Marlene had already fallen into deep sleep. Being frightened in the middle of the night had pushed her mental exhaustion to the limit. Now, being surrounded by her closest people, and having confirmed that her father was safe, she relaxed. Not long after entering the room, she fell asleep in Aerith's arms.
Tifa carefully laid Marlene on the bed, covered her with the blanket, then touched her forehead before turning around and sitting back beside Aiden.
At this moment, Aiden was resting with his eyes closed. Although Aerith and Tifa were sitting on either side of him, and Jessie was sitting in front of him, he didn't have any improper thoughts... of course, it couldn't be said he had no improper thoughts. Mainly, with three women together, even if he had thoughts, he had to keep things balanced.
And another point, which was the most important... Marlene was still in the room.
Suddenly, Aiden opened his eyes. He had the thought of taking the three girls to the next room, but then thought about leaving the little girl alone in Tifa's room and felt it wasn't quite appropriate. If the little girl suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and saw no one around, she would definitely be scared.
Letting out a helpless sigh, Aiden slowly closed his eyes again, continuing to rest with eyes shut.
However, Aerith and the others were not sleepy at all at this moment. Their spirits were high. Aerith couldn't sleep because fate had changed, yet Sephiroth hadn't come out to correct it, which excited her. Tifa and Jessie couldn't sleep because they had hugged the pillar of Sector Seven, and were equally excited.
The three women who couldn't sleep quickly started chatting quietly out of boredom.
Perhaps afraid of waking up Marlene and Aiden, the three women simply huddled together, whispering secrets to each other. From time to time, they would suddenly stop and glance at Aiden. After confirming that he seemed to be truly asleep, they continued chatting with ease.
But Aiden was merely resting with his eyes closed, not truly asleep. He could hear their conversation clearly, and he noticed that the topics they talked about were becoming increasingly outrageous.
At first, they mainly talked about what had happened today. But later, their topic shifted to Aiden, discussing what he liked. Eventually, they even started talking about some of his peculiar habits.
For example, Aerith said Aiden wasn't honest when sleeping, when he slept hugging her, he liked to grope around. And then Tifa, blushing, said that when Aiden did that kind of thing with her, he didn't like taking off all her clothes... she seemed to have said that on purpose.
Sure enough, hearing this, both Aerith and Jessie suddenly froze in their breathing. This was a realm they had yet to step into.
Then the two women, filled with jealousy and envy, looked over at Aiden. Although Aiden had his eyes closed, he could still feel the pressure of their stares prickling his scalp.
Just as Aiden was considering whether to open his eyes and explain, a knock suddenly came from the door, followed by a loud but very cute voice, "Aiden, open the door, I know you're in there."
Aiden finally opened his eyes, but he didn't get up to open the door right away. Like Aerith and the other two women, he turned to look at Marlene. Seeing that the little girl had not been woken, everyone finally let out a breath of relief.
Aiden got up and walked to the door, wondering why Yuffie would know he was here, and opened the door.
Outside the door, Yuffie was still wearing that cute Moogle hood, and her junior Sonon was still behind her, he hadn't died, he was still alive.
"How did you know I was here?" Seeing Yuffie, Aiden immediately asked his question.
Yuffie patted her bulging Moogle waist pouch, not sure what it was stuffed with, and said, "That bad woman Scarlet told me."
"Scarlet?" Aiden didn't question Yuffie calling Scarlet a bad woman, nor did he ask why she knew her, instead asked, "She told you to come find me for what?"
Yuffie glanced at the three women who had followed over, then inexplicably pouted and said, "She told me to inform you that Elmyra was kidnapped by an evil scientist named Hojo."
"What did you say? My mom was kidnapped?!"
Upon hearing that her adoptive mother had been taken by Hojo, Aerith's eyes instantly welled up with tears. Overcome with worry, she turned to run out, but was held back by Aiden.
"I want to go save my mom," Aerith said, choking with emotion and unable to suppress her concern.
"I know. I'll go with you. But don't be anxious yet." Aiden held Aerith in his arms, gently patting her back to soothe her. At the same time, he said to Jessie, "You stay here and look after Marlene. I'll go to the Shinra building with Aerith and Tifa."
Jessie was a little unhappy. She also wanted to go, but since Aiden had spoken, she couldn't refuse, so she nodded.
"We're coming with you too." Yuffie glanced at Jessie, who was staying behind, and immediately said, "That bad woman gave us a lot of Materia stones. We can definitely help you all."
