In Shinra HQ, inside the research lab on the 65th floor, a batch of Shinra soldiers implanted with chips stood in formation.
These Shinra soldiers not only had chips implanted, they also had diluted Jenova cells, specially developed by Hojo at Scarlet's request.
In a small room next to the lab, Scarlet held a glass of red wine, observing the soldiers through one-way glass.
Beside her, a researcher in a lab coat looked at the name list in his hand and said, "Minister Scarlet, this is the name list of the third batch of transformed members. Please review it."
"No need. Begin the experiment directly." Scarlet shook her head, a crimson smile curving on her lips.
The young researcher looked somewhat dazedly at Scarlet, but after Scarlet shot him a cold sideways glance, he quickly lowered his head and hurriedly took the list and left the room.
'Stupid fool who doesn't know life from death, next time I'll add you to the list of experiment personnel.' Looking at the departing researcher, Scarlet thought coldly, then shifted her gaze back to the Shinra soldiers.
'This is the third batch already. The success rate is indeed much higher than before, but the number is still pathetically low. Although under the suppression of the chip, the mental erosion from the Jenova cells has seen a significant improvement, the energy from the Mako is still too powerful. Moreover, the injected Jenova cells are still diluted. This is still far from enough.'
Scarlet was very dissatisfied with the current success rate. Although after reporting to the President, the success rate, higher than ever before, had earned her the President's praise, she didn't care about that.
'I need a stable and feasible method. I don't have much time.'
Thinking of the Mako Reactor No. 1 collapse incident a few days ago, Scarlet felt increasingly that time was pressing. She had to have a powerful combat unit ready before Shinra made a lethal move against Aiden and the others.
Letting out a slight sigh, Scarlet sipped her red wine, then continued to observe the experiment process outside.
At this moment, those Shinra soldiers had already begun walking toward the cultivation tanks. Under the guidance of the nearby researchers, they entered their respective tanks.
Immediately, a light screen appeared out of thin air in front of Scarlet. The screen displayed various experimental parameters, and it was a projected interface.
"Begin," Scarlet said faintly.
As her voice fell, the cultivation tanks slowly closed. With the injection of Mako, a flood of experimental data began rapidly jumping before her eyes.
It must be said, after injecting Shinra soldiers with Jenova cells, even diluted ones, their chances of survival when soaking in Mako liquid were higher than anyone dared to imagine before.
After all, one of Jenova's characteristics is that it significantly boosts the host's physical quality and vitality. Though it has major side effects, such as spiritual erosion by Jenova, under the effect of the chip, the modified Shinra soldiers had some resistance, or rather, were able to ignore part of the mental erosion.
However, even so, by the fifth minute of the experiment, news of test subject deaths had already appeared. And every few dozen seconds or a minute or so, more death notices would pop up.
And looking at those cold "Test subject deceased" messages, Scarlet's eyes showed not a hint of emotion. In her eyes, they were nothing more than some ID numbers being erased.
Moreover, these Shinra soldiers who received Mako and Jenova cell modifications were basically volunteers. Most of them had been influenced by Shinra's past propaganda of the strongest special forces soldier, Sephiroth. They yearned to become Shinra elites like Sephiroth.
They had already been prepared to face death when they volunteered for the experiment.
So Scarlet felt no psychological pressure at all. To her, the more important thing was the experimental data, data that could one day succeed perfectly in her own body. As for how many people died, that was not within her range of consideration.
Very quickly, an hour passed. When all the cultivation tanks opened, fewer than ten Shinra soldiers had survived. However, their mental states were not good. Their eyes looked vacant, but once Scarlet's voice echoed in the research lab, they began gathering and lining up.
The chips in their bodies had taken effect, replacing their brains to forcibly control their bodies to carry out commands.
'Very good, my strength has grown again!'
Seeing this, Scarlet nodded in satisfaction, then downed the rest of her red wine and left the observation room.
In a nearby research room, another experiment was about to begin. She couldn't afford to miss it.
———
At the same time, Aiden had already returned to the Seventh Heaven bar. After locking his motorcycle, he leisurely walked inside.
Inside the bar, Tifa was, as always, counting the recently delivered drinks and food. Aerith was, like yesterday, lazily lying across the bar counter, holding a rag and goofing off.
What comforted Tifa somewhat was that although Yuffie was a chuunibyou girl, at this moment she was enthusiastically helping out. After all, this girl was the type who felt bored whenever she had nothing to do.
Aiden didn't disturb them, walking to the bar and asking Aerith for a glass of water. Although Aerith gave a resentful "hmph," she still obediently poured him a glass.
Just as he was about to take a sip, a man walked into the bar from outside, it was none other than Yuffie's cheap junior, Sonon.
After asking around, Sonon had heard from passersby that a girl matching his description had entered the Seventh Heaven bar, so he came to check.
Unexpectedly, his luck was good. As soon as he entered, he saw Yuffie helping Tifa move supplies. After pausing for a moment, he called out, "Senior!"
"Ha, Sonon, you finally found me." Yuffie originally wanted to put down what she was doing, but after thinking for a moment, she decided to keep helping Tifa while responding to Sonon.
"We searched all night last night. Nayo and the others are about to go crazy," Sonon looked at his senior helplessly. "They thought you got kidnapped. They were even planning to take people to Sector Six to find that guy called Corneo."
