Inside the elevator, Barrett was enthusiastically explaining something to Aiden and Cloud.
"See this big guy? While we are eating, while we are sleeping, this big guy is continuously extracting Mako, never stopping, and not polite at all."
Barret's tone appeared very angry, but looking at Aiden who was lowering his head in thought and Cloud who was indifferent, he frowned, paused, and continued speaking,
"Do you know what Mako is? It's the blood of this planet, just like the blood in our bodies. If that's the case, what will happen if it keeps being extracted like this?"
Saying this, he suddenly pointed fiercely at Aiden and Cloud, and loudly said, "Haven't you heard the planet wailing? My brothers?"
Aiden was shocked awake from his thoughts by this shout. He looked at Barret somewhat confused, then gave Jessie a puzzled look.
Jessie shrugged at him helplessly. She had seen this kind of situation many times and was already used to it.
Cloud still coldly looked at Barret, and even asked, "You can hear it?"
"Of course!" Seeing someone finally respond to him, Barret patted his chest forcefully, "I can hear the planet's painful wailing at all times."
"Is that so? Too bad, I can't hear it." Cloud said coldly, "I think you should go see a doctor, and find the best ENT specialist."
His words made Aiden and Jessie laugh out loud at the same time. Aiden even felt that Cloud actually had a good sense of humor.
But Barret became furious. He was very dissatisfied with Cloud's indifference.
"You guy, do you not care at all about our planet?" He rushed in front of Cloud and shouted at him.
"Rather than caring about the planet, I'd rather care about myself." Cloud glanced at him, "To me, making money is more important, because money can buy food."
"You..." Barret got even angrier, but just as he was about to continue arguing, the elevator stopped.
Barret could only snort coldly and walked out of the elevator.
Just as they stepped out, the auto laser cannons set up high around them aimed at them. But strangely, those laser cannons didn't attack them.
"What's going on?" Jessie said in surprise. She had already mentally prepared to be attacked and was ready to dodge at high speed.
"There should be someone helping us." Aiden looked around and thought that Scarlet must have tampered here, after all, as the head of the weapons department, all of Shinra's weapons and equipment were produced by them.
"Looks like even inside Shinra, there are people dissatisfied with the Shinra company." Barret didn't think much and excitedly waved his mechanical right arm, "Look, this is the Shinra that lost the people's hearts. They've done so much evil that even their own people can't stand it anymore."
Then he shouted at Cloud again, "Hey, blond kid, I suddenly feel we should renegotiate the hire fee. Look, you didn't do much."
Cloud calmly looked at Barret, then drew out his giant Buster Sword, suddenly jumped up high, and with a few swipes, dismantled the laser cannons into a pile of parts.
"That doesn't count!" Barret shouted.
But Cloud didn't bother with him and walked forward on his own.
"I won't pay him the full amount." Seeing Cloud ignore him, Barret said to Aiden and Jessie.
"That won't do. The agreed price can't be changed." Aiden said to Barret, then followed behind Cloud.
"Yeah, Aiden is right, Barret. We have to be trustworthy people!" Jessie said very seriously.
———
[Shinra President's Office.]
"See that, Heidegger? Our automatic defense system actually let the enemies go. Why do you think that is?"
The Shinra President clasped his fingers under his chin, still staring at the surveillance video.
His tone was calm, and his aged face had no expression, but Heidegger, who had come in again to report the situation, was already sweating in fear.
He was in charge of public security at Shinra, and now the Mako reactor was infiltrated, but the auto-defense failed—he was undoubtedly the one most responsible.
However, he immediately found a way to shift the blame.
"President sir, maybe there was a small problem with the defense system. I think Scarlet should be called to check it."
"Scarlet is busy with something else lately. Don't bother her." The President of Shinra could obviously see through Heidegger's intentions and a cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Stop making excuses for your dereliction, Heidegger. What you need to do now is eliminate this group of low-grade rats."
"I'll do it right away, Mr. President." Heidegger wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded.
———
[Inside Reactor One.]
Aiden's group arrived at the core of the Mako reactor safely.
When they entered, a powerful energy that had nearly solidified into substance rushed toward them.
"This is the core area of the Mako reactor." Jessie looked again at the tablet in her hand, but maybe because the energy here was too strong, the display started to show static and tearing.
"The blood of the planet gathers and takes shape here." Barret held the railing and looked down. Beneath the steel bridge they stood on was an abyss of deep blue-green liquid.
