Oh, rather than saying the Aberrant Beasts panicked, it's more accurate to say that the puppeteers behind them tried to make a desperate last stand.
They clearly knew that if things continued this way, the eradication operation involving two hundred thousand soldiers and millions of civilians, would genuinely wipe out the jungles of the Beiqing Valley Region.
It didn't mean that the vast jungles would be completely deforested, but at least they would be cut into fragments. In the areas where it was certain that there were no Aberrant Beast nests developing, they could be left alone after clearing the surroundings; and for the jungles where Aberrant Beasts existed, complete destruction awaited.
The fully-powered synthetic starch factories constructed one after another could digest the destroyed trees on the spot, transforming them into synthetic starch needed by refugees.
This greatly relieved the pressure on food supplies.
