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

Chapter 176 The Player

a few days later
Within the cold and empty digital space, the stone tablets representing SEELE's highest will lit up one after another, their monotonous numbers emitting a faint glow in the darkness.

This is a hall where the fate of humanity is decided, yet not a single trace of human presence can be heard.

"Unit No. 3 has been successfully received by Gendo Ikari."

A stone tablet numbered 05 emitted a synthesized electronic sound, devoid of any emotional color.
In exchange, he made a demand: he wanted the Spear of Longinus.

"absurd."

Another stone tablet, numbered 09, immediately retorted,

“That guy had his own agenda from the very beginning. How could we entrust such an important key to him? This would introduce uncontrollable variables into our script.”

"But the variables are also within our control."

The stone tablet numbered 03 leads to the intersection.

"We still have a backup plan. The construction of the mass-production machine has entered the final stage, and the experimental installation of the artificial S2 mechanism has also been completed."

"And there's also a copy of the Spear of Longinus..."

"That's right,"

The voice came from the fourth stone tablet, carrying a hint of cold calculation.

"If the plan for Unit 3 succeeds, NERV will lose a crucial EVA pilot, and their core combat capability will be severely damaged."

Whatever Gendo Ikari was plotting, in the face of such an absolute disparity in power, all schemes were utterly meaningless.

Two diametrically opposed opinions collided in the digital space, each with seemingly impeccable logical support, leading to a heated debate.

Finally, all the sounds fell silent, and all the numbered stone tablets cast their invisible gazes upon the one at the very top, representing supreme power: "SEELE 01".

They await the Speaker's final decision.

The silence lasted for several seconds before Kiro Lorenz's aged and steady voice finally rang out, as if putting an end to the argument.

"You can give him the things."

These few simple words carry an undeniable authority.

"After all, we still need this sword, Ikari, to clear the obstacles in our path before the last apostle is eliminated."

As for his personal ambitions... they're just a side story in the script.

Upon hearing these words, the stone tablets that had been arguing fell silent.

As always, the Speaker's decisions are always based on a comprehensive assessment of the pros and cons.

Within the organization, his seniority was unmatched, and his wisdom guided SEELE for centuries.

"As you wish, Speaker."

"Everything is for the Human Instrumentality Project."

With a unified response, the cold stone tablets went out one by one, and the entire digital space returned to deep darkness and nothingness.

……

A sealed room completely isolated from the outside world
Kiro Lorenz slowly removed the silver helmet connected to the neural interface from his head. The majesty and profundity that belonged to SEELE Chairman on his weathered face vanished instantly.

Instead, there is a machine-like coldness...

He turned to face the figure sitting upright in the shadows of the room and bowed deeply.

"My lord, the arrangements have been made in accordance with your instructions."

"very good."

Zhang Qi raised his eyes from the shadows, his gaze calm and unwavering.
"Next, continue according to the established plan." "Yes, sir."

Kiro Lorenz nodded respectfully, then, like a most loyal butler, turned and left the secret room without a sound.

Watching his departing figure, Zhang Qi withdrew his gaze, but a sense of emotion welled up in his heart.

The ability to turn the SEELE chairman into a puppet in his own hands, a seemingly miraculous feat, is ultimately thanks to his breakthrough in soul research within the world of Sword Art Online.

According to the theories of that world, there are countless structures called "microtubules" inside the brain cells of the human brain, which carry a massive amount of photons.

The quantum field formed by these photons is the carrier of all the information about a person's memory, personality, and even soul.

Theoretically, if one can read and interfere with this quantum field, one can directly manipulate a person's personality and memories.

This research has begun to touch upon the essence of the soul.

The fact that we were able to get to this point so quickly is naturally due to the large number of samples and technical solutions provided by the worlds of Under One Person and Naruto.

For example, illusion techniques and the Lü family's Soul-Clearing Technique are similar techniques, except that the medium used to achieve this effect is different. One uses chakra, and the other uses primordial qi.

This is like starting a fire. You can use a lighter or a match. Although the methods are different, the target and the goal are the same, so they can naturally serve as a reference.

Thus, in Sword Art Online, he even developed a prototype machine capable of reading human fluctuating light earlier than in the original work.

To raise funds, he founded a company in the Sword Art Online world, released the Newgear, a fully immersive device, and provided a corresponding development engine for game developers.

Combining all these technologies, the final result is the masterpiece before us.

Using the LCL Sea of ​​Life as its source and the Apostle Cells as its framework, a flawless and perfect body was reconstructed, becoming the new vessel for Cheru Lorenz.

That aged soul was completely dismantled and reassembled at the quantum level, and implanted with an absolute seal of loyalty.

The current SEELE Speaker is nothing more than a puppet residing under the identity of "Kirul Lorenz".

The reason for going to such lengths instead of simply reading the memories and killing the person was mainly due to the information obtained from Speaker Kiru.

The scale and reach of SEELE, this millennium-old organization, were far greater and more deeply entrenched than he had anticipated.

To uproot this giant tree that perches beneath the surface of human civilization, he would need some time and a perfect inside man.

There is naturally no one more suitable for this position than Speaker Keel...

However, there's another matter that needs to be addressed before that...

Thinking of this, Zhang Qi's gaze fell on an electronic document on the table beside him.

That was a snippet from NERV's internal network, showing the latest arrangements for the EVA Unit-03 startup experiment.

The top line of printed text was clear, especially the row of names written next to the test driver.

It wasn't Suzuhara Toji, whom he initially thought, but rather... Asuka Langley Soryu.

The reason for doing this is naturally because SEELE is preparing to weaken NERV's combat power.

After all, once the mass production of EVA units is completed, along with the artificial S2 mechanism and the copied Spear of Longinus, the remaining Angels will be no match for them.

In other words, SEELE no longer has any reason to need NERV.

And this weakening of NERV's combat power naturally began with Unit 2.

Finally, Kaworu Nagisa is sent into NERV as a chosen one to sabotage it from within.

Gendo Ikari may have already guessed some of SEELE's purpose, which is why he asked for the Spear of Longinus.

Dealing with these guys is really troublesome...

Thinking of this, Zhang Qi shook his head, then opened the secret communication channel with Kaji Ryoji...

(End of this chapter)