He had just stood firm, then lowered his voice and shouted toward the top of the train, "Stop dawdling, hurry up and follow!"
Just as he finished speaking, two more people jumped down from the roof of the train.
It was Aiden and Cloud.
And as they landed, Cloud deliberately showed off, waving that giant sword that never left his body, striking a pose so cool it was dripping with style.
"Blond brat, tone it down a bit." Watching Cloud striking a pose, Aiden helplessly covered his forehead.
"There's no audience here. Who are you posing for, the air?"
Cloud, still holding his pose, twitched at the corner of his mouth. He looked at Aiden somewhat angrily but still ended the cool pose and carried the giant sword on his back.
At that moment, two patrolling Shinra soldiers appeared at the entrance of the station tunnel. Seeing them, they both raised their guns.
"Who are you?!" One of the Shinra soldiers took two steps forward and shouted loudly.
The Avalanche members couldn't be bothered to answer this question. Barrett even scoffed disdainfully and, while walking forward, said to Cloud and Aiden behind him, "Your turn."
Before Aiden could react, Cloud had already rushed out ahead, pulling out his giant sword and charging at the two Shinra soldiers.
"Damn it, stop right there!" shouted the Shinra soldier who spoke first. "Or we'll shoot!"
But Cloud just gave him a cold glance, then raised his giant sword high and slashed at them.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Seeing this, the two Shinra patrolling soldiers immediately pulled their triggers, countless bullets shooting toward Cloud.
But as a "1st" class special forces soldier, ordinary bullets were completely ineffective against him. He swung his giant sword, deflecting all the bullets, stunning the two Shinra soldiers so much that they were frozen in place, forgetting to dodge.
And ordinary Shinra soldiers were no match for Cloud. In the blink of an eye, the two soldiers were dealt with by him.
"Well done, Cloud."
After Aiden and the others entered the checkpoint of the station, the chubby man at the rear of the group, Wedge, couldn't help but praise him, then followed the stairs to the upper level of the station.
To Wedge's praise, Cloud showed no reaction at all, still focused on taking down the constantly appearing Shinra soldiers.
After finishing off the last Shinra soldier with his sword, he also ran to the upper level.
In front of a large electronic door on the upper level, Jessie and Biggs were using tablets to hack and unlock it.
At this moment, seeing Cloud come up, Wedge ran over to him, eyes full of admiration as he gave him a thumbs-up.
"Don't assume I'm part of your team. Once the job is done, we'll have nothing to do with each other." Cloud said expressionlessly.
Wedge was stunned. Cloud's indifference made him uncomfortable, and he awkwardly pulled his thumbs-up hand back.
Hearing Cloud's words, Biggs couldn't help but say to Jessie, "Quite the personality. Seems like he's a hard guy to deal with."
"Indeed. He's really handsome, but I don't like his personality." Jessie liked good-looking guys, especially couldn't resist handsome faces, but Cloud's personality made her keep a respectful distance.
"Aiden's personality is better, at least we can get along and have fun." Jessie added.
"Thanks for the compliment. But next time you badmouth someone, pay attention to the setting. He can hear you." Aiden suddenly spoke from behind Jessie.
Jessie was startled by Aiden's sudden appearance behind her. She patted her ample chest, then casually said, "Anyway, it's a work relationship. Even if he heard, it should be fine. Besides, judging by his personality, he doesn't seem like someone who holds grudges!"
"That's not for sure." Aiden glanced back at Cloud, but the latter stood with arms crossed, face indifferent, as if he hadn't heard their conversation at all.
"Well then, I take back what I said earlier. He really is a broad-minded guy." Aiden smiled.
Upon hearing that, Cloud's expression finally changed. He glared at him with slight disgust.
"Still not done?"
Barrett, who had been standing by a fence, seemingly deep in thought or observing something, turned and walked over. On the way, he even pushed Cloud, who was blocking his path.
"Give me a little more time, Barrett. Shinra's security software isn't easy to crack." Jessie looked at the hacking progress on her tablet. At least a third still remained.
"Hurry up. We don't have much time." Barrett knew it was a technical task but still urged her.
Maybe it's true what they say about fat people being carefree. While waiting for the door to open, Wedge, seemingly forgetting Cloud's cold reaction earlier, ran back to him and said, "If it's just for money, you wouldn't come to a place like this, right? You must be like us, for the planet…"
"I'm not interested in that. I'm only here for the high commission you offered." Cloud interrupted Wedge and didn't even want to look at him, turning to face the other way.
Getting brushed off again, Wedge looked awkward. He looked at Cloud, then at Aiden and the others, hesitating to speak.
Just as he was about to say something to ease his own awkwardness, Jessie suddenly cheered, "Ha! Got it!"
