165. Tifa: Do you remember saying you would marry me when we were kids? (A major chapter dedicated to Guardian Brother Huang)

Rescue was merely a facade; Suye was no saint, and what he truly desired was to establish diplomatic relations.

For humanity to step outside the solar system and venture into the cosmos, relying solely on its own strength was certainly not enough. It was imperative to forge cosmic-level allies.

With the strength and prestige it had accumulated over the years, Xandar was exceptionally well-suited to serve as Earth's guide in the universe.

Therefore, Xandar had to be preserved at all costs.

After arranging for the Great Wall Guardians to coordinate with Yondu and the others to plan the subsequent rescue operation for Xandar, Suye piloted Star-Lord’s ship, the *Milano*, and departed for Xandar ahead of schedule.

Operating the *Milano* was not difficult to learn. By delving into Star-Lord's consciousness and browsing through his memories, the knowledge was easily acquired.

However, accurately extracting the memories regarding spaceship piloting from Star-Lord's chaotic and overwhelmingly complex recollections—especially those concerning his messy personal life—proved to be slightly challenging.

The sensation of watching a movie from a first-person perspective felt far more authentic than any VR film, prompting Suye to inwardly exclaim in admiration.

Fortunately, browsing through memories was a relatively swift process. Unlike the real world, where watching over five hundred gigabytes of "educational materials" from start to finish might take an entire month, reading memories with superpowers allowed Suye to finish in less than three minutes.

Yet, even this speed paled in comparison to Star-Lord himself, who could retrieve his own memories in under three seconds.

Armed with these memories, Suye directly piloted the *Milano* away from Knowhere and out into the vast, boundless expanse of space.

However, he did not travel alone; he brought a dog along with him.

A dog retrieved from the Collector, whose name was Cosmo.

Cosmo was a canine originally from Earth.

During humanity's early endeavors to explore the universe, dogs had played a significant role, having been sent into space aboard spacecraft more than fifty times.

Naturally, many accidents occurred along the way, and numerous dogs lost their lives in the void of space.

Cosmo was fortunate enough to survive, turning adversity into good fortune. Eventually, the dog became a prized specimen in the Collector's gallery, transforming into a remarkably long-lived creature.

A dog's natural lifespan generally spanned only a dozen or so years. While the great-grandchildren of the dogs from Cosmo's generation had already been dead for many years, Cosmo remained alive and well, boasting exceptionally vital health signs.

Not only that, but during the journey that eventually led to the Collector's hands, Cosmo had encountered a miraculous stroke of fortune. In addition to gaining an extraordinarily extended lifespan, the dog also awakened the power of telepathy.

Cosmo's abilities differed somewhat from Suye's; it could not casually read other people's memories, possess their bodies at will, or manipulate their actions and speech.

In this regard, Cosmo's power was limited to communicating with others using language and consciousness.

Beyond that, however, the dog excelled at generating energy shields, utilizing psychic power to create protective barriers capable of deflecting energetic attacks.

This was a capability Suye had yet to master.

Suye brought Cosmo along for two reasons. Firstly, they both hailed from Earth, making them compatriots. Secondly, Suye hoped that through close contact, he might be able to learn Cosmo's energy shield technique.

Learning from a dog might sound somewhat humorous.

Yet, as long as he could acquire knowledge and enhance his strength, everything else was secondary.

Thus, the man and the dog embarked on their journey toward Xandar.

Meanwhile, on Xandar, the capital of the Nova Empire, inside a bar named "Seventh Heaven," a strikingly pretty young woman with long, straight black hair, wearing a white tank top and overalls, pulled out her buzzing smartphone.

The girl appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old, her face full of youthful vitality, her chest prominent. She glanced down at the number on the phone screen and answered it with a smile.

"Hello! This is Tifa! Is this Auntie Ye?"

"Indeed it is, Tifa! How have you been? Are you getting used to life on Xandar?"

A gentle female voice came through from the other end of the line.

Tifa's smile grew even sweeter.

"Auntie Ye, it's been so long! Everything is going quite well over here, and everyone takes good care of me. How are you and Uncle Su doing? And also..."

As she reached the end of her sentence, Tifa's voice involuntarily trailed off, her tone hesitant and trailing into silence.

