foreigner's journey

Chapter 301 Shinra and the Girl

Whenever the light of the magic furnace rises into the sky, it will always bring dots of crystal light all over the sky.

Experts say that those bright green light spots are the unique phenomenon produced when the 'Mako' is refined, and the public firmly believes it.

Because that is the explanation put forward by the experts of [Shinra], and no one can refute it.

[Shinra], whose real name is [Shinra Electric Power Company], decades ago [Shinra] invented the method of extracting a new energy 'Mako', and expanded at lightning speed to become a wealthy country with private interests. Bing's super enterprise.

This company that controls the lifeline of the world even built a huge steel city - the sky city 'Midgar', and used it as the headquarters of Shinra.

The huge steel disc, 300 meters high from the ground, carried the prosperous city and the headquarters of Shinra Corporation, and lifted the hustle and bustle of entertainment to the sky.

But under the disc, there are slums that are not favored by the 'upper class'.

Gathering places for cheap labor, garbage dumps, homes for wild animals, dirty and smelly...the slums that the upper class dislike, but they also have their own way of survival.

At this moment, a train is driving along the spiral track from the upper level of Midgar to the lower slums.

Because it is not rush hour, there are not many passengers in the train.In a certain empty carriage, there were two people sitting side by side, and there was no one else in the carriage except them.

This is a wonderful combination. Sitting on the left side by the car door is a muscular, muscular man with a calm expression on his face. He has a beard and short ponytail. He was wearing a red coat with sleeves, his trousers looked a bit worn out, and the boots on his feet were also very old.

Sitting next to the strong man was a black-haired girl with long hair reaching her waist, who seemed to be recovering from a serious illness, and the paleness that had not completely faded remained on her delicate face.She was simply wearing a cheap coat and short skirt, and her red sneakers scraped the floor of the car boringly.

"Tifa, are you okay?" The strong man turned his head and asked with concern.

The girl nodded: "I have fully recovered, Master, thank you."

If it wasn't for being rescued by Master, I'm afraid I would really die in that fire, right?Thinking of the overwhelming fire and miserable screams, the girl named Tifa couldn't help but turn pale and clenched her fists tightly.

The strong man glanced at the girl, and heaved a long sigh in his heart. How can such a tragic experience be smoothed over in just a few weeks?
His name is Zangan, and he is a world-renowned martial arts instructor. His hobby is to travel around the world, and he will also pick some children with outstanding aptitude to teach martial arts along the way.

About half a year ago, Zangan traveled to a village named Nibelheim. Because the Mohuang Mountain near the village was a good place for cultivation, Zangan stayed in Nibelheim temporarily.

During the period, he discovered that there was a little girl named Tifa in the village who was born with great strength and excellent bones, so she was a good seed for practicing martial arts.With the consent of Tifa and her father, Zangan began to teach Tifa martial arts.

The people in the village are very kind, and Tifa is one of the most talented disciples he has taught, and Mohuang Mountain is a rare training ground.Zanganben planned to stay here for another year or so, and teach Tifa all his best skills before leaving.

But that morning half a month ago, everything changed.

Zangan originally set off for practice on the Sunshine Coast a month ago, and he just returned today.But as soon as he entered the vicinity of Nibelheim, he found that the direction of the village below the mountain was ablaze.He hurried to the village, and there were corpses everywhere along the way. The village was swept by the raging fire, and there were mournful and desperate screams from time to time.

What the hell happened!Zangan was furious. The corpses found along the way were either charred or neatly beheaded. That kind of knife technique... is definitely a master!

At this time, Zangan found a dying man, he was a blacksmith in the village, it seemed that he was not killed immediately because of his strong muscles.Zangan rushed over to help the man up and asked what happened.

"Sephiroth...it's Sephiroth! He killed anyone he saw, set fire to the village...it's over, it's over..."

Sephiroth, of course Zangan has heard of the name.Shinra's strongest 1st fighter, the invincible swordsman Sephiroth.What was he doing in Nibelheim?There is nothing here except the magic furnace.

Tattat...the sound of hurried footsteps came, and Tifa ran over, shouting in surprise, "Master? You're back? What the hell...what's going on here?"

"Sephiroth did it. Why did Shinra's strongest fighter come to Nibelheim...Tifa, what's wrong with you?" Zangan suddenly noticed that Tifa's face was pale.

Tifa murmured, "Sephiroth...not good, father is still on Moko Mountain!"

After saying that, the girl ran away in a hurry.

Although Zangan tried his best to treat him, the blacksmith soon died of his injuries.After tidying up his mood, Zangan rushed to Mohao Mountain, where there was a Mohao furnace built by Shinra Company.

