Shinji Ikari, the pilot of Unit-01 during the Spirit Awakening Era

"LCL ionization has begun, and the pressure is normal."

"Asuka, how are you feeling?"

"Hmm? It feels alright?" Asuka smiled. Unlike in the movie "Rebuild of Evangelion," where she helped Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami, she was now being threatened by Shinji Ikari. Coupled with SEELE's attack on Shinji Ikari earlier, she felt that this Unit-03 was more like a monster than a flood.

"Really? Then it seems you guessed wrong, Shinji?" Misato Katsuragi said with a smile in the command module. After all, for them, the best-case scenario was to complete the test smoothly and send Unit 3 away directly. Any trouble that followed would be the responsibility of the American branch.

"No...it's here!" As soon as Shinji Ikari opened his eyes, Yui Ikari, who was chatting happily with Kirie Himuro behind him, suddenly froze for a moment, then quickly apologized and disappeared.

"Hmm?" Asuka could naturally hear Shinji Ikari's voice. Although she didn't know how Shinji knew something was coming, she heard a strange laugh and then saw that the video area under her feet had a large black screen, as if the display system was broken.

Perhaps because she had spent so much time with Shinji Ikari, Asuka had gained a good understanding of all sorts of strange things. Without any hesitation or panic, Asuka pulled a handle between her legs, and the protective armor plating on Unit-03 was blown off, revealing the blue mycelium that was spreading wildly underneath.

Asuka's actions bought her a tiny bit of time, but only a tiny bit! The insertion plug popped out, but even after the insertion plug had popped out a section, the mycelium-like apostle tissue still wrapped around it.

"Shinji Ikari was right after all... SEELE really has a clever way of doing things." Ritsuko Akagi sighed. Shinji Ikari used the fact that he was attacked to shift all the blame onto them. Anyway, SEELE can't defend themselves now, and their recent series of conflicts with TERRA, or rather the Babem Foundation, seems to give them ample reason to do so.

No matter how you look at it, Unit 3 and Unit 4 both belong to the American branch and, in a sense, are both under the control of the Babem Foundation. These two big shots, each with their own ulterior motives, obviously can't stand to see the other do well. Since you've interfered, I'll sabotage you in return.

Therefore, the situation surrounding Unit-03 is a complete mess, and even if SEELE tries to refute it, Babem simply won't believe her. The attack on Shinji Ikari adds a fatal twist to this whole affair. To ensure Unit-03 completely fails during its activation test and utterly destroys the Babem Foundation's chance to acquire EVA, it's essential to eliminate NERV headquarters' strongest trump card!

Under such circumstances, no matter what NERV headquarters does to Unit 3, the Babem Foundation could completely ignore it.

SO~

"Maya, No. 7, No. 9, detonate!" Ritsuko Akagi winked at Maya Ibuki. Having lost interest in messing around with Gendo Ikari, Ritsuko Akagi was now fully committed to another project. As if she had been freed from constraints, she began to cause trouble in a reckless manner.

"Hi...hi!" Ibuki Maya turned her head quickly as if she had been stung, and typed out a series of commands on the keyboard. Then, a series of small explosions occurred immediately, directly destroying a lot of equipment on Unit-03.

At her command, a large ring of explosives specially attached to Unit 3 detonated near the insertion plug of Unit 3. On these few C4 explosives, a large number of small steel balls (heavy locomotive bearing steel balls temporarily purchased from Long Er Motor Vehicle Shop) attached by the angry engineering department gushed out under the force of the explosive explosion, tearing the tissue to shreds!

"This is really reckless!" Inside the insertion plug, she felt the vibrations of explosions coming from outside, followed by a frantic barrage of impacts. The entire insertion plug was now plunged into complete darkness due to the disconnection of the external system. However, Asuka knew very well that she had very little time left. If the ejection failed, the outcome she would face would be dire.

However, Asuka was somewhat uncertain inside. Although she appeared proud, she wasn't actually that strong. So, she sometimes wondered what it would have been like if she had met Shinji Ikari when he was still single...

Asuka felt this way for a very simple reason: despite all the preparations made by the engineering and technical departments, the insertion plug of Unit 3, where she was located, still failed to detach successfully...

"AT field detected! Explosion... but it was stopped." Ibuki Maya's expression was quite shocked.