The woman on the other end bore the surname Ye, and her husband was surnamed Su, with the full name Su Mutian.

Indeed, the person making the call was none other than Suye's mother.

"We're doing quite well. You must be calling to ask about Xiao Ye, right? I'm calling precisely to tell you about him."

"What happened to Brother Xiao Ye?" Tifa instantly grew nervous.

The distance between Xandar and Earth spanned thousands of light-years. Living here, she rarely received news from Earth, nor could she easily check on the person she cared about.

"Oh, it's nothing; there's no need to be nervous. It's just that the boy has been a bit idle lately and apparently went traveling outside. I heard previously that they were heading to Knowhere, and I guessed he might just drop by Xandar, so I wanted to give you a heads-up."

On the other end, Suye's mother suddenly lowered her voice. "That rascal seems to be seeing a foreign girl lately. Frankly, I don't think much of her. As for you, make sure you seize the opportunity on your end!"

Upon hearing these words from Suye's mother, Tifa gripped her phone tightly enough for the plastic casing to creak.

"Alright, Auntie, I understand!"

Though her tone sounded perfectly calm, Tifa's emotions were on the verge of erupting.

There were many things Suye simply could not remember.

For instance, during his childhood, there was a close companion next door—a childhood sweetheart with whom he grew up. They spent countless hours playing together, even pretending to play house as father and mother.

Later on, that companion moved away, and as he made new friends, he gradually forgot the original one.

Such blurring and fading of childhood memories was a completely normal physiological phenomenon, as mundane as could be.

However, in Suye's case, this wasn't mere memory loss; it functioned more like the installation of a system DLC.

Once the DLC installation was completed, that previously blurred segment of his childhood memories truly existed.

As for Tifa, she was precisely the companion from Suye's obscured childhood memories, even if he himself had not yet "remembered" her.

For Mrs. Su, Madam Ye, Tifa was currently the most approved and suitable candidate to become her daughter-in-law among all the females Suye had ever interacted with.

Therefore, upon learning that Suye was heading to this location, she had made a point of calling Tifa in advance.

Naturally, aside from encouraging Tifa to take the initiative and strive to become her daughter-in-law, the call also served to inform her: your reinforcements have arrived.

"Although Xiao Ye has been messing around aimlessly all these years, he has also picked up a variety of miscellaneous abilities. He should be able to lend you all a hand. Your Uncle Su and I cannot leave our current place, so if Xiao Ye can be of any help over there, don't hesitate to lean on him."

With that, Madam Ye hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, Tifa clutched her phone, repeatedly whispering a single sentence under her breath.

"Brother Xiao Ye found a foreign girlfriend?"

"Brother Xiao Ye actually found a foreign girlfriend?"

"How could Brother Xiao Ye just casually find a foreign girlfriend!"

"He promised me when we grew up, he would marry me..."

The latter half of Madam Ye's words went completely unheard by Tifa.

"Tifa, did something happen?"

Nearby, several individuals drinking at the bar counter turned to look over.

The one who spoke was a tall, rugged man standing nearly two meters high, with a sturdy, bulky build that made him resemble an iron tower.

Yet, this iron tower possessed only a left arm; his right arm was severed below the elbow, replaced by a revolving Gatling gun.

He was the leader of this group, named Barret Wallace.

"Oh, oh, it's nothing, Barret! Just a phone call telling me that a friend of mine is coming to visit soon."

Tifa shook her head, then returned to the bar counter as if nothing were amiss, resuming her duties at her post.

"A friend of yours? What kind of friend? A boyfriend?"

A petite short-haired girl with a remarkably flat chest directly vaulted over the bar counter, wrapping her arms around Tifa's arm.

"Quick, tell me what he looks like! Is he tall? Is he handsome? Can he fight?"

Tifa wanted to deny it, but her flushed complexion had already betrayed her. The remaining members immediately joined in the discussion.

"If it's Tifa's boyfriend, his strength must be extraordinary. I wonder if there's a way to recruit him into our AVALANCHE organization? He might turn out to be a major asset in our rebellion against Shinra!"

The Seventh Heaven bar was not particularly large. While it did receive ordinary customers from time to time, it primarily served as a stronghold for the anti-Shinra organization AVALANCHE.

