"Let go… of course I will let go." Hojo crossed his arms and scrutinized Aerith, then nodded, "As long as you stay behind, I'll let her go."
"You're dreaming, Hojo. Do you think that's possible?" Aiden pointed his gun at Hojo's side, but didn't fire. When they came in, a group of Shinra soldiers had already stood in front of Hojo, and Aerith's adoptive mother, Elmyra, was currently being held at gunpoint by Shinra soldiers.
Although in the original plot, Elmyra survived until the end, and Aerith even died before Elmyra, at this moment, since there was no one like Sephiroth to block them when they came over, Aiden didn't dare gamble what would happen if he fired now. If he failed, no matter how much Aerith liked him, she would find it hard to forgive him.
Hojo shifted his gaze from Aerith to Aiden, who made him curious. The man in front of him was unexpectedly a pure-blooded human, mentally normal, so he couldn't have been injected with Jenova. His eyes were normal black pupils, not the blue color after soaking in mako, yet he could still fight with Sephiroth. This not only made Hojo curious, but stirred a strong desire to research.
"Strange, hehe, truly strange." Hojo chuckled and shook his head, then said, "Whether it's possible or not isn't up to you to decide. It's up to the Ancient beside you. Aerith, I think, she definitely wouldn't want to see her adoptive mother die in front of her, right? Right, Aerith?"
Aerith didn't speak. She just silently nodded, then walked toward Hojo, ignoring Tifa's attempt to stop her.
"Aiden!" Seeing Aiden not reacting, Tifa called out anxiously. She didn't understand why Aiden wasn't stopping her.
Naturally, Aiden couldn't say in front of Hojo that he saw Aerith make a hand gesture to him, with a magic crystal stone in her palm. So he could only give Tifa a reassuring glance.
In truth, Hojo also found it odd. He couldn't figure out why the man called Aiden would let Aerith come over. But since Aerith had already walked up to Elmyra, he couldn't be bothered to think more. He waved his hand and instructed his men to keep a close eye on Aiden.
"Mom." After reaching Elmyra, Aerith squatted down and began untying the ropes on her adoptive mother. The Shinra soldiers nearby had never seen Aerith use magic and didn't know what an Ancient was, so after glancing at her, they focused their attention back on Aiden.
Once freed, Elmyra took a deep breath and tearfully hugged Aerith, hoarsely saying, "You shouldn't have come, Aerith. I'm already old. Even if I die, it doesn't matter. But you…"
"Don't say anymore, Mom. You won't die, at least, not here." Aerith interrupted her, helped Elmyra up, and at the same time, began channeling magic power into the magic crystal stone in her hand.
This was one of the many magic crystals Yuffie had given to Aiden. Once infused with magic power, it could instantly release an area-based lightning spell. Aiden didn't understand it, but Aerith had figured it out after receiving it.
However, she didn't inject too much magic power, just enough to activate the magic crystal, then stopped. Seizing the moment when no one was paying attention to her, she activated the spell within the crystal.
In an instant, a purple magic circle pulsing with lightning appeared in a radius of over ten meters centered on her. Accompanied by crackling sounds, lightning began leaping across everyone's bodies, except hers. This was precisely why she had only injected a small amount of magic power, too much would harm her mother.
The moment the magic circle appeared, Aiden shouted "Now!" and raised his revolver to shoot at the Shinra soldiers and Hojo.
But he didn't activate the epic revolver's special ability either, as the emitted aura blasts didn't distinguish between friend or foe. So after the first volley, only half of the Shinra soldiers had fallen.
At that point, the magic power in the crystal had been completely used up. Once the magic circle vanished, the recovering Shinra soldiers were about to shoot at Aerith and Elmyra, but Tifa had already charged into the crowd, unleashing a blast of punching wind that knocked them all away.
"How hateful… I didn't expect that even without inheritance, you could still cast magic. Could it be that Ancients have some unique method of passing down knowledge? My god, I really want to capture you right now for research."
Though Hojo was a researcher, he was surprisingly agile. Even though he had been shocked all over by the lightning from the magic circle, the moment it disappeared, he bolted, and in the blink of an eye, appeared inside a second-floor observation room of the lab.
Entering the password to lift restrictions, Hojo stood beside the reinforced glass and said to Aiden and the others in the central open space of the lab below, "In that case, let me show you this. This is the result of many years of my research."
As his words fell, the glass casing of a cultivation tank opened from the middle to both sides. A monster with a face and back covered in tentacles, and with arms like those of the Tyrants Aiden had once seen, stepped out.
"My masterpiece, specimen HO512. I hope you won't hold back." Hojo said with a sinister smile.
"…I never hold back against enemies." Aiden said coldly, watching the approaching specimen HO512. Then he raised his epic revolver and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Aura bullets, along with regular bullets, rained down on the monster like a storm. In an instant, it was blown into pieces by the dense barrage.
