foreigner's journey

Chapter 374 The Nibelheim Incident

The elevator was going down. Compared with the arrogance when going upstairs, Heather and others were obviously much more low-key when they went downstairs.

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

Looking at the constantly jumping floor numbers, Barrett, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "Heather, I still don't believe Rufas Shinra. I don't believe a single word of his bold words!"

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 Rufas' alliance.

"Young Master is right about one thing, we are not enough to find Sephiroth."

Heather put her hands in her pockets and spoke casually:
"This world is so vast, only Shinra, 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 interjected, "But why do we have to find Sephiroth?"

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

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she cleared her throat and said, "Sephiroth took away the original mother body code-named [Jenovia] in Baotiao's laboratory. This parasite is very terrifying. It once caused two The annihilation of the ancient Settra tribe thousands of years ago almost destroyed the entire planet. If Shinra Corporation’s continuous extraction of Moko is causing the slow death of the planet, then Xenovia will destroy the entire planet in a short period of time. The planet is devoured alive. Sephiroth is very likely to have mastered the dominance of Jenova, and the longer the delay, the more likely it will lead to the crisis of destruction of the planet."

"You mean, Sephiroth was also infected with that thing?" Barrett was focused on saving the planet, and at first hearing that there was something more threatening than the Shinra Corporation, his face was very ugly.

Alice shook her head: "I don't know the specific information about Sephiroth, let's ask Claude. He used to be the 1st fighter of the same class as Sephiroth, and he must know 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 with Shinra, but involves the safety of the entire world.He briefly sorted out his language, and then said:
"... I used to admire Sephiroth, who was called a [hero], so I joined the Shinra Special Forces. After fighting side by side with Sephiroth for a while, we became friends."

"You call that [friend]?" Jesse gestured at the way Sephiroth beat Cloud to death.At that time, if Heather hadn't blocked the killing blow with Narakugawa, Claude would have been split in half.

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

Claude shrugged: "We trust 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 is not a pleasant job. At that time, I was with Sephiroth is on a special mission, and the location of the mission is Nibelheim."

Hearing the name of his hometown Nibelheim, Tifa's eyes trembled slightly.Heather watched from the side, but didn't speak.

"There is a magic furnace built by Shinra Company in the back mountain of Nibelheim, because that mountain contains a lot of magic energy. Our task at that time was to investigate why the power of the magic 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 inexperienced and incompetent piece of trash who stole the achievements of the great scientist Dr. Gast Then I took the position of director of the science department."

Alice clenched her hands tightly after hearing Gast's name, apparently very upset.She never mentioned to others that Dr. Gast, the first director of Shinra's scientific research and development department, was her biological father.

Dr. Gast voluntarily withdrew because he was dissatisfied with Shinra's cruel research. When traveling alone to the Snow Village, he met the last pure-blooded ancient species Ifaluna, and the two fell in love and had a child.And Baojo followed the vines to find the hermit of Dr. Gast, not only killed Dr. Gast, but also seized all his scientific research results and took them as his own. Ifaluna and Alice were also taken away by Baojo as precious experimental materials.

On the other side, Claude's narration continued.

"Because this mission does not require a large-scale battle, Sephiroth and I only brought two Shinra soldiers with us. I met Tifa when I was looking for a guide in Nibelheim Village. Tifa was very familiar with the terrain of the back mountain. She is familiar so let her act as the guide."

Hearing Cloud's words, Tifa nodded hesitantly, with a little doubt on her face.

"Going all the way, we finally arrived in front of the magic furnace on the top of the mountain against the cold wind of Mount Niebuhr. Because of Shinra's confidentiality agreement, Sephiroth let the accompanying Shinra soldiers stay outside to take care of Tifa. Safi and I Ross and the two entered the interior of the Mako furnace."

Claude recalled the scene at that time, and his face was very ugly: "There are many egg-shaped culture tanks lined up inside the Mako Furnace, which are exactly the same as those in the Baojo Laboratory. Sephiroth found that the system of the Moko Furnace was artificially adjusted, resulting in The concentration of huang increased sharply. Then, we saw the creatures inside through the glass cover of the cultivation tank, which were terrifying monsters with twisted and weird appearances, and only maintained the basic human shape."

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

Jesse keenly grasped the point of Claude's words: "Ordinary special forces? What Sephiroth said means that he is not an ordinary special forces?"

Claude shook his head: "I asked Sephiroth the same question at the time, and he admitted that he was very different from ordinary special forces. Before I could continue asking, Sephiroth was sealed at the top of the magic furnace. On the metal door, I saw a sign with the name of [Jenovia] engraved on it. He seemed to go crazy suddenly, changed his usual gentle and gentle appearance, and swung his long knife to chop up the surrounding culture tanks. After the monsters suddenly lost the supply of Moko, 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 and Tifa outside the Mako furnace and rushed back Went to the village of Nibelheim and found that Sephiroth had shut himself up in the hotel, not letting anyone in or talking to anyone."

"And then he disappeared, right?" Tifa asked suddenly.