Tifa was a member of AVALANCHE, and everyone present belonged to the same faction, sharing the common goal of overthrowing Shinra. Consequently, they held few reservations when chatting among themselves.

The girl hugging Tifa was Yuffie Kisaragi, a cheerful and carefree young woman.

As a girl lacking in the chest department, her cheerful disposition was the greatest kindness she offered to the world.

"Sister Tifa, speak up already! Is he handsome? Do you have a photo? Let me see!"

Just as Yuffie was speaking, Tifa's phone buzzed once more as Madam Ye sent over a recent photograph of Suye.

On the basketball court of Midtown High School, Suye's smile was bright and cheerful.

The photo had been taken back when Midtown High School was still around. At that time, Suye had not yet unlocked his system abilities and appeared somewhat slender, though his face was just as handsome.

"Wow! So handsome!"

Yuffie snatched the phone away and began passing it around among the AVALANCHE members. While she focused on Suye's face, the male members of the group immediately focused on his arms.

"Doesn't look like much, does he?"

"So skinny and frail. Sister Tifa could probably send him flying with a single shoulder throw."

"Is he here for a vacation? Xandar is so dangerous; I'd advise him not to come."

"But he's so handsome!" As a superficial fan of good looks, Yuffie argued her case stubbornly.

"Looks can't fill your stomach, little Yuffie!" Barret puffed on a cigar, matching his rugged expression to create a thoroughly tough-guy aesthetic.

Yuffie puffed out her cheeks, looking as though she wanted to retort but had no idea how to begin.

"No need to doubt it. Once he gets here, you'll find out whether looks or strength truly matters more on this planet and in this universe."

Cid Highwind, the pilot standing nearby, joined the conversation. Having once been a member of Shinra and served in the military operations department, he held a clear and thorough understanding of the principle that power equals the right to speak.

"All you guys ever think about is fighting and killing. You stinky men are completely ungentlemanly, hmph!"

Unable to best them in argument, Yuffie could only puff out her cheeks and turn away in a huff.

At the same precise moment, Suye received a call from his mother.

"Mom? Which telecommunication company's signal are you using? Why can we have a real-time conversation across such a massive distance? Isn't this signal restricted by the speed of light? Or are you actually nearby?"

Suye asked a soul-searching question into the phone, bewildered.

He was out in deep space, completely isolated from civilization. Without consulting a star chart, he had no idea where he even was.

The nearest celestial body in any direction was an asteroid millions of kilometers away. Exactly how did his mother manage to make this call?

When he used to watch movies, he used to complain about Nick Fury's pager—how transmitting a signal could alert Captain Marvel regardless of the distance.

That completely defied science; it was too far-fetched and utterly absurd!

Yet now, an even more absurd scenario was happening to him.

Just how on earth did Madam Ye pull this off?

Could it be some kind of dark matter network?

Suye couldn't fathom it, and on the other end, Madam Ye had no intention of explaining.

"Your father wouldn't let me chat with you casually, but since you went to Knowhere, knowing your personality, you were bound to head to Xandar anyway. Coincidentally, I have a friend over there whom you can go pay a visit to. Here is the address."

With that, Madam Ye abruptly hung up the phone, as if phone charges were exceptionally expensive.

Holding the address, Suye furrowed his brow, then relaxed it.

"Old Ke, have you ever heard of..."

Cosmo was quite old, nearly sixty, which made the dog even older than Old Su.

Suye had originally wanted to ask whether the dog knew anything about the events of '99.

Then he reconsidered: ever since Cosmo became a space dog back in the 1950s and subsequently remained with the Collector, how could it possibly know about everyday happenings on Earth?

Asking would be a waste of breath.

"Never mind, let's go check out this address first. To think Xandar actually has a friend of Mom's. I wonder how old they are and whether they're easy to get along with."

"Wait a minute, Mom's friend? Hiss!"

Suye couldn't help but exclaim inwardly. This plot development carried a rather familiar flavor!

Why was he suddenly starting to feel a bit expectant?

"I wonder how many friends are over there. If the head count is a bit too low, they might genuinely not be enough for me to spar with!"