“Type Blue!” Makoto Hyuga quickly reported based on the data obtained from the on-site testing instruments, given Shinji Ikari's previous experience.

"The explosion was completely contained, and the insertion plug failed to disengage!" Aoki Shigeru's tone was slightly disappointed. While Shinji Ikari was training underground, the engineering department had done its best to install and modify the equipment, but it turned out to be completely useless.

However, this is not surprising at all. After all, Shinji Ikari could not say it outright, and everyone thought that there were many possibilities for the tricks that SEELE might pull. No one expected that it would directly turn into an Angel!

The rapidly growing blue mycelium on the destroyed insertion plug protective armor of Unit-03 now unequivocally proves one thing: the speculation about Unit-04 has become a reality! Unit-03, an EVA developed to annihilate the Angels, has now placed itself on the opposite side of humanity!

"This is really a headache. Now we can only wait and see how Shinji performs!" Ritsuko Akagi's eyes flickered as she quickly pressed buttons, causing a series of armor plates to rise and cover their command post.

Because Shinji Ikari's guesses became increasingly absurd, and the engineering department was indeed going all out to wash away their shame, they built a semi-buried underground command center for themselves in a short period of time. If they had enough time, they would obviously have added the necessary NBC protection system, but time did not allow it.

Of course, Asuka wasn't thinking about anything at the moment. The Babem Foundation and its American branch were clearly hiding something. Although their activation tests were mainly conducted on Unit-04, Unit-03 also underwent some activation tests as well...

So Asuka heard those annoying laughs again, but this time there were also roars and curses mixed in with the laughter. Countless sounds began to flood her head, but the target of the curses was not Asuka, nor EVA, but Babem. Even so, the chaotic noises made Asuka's head spin! Her consciousness quickly became blurred.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but in Asuka's remaining consciousness, she suddenly felt a tightness all over her body. The LCL liquid in the cockpit suddenly flowed and shook violently. Asuka was almost thrown directly from her seat. Then, a beam of light suddenly shone into the dark cockpit.

"Baka Shinji..." The weakened Asuka looked at the large face of Unit-01 exposed through the breach with a look of regret, then her head tilted to the side and she fainted.

"Hey!" Shinji Ikari chuckled, then stomped his foot and kicked Unit-03 away. "Requesting a change to Unit-03's markings. This thing is clearly no longer an EVA." As he spoke, Shinji, still holding Unit-03's insertion plug, leaped backward, simultaneously pressing the plug into the edge of a nearby hill.

"Permission granted! Unit-03 will be registered as an Angel." Before Misato Katsuragi could say anything, Gendo Ikari suddenly said this at NERV headquarters, which surprised everyone. After all, this might be the first time Gendo Ikari had agreed to a proposal made by Shinji Ikari.

The moment Shinji Ikari opened his eyes and said "Here I am," Unit-01, piloted by Shinji Ikari, flipped and sprang up. In its serene state, Unit-01 made no unnecessary movements and immediately began to sprint at extremely high speed! At this time, Unit-03 was still restrained by the restraints and had not completely broken free of its restraints!

Shinji Ikari knew very well that his time was extremely limited. He had to retrieve Asuka's cockpit before Unit-03 broke free of its restraints and triggered a massive explosion that would level the Matsushiro Test Site.

However, something somewhat unexpected happened to Shinji Ikari. Unit-01, being tall and long-legged, quickly reached Unit-03. The battle line in front of Shinji was Unit-03, which was frantically twisting and turning on its restraints. Clearly, although it had successfully become an Angel, as an Angel, Unit-03 was still in a state of chaos. Even SEELE probably didn't expect that the lingering echoes of the Babem Foundation's inhuman experiments would plunge Unit-03 into chaos.

Shinji Ikari naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. He seized the moment and used the high temperature of his Blazing Finger to tear apart the blue tissue attached to the insertion plug, then yanked the insertion plug out.

"Crack!" Although Unit-03, which had been kicked a distance by Shinji Ikari, stumbled, it quickly stood up. This time, Shinji immediately felt immense pressure, which was inconsistent with his true feelings.

It seems that after being stimulated by external forces, Unit-03 suddenly stopped its chaos and instead became controlled by rage and aggression, which surprised Shinji Ikari quite a bit, even though there was a huge difference in the combat power of Unit-03 in the TV anime version and the movie Rebuild of Evangelion.