As Jessie's voice fell, the electronic door slowly opened.
"I'll go first. You follow me." The moment the door was halfway open, Biggs charged in with his gun held in both hands. Once he confirmed it was safe, he waved them over.
"Let's go together." Aiden said to Jessie.
Jessie put away her tablet, nodded, and ran inside with Aiden, crouched low.
Barrett didn't follow them in. Instead, he turned and shouted, "Wedge, you go first!"
After Wedge went in, Barrett then said to Cloud, "Even if you're Tifa's friend, don't forget we paid a lot to hire you. You better treat us with some respect, and don't let us down."
In truth, he was already starting to dislike this guy. That cold personality was hard to like. But since they already hired him, and he was recommended by Tifa, he had no choice but to endure it for now.
Cloud still showed no emotion, just glanced at Barrett, then nodded coldly and walked inside.
"Wedge, are you okay? Don't mind that blond brat. That's just how he is." On the way to the mako reactor core, Aiden noticed Wedge looked a bit down. He walked over and patted his broad shoulder.
"I'm okay." Wedge had only met Aiden a few times. They weren't that close, but seeing him come to comfort him, he gratefully smiled at him.
"As long as you're okay." Aiden nodded at him, then looked back.
Behind them, Cloud was still fighting wave after wave of Shinra soldiers. There were also patrol dogs raised by Shinra joining in, but these soldiers and dogs were just cannon fodder, Cloud easily dealt with them all.
"Even if his personality isn't likable, his strength really is something. Our money was well spent." Jessie also looked back and sighed.
"After all, he's a 1st, Shinra's strongest special forces." Aiden nodded. Even if this '1st' title was self-proclaimed due to Cloud's memory issues and his real strength might not truly reach that level, Aiden still had to admit, Cloud was impressive.
"Alright, now's not the time to chat. Biggs already cleared the way." Barrett interrupted their conversation, looking at Biggs, who had just finished cutting through a fence with tools, and then took the lead crawling through the opening.
The mako reactor, being a large and complex building, not only had tight security but also extremely complicated internal routes, like a maze. Without a map, even a slight mistake could get one lost.
However, Aiden and his group didn't have to worry about that, because they had a map of Reactor No. 1's interior.
With the map in hand, their progress inside the reactor was much faster than outside. They didn't have to detour, nor waste time figuring out which way to go.
"I wonder where Tifa got this internal map of the mako reactor. It's ridiculously accurate." Jessie, holding a tablet and leading the way, exclaimed. She hadn't believed it at first, but once inside, she found the map insanely precise, like it was the original blueprint.
"Who knows, maybe she has her own channels." Barrett didn't know either. He was curious, but when Tifa gave them the map, he hadn't asked much, everyone has their secrets.
Aiden thoughtfully nodded. He remembered last time, after parting at the Wall Market, Tifa had left in Scarlet's car.
'It can only be her. Otherwise, Tifa could never have gotten the internal map.' Aiden thought.
Because they had the map, the event where Barrett questioned Cloud and asked him to lead the way to the mako bridge didn't happen. So surprisingly, no arguments broke out along the way.
After dealing with another batch of cannon fodder enemies, they reached an elevator.
"Biggs, stay here and guard. The rest of us will go up." Barrett gave instructions, then pressed the elevator button.
"Don't worry, Barrett." Biggs raised his gun and gave a reassuring gesture.
Then, Aiden and the others entered the elevator.
———
At the same time they entered the elevator, in the Shinra building's presidential office, a bearded man with a scar over his right eye, wearing a double-breasted coat, walked in.
He was Heidegger, head of Shinra's Public Security Department.
"President, according to our investigation, that group of rats call themselves 'Avalanche.' But we still don't know if they're connected to the Avalanche that once tried to assassinate you." Heidegger stood behind the Shinra president, reporting the intelligence he had gathered.
"However, that's just what they call themselves. Whether they're really part of Avalanche, we still need more investigation. So, President, please give us more time." Heidegger continued.
The Shinra president looked at the screen, which clearly showed the elevator's surveillance feed. After listening to Heidegger, he nodded slightly.
Heidegger sighed in relief. Not being scolded as he expected eased his mind a bit. He was just about to leave when the president suddenly called out to him.
"Heidegger, also investigate if we have a traitor inside."
"What?" Heidegger was shocked. "How do you know?"
The president pointed at Jessie in the surveillance footage. "This girl seems very familiar with the reactor's interior. She hasn't taken a wrong turn once. I remember last time I inspected the reactor, even the person in charge almost led us the wrong way. I think she must have a map of the mako reactor's interior."
"I understand." Heidegger realized the seriousness of the situation. He stood at attention and left the office.
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