Now it was the time of xiàzhijiao, when water and fertilizer were abundant, how could a forest suddenly catch fire? And it seemed to be in more than one place!

"Leaf?" Wendy called out.

"I don't know," Leaf seemed to snap out of a daze. "That's beyond my fusion range, I can't perceive the specific situation where the black smoke is."

"If it's really a fire, we have to stop it from spreading!"

"I... I know," Leaf's expression was a little strange, as if mixed with some emotion. She bit her lip before nodding and replying, "No matter what, you go and gather with everyone first. Once the emergency plan is activated, the camp may become chaotic, and it won't be easy to leave then."

The terminus station now had not only workers on vacation, but also a large group of family members who had never seen battle. It would be difficult to evacuate and take refuge in an orderly manner. Wendy quickly realized this.

"You... you'll be alright alone?"

"Don't worry, I know how to deal with it." Leaf lowered herself from the terrace, took one last look at Wendy, and then plunged into the dense forest.

A moment later, a piercing alarm sounded throughout the Mí Zàng Forest sky -

...

"Yes, um, I understand." At the general staff headquarters of Tower Two, Feilin. Sirte put down the phone and turned to report to Edith, "My Lady, there's an unexpected situation on the western front -"

"What did you say? A suspected fire in the northern forest?" The Pearl of the North frowned. "Was it observed by Leaf xiaojie?"

"Yes, the evacuation emergency plan has been activated over there, and the First Army soldiers stationed there are also in a state of secondary alert."

"Notify the Supreme Commander and all relevant high-ranking officials," she pondered for a moment and decisively ordered, "Say that the general staff headquarters needs to convene a pre-war meeting."

"A pre-war meeting..." Feilin repeated, "Do you think this is..."

"That's right," Edith said solemnly, "I suspect the fire is a new trick of the demons."

In less than a quarter of an hour, the First Army generals and the Witch Union representatives gathered in the underground conference room.

After the Pearl of the North explained the general situation, she told everyone the latest news she had received, "The sentries at the forest terminus have confirmed that the smoke is indeed caused by a fire, and it is spreading rapidly towards the terminus station due to the wind direction."

"Just a forest fire, no signs of demons?" Iron Axe asked in a deep voice.

"No reports yet," Feilin shook his head. "The smoke is blocking the view, and no one knows what's behind the fire line."

"Sylvie xiaojie, can you see anything?"

"Mí Zàng Forest is too far from here," Sylvie replied. "Unless... I go there myself."

"Damn it... why did it have to be at this time," Iron Axe looked at the map. "Where is Her Majesty the Queen now?"

According to the original plan, Princess Anna and some witches would meet the flight team at the airfield at the forest terminus station and then return to Neverwinter City on the Seagull.

"She should be on the Black River One on her way back. After receiving the news of the fire, Kangde xiaojie had me notify them to change their itinerary using the Listening Seal."

"Good job," Iron Axe breathed a slight sigh of relief. "So, the only ones still there are Her Royal Highness the Princess and her party?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, he said to Fuxiao Chenguang, "Tell them to take off immediately, don't wait any longer."

"Yes!"

After dealing with the evacuation, Iron Axe looked at the staff, "Now, tell me what you think."

...

Leaf stood on top of a giant cedar tree, looking at the rolling smoke in the distance.

In just over an hour, the fire had expanded a lot. Now, not only was the dust flying all over the sky pressing down on her, but she could faintly see the flashing red light below the smoke.

She seemed to hear the weeping of the trees being burned, although it was not within her control range, the Heart of the Forest was still trembling slightly.

Because that was also the resonance in her own heart.

What she didn't say to Wendy was... fear.

After more than a year of annexation and fusion, Leaf had gradually touched the essence of her ability.

In a sense, it could indeed make her an immortal existence - all the plants incorporated into the Heart of the Forest would become a part of her. In other words, the larger the fused area, the harder it would be to eradicate her.

After all, it was easy to clear a lawn, but it would be many times more difficult to level a forest or an entire grassland.

As for making the world barren, it was almost impossible.

She remembered His Majesty saying that plants were the foundation of nature. Even if the whole world was destroyed, dug three feet into the ground, and the world turned upside down, the first thing to appear on the surface would still be this tenacious life form.

But the problem was that she could no longer be considered herself at that time.

The clear spring flowing underground, the insects burrowing in the soil, the beehives trembling in the trunks, the birds singing on the branches... these vast amounts of information constantly came from every corner of the forest and were engraved in her memory. If she suddenly accepted them, there was a high probability that she would immediately lose her mind, which was why Leaf had to slow down the rate of fusion.

However, she found that even so, she couldn't record so much information on her own.

The only reason she hadn't become a madman yet was that the Heart of the Forest had made a choice for her - countless intertwined roots and vines formed a huge consciousness, magic and memory merged into one, flowing through the forest.

This also meant that once the fused forest was damaged, she would likely lose part of her memory. Even if new seedlings grew out of the ruins, what was lost would never return.

It might be her acquaintance with Wendy and Curl, or it might be the escape journey with Nightingale, Mystery Moon, and Lily; it might be the gentle moment of meeting Roland, or it might be the days and nights living in Neverwinter City... even Hakala's stubbornness and prejudice, and the Church's pohài and pursuit, she didn't want to forget.

Because this was her unique experience, and it was also proof that she existed in the world.

She was afraid of losing them.

The thought that this fire might appear in the fused Mí Zàng Forest caused a indescribable sting in Leaf's heart.

But she couldn't retreat.

Because all of this was to defeat the demons and win the Battle of Divine Will.

She couldn't abandon her sisters selfishly just for herself—they were also contributing their strength, and she couldn't let everyone down.

Thinking of this, Leaf took a deep breath, raised her hands, and looked up at the sky filled with afterglow.

In an instant, a dazzling green light bloomed from her chest -

"Please listen to my call, and take action!"

At that moment, the entire forest seemed like a awakened giant, slowly lifting its body.

Countless trees bent backward and fell to the ground, along with the turf and soil, curling up like a carpet. Even the description of earth-shattering could hardly describe its momentum!

In this violent tremor, the Mí Zàng Forest was actually "fenliè" into two halves. The trees controlled by the Heart of the Forest gradually contracted their territory, gradually opening up a several-hundred-meter-long separation zone from the forest in the north.