In the TV version, it at least easily defeated Unit-00 and Unit-02, who were preparing to ambush it on the way, showing some strength. However, in the movie, these two rather clumsy ambushes were absent. Instead, Unit-01 directly used the Puppet System to defeat it, literally strangling it upon first touch. The rest of the movie was just Unit-01 eating its fill. It was so weak that it was comparable to the Seventh Angel, who served as a stepping stone for Unit-02's appearance. It can be said that it had no value other than serving to torment Asuka.

But suddenly, Shinji felt something very strange about this place. How to put it, even though this guy is crazy, this enemy is worth fighting!

"The echo of the soul?" Seeing his opponent squatting on the ground in a very strange posture, with his mouth wide open and crimson mist seemingly spewing from his scarlet steel braces, Shinji Ikari assumed the starting stance of the Invincible East style, ready to engage in battle.

"Roar!" Unit-03 roared as it rose, and a powerful wind pressure instantly erupted around it, blowing everything around it away in the turbulent air. Taking advantage of the wind, Unit-03 leaped into the air like a giant ape, and slammed its fists down hard at Shinji Ikari!

"AT field flipped, unknown force field index rose rapidly! What's going on?!" It wasn't just Ritsuko Akagi who was surprised.

"Huh? It actually has a method?" Unlike the anxious Misato Katsuragi and the others, Shinji Ikari didn't see Unit-03 pouncing like a wild beast. In martial arts, many techniques and styles have the shadow of animal learning, which is not surprising. And this time, Shinji Ikari really felt that shadow.

"Thump!" The moment the heavy punch landed, Shinji Ikari realized that he hadn't guessed wrong! Unit-03 had actually successfully used... Technique, just like his own Unit-01!

"Interesting!" Instead of retreating, Shinji Ikari's Unit-01 advanced, trying to get close to Unit-03, whose punch had missed. The crimson Flame Finger was already poised to strike, heading straight for the opponent's chest.

"Roar!" Unit-03 wasn't flustered at all. It charged straight in, delivering a headbutt to Unit-01's head! The two EVAs' heads collided violently, breaking off the tip of Unit-01's head. Then, a powerful fist slammed into Unit-03's chin, sending it flying several steps.

"Pah... This kind of nonsense is really troublesome." Shinji Ikari looked at Unit-03, who, after regaining its footing, immediately roared and threatened him, and a smirk appeared on his lips. "But I hope you can let me have a good beating!"

"Roar!"

Chapter 309 The Ultimate Secret of the Himuro Style!

Unit-01 delivered a powerful punch that sent Unit-03 flying into the air, sending several of its steel teeth flying through the air. However, as Unit-03 crashed to the ground, it didn't lie still. Instead, it leaped backward, dodging Shinji Ikari's follow-up punch. Instead, it swung an iron elbow at Unit-01's face, but was immediately kicked in the waist by Unit-01, crashing into a nearby mountain.

Because they couldn't create any distance, and the attacks were so rapid that it was all about punches landing in a physical manner, Shinji Ikari even felt that his opponent might have similar thoughts to his own, wanting to temporarily suppress him before charging up a powerful blow to end the battle.

This feeling left Shinji Ikari speechless. It seemed that the experiments conducted by the Babem Foundation were not entirely negative. He just didn't know what he had done to trigger this thing, which made Unit-03 seem to have a self-awareness and be able to use the skills of the pilots who might have been absorbed by Unit-03.

but!

"The Invincible East Style is not something to be taken lightly!" Shinji Ikari suddenly unleashed a series of punches from both sides. Since the targets didn't seem to be vital points, Unit-03 chose to take the blows head-on, hoping to create an opportunity to deliver a knee strike to Unit-01. However, before it could even lift its leg, the internal energy that erupted within it caused it to spit out a mouthful of blood. The blood was a different color from EVA's usual blood, a deep blue or even inky blue. Unit-03 staggered back a few steps.

A power transformer built by the engineering department was trampled and destroyed, and the overloaded power immediately caused an explosion, seemingly affecting the power supply of Unit-01. However, thanks to Ritsuko Akagi's coordination, the command center managed to maintain Unit-01's power supply after a flurry of activity, preventing Shinji Ikari from facing another power outage.

