The great fire burned for two full days and nights. Only when a torrential downpour arrived was the terrifying blaze finally extinguished. But two-thirds of Chicago had been reduced to scorched earth; hotels, commercial buildings, opera houses, banks, and post office buildings had all been swallowed by the flames.
Charred corpses could be seen everywhere in the streets, but even more victims had been burned until not even bones remained. Others, fleeing the fire in panic, had run to the shores of Lake Michigan and jumped into the water, only to drown. Floating bodies covered Lake Michigan, while the streets near the Hechingen Bank Chicago branch were packed with disaster victims.
To prevent an epidemic, the bank staff disinfected the areas surrounding the bank for two weeks and set up refugee shelters nearby.
Although the Chicago branch had not been built in the city center, it had more financial resources to spend on land and construction. It was therefore the largest bank in Chicago by area, with broad open spaces around it like those on the East African mainland, used for landscaping.
"President, a telegram has arrived from the New York headquarters!" The secretary interrupted Odyssey, who was in high spirits and drinking tea in his office.
Odyssey said, "Their information network is quite sharp, isn't it?"
Although most communications in Chicago had been severed, communications in the western district had now been restored. Aside from the western district, the stockyards south of Chicago, most of the city's railways, and the docks, mills, and lumberyards along the Chicago River had not been affected by the fire.
Odyssey took the telegram and read it. His brow furrowed slightly. "Sigh, I can't get a moment's peace. And since when did Chicago have an East African Immigration Office? Have you ever heard of