Cutting a path through would inevitably draw an attack from the Forest's collective will. Doctor Gao worried that the equipment would be destroyed. Forcing their way in was out of the question; all they could do was wait.
The sun sank completely below the horizon, and moonlight spilled down softly. A breeze swept through Banban's neatly combed hair. His nostrils twitched, and he uncertainly held out a hand to feel it. "The wind... tonight's wind is hot."
A burned stench drifted through the air. Banban spun around and saw a wall of fire rising at the edge of the street.
"Someone's trying to divide the Forest with fire! But it'll burn the Residential Management Zone too!"
The lunatics wanted to destroy the Forest, and they did not care if they also destroyed the people living in the Residential Management Zone. To them, the trees that made up the Forest and the people in the Residential Management Zone were much the same. Cut them down, and they would grow back. Kill them, and they would be reborn.
The walls of fire prepared in advance formed a chessboard, restricting the Forest's expansion, but they also caused horrific consequences. Screams could be heard everywhere.
The Human Rights Committee worked hard to treat the wounded, while the police and members of the Ethics Oversight Group approached the place where the Forest had first appeared. It had once been a Residential Management Zone, but the Forest had later swallowed it whole, turning everyone into trees.
"Doctor Gao, should we join them?"
"No." Doctor Gao had been in contact with the police over the past few days. They knew every instruction issued by the Ethics Oversight Group, which was why both groups had appeared here at the same time. "We'll wait for them to clear a