Boom!
Without warning, the entire building shook violently, like an earthquake.
Outside the windows, London suddenly flared with a dazzling light. Then gray-black smoke rose into the sky amid hurricane winds, blossoming into the outline of a mushroom cloud.
An explosion.
In the corridor, people rushing about screamed. A secretary stumbled in the panic, and her broken high heel was kicked far away beneath the trampling crowd.
Sitting on the floor, the woman screamed in terror, raising her hands to cover her face and shield herself from the impact.
But the trampling never came.
A large hand seized her arm, pulled her up from the floor, and led her to the side.
"Be careful, ma'am." The slightly elderly man smiled kindly and patted the shaken secretary on the shoulder. "Take off your shoes and walk along the wall. It'll be safer."
"Th-thank you..."
The secretary gratefully clutched his hand, about to say something, but that hand silently slipped free. The man in the suit turned and left, as though walking upward against the tide of people, disappearing into the corridor.
At this moment, the entire Unified Bureau headquarters had descended into chaos beneath an unprecedented emergency evacuation alarm.
Yet after the initial waves passed, order soon gradually returned with the assistance and forceful control of the guards. People from every department evacuated in an orderly manner.
For the Unified Bureau, which carried rules and regulations to their utmost limits, it seemed that anything related to work had established procedures—even emergency evacuations.
Every eventuality had long been documented.
The instant the alarm sounded, the security department had deployed in full force and secured all critical locations. Armed troops sealed off the interior and exterior, while senior officials were immediately escorted to the Safe House under guard. At the same time, to