When he arrived, he found Tifa lying in a pool of blood, with a deep knife wound on his chest. If it was an ordinary person, he would have died.But thanks to Tifa's daily martial arts practice, she can still be saved.

Zangan picked up Tifa and looked aside. On the metal steps of the Moko furnace, there were two young men lying on their stomachs. One was a Shinra 1st warrior and the other was an ordinary Shinra soldier.Blood continued to flow from under them, and the metal steps were almost stained red.

The injuries of these two people... are hopeless.Zangan made his judgment with just one glance.

As for Sephiroth, Zangan didn't think he was sure he could beat him, not to mention the urgent situation on Tifa's side.He gave up the idea of ​​revenge for the villagers of Nibelheim, picked up Tifa and ran away quickly.

I went to the nearest village to find a doctor and did a simple treatment for Tifa, but the doctor admitted frankly that such a serious injury was useless even with a rare "healing" magic stone, and he could only temporarily hang Tifa's life.Only the steel city of Midgar has the best doctors who can treat Tifa.

So, Zangan took Tifa to Midgar, the sky city where Shinra's headquarters is located.As expected of the world's economic and cultural center, Midgar's hospital can really treat Tifa's injury, and the medical level is really top-notch.

Of course, the fees are also top-notch.

Zangan, who was already empty-pocketed, almost borrowed money from all of Midgar's friends in order to pay for Tifa's treatment. Fortunately, he finally found a rich family and managed to get the money together.

After nearly half a month of treatment and recuperation, Tifa was discharged from the hospital.On the day she was discharged from the hospital, Zangan took her on a city train and headed for the slums in the lower part of Midgar.

"...Master, Master!"

The girl's shout woke Zangan from his memories, and he looked at the angry Tifa next to him, and stroked the back of his head: "Sorry for being distracted, what did you just say, Tifa?"

"I'm asking, what are we going to do in the downtown area?" The girl is only 15 years old this year, even if she lost all her relatives, friends and hometown at once, she will not be immersed in depression for too long.Even if she doesn't let her master worry about herself, Tifa decided to become strong.

Zangan stroked the bushy beard on his chin and said with a smile: "We went to the downtown area to visit some old friends."

"Old friend?"

"Well, I borrowed money from all these old friends to raise treatment expenses. But how much money can they have in the slums? Fortunately, I finally found a rich family..."

Zangan looked at Tifa and said seriously: "Tifa, do you really want to stay here? Stay in Midgar where Shinra's headquarters is located?"

"……Um."

Tifa was silent for a while, then nodded: "Even if my father is gone, I have to learn to live independently and strong. Midgar is so big, there will always be a place for me... right?"

She knew that if she spoke, the master would definitely take her out of here and continue wandering around the world.But that powerful master kept humbly begging people to borrow money for him... Tifa would not allow herself to continue to be a burden to her master.No matter how difficult it is, she will work hard to survive in Midgar.

It's just that when the master left me, there was no family to accompany me anymore...

For a moment, the girl's heart became sentimental, and her eyes were almost red.

Zangan was frightened when he saw it: "Don't cry! If I didn't ask, change the subject! Well... Let me think about it... Do you know how many magic furnaces there are in Midgar?"

"...How much?" The girl calmed down and asked cooperatively.

"Eight." Zangambi made a [eight] gesture: "Think about it, there are a total of eight of that thing on the Moko Mountain standing around Midgar. A large number of Moko were extracted and transformed into nearly infinite Endless electrical energy, this is Shinra's means of dominating the world - an energy technology that only they can master."

Ding dong!At this time, the train sounded the announcement——【Qifan Street Xiacheng District has arrived, thank you for taking this train】.

The door automatically opened to the side, and Zangan took Tifa out of the car, and the old open-air station came into view.

Debris was piled up in the corner of the station, and wooden benches were placed side by side at the edge, and most of the backs of the chairs were cracked.It was night, and the street lamps lit up dimly, connecting them in the distance. At least in Midgar, even the slums could enjoy abundant electricity.

Tifa looked up, and saw that the huge steel disc almost covered the entire sky, and the huge black shadow cast down downwards, and the densely packed steel pipes and lights on the disc facilities were dotted in the darkness like stars. In, like the night sky.

Full of industrial beauty and grandeur, Tifa felt nothing but unspeakable anger.

It would be fine if [Shinra] didn't exist in this world.

Such a thought suddenly appeared in the girl's mind.

　PS: I feel that the beginning of this volume is particularly difficult to write. I have deleted and edited it many times, and finally have a slightly pleasing beginning.

PS: The 750-page all-Japanese FF7 setting collection made my head feel big.But at least there will be no problems with the settings... right?

　
(End of this chapter)