The sealed-off Ping An Building had apparently undergone some unknown change. Noises came from inside, and then the entire building began to twist and shake unnaturally, as if an earthquake had struck. Yet there was no tremor in the surrounding area.
Clearly, this was not an earthquake. Some strange and terrifying force was affecting the building.
The building shook, its glass shattered, and countless fragments came raining down.
Fortunately, the area had long since been cordoned off, and there were no pedestrians nearby, so no one was hurt.
But that was far from the end of the disturbance.
Suddenly.
For some unknown reason, a large section in the middle of the building vanished.
With its support gone, the remaining half could no longer bear the weight of the entire building. After several deafening crashes, the load-bearing pillars and steel beams snapped instantly. The whole building began tilting in one direction, faster and faster, until it was no longer merely tilting but collapsing outright.
"The building's falling."
Though it was pouring rain, many office workers in nearby buildings saw the scene through their windows. They were stunned, then quickly took out their phones to snap pictures.
"No, no! It's falling this way!"
However, those on the other side had no interest in taking photos when they saw this. Panic seized them instantly.
If the building came down, it looked as though it could smash into their own building. That would be a full-blown disaster.
"Run!"
Terrified cries rang out as people in several buildings began fleeing, trying to escape the danger zone and reach somewhere safe.
But when an entire skyscraper was coming down that fast, even if someone reacted in time and started running, how far could they possibly get?
In ten-odd seconds, they could not even reach the elevators.