After arriving in the core region of the Imaginary Tree, Fang Zheng had encountered quite a few enemies. Some charged straight at him like those in the aerial witch world, while others, like VRIM, secretly planted spies among humanity, luring humans into destroying themselves while using them to kill others.
But JAM was the most insidious kind.
At the start of the battle, Fang Zheng had always been puzzled. With JAM's capabilities, destroying FAF should have been effortless, so why had they not done so?
And what exactly had JAM come to the Human World for?
Now, he had his answer.
All of this was JAM's trap.
At first, JAM invaded this world. But perhaps they feared and worried about retaliation from the Imaginary Tree, so they pretended to be driven back. They had even left that passage open, allowing humanity to travel through it to the planet where JAM resided.
In other words, humanity had not driven JAM back. They had been lured into that world by JAM and then stepped right into its trap.
During the battle against JAM, many fighters had been destroyed. Many pilots had ejected and escaped, only to be recovered and brought back to base. But in truth, by the time those pilots returned, they were no longer themselves. They were replicas created by JAM, possessing the originals' memories.
Then, under all sorts of excuses, those people would apply for retirement, leave FAF, and return to Earth. FAF would not refuse, because it was hardly strange for someone who had suffered severe psychological trauma in aerial combat to choose that path. Meanwhile, the militaries of the Human World desperately wanted these soldiers who had fought aliens and survived to join their ranks and strengthen them.
Thus, these replicas created by JAM quietly infiltrated the