Muttering internally, Suye slammed his foot down on the accelerator, steering the *Milano* as it hurtled toward Xandar at the speed of light.

Less than half an hour later, the *Milano* touched down at the capital spaceport of Xandar, and Suye disembarked with Cosmo, moving with the crowd toward the exit.

Passing through customs identification posed no issue; Star-Lord possessed a ready-made suite of equipment for producing fake credentials, allowing them to breeze through Xandar customs effortlessly.

This was Suye's first time truly setting foot in the main city of a technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization.

Asgard, which he had visited previously, leaned more toward a magical civilization with lackluster technological standards, and its interior design failed to align with Suye's aesthetic tastes.

Xandar was different. The place was at least brightly lit, populated by plenty of attractive women wearing minimal attire. Simply gazing around made both body and mind feel remarkably refreshed.

"How come there are only people here and not a single dog!"

Cosmo let out a sigh of lament from the side. As a canine—even one inherently endowed with an invincible perspective and a natural disarming quality that lowered people's vigilance—it lacked the appreciation to lift its head and gaze at superior scenery.

Instead, the dog scoured the main streets searching for fellow canines.

Thus, a dog remained a dog; even with intelligence comparable to that of a human, it was still fundamentally a dog.

Man and dog wandered casually down the grand avenue, resembling a pair of tourists touring the streets and alleys of Nova, admiring the various clothing shops, restaurants, and recreational facilities.

Overall, the ambiance felt remarkably similar to Earth.

Give Earth a few more decades, and its development and construction might well surpass this place.

Furthermore, Suye reaffirmed another fact: Xandar citizens genuinely resembled Earthlings, sharing virtually identical bodily structures and external appearances.

He even spotted an acquaintance amid the crowd.

Old Man Lee!

Earth had an Old Man Lee, and Xandar had one too, looking identical down to the last detail. But could one truly claim they were the exact same individual?

Initially, Suye intended to walk up, strike up a conversation with Old Man Lee, and fish for some information. However, from afar, he saw the old man subtly waving his hand, signaling for Suye to clear out quickly.

The old man was busy trying to pick up women and had no time to waste on idle chatter.

Suye had no choice but to shake his head and walk away, though he simultaneously confirmed one basic fact.

This Old Man Lee was none other than the old fellow on Earth who had worked as a librarian at Midtown High School and later traveled to New Mexico to haul a hammer out of a crater.

Back then, Old Man Lee had told Suye that school was out and he was going on vacation.

Suye simply hadn't expected the old man's vacation to extend all the way to Xandar, moving quite expeditiously indeed.

*Old Man Lee, I wish you happiness!*

Suye silently mouthed the words from afar, then led Cosmo toward the address written on the slip of paper Madam Ye had provided.

Since he was already here, it would be thoroughly inappropriate not to go pay a visit to his mother's friend.

"So this is the place, Seventh Heaven?"

Upon spotting the name, Suye felt a sudden jolt in his heart. The moniker sounded rather familiar.

Combining the fact that Shinra's headquarters was located on this planet, Suye instantly recalled AVALANCHE, the organization the protagonist Cloud eventually joined in *Final Fantasy VII*.

The stronghold of AVALANCHE was Seventh Heaven, and the proprietress of Seventh Heaven was named Tifa.

"So, Mom's friend is Tifa? Is this an illusion shattered, or a dream come true?"

Tifa, the undisputed Jerusalem of the 3D realm, had seen her girlfriend cards circulating for quite some time, and Suye was finally about to lay eyes on her in the flesh.

Just thinking about it made him feel a little thrilled.

At that moment, the bar doors swung open, and a petite girl poked her head out. After giving Suye a single look, she let out a loud shout.

"Brother-in-law!"

Midst her cry, the girl charged straight out of the bar, leaped into the air, and lunged directly toward Suye.

Suye was long accustomed to such aerial tackle maneuvers, so without any surprise, he effortlessly caught the incoming figure, instinctively supporting her with both hands.

"Brother-in-law, you're finally here?"

Up close, Yuffie scrutinized Suye's face while secretly giving his arm muscles a tentative squeeze, the worry in her heart instantly evaporating significantly.