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

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

"No, in fact, Dr. Gast of the Shinra Company lived there a long time ago. I broke into the Shinra Mansion, and after some searching, I found a huge cavity under the mansion. The spiral stairs kept spiraling down. I followed the The stairs reached the bottom of the cave. After going deeper, I 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 insisted on telling the experience at that time:
"Dr. Gast's research data shows that he discovered a creature in a state of suspended animation in a geological layer two thousand years ago, and he named it [Jenova]. On X, X, X, [Jie Nova] was confirmed as an ancient species. On X, X, X, X, the Jenova plan was adopted, and the Niebuhr Mountain Demon Stove was approved for use. Sephiroth said that he had never met his mother, only knew her name was As Xenovia, is it really just a coincidence that it has the same name as the Xenovia project?"

"He kept talking to himself, criticizing Dr. Gast for why he died so early, muttering Jenova's name, and flipping through the mountains of research materials without rest. I think I went to persuade him, but was kicked out of the Shinra mansion. After that, Sephiroth never came out of the mansion. He kept reading books, as if he was possessed, and the lights in the basement never went out. "

"And then, the day when the tragedy happened."

Cold sweat oozes from Claude's forehead, and the severe headache can't help but make 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 visit Sephiroth in the basement as usual, and I heard Sephiroth's laughter as soon as I entered. Seeing me coming in, he just called me [traitor] contemptuously. He insisted that this planet was originally Belonging to the ancient race of the Settra, a nomadic people who would migrate to a planet and settle on it before leaving. At the end of this arduous and lonely journey, they would find the promise land, and attain supreme happiness."

Alice, who is the descendant of the Settra tribe, turned pale and shook her head again and again: "No, he wasn't 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, started a family, and chose a comfortable sedentary life. They Claiming to be [Humanity], taking the fruits of the labor of the Settra people and the planet without giving anything in return. I questioned this, and he replied that a long time ago, the planet was enveloped by disasters, and the ancestors of humans fled and hid rose up to survive. The Settras saved the planet at their own expense, while the ancestors of man continued to reproduce. Today, the ancient Settras are just a race left in the recorded race."

"Dr. Gast, the director of the scientific department of Shinra Corporation, intends to recreate a person with ancient powers through the Jenova Project, and Sephiroth is the one who was created. [I'm going to see my mother], he Leaving only this sentence, I rushed out of the Shinra mansion. I chased after, but Sephiroth’s speed was too fast. When I ran out of the mansion, I found that the whole village was engulfed in flames, and countless villagers were either in flames Or lie in a pool of blood with a deadly sword wound,"

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

"I chased all the way to the depths of the Moko Furnace on Mount Nibel, and found that Tifa was already lying in a pool of blood, and the sealed door on the top of the Moko Furnace was smashed by a sharp blade. At that time, I thought Tifa was dead, so I endured After walking through the door in grief, I saw Sephiroth standing in front of Xenovia who was covered in tubes, muttering to himself [Mother, let us take back this planet together]. I denounced his cruelty, Sephiroth let out a growl, and he said this——

【Mother has the best strength, wisdom and magic power, she should be the ruler of this planet, but those useless creatures are stealing this planet from mother.But it's okay, now I'm here, so don't worry. 】”

"My hometown, my relatives, and my friends were all destroyed by Sephiroth. With boundless anger, I raised my sword and yelled at Sephiroth. He is no longer the one I know. That gentle and kind Sephiroth."

Claude found that his headache was not so strong, and slowly exhaled:

"At this point, my story is over."

"...Oh? Finished? What's next? How is Sephiroth?" Alice only felt as upset as if she was chasing the novel and being cut off by the dog author at a critical moment.

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

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

"The official report said that Sephiroth was dead, and it was mentioned in the news." Tifa recalled the scene when she first came to Midgar, and the news of Sephiroth's death was officially announced at that time.

Barrett said gruffly: "The news is controlled by Shinra, so it's not credible."

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

"Why don't you change your mind?" Heather suddenly said, "Perhaps you were in a brave state at the time, and maybe you defeated Sephiroth in a one-on-one match? After all, your strength is a typical nerve knife, and the ups and downs are particularly large."

Claude didn't speak, but the expression on his face obviously listened to what Heather said.

"Sephiroth and Xenovia, they're all bullshit!" Barrett became more and more confused as he listened, and could only curse through gritted teeth: "If you find that guy, you'll just shoot him into a sieve. I don't think he can crawl back from hell. ?”

Jesse patted Barrett's thick arm, and joked: "Yo! Barrett, you are in great shape! Next time you meet Sephiroth, don't wait for Heather, you take the lead!"

Barrett pretended to be calm and patted his chest to indicate that there was no problem, and after that he languished a lot.

Soon, everyone came to the gate of the exhibition hall.

Rufas said that he prepared a [small gift] for everyone here, and he doesn’t know what the new president of Shinra’s so-called [small gift] refers to?
　PS: 4K words, it can be regarded as two chapters in one.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)