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

Chapter 175 Keel Lorenz

Deep in the forests of Bavaria, Germany, a massive villa, resembling a medieval castle, stands quietly under the moonlight.

The towering walls are covered with invisible energy sensors, and the surveillance cameras, like lurking venomous snakes, turn their cold lenses in the shadows.

The guards who moved stealthily inside and outside the manor had steady steps and a sharp aura; each of them was comparable to a member of the most elite special forces.

Zhang Qi's figure blended into the night. He stood atop a giant pine tree on a distant mountain peak, his gaze indifferently overlooking the heavily guarded fortress.

It has to be said that this old fellow, who has lived for countless years, is indeed very good at hiding his true identity.

It took him quite a bit of effort to find this place...

The apostles are merely the disasters that are out in the open, the final exam that will eventually come. Although they are challenging, he already knows the question types and answers by heart.

All of Gendo's schemes were as transparent as glass to Zhang Qi, making them easy to deal with.

The real problem is SEELE, an organization that is barely mentioned in the original work.

This secret organization, which has existed for thousands of years, is like a huge root system that has spread beneath the surface of human history. Its scale and influence even far exceed those of Hydra in the Marvel universe.

After all, Hydra was merely a parasite of S.H.I.E.L.D., while SEELE spread its influence across the globe during the Age of Exploration, impacting the entire course of human history.

SEELE people exist in every country and at every social class.

They are the shadows. Even he, as an advisor, had only communicated a few times with those numbered stone tablets through a cold screen, and had never seen the true face of any of the members.

Therefore, after obtaining the power of the Apostle, Zhang Qi immediately began this second phase of the plan.

What he had to do was to pull out and sever this massive root system, one root at a time, from the dark soil.

……

Meanwhile, in the study deepest part of that ancient castle
Kiro Lorenz leaned back in an armchair made of precious wood. He gently opened an ancient book with a parchment cover, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

The plan went perfectly.

Gendo Ikari was indeed a sharp and useful pawn; in just a few months, the vast majority of the apostles had been eliminated.

The perfectly timed "accident" involving the German Third Branch was a stroke of genius.

The top talents of those countries have been reduced to ashes, and the seeds of anger and suspicion have been successfully sown and are deeply rooted between the United Nations and NERV.

Next, all that's needed is for the organization's agents planted in various countries to stir up trouble and portray NERV as a terrorist organization that seeks to monopolize ultimate military power and threaten all of humanity.

So, once the Apostles are completely eliminated, a war between the United Nations and NERV can be instigated.

Thinking of this, an irrepressible excitement flashed in Kiro Lorenz's electronic eyes.

Since replacing most of his flesh and blood with cold machinery and implants in order to fight aging and death, he had not experienced such a refreshing feeling for a long time.

Wait until the Human Instrumentality Project is completed, and when all souls return to Lilith's embrace and become one, these chosen "humans" will be completely freed from the shackles of the physical body, and will no longer be cursed with illness, aging, and death.

That would be an eternal and supreme blessing.

However, just as he was immersed in his wonderful vision of the future, the heavy oak door of the study creaked shut on its own without warning, making a dull thud.

who?"

Kiro Lorenz's thoughts were interrupted. He was slightly taken aback, and his eyes instantly turned sharp as an eagle as he scanned the doorway.

The door to this room is specially made and there is absolutely no way it could be blown open by the wind.

But the next moment, an instinctive warning made him freeze.

He noticed that his shadow on the floor, as well as the shadows of the bookshelves, tables, and chairs, seemed... to have come alive. Those dark outlines began to twist and writhe, like living mercury, peeling away from their original forms and slowly, silently enveloping his location.

why?
This bizarre and illogical scene made Kiro Lorenz's semi-mechanical heart skip a beat. He almost instinctively reached for the alarm under his desk, but an extreme sense of crisis made him stiffen.

That's a switch that connects directly to the manor's highest security system. Once pressed, within seconds, the most elite guards will break down the door and tear any intruder to shreds.

However, before his fingers could touch the cold button, a hand, a pale yet powerful hand, suddenly emerged from the shadows beneath his feet, like a venomous snake hunting its prey, and pressed down on his wrist with precision and composure.

"you……"

Kiro Lorenz looked down sharply, and when he saw the figure slowly rising from the shadows, his face showed an expression of utter horror for the first time.

Because that face should have been reduced to cosmic dust along with the German Third Branch in that earth-shattering explosion.

Zhang Qi!

There was no time to think about what was going on; Kiro Lorenz's survival instinct overwhelmed everything.

He immediately tried to activate the emergency signal transmitter implanted in his body, his last resort, which could send the highest level of alert directly to the other members of SEELE.

However, the command was issued but received no response, as if it had vanished into thin air.

"it's useless."

A calm, almost cold voice rang out.

Zhang Qi released his hand, as if he had only done a trivial matter.

Upon hearing this voice, Kiro Lorenz noticed that, without him noticing, a faint, almost imperceptible orange halo, like an inverted bowl, had completely enveloped the study. The edges of the halo slightly distorted the space, forming an airtight barrier that completely isolated the room from the outside world.

AT Field!

How can it be……

Kiro Lorenz's logic processor overloaded instantly, and he muttered incredulously:
"There's... no EVA here?"

Could it be that the Apostles... have evolved to the point where they can perfectly disguise themselves as humans?

But this shouldn't be the case, right? Someone like Kaworu should be unique.

However, Zhang Qi had no interest in answering his questions.

He simply extended his hand to Kiro Lorenz, a red fragment in his palm.

This is a replica called the Spear of Longinus, which can generate an anti-AT field when driven by the S2 mechanism.

"This is……"

The next moment, Kiro Lorenz's expression changed, and he looked at Zhang Qi in disbelief.

But before he could finish speaking, under the influence of the anti-AT stance, Kiro Lorenz's body instantly disintegrated and turned into LCL solution.

After all forms of matter returned to nothingness, an irregular core, emitting a faint glow, quietly floated in mid-air.

That was the soul of Keel Lorenz...

Zhang Qi opened his hand, and the soul core obediently flew into the red crystal in his palm.

And that was his main purpose...

The next step is to use the technology from the Sword Art Online and Assassin's Creed worlds to read the information from this soul.

All of SEELE's secrets over thousands of years, information on all its members, and all its hidden bases... will be revealed to him.

(End of this chapter)