*Since brother-in-law is so robust, those muscle-headed bruisers who only know how to solve problems with brawn had better not miscalculate when they try to intimidate him!*

"You are?"

Looking at the girl before him, Suye recognized her identity but refrained from blurting it out immediately.

"Um, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Yuffie, Yuffie Kisaragi! I'm your sister-in-law, oh—brother-in-law-sama!"

"Hiss!"

Suye instantly felt a bit unsettled.

This greeting style reeked so heavily of Japanese media that it was difficult for him not to associate it with the contents of those educational materials.

It carried a distinct "Imouto-san" kind of vibe...

At that moment, seemingly picking up on the hint of casual dismissal in Suye's gaze, Yuffie let out a huff, executed a backflip, and sprang off his body.

"Brother-in-law, Yuffie is no docile girl devoid of the strength to truss a chicken; I'm a violent ninja, you know! If you want to become Sister Tifa's man, you'll have to clear my test first."

With a flick of her hand, a gigantic "Fuma Shuriken" instantly manifested in her palm.

She intended to test this brother-in-law's capabilities herself before the rest of AVALANCHE made their move.

Having squeezed his arm earlier, she figured he ought to be quite strong, but whether he could actually fight remained to be seen.

Seeing this, a helpless smile crept onto Suye's face.

He had come to visit his mother's friend, not to pick a fight.

Well, at least not this kind of fight. The current turn of events made things somewhat awkward for him.

Yet, observing the determined expression on Yuffie's face, Suye knew that unless he showed off a trick or two, she likely wouldn't let him walk through the door easily.

It felt precisely like the gate-crashing rituals performed by the bride's younger relatives during a traditional wedding procession.

A sense of déjà vu regarding a wedding reception inexplicably bloomed in Suye's mind.

Still, since the sister-in-law demanded a spar, Suye couldn't very well refuse.

The only question was: which ability should he use to fight her?

Yuffie's vocation was that of a ninja, and battling a ninja called for ninjutsu to truly win her heartfelt admiration.

However, the ninjutsu Suye knew possessed overwhelmingly destructive power or dramatic visual impact; deploying them now would feel somewhat like bullying a child.

After pondering for a long while, Suye ultimately decided to return to his roots.

What were Suye's roots? Naturally, it had to be Spider-Man!

After entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the superhero ability Suye acquired first—the foundational bedrock of his rise—was one he had utilized less and less as time went on.

On many occasions, he even forgot that he once swung freely through cityscapes on web-lines.

Furthermore, Suye no longer wore web-shooters because acquiring Magneto's magnetic field manipulation power rendered physical web-shooters entirely obsolete.

Today, facing Yuffie the ninja, Suye suddenly felt that he ought to return to his original intentions.

People often called Tifa the Jerusalem of the 3D realm and the holy land of the digital domain; since his arrival constituted a pilgrimage, he ought to be rather pious about it.

With that thought, Suye slowly raised both hands.

Projection magic and the Reality Stone activated simultaneously.

A flash of red light later, two web-shooters materialized on his wrists.

"Old partners, it's been a long time. It is my honor to fight alongside you once more."

The web-shooters offered no response, but deep within Suye's heart surged that familiar sensation of returning to the beginning—the exact feeling he had when he first became Spider-Man.

Back then, he had aspired to become a hero who swept away the darkness of the world, much like Spider-Man; nowadays, he could only resort to using them to bully a young girl.

Armed with the Reality Stone, Suye's capabilities had skyrocketed linearly, making it an overstatement to call a duel against the young ninja Yuffie "bullying."

To put it bluntly, it was outright annihilation.

To say nothing else, a single telepathic blast would leave young Yuffie standing there completely dazed, entirely at his mercy.

At that realization, Suye suddenly felt as though he finally understood one thing:

Why Professor X had to be crippled.

If he possessed functional legs, who knew how many ugly sins would be added to this mortal realm?

Fine, the focus wasn't on the disability, but rather on moral character.

Hold your tongue—I am officially apologizing right here to the great mutant mentor Professor X, as my youthful ignorance misappropriated public resources...

Opposite him, Yuffie also noticed the web-shooters suddenly appearing on Suye's wrists. Years of frequenting all sorts of chaotic establishments had forged her bold and cheerful personality while simultaneously sharpening her situational awareness.