"No. You're staying too. And you, Sonon." Aiden looked at Sonon, this man, who was originally supposed to die in the Shinra building, was still alive because Aiden had changed the plot.
Sonon was fine with it, but Yuffie was not. She wasn't as obedient as Jessie. She grumbled about being the beautiful ninja girl of Wutai, here to punish Shinra, etc.
Upon hearing that, Aiden was even more determined not to let her go. If a fight started and she opened with that kind of speech, the enemy might just die laughing.
After a lot of arguing, Yuffie still ended up staying. But before Aiden and the others left, she stuffed a large handful of Materia into his hands. But after going downstairs, Aiden gave all the Materia to Aerith and Tifa, because he couldn't use them at all.
———
Due to tonight's battle, Midgar's trains stopped running ahead of schedule, so Aiden could only take Aerith and Tifa to search all over the streets for a car. It was impossible for them to walk there.
At this time, the slum area of Sector 7 had already been almost completely evacuated. Although this place was far from being as wealthy as the upper plate, scattered vehicles could still be seen on the roadside. Very soon, they were driving a small truck, heading toward the upper plate.
In the truck, Aerith had already calmed down, but her eyes were still filled with worry and guilt.
"Aerith, Ms. Elmyra will be fine." Although Sephiroth did not appear tonight to stop Aiden from altering the plot, Aiden still spoke confidently. After all, to Hojo, Elmyra had almost no use besides being used to threaten Aerith.
Although many things happened this night, in fact, by the time Aiden and the others arrived near the Shinra Building, only a few hours had passed since the Pillar Defense Battle, so it was still early morning.
Due to the Shinra President being assassinated by Sephiroth, plus the new President taking over, the Shinra Building's security level had been increased by several levels. The number of patrol soldiers around the building had multiplied several times. Trying to infiltrate safely was extremely difficult.
However, Aiden's group of three came to rescue someone, and the person they were rescuing was none other than Aerith's mother, who had been taken away by Hojo.
So Aiden had no intention of sneaking in, but instead directly stepped on the accelerator, driving the truck straight toward the main gate of the Shinra Building.
Seeing the truck speeding toward the building entrance, the patrolling soldiers didn't waste words, raised their guns and fired. But as Aerith chanted a spell, a magic circle appeared above the truck, forming an invisible shield around it. The bullets that hit the shield all bounced back, frightening the Shinra soldiers into stopping their shooting.
Seeing that bullets had no effect, those patrolling Shinra soldiers could only stare blankly as the truck drove up the steps, shattered the glass of the main entrance, and charged into the building's first-floor lobby.
There were quite a few Shinra soldiers in the first-floor lobby as well. They had already noticed the commotion outside. Seeing the truck rush in, they also raised their guns and fired, but the bullets bounced back again, causing chaos and sending them ducking and dodging. The receptionist at the front desk screamed loudly, making the scene even more chaotic.
The people in the truck did not get out, so the truck continued to rampage through the lobby… Aiden was waiting for the right moment to get out.
Just then, an elevator happened to arrive on the first floor. Aiden, seeing this, slammed on the gas and charged toward it, scaring the Shinra soldiers along the way into fleeing in panic.
Just as the truck was about to crash into the elevator doors, Aiden jerked the steering wheel, making the truck drift sideways and come to a stop in front of the elevator doors. At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and the Shinra employees inside, seeing the truck blocking the entrance, were all stunned. This was something they had never seen before.
Aiden jumped down from the truck, raised his gun, and fired two shots into the air, then shouted fiercely, "Get out, or I'll kill all of you."
The Shinra employees in the elevator were not combat personnel. Frightened by him, they ran out of the elevator, tripping over themselves. But as soon as they left the magic circle's protection range, they were riddled with bullets by Shinra soldiers' gunfire.
"Sorry, this has nothing to do with me, don't blame me."
Glancing at the corpses of the Shinra employees, Aiden muttered, then pressed the elevator's close button.
At the moment the elevator doors closed, Aerith removed the magic circle. Seeing the magic circle vanish, the Shinra soldiers began firing again. The bullets hitting the elevator doors made a "clang clang" sound.
Inside the elevator was a full layout map of the Shinra Building, with every department clearly marked. So Aiden directly pressed the button for the floor with the Research Laboratory on the 66th floor.
The one who captured Elmyra was Hojo; he could only be there.
