They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 160 Thunder Angel: Oh no, we're being targeted!
"learn."

Faced with a dangerous mission, Rei Ayanami's response was as light as a snowflake.

Her blood-red eyes remained completely still, as if they were unrelated to her.

This calmness, however, was like a needle, deeply piercing Shinji Ikari's heart.

He looked at the girl's slender profile, which seemed as if it would break at the slightest touch, and his throat went dry.

He opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally mustered all his courage, his voice trembling slightly.

"Um... Miss Katsuragi, how about I... I'll take on the cover mission?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.

"After all... I'm a boy... it's... inappropriate for a girl to protect me..."

Shinji Ikari's voice grew softer and softer. He didn't dare to look into Misato Katsuragi's eyes, and could only lower his head, his gaze fixed on his tightly clenched fists.

"No, I can do that."

Rei Ayanami's voice interrupted his embarrassment, still in that cold, emotionless tone.

She turned her head, and for the first time, her ruby-like eyes met Shinji Ikari's gaze directly. There was no gratitude, no refusal in them.
"Moreover, theoretically speaking, your synchronization rate is higher and your mental state is more stable, so the success rate of the mission is also higher when you operate the positron cannon."

"Um...but..."

Shinji Ikari was stunned for a moment; that wasn't the key point he wanted to make at all.

This isn't a matter of success rate, nor is it a matter of finding the optimal tactical solution; it's that... it's that he can't feel at ease hiding behind a girl...

Using someone as a shield is obviously more dangerous! Why could she say that so easily?
"Heh~ Alright, this mission isn't as dangerous as you guys think."

Just as Shinji Ikari was speechless, Zhang Qi walked over unnoticed, a knowing smile on his face.

Looking at Shinji Ikari before him, he couldn't help but feel a surge of relief.

He gently patted Shinji Ikari on the shoulder, then turned on the tablet in his hand, and a complex diagram of the device structure and an energy deflection model appeared on the screen.

"The shield that Unit-00 will be using is not an ordinary shield."

Zhang Qi pointed to the data stream on the screen and explained,

"Instead, it's a magnetic field deflection shield. Simply put, the core device of this armor will deploy an extremely strong ring-shaped magnetic field in front of Unit-00."

The Thunder Angel's particle cannon is essentially a high-energy charged particle beam.

According to the Lorentz force principle, when these charged particles are injected perpendicularly into a magnetic field, they will experience a deflecting force, thus altering their trajectory.

He swiped his finger, and the simulated animation on the screen clearly demonstrated the process:

A blue beam representing a particle cannon shot towards the shield, but before making contact, it strangely bent and deflected, as if hitting an invisible curved mirror, and finally grazed the edge of the shield and shot into the distance.

"It can be said that this equipment is a perfect counter to the Raangel particle cannon."

The main reason for having Unit-00 carry a shield is to deal with unexpected situations, such as if the enemy suddenly changes position before attacking, requiring Unit-00 to quickly maneuver and adjust its position to ensure that Unit-01 is always in its blind spot.

In a sense, acting as a shield is actually a relatively simple and safe job.

Zhang Qi explained that these technologies were naturally the result of his foresight regarding the apostles' intelligence, which he had planned in advance.

However, he wasn't foolish enough to submit a complete project called "Rayon Strategy Equipment" directly to NERV, which would have been tantamount to exposing himself to SEELE.

Instead, like a positron cannon, different core components such as deflection force field generators, high-strength pressure-resistant shells, and energy supply units are packaged into unrelated projects such as "new shipborne electromagnetic protection system" and "force field research of deep geological exploration equipment," and scattered among different research projects of the company.

Finally, at the critical moment, these already mature components are integrated.

And the core of all this, the Arc Reactor energy technology, was firmly in his own hands.

The reason for all this trouble is, of course, that now is not the time to expose ourselves.

"Is that so..." Upon hearing this detailed and scientifically based explanation, Shinji Ikari's anxiety finally subsided.

"That's right, Shinji-kun, so your mission is the most important one~"

Upon seeing this, Misato Katsuragi immediately suppressed her surprise, straightened her face again, and emphasized in a stern tone,
"The positron cannon only has five magazines; once they're empty, that's it!"

The "magazine" she was referring to was, of course, those special containers that store antimatter—positrons.

Each one is like a sophisticated thermos, with an extreme vacuum and a complex magnetic confinement field inside.

Because of the tight schedule, this was all they had time to prepare...

"But in other words, we have a total of five chances."

Don't be nervous, Shinji, just relax.

Remember what I said, it's best to fire at the very moment the opponent launches an attack and concentrates the AT field at the muzzle, when its physical defense is at its weakest.

I believe in you, you can do it.

Zhang Qi spoke again and patted Shinji Ikari on the shoulder once more.

"Yes! I understand!"

Shinji Ikari nodded vigorously and answered firmly.

The operation officially began that afternoon.

On the ridgeline surrounding the Third New Tokyo City, two enormous figures stand silently in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Unit-01 lay prone on the ground in a standard sniper stance, its grotesque positron cannon, far exceeding its own size, steadily pointing at the ominous blue octahedron in the distance.

To its side and in front, Unit-00 knelt on one knee, its massive deflection field shield like a city wall, firmly protecting its comrades behind it.

"The battle begins!"

Misato Katsuragi's voice came through the communication channel.

The plan was in place, and several Gauss artillery batteries deployed on the other side of the hill launched a feint attack.

Armor-piercing shells, trailing white contrails, once again futilely crashed into the barrier called "Absolute".

The attack was easily neutralized, but it successfully attracted the attention of the Thunder Angel.

The blue crystal in the distance began to change; the edges of the geometric shape slowly opened up, revealing a more dazzling and breathtaking core inside.

Energy was converging at the core at an unprecedented speed, and the surrounding air hissed and wailed due to the terrifying ionization.

The next second, a blue beam of light, condensed to the extreme, tore through the atmosphere and shot precisely at Unit Zero!

Just moments before the devastating beam of light was about to strike, an invisible force field suddenly unfolded on the surface of the shield in front of Unit-00, causing the surrounding space to visibly distort!
The torrent of blue particles crashed into this invisible wall, without an explosion or a loud bang.

The beam of light, capable of evaporating everything, seemed to be forcibly grasped by an invisible hand, bending and deflecting violently before finally grazing the body of Unit-00 and shooting into the distant sky.

The core light of the Thunder Angel flickered, as if it was pondering why the opponent was able to block its attack.

However, it no longer had time to think about the answer.

The moment it launched its attack, when its defenses were at their weakest and its core was completely exposed—

"Now! Launch!"

Shinji Ikari pulled the trigger, and a crimson beam shot out from the muzzle of the positron cannon!

Wherever it passed, matter was annihilated and space was torn apart. With an indomitable and resolute spirit, it pierced through the core of the Thunder Angel like a divine spear of punishment that pierced through heaven and earth...

(End of this chapter)