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

Chapter 179 The First Machine to Become a God
This is……

The warm, crystalline necklace on her chest was radiating an increasingly intense light.

That splash of red, like the beating of a heart, shone through the pilot's suit into Shinji Ikari's pupils, staining his pale face with a resolute crimson hue.

He gripped the control stick of Unit-01 tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, but his eyes became more determined than ever before.

He stared at the ever-expanding abyss on the ground, threatening to engulf everything. His father's commands still echoed in his ears, cold as a scalpel, threatening to sever the bonds between him and his companions.

"Shinji-kun, retreat!"

Misato Katsuragi's voice followed closely behind, filled with barely suppressed anxiety and pain.

She understood Commander Ikari's judgment; it was perhaps the most "correct" choice from the perspective of human survival.

If even the last Unit-01 falls here, then everything will be beyond saving, and humanity will lose its last bulwark and hope.

"No!"

A roar erupted from deep within Shinji Ikari's throat, carrying the stubbornness and anger of a young man making a desperate gamble.

"I will not abandon my comrades here!"

As if in response to his resolute will to die, the blazing red crystal on his chest shone brightly for a moment, then transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the cockpit.

The next moment, darkness descended as expected.

The shadow of the Night Angel seemed to have found new prey, and it expanded rapidly, instantly engulfing Unit-01, which was standing in place!

Inside the control room, there was a deathly silence; everyone held their breath.

However, in that pure darkness that could devour light and matter, a golden spot of light suddenly lit up and then burst forth!

"boom--!"

The powerful AT field, capable of distorting space, suddenly unfolded around Unit-01. It was no longer the regular hexagonal light wall of the past, but a more primitive and violent energy form, forcefully repelling the shadow representing imaginary space!

Unit-01, shrouded in darkness, reappeared.

But its posture has undergone a complete transformation.

On the purple armor, the grooves and patterns that were originally used for restraint were now all lit up with a lava-like crimson light, like the boiling blood vessels of a giant.

It slowly crouched down and made a move that no one could understand.

Unit-01's enormous hand didn't reach for the high-vibration particle blade, nor did it raise the positron cannon. Instead, it reached directly towards the churning darkness on the ground—towards the entrance to that imaginary space.

Then, it grasped the "shadow".

"This...this is impossible!"

"Unit-01...it's directly interfering with imaginary space using its own AT field?!"

Inside the NERV control room, Ritsuko Akagi stared in disbelief at the wildly fluctuating readings on the screen, her proud scientific knowledge completely overturned at that moment.

The so-called imaginary number is a mathematical definition used to describe numbers that do not exist.

The so-called imaginary space is another dimension beyond the visible space, and the physical laws in it are completely unknown to them.

However, now Unit-01 is able to interfere with it using its own AT?

As Unit-01 moved, the enormous black and white spherical projection of the Night Angel in the sky began to tremble and distort violently, as if it were enduring unimaginable pain.

It wanted to escape, to pull its "shadow" back from that terrifying hand, but Unit-01's hand was like an iron clamp welded to the ground, firmly grasping its essence and leaving it nowhere to escape.

The next moment, the shadows on the ground churned violently like boiling ink.

Immediately afterwards, several N2 landmines that had been swallowed up were actually "squeezed" out of the darkness by a tremendous force and thrown into the air!

boom! boom! boom!
The N2 landmine was detonated directly in mid-air!

"Shinji-kun?!"

Seeing this, Misato Katsuragi let out a desperate scream. Such close proximity, such a powerful explosion—enough to engulf all three EVAs in the center of destruction! However, the anticipated destruction did not occur.

A purer and more powerful AT field appeared out of thin air, perfectly blocking all the explosive impact and devastating flames.

At the center of the force field was Unit-01, which was shining with a red light.

Suddenly, a holy halo of light appeared above its head.

The armor on his chest was fully opened, revealing the huge, vibrant, heart-beating red core inside.

"Roar--!"

A roar, unlike anything human, seemingly from the primordial chaos, resounded through the heavens. Unit-01 exerted force with both hands, its muscles bulging, and it actually tore a huge gash through the "shadow" on the ground that represented the imaginary space, as if tearing a canvas!

"Hiss-!"

With this earth-shattering roar, the enormous spherical projection in the sky let out its final lament before exploding completely.

There were no flames, no fragments, only an endless stream of blood-red, viscous liquid pouring down from the center of the explosion.

A crimson rain of blood enveloped the Third New Tokyo City.

Bathed in this eerie rain of blood, Unit-01 slowly straightened up.

With one hand, it pulled Unit 2 out of the closing imaginary space rift, and with the other hand, it held Unit 0, which had also escaped, and stood quietly.

That posture was like that of a god descending to earth.

……

"EVA... what exactly is it..."

Inside the control room, Ritsuko Akagi stared blankly at the images transmitted back to her on the screen.

For the first time, she felt doubt and fear about the career she was engaged in.

Is this really a power that humans can control?

Their proud technology is nothing more than a lucky clone of a divine cell called "Lilith," and they remain completely ignorant of its true nature.

Beside her, Misato Katsuragi's body was trembling slightly.

The crimson rain and the giant with the halo above his head forcibly awakened the most terrifying memories buried deep in her mind.

Fifteen years ago, in Antarctica.

The Second Impact that dragged the world into hell.

The culprit known as the "Giant of Light," who caused all the disasters, now perfectly overlapped with Unit-01 on the screen.

Why... is this happening?

EVA, isn't it a human weapon created by them to fight against the Angels and to stop the Third Impact?
After everyone else, Fuyutsuki Yukizo looked at the man beside him who had remained silent all along.

“Ikari, this is…”

Unit-01's current posture undoubtedly indicates that it has entered an "awakened" state.

That is a realm equivalent to that of a god, attainable only after possessing both the "Fruit of Wisdom" and the "Fruit of Life."

Unit-01, as a clone of Lilith, harbors a human soul and is born with the Fruit of Wisdom. If it were to be equipped with the S2 Engine, a perpetual motion machine, also known as the Fruit of Life, it could become a true god.

But the question is... where did this S2 mechanism come from?
"do not know……"

Gendo Ikari remained silent for a long time before finally squeezing out these three words through gritted teeth.

His face, hidden in the shadows, held an expression more unpleasant than ever before.

In his script, Unit-01 does indeed need to absorb the Angel's S2 Engine at some point in the future to complete its awakening.

But definitely not now, and certainly not in this way!
This act of exposure is tantamount to directly telling SEELE that Gendo Ikari has long since mastered the core technology of the artificial S2 mechanism!
(End of this chapter)