A foreigner's journey

The convoy kept moving along the road.

The scenery along the way began to become dilapidated. The few villages and towns we occasionally passed by had a bleak atmosphere. The houses were dilapidated and the villagers looked as dull as walking zombies. Even the number of trees and vegetation has dropped sharply, visible to the naked eye. Crows stood on the branches of dead trees, staring at the group of travelers with their blood-red eyes.

Needless to say, this place must be very close to Shinra Company's Mako Furnace.

The road spiraled up the mountains, passed bridges, drove through the wasteland, and crossed the mountains. Finally, the convoy arrived at a mining town surrounded by a large number of mine car tracks.

It is said to be a small town, but it seems more appropriate to describe it as a 'garbage dump'.

The sky was covered by groggy dark yellow clouds, with smoke and dust floating everywhere. The air was filled with the unique smell of garbage dumps. There was no green vegetation at all, but gravel and rusty iron plates could be seen everywhere. There were dirty and patched tents everywhere, and there were a few temporary wooden sheds that were erected crookedly. Pedestrians on the road were covered in tatters, and they looked at Heather and others with vigilant eyes.

"This place is worse than the slums of Midgar..." Jesse wrinkled his nose.

Claude noticed that Barrett, who was always talkative and laughing, was silent at this time.

Several strong men wearing turbans came over and their tone was quite kind:

"What are you doing in Corel Village...it's you! Barrett!!"

When they saw Barrett, their faces immediately changed, and their roars caused everyone around them to look over.

"...I'm back." Barrett nodded.

"Why do you have the nerve to say 'I'm back'?" The strong man in the lead looked at Barrett in disbelief, as if he was looking at the heinous murderer of his father.

"You bastard, how dare you come back? Which village were you kicked out of this time?" Another strong man was so angry that he raised his fist and hit Barrett in the face. But before his fist could land, Heather's big steel-hooked hand grabbed his wrist, and then he was pushed hard and fell backwards.

The remaining people immediately picked up their weapons: "Did you bring help? Don't think about continuing to harm Corel Village this time, Barrett!"

"Want to do something?"

Heather's tone was unkind. He always defended his shortcomings, so how could he sit back and let others bully his friend? Seeing that the leader had expressed his attitude, the other companions immediately also prepared to fight.

But Barrett stretched out his hand to stop his companions who were about to move: "Sorry, please don't hurt them."

Then he turned to look at the strong men holding weapons, and said in a low voice: "Ott, Entel, Direte... are you all doing well?"

"This is a very knowledgeable question. It seems that you have forgotten what you have done?" The leading strong man called Ott laughed angrily: "Open your dog eyes and take a good look. Look at this Beike What a disaster you have caused to Leer Village! You god of plague!"

"This madman... forget it, there is nothing more to say to him, let's go." The strong man Dilett, who was pushed to the ground by Heather, got up and rubbed his bruised wrist.

Several strong men cursed and left.

As he walked through the village of Corel, which had turned into a mountain of rubbish, he felt the vigilant gazes coming from around him. Barrett became increasingly depressed, and others also felt uncomfortable.

Without buying any supplies, everyone hurried through the village of Corel and headed towards the top of the mountain.

Corel Village is located halfway up Corel Mountain. There is still a road for vehicles to go up, but the architectural style does not look like a masterpiece of the Shinra Company.

There is a gorgeous cable car station on the top of the mountain. The station is large and has multiple cable cars to choose from. The blue cable car is for tourists to ride, while the red cable car is used to transport heavy items such as vehicles and large equipment.

Heather and Claude went to check in the vehicle, while the others sat in the waiting hall to rest.

"Wow, where does this cable car lead to?"

Yuffie lay on the railing, put her hands on her forehead and looked at the sky. She saw one cable car track after another extending into the thick clouds, with no end in sight.

"The top is the Kingdee Amusement Park. I have already completed the procedures for checking in the vehicle. All I have to do is take the cable car to the Sky Station of the amusement park."

Heather, who just came back, looked at Barrett:

"Don't continue to be silent. Tell everyone about your past."

Barrett, who was sitting on a chair, put his hands on his face and rubbed it vigorously for a few times before he regained his energy and said, "This used to be my hometown, Corel Village."

"Was it?" Alice asked doubtfully.

"The real village of Corel has been buried under the soil, and that happened about four years ago."

Barrett recalled:

"My hometown, Corel Village, used to be a village that relied on coal mining for survival. Although it was dirty and poor, it was very peaceful...really, it is a very small village. This is the first time I heard about [Mako Reconnaissance] When did this kind of thing start? I can’t remember.”

"Shinra has developed a new type of energy, 'Mako', and has promoted it to the world, and Corel Village is no exception. Originally, Corel Village could barely survive on coal, but with the promotion of Mako, the village's business has declined. It’s getting harder and harder to do, and everyone is anxious.”

"At that time, Scarlett from Shinra Company suddenly came to Corel Village and made a proposal - to build a Mako Reactor in Corel Village and agreed to accept young adults from the village to work in the Mako Reactor."

"At that time, I had just gotten married, and I was anxious to improve my family's living conditions. I also listened to Scarlett's temptation and thought that the Mako Reactor was a good thing with no harm at all, so I helped Shinra Company. Go around the village lobbying.”

"Soon, the vast majority of people in the village were convinced. But there is a habit in Corel Village, that is, for major events related to the future of the village, the consent of every family in the village must be obtained. At that time, there was only one People are still insisting on opposition, and that person is my best friend, Dane."

"Dane is firmly opposed to abandoned coal mines. He believes that the Corel Coal Mine was built and protected by our fathers, and our fathers' parents, who worked hard to build and protect it. If our generation throws it away casually, what is it but a prodigal? "

"I tried my best to persuade Dane. Coal is no longer used these days due to the squeeze of Mako. We can't go against the trend of the times. Besides, I don't want my wife Mona to live a hard life with me anymore. Scarlet Te also took the opportunity to explain that once the Mako Reactor is completed, Shinra Company will fully protect the life of the entire Corel Village."

"We tried to 'persuade' Dane with all our words. The public opinion was so terrible. Even a tough guy like Dane had no choice but to succumb to our 'good intentions' in the end. In this way, the demon in Corel Village The construction of the Huo Furnace began until it was completed.”

"We all thought good times were coming, but..."

"Disaster has struck."