for today... Uh, we've just received word from the director—breaking news coming up. Today, Shanghai suffered a major terrorist attack. Preliminary casualty figures are three, three hundred..."
The anchor's expression grows worse the more he speaks. He freezes, staring blankly at the teleprompter for a long moment. Then, with shocked eyes, he mutters: "Preliminary count is three... three million people..."
In front of the whole nation, the female anchor bursts into tears, unable to continue. The news cuts to an unrelated program, and the whole country is thrown into chaos.
7:20pm, two older anchors take over, barely holding it together to resume reporting: "Viewers, we interrupt with breaking news. By order of the National High Officials' Conference, China**** issues a presidential decree, announcing a nationwide state of emergency. Here is the live press conference..."
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Starting at 6pm, within half an hour, all kinds of media went wild with coverage, and forums exploded with posts. Tons of photos and videos were uploaded to servers, only to be blocked within minutes. Three hours later, the grassroots effect kicked in, and those shocking scenes started flooding netizens' computers. As people frantically shared and downloaded, the network blockade looked utterly powerless.
A whole night passed—no one slept a wink.
October 20, 2014. News hit like a hurricane—endless, relentless.
"All injured citizens are being relocated; major hospitals are scrambling to treat survivors!" "Suzhou and other nearby cities are overloaded, hospitals are bursting at the seams, patients are sleeping in the streets!" "Critical shortage of medicine and daily necessities!"
"Shanghai city center is on total lockdown!" "A flood of residents are fleeing to nearby cities—traffic is totally gridlocked!" "Citizens urged to stay calm!" "People are panic-buying everything, prices are going haywire!" "The state is rolling out emergency powers, streamlining law enforcement, and cracking down hard on looters—emergency status, special rules for special times!"
"The economy has taken an unprecedented hit!" "Global financial crisis triggered!" "Shanghai's disaster is the whole country's disaster—economic chains may snap, ninety percent of businesses on the brink, hundreds of millions at risk of unemployment!"
October 25, 2014. Thunder rolled—a bombshell rocked the world.
"Death toll from the Shanghai incident keeps climbing. Preliminary count—9.6 million! More than all German deaths in World War II!!!"
"Thirty-two times the Nanjing Massacre! This is the biggest tragedy in human history, a disaster beyond imagination, a stain on all mankind!"
"Who caused this disaster? Who should answer for the dead?"
"Blood for blood! A life for a life!!"
October 26, 2014.
The national spokesperson released a public statement: "Our country has suffered the largest terrorist attack in history. With the deepest sorrow, we mourn the victims, and we will retaliate without the slightest compromise! The National Security Supreme Command will be established immediately, and anti-terror will be elevated to a national strategy! The right to life of our citizens is sacred—no country or organization may violate it! If necessary, we will not renounce our right to use nuclear weapons!"
October 27, 2014.
"The United States has declared a nationwide anti-terror state, labeling the organization behind the Shanghai massacre as a global enemy, vowing total elimination. Japan enters a full anti-terror era, forming special biochemical response units, and names the group as its number one enemy. The EU declares a state of war, launching full-scale anti-terror operations. Russia reorganizes its entire military for total war. Rumor has it, US nukes are armed, ready to flatten the Jihadist organization."
October 28, 2014.
"Who should be held responsible?": A detailed investigation reveals that three days before the incident, a mid-level commander in a secret national department had already reported to higher-ups, warning that "Shanghai will face unimaginable terrorist attacks" and requesting urgent military support. The top brass ignored it, and no reinforcements were sent.
After disaster struck, the commander went deep into the besieged city, leading a handful of direct subordinates in a rescue mission for everyone. The team suffered heavy losses; by the end, only the commander and his deputy were left standing. After six hours of a fight against all odds, they finally neutralized the terrorists’ biochemical weapon. The commander’s name remains unknown.
October 29, 2014.
All former upper-level leaders of the secret department have been held accountable and dismissed according to military law.
October 30, 2014.