A foreigner's journey

The elevator traveled downwards. Compared with the arrogance when going upstairs, Heather and others were obviously much more low-key when going downstairs.

After all, not everyone likes to climb up the stairs with bare hands from the outside and then jump directly. Since there is a more convenient option like an elevator, it will naturally be the first choice.

Looking at the floor numbers that kept jumping, Barrett, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "Heather, I still don't believe Rufus Shinra. I don't believe a word of those heroic words he said!"

Heather glanced at him: "Did I say I believed it?"

"Huh? Then you still..." Barrett scratched the back of his head, not understanding why Heather would accept Rufus' alliance.

"Young Master is right about one thing. If we want to find Sephiroth, just a few of us will not be enough."

Heather put her hands in her pockets and spoke casually:

"The world is so vast. Only the Shinra Corporation, which has bases all over the world, has enough ability to find Sephiroth. There is free labor to help find people, why not use it?"

Jesse interrupted and asked, "But why do we have to find Sephiroth?"

Alice raised her hand and shook it: "I can answer this question!"

Seeing everyone looking at her, she cleared her throat and said: "What Sephiroth took away in the Hojo Laboratory was the original mother body code-named [Jenova]. This parasite is very terrifying and has caused two Thousands of years ago, the ancient Settra tribe was destroyed and almost destroyed the entire planet. If the Shinra Company's continuous extraction of Mako is causing the planet to slowly die, then Xenovia is destroying the entire planet in a short period of time. The planet is being eaten alive. It is very likely that Sephiroth has taken control of Jenova, and the longer it takes, the more likely it is that the planet will suffer a crisis of destruction."

"You mean, Sephiroth was also infected with that thing?" Barrett was focused on saving the planet. At first glance, it sounded like there was something more threatening than the Shinra Company, and his expression was very ugly.

Alice shook her head: "I don't know the specific information about Sephiroth, so I'd better ask Cloud. He was once a 1st warrior of the same class as Sephiroth, and he definitely knows more about Sephiroth than we do. "

Claude leaned against the elevator wall with his arms folded. He didn't want to mention his past too much, but the current situation is not just a problem for Shinra, but also involves the safety of the entire world. He briefly organized his language and then said:

"...I once admired Sephiroth, who was called a [Hero], and therefore joined the Shinra Special Forces. After fighting side by side with Sephiroth for a while, we became friends."

"You call that [friend]?" Jesse gestured to Sephiroth killing Cloud. If Heather hadn't used Narokawa to block the killing blow, Claude would really have been split in half.

"That's right... He is older than me, but he rarely mentions his past. Forget it, let's call him [Comrade]."

Claude shrugged: "We trusted each other until one day..."

"One day?" Alice tilted her head.

Claude said in a deep voice: "That was five years ago. After the war with Wutai, the main job of the special forces was to suppress those who resisted Shinra. This was not a pleasant job. At that time, I and Sephiroth is on a special mission, and the location of the mission is Nibelheim."

Tifa's eyes and body trembled slightly when she heard the name of her hometown Nibelheim. Heather watched from the sidelines but said nothing.

"There is a Mako furnace built by Shinra Corporation in the back mountains of Nibelheim, because that mountain range contains a large amount of Mako energy. Our task at that time was to investigate why the power of that Mako furnace was unstable. problem, even though Hojo didn't want the mission to go smoothly at the time. By the way, Sephiroth hated Hojo very much, thinking that Hojo was just an incompetent waste with no experience and had stolen the results of the great scientist Dr. Gast. Later, I took the position of head of the science department.”

Alice clenched her hands after hearing Gaster's name, obviously feeling very uneasy. She never told anyone that Dr. Gast, the first director of Shinra Corporation's scientific research and development department, was her biological father.

Dr. Gast voluntarily quit because he was dissatisfied with the cruel research of Shinra Company. When he traveled to the Ice and Snow Village alone, he met Ifaluna, the last pure-blood ancient species, and the two fell in love and had children. Hojo followed the clues and found Dr. Gaster's retreat. Not only did he kill Dr. Gaster, but he also took all his scientific research results as his own. Ifaluna and Alice were also abducted by Hojo as precious treasures. experimental materials.

