Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from EVA

Hakone, a mountainside hot spring resort.

The tatami mats exuded the bitter scent of rush, and kaiseki cuisine was laid out on a low table. A maid knelt to one side, pouring tea silently.

Lu Mingfei sat cross-legged, silently eating his meal.

He wasn't really used to this kind of high-end Japanese food.

In that underground city, the logistics department's meals mostly consisted of instant curry and compressed biscuits. Even when they occasionally went to Misato Katsuragi's house for a meal, they were faced with a pile of instant ramen and a table full of beer cans.

In comparison, the sashimi and matsutake mushroom soup in front of me looked so refined they seemed fake.

"If you two are free tomorrow, why don't you visit the boat dock?" the maid suggested softly. "Or you could take the Owakudani ropeway; that line offers a panoramic view of the entire lake, with stunning scenery."

"Not going to Owakudani."

Lu Mingfei swallowed the mackerel without even looking up: "Go east. Past the third high-voltage tower, walk four hundred meters towards the back of the mountain, there's an abandoned slope. There are no trees blocking the way, no strangers, and the view is cleaner than in Owakudani."

The maid's teapot stopped in mid-air, staring in astonishment at the boy in the T-shirt.

"Has the guest been here before?" she forced a smile. "That forest area has been closed off for a long time. Even the locals don't go there anymore. It's not marked on the map."

"I like looking at satellite maps," Lu Mingfei said casually, swallowing his food. "It's for peace and quiet; I don't go to places with lots of tourists."

The maid nodded in sudden understanding, bowed again, and left the room.

late at night.

Lu Mingfei put on his coat, pushed open the side door, and slipped into the deep mountains.

His feet sank into the soft earth and fallen leaves, avoiding all the bright avenues and choosing to walk exclusively through the woods and bushes.

He followed his body's instincts and walked toward the place most familiar to him in his memory.

The forest came to an end, and the view suddenly opened up.

Ahead lies Lake Ashi.

A breeze blew, rippling the dark water, reflecting the stars on the lake's surface. Several sightseeing boats were moored on the opposite shore, gently rocking with the waves.

Lu Mingfei walked to an old tree, squatted down, and touched the soil.

The tree roots are smooth and grow straight down.

Lu Mingfei's eyes darkened. If there were NERV's composite armor plates underground, the main roots of large trees would not be able to grow vertically; they would collide with the steel and be forced to coil horizontally in a radial pattern. Moreover, the underground city's massive cooling system operates year-round, causing abnormally high local soil temperatures even across layers tens of meters deep. The moss here shouldn't be growing so lushly and damply.

Lu Mingfei stood on a huge rock by the lake.

In his memory, there shouldn't be any rocks here. When the alarm sounds, the lake water will churn and spread out to both sides, and the huge steel gates will rise amidst a deafening roar of machinery, launching EVA missiles tens of meters high through the launch silos.

He slowly squatted down, placing his palms on the cold rock surface.

Rough. Blunt. No camouflage armor, no cooling hum from the underground city.

His fingers gripped the edge of the rock tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands. He waited, gripping the stone, for that damned alarm to sound. For the lake to be torn apart, for the flashing cross-shaped beam of light to slice through the night sky. But the wind was calm, not even a bird was disturbed.

-----------------

"Patient's heart rate exceeds 200! Administer sedative!"

"His neuronal synapses are still firing abnormally; his brain thinks he's being dismembered!"

When Unit-03 was dismantled, the neural connection was not immediately severed. Every bite of Unit-01, every twist of the armor, and the desperate, crushing feeling when the insertion plug was violently crushed were all 100% synchronized with his brain.

He felt as if his neck had been broken and his spine had been pulled out. He lay in bed, but felt like a pile of rotten flesh.

However, when he finally struggled to open his eyes from the excruciating pain, he was not greeted with comfort.

A heavy metal ring now encircled his neck.

DSS (Deification Shutdown System) is a deified forced shutdown system.

"He was parasitized by an Angel. Although he hasn't shown any signs of mutation yet, MAGI's calculations indicate he could become a new threat at any time." Outside the ward, Gendo Ikari's voice was as cold as iron. "The collar must not be removed. If he shows any abnormalities, or attempts to escape NERV headquarters... detonate it immediately."

Upon detonation, the high explosive and micro-bone pulses would instantly sever his cervical vertebrae, blowing his head off like a rotten watermelon.

The world no longer trusts him.

That old madman, Gendo Ikari, wouldn't even waste time looking at him.

Miri visited him once; the woman who was always so bold and magnanimous stood by his bedside, her eyes darting away.

Rei Ayanami remained expressionless, silently changing the pillowcase soaked with cold sweat for him.

Shinji has disappeared.

He watched as he crushed Unit-03, his mind completely collapsed, and he went berserk in Unit-01 at the base before disappearing without a trace.

Everyone was crushed by this tragedy.

Lu Mingfei lay on the hospital bed, watching the red sunset outside the window. He dared not even breathe heavily, afraid that the DSS collar around his neck would misinterpret his muscle contractions. He felt like a dead dog tied to an explosive device, thrown to the side of the road, where anyone could kick him.

"What kind of pathetic sight is this?!" Asuka grabbed Lu Mingfei by the collar, dragged him off the bed, and forced him to look her in the eye. "What kind of useless tears are these?!"

Lu Mingfei's lips trembled: "I...I have a bomb on my neck...I'm in pain...Asuka, I don't want to be shattered again..."

Seeing the boy's face break down in tears, Asuka's grip on his collar loosened slightly, but then tightened again. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she gritted her teeth, enunciating each word clearly:

"As long as I'm alive, this tattered collar won't blow up your head! So—"

"Get rid of that pathetic, pathetic look!"

-----------------

"Lu Mingfei! Stop looking like that pathetic loser!"

Lu Mingfei's body jolted, and he opened his eyes. Upon seeing the person in front of him, his pupils instantly contracted.

Nono appeared in front of him at some point, grabbed Lu Mingfei by the collar of his T-shirt, and forcefully pulled him off the rock.

The boy before me had become an overloaded machine, his gaze drifting into the air.

"Wake up! Look at me!"

Nono grabbed his chin with her other hand and forcibly turned his face, which was soaked in cold sweat, toward her.

The moonlight shone on Nuonuo's delicate and cool face.

She wasn't Asuka. Her eyes were amber, not sea blue; she carried a faint Bulgari scent, not the LCL lingering in the cockpit.

"I'll show you what I'm made of!" Nono leaned forward, her voice laced with undeniable ferocity.

Not her.

He suddenly lost his strength and let out a dead laugh from his throat.

This is real; there's nothing left.

"What's wrong with you?" Nono disgustedly let go of him, letting him slump back down. "Coming here in the middle of the night to touch stones and sigh, are you possessed?"

"No." He turned around, his back to Nono, facing the dark Lake Ashi.

If there is really no EVA in this world, and no trace of any Angels, then what is the anomaly in my body?

Lu Mingfei slowly closed his eyes.

He tried to recall the feeling of the A10 neuron synchronizing with the body inside the insertion plug of Unit 3.

"Expand."

On the dark lakeside, a low-frequency vibration, as if tearing away space itself, suddenly rang out in the air.

Lu Mingfei took a step forward, and the moment his shoe touched the lake surface, a golden hexagonal light screen unfolded from where he landed.

Ripples danced on the soles of his shoes as he stood casually on the lake.