I created a foundation

The office door slid open automatically.

A young man in casual clothes was standing with his back to her in front of a huge circular floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the entire underground fortress below.

His back looks very ordinary, like an ordinary young man next door.

But Titifa felt a quiet and terrifying aura from him, like the abyss.

It seemed as if the weight of the entire underground city was concentrated in this seemingly ordinary body.

"Chairman Lin Qing, we have arrived at the target." The guide bowed and reported.

"Go down."

The man spoke, his voice calm, yet filled with unquestionable authority.

The guide retreated quietly and the office door closed again.

Lin Qing turned around, his black eyes staring at Tifa calmly, as if he could see through all her disguises and vigilance.

"Ms. Tifa Lockhart, from the planet Gaia, owner of the Seventh Heaven Tavern, and a core member of the anti-Shinra organization Avalanche."

He smiled and told Tifa's origin word by word in a declarative tone.

Tifa's pupils suddenly contracted, and all the muscles in her body tensed instantly, and she took a defensive posture.

This information could never be found out in this world.

"Do not be nervous."

Lin Qing's expression didn't change at all.

"We bear no ill will towards you. In fact, we sympathize with your situation."

He turned sideways, revealing another figure standing in the shadows beside him.

She was a mature and intellectual black-haired woman, wearing a well-fitting researcher uniform, with a gentle and calm smile on her face.

The moment she saw the woman, Tifa was stunned.

She felt a scent from that woman that was extremely similar to her own, yet completely different... a "stranger" aura.

"Hello, Miss Lockhart."

Nico Robin took the initiative to walk up to her and extended her hand.

".~My name is Nico Robin. Like you, I'm also a drifter from another world."

Over the next few hours, with Nico Robin's narration, Tifa finally understood her situation.

The truth about the world, anomalous objects, and the true face of this huge organization called the [P Foundation].

Robin's narration was calm and objective. She did not persuade or induce, but simply laid out the facts in front of Tifa one by one.

From the initial disbelief, to the shock in the middle, to the final silence.

It took Tifa a long time to digest this information that was enough to overturn her entire worldview.

She finally realized that she couldn't go back.

At least, that's what it seems like for now.

"Well then, Miss Tifa."

After she calmed down completely, Lin Qing's voice sounded again.

He walked slowly to Tifa and looked at her seriously.

"On behalf of the SCP Foundation, I formally invite you. Welcome to join us."

He extended his hand to Tifa.

"Although we can't find a way to send you back for the time being, your safety will be absolutely guaranteed here. The Foundation will provide you with everything you need."

"And," Lin Qing's eyes fell on her bright red fighting gloves, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Your abilities are a very valuable asset to us."

On the huge screen behind him, the scene changed and showed a bustling training ground.

Countless young Foundation members are undergoing rigorous physical and combat training.

"Most of the Foundation's members are young people with special abilities. They have potential, but lack guidance and practical experience."

Lin Qing's voice echoed in the room.

"And you, Tifa Lockhart, possess the best fighting skills in the world. No one is better suited to teach them than you."

"I officially appoint you as the chief combat instructor of the Foundation's boot camp. You will be responsible for the physical training of all new investigators."

Chief combat instructor.

This title made Tifa stunned again.

She subconsciously looked at her hands. These fists, stained with blood and guarding lives, were they still useful in this strange world?

She thought of the bar at Seventh Heaven, the smiling faces of Marlene and Denzel, and the companions who had fought side by side with her.

Those warm memories have become a distant past.

And the future...

Her gaze shifted from her fist to the sweaty young faces on the screen.

The confusion was gradually fading from her eyes.

Instead, there is a rekindled bright color called "goal".

She raised her head and looked straight at Lin Qing.

"I understand."

She nodded vigorously and accepted the new job.

Chapter 155: "Crying" in the Mountains

The addition of Tifa has injected a long-lost touch of human warmth into this vast and eerie underground base.

Under Nico Robin's guidance, she became acquainted with this strange yet orderly world. The Foundation had arranged for her to live in a high-standard, independent living quarters. All facilities were imbued with a sense of technology far exceeding even Shinra's, while also demonstrating absolute respect for personal privacy in every detail.

There is no surveillance, no oppression, only strict order and clear goals.

When Tifa changed into the comfortable casual clothes provided by the Foundation, stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of her room, and looked at the underground city that never sleeps below, the long-standing confusion and uneasiness in her heart finally found a temporary harbor.

Perhaps, here, she can really find her new value.

At the same time, in the command room on the top floor of the central command tower, the atmosphere froze in an instant.

A sharp and rapid alarm sounded, breaking the original calm. A blood-red warning frame, with the highest priority, forcibly occupied the huge circular main screen in the central command hall.

[Emergency Notice: KETER-CLASSPOTENTIAL]

Threat Level: Unknown

[Source: Nagano Prefecture, Togakushi Mountain Range]

[Status: Under evaluation…]

All the busy staff, regardless of rank, paused at the same moment, their gazes fixed on the glaring blood-red. The air seemed to be drained dry, leaving only a cold, impending pressure.

Kaguya Shinomiya was sitting in the commander's seat, reviewing the recent containment report with Kasumigaoka Utaha. The moment the alarm sounded, the composure and calmness on her face vanished, replaced by the coldness and absolute focus of a pad.

"Intelligence, put the original report in full on the main screen."

Kaguya's voice was emotionless and as calm as the instructions of a precision instrument.

"Yes."

Kasumigaoka Utaha tapped the virtual keyboard in front of her, her fingers dancing on the light screen so fast that afterimages almost appeared.

The next second, the alert box on the main screen disappeared, replaced by an encrypted document from the Nagano Prefecture Police, marked as "Top Secret."

The document was instantly deciphered by the Foundation's intelligence system, and the contents were displayed to everyone word for word.

A group photo of the mountaineering team first appeared. The three men and two women in the photo were smiling brightly, with lush mountains and forests as the background.

Below the photo is their death report.

"The four victims have been identified and are all mountaineering enthusiasts."

Kaguya read out the summary of the report in a cold voice, and every word was like a heavy hammer, hitting the hearts of everyone in the command room.

"The death scene was located in the western part of the Togakushi mountain range, in an undeveloped primeval forest area. When the bodies of the four victims were discovered, they all showed...extreme physical damage."

On the main screen, processed photos of the scene were retrieved.

Even with the thick mosaic, the dark red and incomplete limbs all over the ground still gave off a sickening smell of blood.

The most horrifying thing is the preliminary forensic conclusion.

"The damage pattern on the body... resembles being torn apart by a giant beast. However, no claw marks, tooth marks, or hair DNA from any known large beast were found at the scene. The cross-section of the tear wound is unusually smooth, more likely due to some immense force."

"There were no signs of a struggle or struggle. According to the on-site investigation, the four victims died almost simultaneously and instantly."

The command room was dead silent, with only the cold system report sound echoing.

"Retrieve the survivors' information." Kaguya ordered.

The screen switched and the picture became a surveillance video from the isolation ward of a mental hospital.

In the video, a young man, the sole survivor of the climbing team, was huddled in the corner of a hospital bed. He was wearing a straitjacket, his body shaking violently and uncontrollably, his eyes wide and dilated, filled with an indescribable fear.

His lips kept opening and closing, like a broken tape recorder, murmuring the same words over and over in a hoarse, broken voice that seemed to have been polished by sandpaper.

"is crying……"

"Woo...crying..."

"A white... very tall, very tall person..."

"He's crying..."

"Don't look...don't look at his face..."

"He's been crying..."