On the other side, Claude's narrative continued.

"Because this mission did not require a large-scale battle, Sephiroth and I only brought two Shinra soldiers with us. When I was looking for a guide in Nibelheim Village, I met Tifa. Tifa was very familiar with the terrain of the back mountain. I’m familiar with it, so she will act as the guide.”

After hearing Cloud's words, Tifa nodded hesitantly, with some confusion on her face.

"Moving forward, we finally braved the cold wind of Mount Nibel and arrived in front of the Mako Reactor on the top of the mountain. Because of Shinra Company's confidentiality agreement, Sephiroth asked the accompanying Shinra soldiers to stay outside to look after Tifa. Safi and I The two of them Rose entered the Mako Reactor."

Cloud recalled the scene at that time with a very ugly face: "There are many egg-shaped culture tanks arranged inside the Mako Reactor, which are the same as those in the Hojo Laboratory. Sephiroth discovered that the system of the Mako Reactor had been artificially adjusted, causing the magic The xenon concentration increased sharply. Then, we saw the creature inside through the glass cover of the culture tank. It was a terrifying monster with a twisted and weird appearance, only maintaining a basic human shape."

"Sephiroth said that ordinary special forces like me gain powerful strength by soaking in low-concentration magic. Although they are different from ordinary people, they are at least still human. But those monsters were deliberately placed in high-concentration magic by the treasure bar. , in order to create a more powerful existence."

Jesse keenly grasped the key point of Cloud's words: "Ordinary special forces? When Sephiroth says that, does it mean he is not an ordinary special forces?"

Cloud shook his head: "I asked Sephiroth the same thing at that time, and he admitted that he was very different from ordinary special forces. Before I could continue to ask, Sephiroth was sealed at the top of the Mako Reactor. I saw a signboard on the metal door with [Jenova]'s name engraved on it. He seemed to have suddenly gone crazy. He changed his usual gentle demeanor and swung his long knife to chop the surrounding culture tanks into pieces. After the monsters suddenly lost the supply of Mako, they all curled up into a ball and suffocated to death."

"[Am I really a human?], Sephiroth only left this sentence, and then returned to Nibelheim alone. I joined the Shinra soldiers outside the Mako Reactor and Tifa and rushed back. I arrived at the village of Nibelheim and found that Sephiroth had locked himself in the inn, not allowing anyone to enter or talking to anyone."

"Then he disappeared, right?" Tifa suddenly asked.

"Well, a few days later I found him in the largest building in Nibelheim." Claude nodded.

"People in the village call it [Shinra Mansion], and no one has lived there since I can remember." Tifa explained to the others.

"No, actually Dr. Gast from Shinra Company lived there a long time ago. I broke into the Shinra Mansion, and after some searching, I found a huge hole under the mansion, with spiral stairs spiraling down. I followed The stairs led to the bottom of the cave. After going deeper, we found Sephiroth in the basement at the bottom, and found that he was studying the research materials left by Dr. Gast."

Claude began to feel a severe headache, but still insisted on recounting the experience:

"Dr. Gast's research data showed that he discovered a creature in a state of suspended animation in the geological layer two thousand years ago. He named it [Jenova]. On X month X year, [Jenova] Nova] was confirmed as an ancient species. On X, month, Jenova, is this really just a coincidence that it has the same name as the Jenova Project?"

"He kept talking to himself, scolding Dr. Gast for dying so early, muttering Jenova's name, and flipping through mountains of research materials sleeplessly. I think I went to persuade him, but was kicked out of the Shinra Mansion. Later, Sephiroth never came out of the mansion. He kept reading the book, as if he was possessed, and the lights in the basement never went out. "

"And then, there's the day tragedy happens."

Cold sweat broke out on Claude's forehead, and he had a severe headache that made him cover his head. But even though Jesse came over to persuade him to stop for a while, he still insisted on telling his memory:

"That day, I went to the basement to visit Sephiroth as usual. As soon as I entered, I heard Sephiroth's laughter. When he saw me coming in, he just called me [traitor] contemptuously. He insisted that this planet was originally Belonging to the ancient race of Settras, the Settras were a nomadic people who would move into a planet, settle on it, and then leave. At the end of this arduous and lonely journey, they would find the promise land, and obtain supreme happiness.”