"I'm not a kid. How could I possibly be kidnapped?" Yuffie didn't dare say she got drunk and slept at someone else's place overnight. She pointed at Aiden sitting nearby and said, "Besides, with him around, you can relax."
Only then did Sonon notice Aiden, and somewhat presumptuously assumed that Aiden had been taking care of Yuffie. He immediately bowed and said, "I didn't expect you to be here. Thank you for taking care of my senior."
"N-no need to thank me."
Aiden waved his hand awkwardly, thinking to himself, 'I didn't take care of her at all… I almost…'
Sonon didn't notice Aiden's awkward expression. After standing up straight, he said to Yuffie again, "Senior, please come back with me. Nayo and the others are still waiting for you. Don't forget, tonight we still have to..."
He cut himself off mid-sentence. Although he knew the Seventh Heaven bar was a secret base of the Avalanche branch, he also knew that this branch wasn't recognized by the main group, so he didn't want to mention it in front of them.
"Alright, I got it. I'll leave after helping Sister Tifa finish up." Yuffie had a good impression of Tifa, probably because Tifa was the one who carried her drunk self to Heaven's Watch last night.
"Let me do it. You guys take a break." Sonon simply rolled up his sleeves and jumped in to help.
With her hands finally freed, Tifa let out a long sigh of relief. Seeing Aiden and Aerith just sitting there, she couldn't help but feel irritated. Hands on her hips, she scolded, "You two are really lazy!"
But Aiden just stood up, pulled her close, and kissed her, and all her anger instantly melted away, though he did earn an unhappy glare from Aerith, which she didn't care about anymore.
Sonon was a diligent and efficient person. Under Yuffie's loud directions, he quickly moved all the items into the small warehouse behind the bar.
After refusing Tifa's offer to treat them to a drink, Sonon dragged the reluctant Yuffie out of the bar.
Seeing them leave, Aerith finally asked, "What do you think they're doing tonight?"
"What else could it be? Probably going to cause trouble at Shinra Tower," Tifa lazily leaned against Aiden and calmly said.
Only someone like her could say that. If it were Barret, he would've scoffed. In his view, the main group was petty and did nothing but insignificant things. Only their recent attempt to assassinate the Shinra President made him look at them with slightly more respect.
After Yuffie and Sonon left, the entire morning passed with no other visitors. Aiden and the other two basically spent their time cuddling together like yesterday.
But what was strange was that just after noon, people began arriving at the bar for drinks, more and more of them. Aerith and Tifa quickly became overwhelmed.
With Jessie not around, Tifa, unable to handle everything, asked Aiden for help.
Naturally, Aiden couldn't refuse. Though it puzzled him, he still jumped in to help.
Normally, during the day, Seventh Heaven was empty. But now, by early afternoon, the bar was nearly full.
As time went on into the afternoon, customers kept coming. Many of them were confused as to why they'd come, but still, they ordered beer and sat down.
Soon, it was around 3 PM. While Aiden was running around delivering drinks, a call came into the bar.
Aerith answered it, and after hanging up, her face turned heavy…
Just after delivering drinks to a table, Aiden was wondering if it was a holiday in Midgar or something. Then Tifa tapped his shoulder.
"Go check on Aerith," said Tifa, who was also swamped but had noticed Aerith's expression. She took the tray from him as she spoke.
Aiden immediately rushed to Aerith. Seeing her troubled face, he was startled. Something didn't feel right, but he couldn't figure it out. Still, he knew that if Aerith looked like this, something must have happened to her mom, Elmina.
"Did something happen at home?" he asked.
Aerith nodded. "My mom just called. She twisted her foot again, and it's serious."
These past few days, Aerith had been staying at Tifa's and used the bar phone to contact home. Her mom knowing the number wasn't surprising.
"A twisted ankle?" Aiden felt more uneasy, though he still didn't know why. Seeing Aerith so anxious, he said, "You should go back… no, I'll go with you. It's better to have a man around."
Aerith nodded, then shook her head. She pointed to the busy bar and said, "You should stay. I don't think Tifa can handle it all alone."
But after saying that, she froze, because deep down, she actually wanted Aiden to go with her. Yet somehow, the words changed on their own.
She didn't think about it too much, though. Over the phone, she'd heard pain in her mother's voice, and she urgently needed to get home.
Aiden still felt something was off. But seeing Aerith insist, he could only nod. "Then go ahead. I'll go over once we're done here."
Aerith nodded, hugged Aiden, said a few words to Tifa, and hurriedly left.
Watching her leave, Tifa hesitated and said, "Aiden, I really feel something's not right."
"I feel the same." Aiden looked at the packed bar, trying to recall game plotlines, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't remember anything relevant from these past few days.
'Maybe… it's just an accident?' In the end, Aiden could only chalk it up to a butterfly effect caused by his presence…
Whether it was the butterfly effect or not, Aiden no longer cared. But he was sure something strange was happening, and he was beginning to suspect someone.
Because shortly after Aerith left, no more customers came in, and those already inside all left, many without even finishing their drinks.
Within minutes, only Aiden and Tifa were left in the bar. The two of them looked at the bizarre scene, both frowning.
Just as they were pondering what was going on, Barret and the others suddenly arrived. Seeing the slightly messy bar, they were also surprised.
"Did a lot of customers come just now?" Jessie asked Tifa, noticing the uncleaned tables.
Tifa nodded. "Yeah, suddenly there were tons of customers out of nowhere. But after Aerith left, they all left too."
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