*Those two wristwatches are no ordinary gadgets; I need to be careful!* Yuffie thought darkly to herself before rushing straight toward Suye while wielding the Fuma Shuriken.

The so-called Fuma Shuriken was a massive four-bladed scythe resembling a propeller, primarily deployed for long-range throwing with terrifying lethality.

However, Yuffie gripped it directly in her hands; she only wished to test Suye's strength and harbored no intention of taking his life.

At that instant, the opposing Suye made his move.

Forming his hands into finger guns, he aimed his index fingers squarely at Yuffie from afar and let out a light shout.

"Biubiubiubiu!"

In a flash, countless white webbing pellets shot rapidly from the web-shooters on his wrists, streaking across the distance toward Yuffie like bullets.

These two web-shooters had been modified by Suye using projection magic and the Reality Stone; they were no longer purely mechanical constructs, but carried a degree of magical attributes.

Calling them Noble Phantasms would be an overstatement, but magic props felt quite accurate.

The pellets firing from them inherently possessed tremendous kinetic force, capable of blowing apart a canine skull as easily as play.

Now, following their modification, the fired pellets could accurately be termed magical missiles, each capable of shattering at least three canine skulls with spare momentum to spare.

It was fortunate that Cosmo could not hear this analogy; otherwise, the dog would surely accuse Suye of lacking manners...

Facing Suye's magical missiles, Yuffie continuously swung her Fuma Shuriken, hacking the incoming projectiles out of the air mid-flight.

From that aspect alone, Yuffie's abilities warranted absolute affirmation.

Deflecting projectiles amidst a dense barrage using a weapon resembling fan blades by chopping them down rather than merely blocking them demanded extraordinary visual judgment and reflexes.

Yet the young girl executed every single maneuver successfully.

Throughout the process, she executed various flamboyant backflips, showcasing her formidable jumping capability and core abdominal strength.

Many of her movements caused Suye a momentary start, terrified that she might strain her lower back.

To prevent such accidents, Suye decisively altered his attack pattern.

He switched from firing solid pellets to spraying high-velocity web fluid.

The appearance of webbing lacked the relative gentleness of pellets.

Pellets were lightweight; though fast, any slight deflection altered their trajectory.

Webbing was entirely different. Suye's webs were significantly stickier—cough, denser—and far tougher, making them impossible to sever effortlessly.

Moreover, being string-like, not only could they not be deflected with a swipe, but carelessness would cause them to adhere directly to a weapon, gumming up the blade and ultimately encasing the opponent entirely.

From the moment Suye arrived until Yuffie charged out, the bar patrons had heard the commotion.

By the time they pushed open the doors to investigate the situation outside, less than half a minute had elapsed.

In that brief half-minute, they were startled to realize that had they emerged even a moment later, they might have lost Yuffie altogether.

At the bar entrance, Yuffie was wrapped tightly in thick layers of webbing, plastered flat against the wall, with a wad of webbing stuffed into her mouth that choked back her words as she rolled her eyes upward in suffocation.

Observing the AVALANCHE members suddenly appearing at the doorway, Suye awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"If I told you I did that to prevent her from biting her tongue and committing suicide, would you believe me?"

The group shook their heads in unison, their expressions spelling out a single phrase: *We'll believe a ghost!*

Suye sighed helplessly. The previous action truly was an accident, but once an accident occurred, explanations became futile.

Barret led the others over to rescue Yuffie from the wall, while Tifa walked toward Suye with a radiant, beaming smile, her hands clasped behind her back.

"You're here?"

That smile carried the sweet joy of a long-awaited reunion, as if the two were not strangers meeting for the first time, but lovers who had finally reunited after a prolonged separation.

"I'm here, Tifa."

Suye nodded with a hint of awkwardness. Throughout the DLC loading process, he had remained the most bewildered party, requiring others to explain numerous interpersonal relationships to him.

Consequently, he had no idea what persona he ought to adopt when facing Tifa.

Judging by her eighteen- or nineteen-year-old appearance, she certainly couldn't be treated as an aunt-like friend of his mother, that much was certain.