As a descendant of the Settra tribe, Alice turned pale and shook her head repeatedly: "No, he was not talking about the Settra tribe, but Jenova! Sephiroth was misled!"

"Sephiroth read through the research notes of Dr. Gast, whom he admired, and was convinced of this. He said that some ancient species got tired of traveling and stayed on the planet, established families, and chose a comfortable settled life. They Calling himself [human], he took away the fruits of Settra's and the planet's labor without giving anything in return. I questioned this, and he replied that a long time ago, the planet was shrouded in disaster, and the ancestors of mankind ran away and hid. They survived. The Settra saved the planet at the cost of their own sacrifice, while the ancestors of mankind continued to reproduce. Today, the ancient race of Settra is just a remnant of the race in recorded history."

"Dr. Gast, the head of the science department of Shinra Corporation, plans to recreate people with the power of ancient species through the Jenova Project, and Sephiroth is the person who was created. [I'm going to see my mother], he I only left these words and rushed out of the Shinra Mansion. I chased after him, but Sephiroth was too fast. When I ran out of the mansion, I found that the entire village was in flames, and countless villagers were either caught in the flames. Or lying in a pool of blood with a fatal sword wound,"

Alice hugged Tifa, who was trembling slightly, and gently comforted her.

"I chased all the way to the depths of the Mako Reactor in Mount Nibel, and found Tifa lying in a pool of blood, and the sealed door on the top floor of the Mako Reactor was chopped into pieces by a sharp blade. At that time, I thought Tifa was dead, so I held back After walking through the door with grief, I saw Sephiroth standing in front of Jenova, who was covered in tubes, muttering to himself [Mother, let us take back this planet together]. I denounced his cruel behavior, Sephiroth roared, saying this -

[Mother possesses the best strength, wisdom and magic and should have been the ruler of this planet, but those useless creatures are stealing this planet from Mother. But it's okay, I'm here now, so don't worry. ]"

"My hometown, my relatives, and my friends were all destroyed by Sephiroth. With endless anger, I raised my sword and yelled at Sephiroth. He was no longer the person I knew. The gentle and kind-hearted Sephiroth."

Claude found that his headache was no longer so strong, and he slowly exhaled:

"This is the end of my story."

"...Oh? Finished? What's next? How is Sephiroth?" Alice felt as if she was following a novel and was interrupted by a dog author at a critical moment.

"I don't remember. To be precise, I have no relevant memory." Claude shook his head.

At this time, the elevator made a 'ding' sound, and everyone walked out of the elevator and headed towards the exhibition hall on the first floor.

"Official reports say that Sephiroth is dead. It was mentioned in the news." Tifa recalled the scene when she first came to Midgar. It was then that the news of Sephiroth's death was officially announced.

Barrett said gruffly: "The news is controlled by Shinra and cannot be trusted."

Cloud wiped the sweat from his head and said in a low tone: "I also want to know the truth and what happened at that time. With Sephiroth's power, I am definitely not his opponent. I challenged Sephiroth but failed Still alive, why didn’t he kill me?”

"Why not change your mind?" Heather suddenly said: "Perhaps you were in such a brave state at the time that you defeated Sephiroth in a one-on-one fight? After all, your strength is that of a typical nerve knife, with extremely high fluctuations."

Claude said nothing, but the expression on his face clearly showed that he had listened to what Heather said.

"Sephiroth and Jenova are all bullshit!" Barrett became more and more confused as he listened, and could only gnash his teeth and curse: "When you find that guy, shoot him straight into a sieve. I wonder if he can crawl back from hell again. ?”

Jesse patted Barrett's thick arm and joked: "Hey! Barrett, he's in great shape! Don't wait for Heather next time you meet Sephiroth, you'll take the lead!"

Barrett pretended to be calm and patted his chest to express that there was no problem, and then he became quite weak.

Soon, everyone arrived at the gate of the exhibition hall.

Rufus said that he had prepared [small gifts] for everyone here, and he didn’t know what the new president of Shinra Company meant by [small gifts]?

PS: 4K words, so it’s two chapters in one.