Forest of Miracles

The slum dwellers obediently left.

When it came to this Little Rainforest that guaranteed their survival, they did not dare make any mistakes.

You could say they had lost their fighting spirit. In any case, two years of living off welfare had made them unwilling to take risks, and more importantly...

"He really said that?"

The leader of the Benevolence Society, Blaze Clark—the burly Latino man who usually came to maintain order—had his eyes light up. He grabbed the Black kid who had come to report:

"He really said he created this forest?"

"Yes, sir! He even said this forest was called... called 'Little Rainforest'!"

The Black kid was beside himself with excitement. The leader had emphasized this matter before, and now...

"How many times have I told you? Don't call me leader!"

Blaze Clark pulled over his crutch, rose to his feet, and slapped the Black kid on the forehead.

"I'm just an organizer. If what that young man said is true, then he is our leader!"

Blaze, already in his forties, had never imagined that his life could still reach a turning point.

At the peak of his physical condition, he had lost a leg during a mission. He had no choice but to end his mercenary career and return in disgrace to the place he had once fought desperately to escape.

But mercenaries lived with their heads on their belts, so they earned plenty of money and spent it even more freely.

The result was that, after saving his life, Blaze discovered to his shock that his meager savings had been completely drained. With his disabled body, he could only take on the dirty work he had once disdained in order to feed his vices.

American welfare kept him from starving to death, but could collecting benefits and digging through dumpsters make him quit drugs and alcohol?

At last, before a robbery, someone knocked him unconscious.

The attacker had hit him hard and seemed to have used some other method as well. He remained unconscious for several days.

When he woke up, his eyes were green with hunger, and he wanted nothing more than to gnaw on his own arm.

Then Blaze realized he was in a forest.

Though it looked like it was indoors, this was no ordinary botanical garden. It had a transparent ceiling, simulated supplemental lighting, an artificial river, and other environmental control structures.

More importantly, there was edible fruit here!

Blaze no longer had the strength to question this bizarre scene. Only after filling his stomach did he realize that the fruit tree he had just picked clean had already borne small, unripe fruit again!

What else could that be but a miracle?

Afterward, he had no choice but to stay in that orchard for half a year.

Because he could not find the exit!

Though the orchard appeared to be only as large as a soccer field, it was like a maze.

Edible plants bearing all kinds of fruit could be seen everywhere, and their varieties seemed to be constantly increasing.

At first, there had only seemed to be some common fruit trees, such as apple trees, orange trees, and pear trees.

But as he got lost more and more often, all kinds of tropical, temperate, and even cold-climate plants gradually appeared—

How could they bear fruit together in the same orchard?!

After nearly every fruit he recognized had appeared, completely unfamiliar fruits began to show up as well—

They were large and not very tasty at first, but their flavor seemed to keep changing—and thankfully, it was changing for the better.

More importantly, he finally remembered that his drug and alcohol addictions had not flared up even once!

"These miraculous fruits... this is God's gift!"

Then, after new varieties of fruit stopped appearing, several more groups of people were thrown in...

Their experiences were similar to Blaze's. None of them were good people.

Another month passed, and the group, now practically savages, finally found a supply station.

There were clean clothes, razors, hair clippers, and even a place to bathe!

By then, how could Blaze not understand? God's gift, his ass... They had been captured by some mysterious scientist and used as human test subjects!

Behind the supply station stood a pair of double doors, densely covered in vines.

After leaving the orchard, they had considered coming back, but they could never again open the doors covered by those vines.

Those vines were alive—they were not something people like them could break through.

Winter arrived. Though Blaze, who had been missing for so long, no longer dared commit crimes, his enemies had not forgotten him.

During one revenge attack, they injected him with drugs. As he dragged his disabled body through the heavy snow and fell once more into a horrific withdrawal episode, he found himself returning to this place as if possessed.

When his frozen hand desperately touched the gate, the vines retreated, and the gate opened.

He simply did not notice the pair of emerald-green cat eyes silently watching him.

After entering, Blaze lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he discovered that the former "orchard" had become a "forest," and it was still as warm as spring.

With nowhere else to turn, he once again received the forest's generous gifts. From that day onward, Blaze swore:

"Whether the one who created this place is an angel or a devil, I, Blaze Clark, will follow him for the rest of my life!"

After surviving the cold winter nights, Blaze found the people who had previously been trapped in that forest with him.

Compared to Blaze, who had lost his left leg, they were in somewhat better condition, though not by much.

Blaze told them about the changes in the "orchard" and planned to use this blessing to bring new hope to this neighborhood, where perhaps more than a hundred people would die from drugs and crime over the winter.

Half a year later, things had gradually become what Oaks saw now.

And Blaze, whom Oaks had only saved in a moment of softheartedness, became the only person personally marked by Oaks and allowed to enter the Little Rainforest.

After discovering this, Blaze became even more convinced that this was his sacred mission.

Using this ability, he took the miraculous fruits from the Little Rainforest and, together with several people who had suffered similar experiences, helped more and more people.

Most of them had histories of committing crimes because circumstances had left them with no choice.

But anyone who truly committed crimes simply for the sake of crime would be thrown over the Little Rainforest's wall.

Basic welfare might keep people from starving to death, but every winter, many slum dwellers still died sudden deaths from drugs, illness, cold, violent crime, or revenge killings.

The slums were not merely poor and filthy; they were also extremely chaotic. But after gaining influence, Blaze swiftly put an end to the disorder nearby through various means.

Under Blaze's iron-fisted control, the secret here never spread beyond this street—

With the Little Rainforest's gifts, many people overcame their hardships and regained their health. They remembered it all in their hearts.

Later, aside from the miraculous fruits that could cure addiction, ordinary fruits were used as living benefits to help those in greatest need.

Without even Oaks knowing, Blaze was called a savior by every slum dweller he had helped—but that was something he could not accept.

Their gratitude could only belong to the master of this forest, who had never shown himself.

Though Blaze tried every possible method, he was completely unable to uncover who was behind this forest.

When Oaks rented this factory district, he had done an excellent job keeping it confidential.

So, to ensure everyone thanked the right person, Blaze secretly established the Benevolence Society, ensuring that the forest's secret remained tightly locked within this neighborhood.

At the same time, everyone knew that the legendary great figure—the president of the Benevolence Society and master of that forest—was their true savior.

"At last."

Seeing red-haired Oaks and the vines around him, docile as puppies, Blaze revealed a faint smile of relief.

"We sinners have welcomed our true savior."