At almost the same time.
Holy City, Upper District, Hope Water Services Co., Ltd. headquarters.
Leonard slumped in his chair as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
"What happened?"
He stared at the reports and alerts on the screen, drenched in sweat. "What the hell is going on?!"
Outside his desk, several executives and experts summoned in an emergency were equally pale, staring at one another, unsure whether they should speak.
Seeing that they were still shirking responsibility at a time like this, Leonard flew into a rage. He grabbed an ornament from the desk and hurled it at them. "Say something! Gone mute?!"
Bang!
The person in charge of the Lower District was knocked flat, his head split open and bleeding, his vision going dark. Yet he did not dare cry out. He scrambled to his feet, even clutching the ornament tightly, afraid it might break.
With extreme care, he put it back on the desk, retreated two steps, and did not dare sit down again. He merely stood off to the side with his back bent.
"...This matter... this..."
Another executive gathered his courage. "Actually, this has nothing to do with our company. We were also..."
Bang!
The cracked crystal ornament was smashed to pieces by a paperweight. Leonard roared, "Of course I fucking know we're victims too! But what about everyone else? Will they believe that? Will the people above believe it?!
You need to understand that if this isn't handled properly, we're finished! Finished!"
There was no need for an if...
In the dead silence, no one spoke. They merely swallowed dryly.
They were already finished.
On the screen, scarlet alerts continued flashing, reminding them that disaster had arrived.
In the span of a single night, the water supply systems across more than half