———
The sudden raid by Aiden's group made the already nervous Shinra higher-ups even more anxious. After hearing reports from below that the attackers had taken the elevator upstairs, Rufus, who had just succeeded to the presidency, had no time for rest or celebration and personally led a team to the 66th floor using another elevator.
At the same time, he asked the Turk leader beside him, "Tseng, did you find out who the attackers are?"
"We did." Every elevator in the building had surveillance cameras. Tseng had received the photos and said, "Do you remember the Ancient we were monitoring?"
"Her? And who else?" Rufus, as the former Vice President, didn't have much power before, but he knew everything he should know. Naturally, he knew that a single woman couldn't cause such a stir.
"Also her boyfriend, and another girlfriend of her boyfriend, I think. It's a bit complicated." Saying this, Tseng seemed a bit down.
"Aerith's boyfriend's other girlfriend? That does sound complicated. But why did they come here? I don't think we provoked them, did we?" Rufus, unaware of Hojo's actions, sighed at the tangled relationships and curiously asked Tseng.
Tseng shook his head, "I'm not too sure either, but since they're heading to the 66th floor, it's probably a mess Hojo created."
The 66th floor was the Shinra Building's Research Laboratory. Not only was it the place where Shinra's special soldiers were created, it was also where Hojo studied Jenova.
"That disgusting guy has never done anything good." Rufus had no goodwill toward Hojo. His governing philosophy was completely different from his father's, which was why his father had taken away his power and excluded him from Shinra's management.
Seeing Rufus's expression of disgust, Tseng sighed and said, "That guy is disgusting, but after all, he's a long-time employee. If we don't save him, the other higher-ups might…"
He didn't finish, but Rufus understood his meaning. He silently pulled out a shotgun and began carefully checking it.
———
[66th Floor, Research Laboratory.]
Hojo slowly sipped a mouthful of tea before turning his gaze to Elmyra, who had once again been tied up tightly. This woman, upon hearing that Hojo wanted to use her to lure her daughter to come rescue her, had tried every possible way to commit suicide, but was discovered in advance by Hojo's men, and ultimately failed.
"You think that if you die, your daughter won't come?" Hojo put down the teacup, sneered, and said, "Even if you become a corpse, I believe your daughter would still be willing to exchange herself for you."
"Mm mm mm…"
Elmyra's mouth was gagged, unable to speak a single word. At this moment, she wished her eyes were as sharp as blades, so she could cut this vile man into pieces.
"Ah! Such familiar eyes, resentment, hatred, loathing, just like Ifalna." Hojo didn't care about Elmyra's glare at all. On the contrary, he laughed maniacally, "But unfortunately, you're not Ifalna. Aside from hating me, you're almost worthless. Oh, wait, you can still bring Aerith here."
"You know what? Ifalna is Aerith's biological mother. But do you know what happened to her? I dissected her, studied every part of her. Hair, flesh, bones, even her cells… Ancients are truly a wonderful species. So lovable, it drives one crazy. It's a pity Aerith is the last Ancient in the world. Otherwise, I'd love to experience it again."
Hojo's words made Elmyra even more agitated. She twisted her body constantly, so much that the Shinra soldiers guarding her had to press her down.
'Don't save me, Aerith, don't save me…' She prayed in her heart, though she also knew it was impossible. Because she clearly knew, the way she loved Aerith, Aerith loved her just as much.
Hojo seemed able to see through people's hearts. He slowly walked in front of Elmyra, squatted down, and stared into her eyes, "You must be praying that she won't come to save you, right? But it's a pity. Someone just reported that the Ancient has already come in."
Elmyra's eyes were already full of tears. Seeing this, Hojo continued, "Don't worry, once she arrives, I'll let you go, hmm, no, I can't let you leave so easily. As her adoptive mother, you should witness some things. For example… how about watching her mate with some strange creatures? She is an Ancient, after all. Who knows what kind of children she might produce, maybe even a god. Hahaha…"
After finishing, Hojo burst into manic laughter again. His disturbing laughter not only filled Elmyra with fear, but also made the surrounding Shinra soldiers tremble. That such a mad scientist was a Shinra executive…
But Hojo's laughter didn't last long before being interrupted by a cold mocking voice, "Hojo, you really are a bastard."
"Well, look who it is. I've been waiting for you all this time!" Although insulted, Hojo wasn't angry, and still looked toward the door with a smiling face.
At the door, Aiden, Aerith, and Tifa walked in one after another. Seeing her adoptive mother Elmyra tied up, Aerith clenched her fists in anger and shouted loudly, "Let go of my mother!"
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