Hearing Suye utter her name, the smile on Tifa's face grew even sweeter as she reached out to grab Suye's hand, pulling him inside the bar.

"Auntie told me you were coming. I thought it would take a while longer, but I never expected you to arrive so quickly!"

In the original lore, Tifa and the protagonist Cloud were childhood sweethearts. Before Cloud left the village for Shinra, he had promised Tifa that he would surely return to protect her.

In this specific DLC, titled *Girlfriend Card: Tifa*, Tifa's background cast her as an orphan from Xandar whose mother died of illness during her childhood while her father was slain by Sephiroth, leaving her to be rescued by a mysterious figure and sent off to Earth.

Upon arriving on Earth as a very young child, Tifa faced bullying from neighborhood ruffians, and only her neighbor Suye genuinely cared for her, even getting into fights with other children on her behalf.

During those years, they remained practically inseparable, leading many neighborhood kids to tease them about being married.

In a child's world, two children getting married seemingly constituted a deeply embarrassing affair.

Because of this, Suye engaged in countless additional fistfights.

Virtually every day was spent either fighting or on the way to a fight.

Later on, when Tifa's homeland stabilized, she was brought back and parted ways with Suye, never meeting him again.

However, Madam Ye retained contact information left behind by a benevolent benefactor, eventually reconnecting with Tifa and entertaining the notion that Tifa would make an ideal daughter-in-law upon discovering Suye had acquired a foreign girlfriend.

Tifa had filled in all these details for Suye, omitting only the part about becoming a daughter-in-law because she felt too shy to voice it.

Suye nodded, indicating that he had essentially grasped the setup of this DLC, save for a single lingering doubt.

"You mentioned a benevolent benefactor rescued you and sent you to Earth. Do you remember what that benefactor looked like?"

Tifa shook her head. "It happened ten years ago; my memories are somewhat hazy. I only remember that she emitted a golden glow and had very long hair; specifics escape me."

A female, emitting a golden glow, long hair?

An image instantly materialized in Suye's mind: the cosmic policewoman, Captain Marvel.

Given Captain Marvel's personality, pulling off such a stunt was entirely within character.

The trouble was, if it really was Captain Marvel, why would she drop Tifa off in China, right at Su Mutian's doorstep?

Tifa was merely an ordinary young girl, unlike Aerith Gainsborough, the other female lead of *Final Fantasy VII*, who harbored the secret of the "Cetra" and required protection from someone as formidable as Old Su.

Either there were characters and plot developments here that Suye didn't yet comprehend, or that person wasn't Captain Marvel at all.

Suye even suspected whether this individual genuinely existed or merely served as a visual trope to pave the way for future DLCs.

Suye harbored a specific habit: whenever he encountered an insoluble problem, he refused to rack his brain or force himself to ponder it excessively.

If he couldn't figure it out today, he would leave it for tomorrow—who knows, by tomorrow, he might not even care to know the answer.

Inside the bar, after listening to Tifa's explanation, Suye took a seat alongside her in a booth, surrounded by the gathered members of AVALANCHE.

"Sister Tifa, why didn't you tell me beforehand that brother-in-law was so strong? You made a fool out of me!"

Yuffie sat on Tifa's other side, puffing her cheeks with a lingering trace of lingering apprehension; evidently, the taste of webbing left much to be desired.

Tifa shook her head apologetically. "I hadn't seen him in over ten years either; I had no idea he'd become this powerful!"

"Ten whole years!"

Yuffie's eyes rolled as she abruptly cast a glance around at the others who were genuinely watching them.

"I must say, do you guys lack all situational awareness? Sister Tifa and brother-in-law haven't seen each other in over a decade, yet you're still dragging them into a meeting. Have you never heard the saying 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'?"

At those words, the group wore expressions of sudden realization, while Tifa's cheeks flushed slightly.

"We were just ordinary friends back then, and we were kids too. Even if we talked about getting married, that was just childish talk and shouldn't be taken seriously."

With that, Tifa turned her gaze toward Suye. "Nobody remembers words spoken at age five or six so clearly, as if everything happened right before their eyes, remembering every single word and expression of the other person with absolute clarity."

