"Every time I came here, I couldn't help but marvel. You... 'Druid'? You really were incredible."
The massive wooden gates slowly opened, and Melinda drove her Smart inside, as if entering a luxury hotel with a forest theme.
During the two coldest months in New York, the Benevolence Society witnessed a miracle of nature.
With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help keeping the news under wraps, Oaks was finally able to cut loose and show them whether this deal had truly been worth every penny.
The Benevolence Society headquarters was an enormous Treehouse that had literally "grown" into existence.
And with shareholder Tony's support, the Treehouse swiftly became a well-planned office space.
As Oaks had said, the Benevolence Society was now a broad-based environmental charity.
With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s connections and Melinda personally coordinating matters, every official procedure received the green light.
Under Zhang's professional planning, the Benevolence Society quickly established a scientific organizational structure and began an in-depth partnership with the New York Environmental Protection Foundation.
The impoverished people, whom Vice President Blaze had trained into being utterly reliable, quickly settled into their roles. After intensive training, they threw themselves into brand-new lives.
These homeless people, disabled people, and impoverished members of the underclass, mostly Black and Latino, who had suffered discrimination and oppression from society, had truly welcomed their own spring.
As members of the Benevolence Society, they swore to fight for nature, protect the environment, and protect wildlife—
They had risen above the petty concerns of sociological problems and elevated their minds to striving for the welfare of all humanity.
The speed and thoroughness of their transformation even made Melinda think Oaks had brainwashed them—
But in truth, it was all the subtle influence of Little Rainforest and Blaze Clark over the past year or so.
It could be said that they had long been utterly disappointed with their former lives, and the Benevolence Society was where they could realize their own worth.
Of course, Oaks had done no small amount to fan the flames—those rejected by society were people who did not fit into society.
And not fitting into society could be because of discrimination from mainstream society, or because mainstream society could no longer understand their noble ideals.
For these pitiable people at the bottom of society, a tiny bit of calm, peaceful guidance from Nature Magic was enough to smoothly raise their ideological horizons.
It wasn't that I didn't deserve this society. It was that I had transcended it, which was why they rejected us.
Simply put, the Benevolence Society now regarded protecting nature as its sacred mission.
But that did not mean they were anti-humanity, anti-technology, or anti-urbanization.
That was the greatest difference between the Benevolence Society and extremist organizations—
Under Oaks's influence, they revered "natural balance."
The balance between humanity and nature was the necessary guarantee for the world's long-term development.
As members of humanity, technology was the primary productive force and an essential means of human progress. During development, damage to nature was unavoidable.
Nature's backlash against humanity had become all too common, yet humanity had not truly awakened—
We of the Benevolence Society were the first to awaken, the first to know, and the first to act. We were not politicians; we used action to awaken humanity's reverence for nature.
Our cause was just, and our goal was noble!
With New York's greening initiative at its height, the Benevolence Society's philosophy of natural balance attracted attention from all sides the moment it appeared—especially after riding Tony's immense popularity, along with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s deliberate and inadvertent support.
The Benevolence Society and the Environmental Protection Foundation independently raised saplings and, with astonishing efficiency, completed the municipal greening quotas for Brooklyn's entire impoverished district in just one month!
For a time, the social response was intense, with praise everywhere.
Even mainstream media and the public began to reexamine the impoverished district that had long been regarded as "New York's cancer."
Oaks Lin, president of the Benevolence Society and a genius biologist dedicated to environmental protection, once again became the focus of society.
As for resistance...
What kind of people would oppose a charity that merely wanted to help plant trees for you?
There were no marches, no frenzied slogans. They did not need your money, your labor, or your publicity, much less your membership—
They merely completed their work in silence, with neither the time nor energy for pointless chatter.
And the first Spring Festival after its founding became the starting point of the Benevolence Society's new journey.
"Blaze, our current manpower can barely cover our present workload, but later on, we'll inevitably face staff shortages and people with impure motives infiltrating our ranks."
In the president's office, Oaks was holding a meeting with Vice President Blaze and liaison Melinda:
"So you absolutely cannot let up on personnel training—this is the top priority of our cause.
Even if we never again find recruits with as high an ideological awareness as our current members, that's fine—
Society's environmental awareness is awakening. Before long, the green revolution will sweep across the globe.
And we will be the vanguard of the times!"
"Yes, chairman. I firmly believe that!"
Blaze could be called the Benevolence Society's most steadfast believer. He was responsible for personnel screening and ideological education.
The burly, rough-and-ready mercenary did not know how to preach grand ideals, but his unwavering convictions gave him an incredibly keen eye for people and earned him every member's respect.
"Once Zhang returns, maintain your current scale and proceed steadily. Our name is already out there. Next, we need to improve our internal mechanisms. Our goal is not merely a tiny New York City."
Oaks patted Blaze's shoulder and gave the Latino man a reassuring smile.
"Gather all the members in half an hour. I'll show you my new invention."
"Yes, chairman. Your inventions are always so astonishing."
Blaze sighed emotionally. Over the past two months, they had already witnessed many miraculous events.
This was what a top scientist was capable of!
"Once Zhang returns, I'll be taking a long trip. This time, it'll be fairly long—about half a year. I take the 1KP Project very seriously.
Before then, I've developed something new that can lay a profitable foundation for the Benevolence Society's continued smooth development.
The Foundation and I have provided part of the initial funding, but that is far from enough. If an organization is to develop over the long term, we can't have its members working for free."
Oaks stopped Blaze before he could speak.
"Listen to me. You're still living in human society, after all.
Today, I'll distribute everyone's first month of wages—cash!
Afterward, join New York's Spring Festival celebrations—this is what you deserve."
"...Yes, chairman!"
The Latino man wiped the corner of his eye and bowed before taking his leave.
"You're leaving for half a year? The Amazon again? You never told me before."
Melinda cast Oaks a sidelong glance.
"And you're showing off a new invention today? I thought handing out wages was already troublesome enough."
"Come on, May. Come see yesterday's masterpiece with me—the Oak Bar!"
Before you continue