"Bottomless, huh? If we fall down there, would we go straight into the planet's interior?" Barret continued.
"No. The Mako reactor will immediately suck you back up, like a water pump." Cloud glanced at him, joking slightly, but maybe recalling past experiences, he felt a slight headache.
"I really can't laugh..." Barret sighed, then walked along the bridge downward.
Behind them, Aiden and Jessie were still looking at the liquid below.
"Aiden, what do you think would happen if we fell in?" Jessie stared at the endless Mako and seemed dazed, even feeling an impulse to jump.
"If lucky enough not to die, you might become as strong as that guy." Aiden pointed at Cloud. "Shinra's special forces were all soaked in Mako liquid, but the death rate is very high."
"Then forget it. I don't want to die so early." Jessie didn't think she was that lucky. She shook her head and followed behind Barret and Cloud.
"Too bad, but yes, you did die too early." Looking at Jessie's back, Aiden sighed. He couldn't help but feel sorry for this ponytailed beauty's fate.
But since he came to this world, he didn't mind saving her. After all, she's so pretty, it'd be a waste if she died like that.
Shaking his head slightly, Aiden began examining the surroundings, then took out several block-shaped objects from his system space…
"Hey! Aiden, Jessie, hurry up!"
Barret and Cloud had already descended via the ladder to the central platform above the Mako, and not far ahead was the control center of the reactor.
"I'm so excited!" Barret got worked up again, clenched his fist and shouted, "I've waited too long for this day!"
"How do you plan to stop it from operating?" Cloud frowned, looking at the overly excited Barret, who seemed like a teenage chuunibyou.
"Of course, by blowing it up." Barret took out a timed bomb from his backpack, Jessie's creation. Though simple and wrapped in tape, its power couldn't be underestimated.
"Then give me the bomb." Cloud, remembering his mercenary principles, volunteered to plant the bomb. After all, they hadn't even fought once yet, which made him feel a bit guilty, especially since the pay was good.
"That's what I was thinking too." Barret had planned to let Cloud plant the bomb anyway. Although Tifa vouched for him, he still didn't trust Cloud.
Barret handed the bomb to Cloud. Cloud weighed the timed bomb in his hand and began walking slowly toward the control center.
But he hadn't gone far when Aiden shouted, "Wait a second, Cloud!"
Cloud stopped and looked at the running Aiden, a bit confused "What is it? Or... do you want to plant the bomb?"
"Of course not." Aiden shook his head. "On the contrary, I'm here to stop you."
"Are you kidding, Aiden? We're already here and now you say you want to stop us from blowing up the reactor?" Barret shouted. If Aiden hadn't saved his daughter, he might've already attacked him.
"Not stopping you from blowing it up, just stopping you from planting the bomb here." Aiden shook his head and pointed at the Mako below the platform, "These liquids contain massive energy. If detonated, the chain reaction would be devastating and could hurt people nearby."
"We can't care that much. For the planet's fate, sacrifices are necessary." Barret waved forcefully and said harshly.
"You're too extreme, Barret." Aiden frowned, "This would make ordinary people dislike Avalanche."
"Even if they do, it doesn't matter. Ours is a just cause." Barret looked at Aiden.
"Fine, let's say it is a just cause, and you're thinking of the planet, but I still think you can't blow it up here." Aiden continued shaking his head. He never agreed with Barret's thinking. It was no different from extreme eco-terrorists in his own world.
"So, are you choosing to be our enemy?" Barret raised his right arm, and the rotating minigun on it began to warm up.
"No, I mean we have other solutions that can make the reactor stop running temporarily." Aiden said.
"What method?" Barret asked, lowering his gun. No matter what, Aiden was his daughter's savior, he didn't want to worsen things.
"Bury Reactor One." Aiden said, taking out a remote.
"On the way here, I planted bombs under each support pillar, including that one..." Aiden pointed to where they had descended, one of the main pillars.
"These explosives burn quickly and release all energy in an instant without obvious flames. Because they're placed under the support pillars, after detonation, they'll destroy the structural stability and cause a directional collapse, without triggering any chain explosions." Aiden explained to Barret.
Since coming in, he had been secretly placing these remote bombs, that's why he always lagged behind.
"Will this really work?" Barret asked in surprise.
"Definitely." Aiden was confident in his demolition skills, and the bombs were bought from his system space, very powerful. They would destroy the reactor supports and turn it to rubble.
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