"Even after more than a decade has passed, even across countless light-years, one's heart still holds onto that yearning—wondering if he's still fighting with other kids, if he's made new friends, if he's forgotten about me."

"So, since over ten years have passed, those childhood words can simply be regarded as unsaid, and you needn't carry any psychological burden, right?"

Throughout her speech, Tifa maintained a steady smile—the sort of spring-breeze smile that seemed capable of melting the viewer's heart at a glance.

Yet, for reasons unknown, a chill suddenly crept down Suye's spine.

It felt as though sitting before him wasn't Tifa, but a girl named Ayato, behind whose smiling expression lurked a gleaming kitchen knife.

*An illusion, definitely an illusion—how could my Tifa be so terrifying!*

Suye swallowed hard, a lump forming in his throat as he answered with a firm tone.

"A real man honors his word; spoken words are like spilled water, as final as a nail driven by a hammer. Naturally, my word counts!"

"You were only six or seven years old back then—does that even count as being a real man?" Yuffie chimed in with a teasing scoff.

Suye abruptly slapped his chest. "Never mind six or seven years old—even at age three, a guy's still got to act like a man!"

"Well said!"

Barret suddenly slammed his hand down onto the table with a crash.

"Suye, was it? We've just witnessed your strength, and your character is practically guaranteed by that statement. However, that's still not enough."

With a grand wave of his massive arm, Barret produced a crate of twelve bottles of liquor, slamming them onto the table.

"This is the strongest liquor on Xandar, and naturally, it must be used to entertain our dearest friend! Tonight, we drink until we drop!"

Yuffie wanted to voice an objection, but a glance from Barret silenced her.

Men had their own ways of resolving matters.

They were friends, so brawling was inappropriate.

They didn't necessarily believe Suye's earlier declaration either.

However, in wine there is truth; drunken words reveal the heart.

Once Suye was thoroughly inebriated, verifying his true intentions would become a trivial matter.

With five or six grown men here, each possessing the capacity of a bottomless pit, handling a single Suye should prove effortless!

The idea sounded wonderful, but they drastically underestimated Suye's alcohol tolerance.

Could a physique enhanced by countless cosmic abilities ever be matched by mere mortals?

Naturally, while he felt entirely unperturbed internally, the appropriate degree of modesty was still required.

"Um, my alcohol tolerance isn't very good. If I get wasted later and start acting crazy, that wouldn't be ideal."

Barret waved his hand dismissively. "That's precisely what we want! Acting crazy shows a man's true nature. No worries, we'll keep you company and go crazy right along with you!"

"Come on, bottoms up!"

These drinks were hardly Earthly beers or ales; compared to Earth's liquor, they easily hovered around fifty proof and above.

To demonstrate his hospitality and rugged enthusiasm, Barret insisted on chugging bottles head-to-head with Suye.

"I just arrived, and I haven't even had a bite of food to cushion my stomach," Suye protested somewhat helplessly.

Barret waved him off. "No need, drinking straight is the only way it's exhilarating."

The five AVALANCHE members took turns challenging Suye to drinks. In the span of a mere half-hour, the six of them emptied six crates totaling seventy-two bottles.

Averaging ten bottles per person, Suye single-handedly downed over twenty.

By the end of it, Barret was completely numb.

"Don't move... I can still drink... It's rare to see a friend from Earth, I'm thrilled! Blech... ugh... gulp!"

A wave of nausea surged up, which he forcibly suppressed and swallowed back down.

The sight made Suye's eyebrows twitch violently.

Unfazed, Barret grabbed Cid Highwind by the shoulder and clapped him heavily on the back.

"Suye, right? Not bad, you're a real man! I, Barret, am thoroughly convinced. Join AVALANCHE! From now on, you're the heir to this organization! The future is in good hands!"

Cid Highwind had long since lost consciousness, able only to nod and grunt mutely, incapable of uttering a single coherent syllable.

Across the table, Yuffie lay sprawled out in a drunken stupor, leaving only Tifa maintaining her sobriety as she turned her gaze toward Suye.

"Do you have any plans now that you've come here?"

Despite consuming massive quantities of alcohol, Suye's expression remained relaxed and his gaze clear.

"For now, I plan to visit Shinra and see what it takes to tear them down!"