"How… how is that possible?" Watching the experiment vanish into tiny green lights, Hojo's sinister grin froze.
"My years of painstaking research, how could it be? An illusion, it must be an illusion." Hojo believed it was a hallucination. He rubbed his eyes hard and looked again, but the experiment was truly gone.
"This is your masterpiece? Your years of painstaking research? Too weak, utter trash. No matter how many you send, it's useless." Aiden said disdainfully, then made a thumbs-down mocking gesture toward Hojo.
"You bastard! How dare you belittle my research, I'll kill you! No, I'll capture you alive, dissect you, and transform you into a monster too!" No matter how people insulted him, Hojo wouldn't get angry. But when it came to his research, he couldn't tolerate it at all. Roaring with rage, he frantically entered a password on the console to activate all the cultivation tanks.
With the sound of gas releasing, all the tanks in the lab opened simultaneously. Regardless of success or failure, all the monsters inside ran out.
"Capture them! Capture them!" Hojo shouted madly, ordering the experimental specimens to attack Aiden and the others.
But only a small number of the specimens obeyed him. Most of them, as if brainless, randomly destroyed surrounding equipment and even began attacking each other.
Aiden and the others quickly finished off the monsters charging at them, then rushed up the stairs toward Hojo's observation room.
But sensing the danger, Hojo had already fled. No matter how evil he was, he was still just an ordinary man without combat ability.
Fleeing the lab, Hojo frantically pounded the elevator buttons, but all the elevators were stuck on the lowest floor. Giving up on using them, he turned into the corridor outside the lab. Not far ahead was a safety passage, he could escape through it.
But before he got far, a completely red creature that looked like a wolf knocked him down, biting him madly.
"Get off me! Get off, you beast!" Hojo struggled wildly, crawling like a dog toward the passage.
But the creature pressing him down was as big as a calf. His struggle was in vain. He was quickly dragged back, and amidst the biting, one of his arms was torn off.
"Aaah!" Hojo let out a pig-like scream, rolling on the ground in pain from the severed arm.
"Pah! Your blood stinks just like you." The red creature spat out his torn arm, spoke human words, then lowered its body again, ready to pounce.
Behind it, Aiden and Tifa had already caught up. Aerith carefully protected Elmyra, following not too far behind.
"Wow, this big dog can talk!" Hearing the red creature speak, Tifa exclaimed in surprise.
"Damn humans. Look carefully, I'm not a dog." The red creature turned its head and glared fiercely at Tifa, baring its teeth.
"If not a dog, then what are you?" Tifa asked curiously.
"I am…" The red creature paused, then thought hard. It didn't even know what species it was. So it said firmly, "I am the planet's guardian, Red XIII."
"Still just a dog."
Of course, that line wasn't from Tifa, because she and Aiden were both frowning, looking at a slowly approaching blond man. Behind him were two jet-black hunting dogs and a large group of Turks members.
"Hojo, you really look pitiful like this." Rufus kicked Hojo's body with his foot, looking at him with a half-smile.
"President, save me." Hojo, pale from blood loss, clutched Rufus's pant leg with his remaining hand, wagging like a dog, more doglike than Red XIII.
"Of course I'll save you. You are Shinra's upper management, after all." Rufus said insincerely, then took a step back, shaking Hojo off. He turned to look at Aiden, Tifa, and Aerith behind them.
"The mess my damn father left behind is such a headache." Rufus shook his head, then raised his shotgun.
"Capture them."
"Yes!"
The Turks behind Rufus responded in unison. Although many of them were sweating when they saw Aiden, they couldn't disobey the new president's order. Together with the two black hounds, they charged at Aiden and Tifa.
Aiden coldly watched them, raised his revolver, and fired a barrage of bullets and aura blasts. Unlike Hojo's mindless monsters, humans could dodge. In the wide hallway, enough for two cars side by side, the Turks dodged the aura blasts in various ways.
Even so, several Turks were hit and blown into blood mist by the violent energy.
Amid panicked screams, the Turks closed in on Aiden, swinging various weapons in a fierce assault.
Though Aerith cast magic from behind to support Aiden, with Shinra soldiers constantly swarming to the 66th floor, both Aiden and Tifa began feeling the pressure.
Just then, another batch of Shinra Special Forces arrived, led by none other than Scarlet.
"You're late." Rufus frowned at Scarlet. He hadn't seen her all night, and now that victory was in sight, she finally showed up, disrespecting him as the new president.
But Scarlet shook her head, smiling softly, "No, we're right on time."
Then, she raised her hand and shouted, "Kill them all, leave no one alive!"
Immediately, the Shinra Special Forces she brought began attacking Rufus and the Turks.
Yet in the chaos of the clash, no one noticed that Hojo had already disappeared…
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