At this point, Shinji Ikari couldn't care less about that. As time went on, Unit-03 was clearly becoming more and more agile, indicating that it was about to master combat techniques after its unexpected awakening. So, instead of choosing powerful but time-consuming techniques, Shinji unleashed a palm strike, his Blazing Finger piercing directly into its shoulder blade and ripping it outwards, severing one of its arms amidst Unit-03's mournful cry.

It's unclear whether the intense pain overwhelmed Unit-03's rationality, but its bestial instincts returned, and Unit-03 roared as it rammed into her, lifting Unit-01 up. At the same time, it opened its blood-red maw and bit into a large section of the armor plate on Unit-01's left side. The armor plate, which was clearly not designed to withstand this type of attack, was torn apart by the bite.

"Hiss!" Feeling the pain in his waist, "It hurts much more than when Ryoko hit me!" Shinji Ikari frowned and his mind moved. He pressed his left hand on his head, raised his right hand to his waist, and with a burst of power, threw Unit-03 far away. He then jumped up and unleashed a barrage of kicks. Unit-03 was hit by all of them in mid-air, as if it were being hammered like an iron hammer!

"What...what is this..." Ritsuko Akagi frowned. How could someone be so ill-mannered! Is this something you can just say on the communication channel?

Unit-03, which had been kicked far away, tumbled in the air, landing on all fours and sliding a long distance across the soft, wet field. The moment it landed, an arm grew out of its charred, severed body and roared at Unit-01, clearly provoking it. Then, with a flick of its wrist, the arm suddenly extended and swung towards Unit-01.

"Super-fast regeneration?!" Ritsuko Akagi frowned, but quickly relaxed.

"How dare you fight like this!" Unit-01 raised its hand without hesitation and caught the opponent's claw, immediately causing Unit-03 to cry out in pain. The Explosive Flame Finger had not dissipated, and the crimson palm directly grabbed Unit-03's palm. At that moment, Shinji Ikari didn't know why, but he felt like pouring some cumin or Thirteen Spices on Unit-03's palm.

"Ouch!" It is said that the ten fingers are connected to the heart, and it seems that the Angels are no exception. Unit-03, whose hand was held by Shinji Ikari, let out a mournful cry, and you could really hear the heart-wrenching pain in it. But then it was aroused with even greater ferocity! It rushed madly towards Unit-01.

"He's really a maddening guy." Shinji Ikari tossed his hand. "Ritsuko-nee, do you want him alive?"

“Asuka has already been recovered. Do you think we can keep it while Babem is holding it back?” Ritsuko Akagi scoffed. Although she was indeed very interested in what Unit-03 had shown, it was clear that the Babem Foundation was keeping a close eye on this place. How could NERV headquarters possibly hold Unit-03 back?

"Then I won't stand on ceremony!" Shinji Ikari gritted his teeth and pushed the control lever hard, completely unaware that Himuro Kirie behind him hadn't left, but was watching Shinji's every move, even occasionally glancing around. She clearly had a different understanding of the environment, and judging from her increasingly furrowed brows, what she had discovered was obviously not a good feeling.

Meanwhile, under Shinji Ikari's control, Unit-01 took a step back, dodging the opponent's kick, pulled on the arm, grabbed the opponent's neck, slammed him to the ground, and started running wildly!

As Unit-01 charged forward at full speed, Unit-03, pinned to the ground, plowed a massive trench in the earth. If there had been an overhead view at this moment, one would have witnessed an exceptionally spectacular scene. During this process, Shinji Ikari began to mobilize his Holy Light Aura. As Shinji's flames rose, light particles began to emanate from Unit-01's body, accelerating its sprint. A few seconds later, a shockwave erupted behind the charging Unit-01, followed by a spray of mud.

Of course, unnoticed by Shinji Ikari, Himuro Kirie subconsciously reached out and flipped her palms back and forth, making a gesture as if she were roasting her hands. The holy light emanating from her also wrapped around her fingers, and the warm feeling made Himuro Kirie's face bloom with a slight smile. Shinji Ikari did not notice this.

Unit 3, which was being held in someone's hand, did try to struggle, but it was clear that such an attempt was pointless! The rocks, mud, houses, and vehicles it crashed through along the way were already enough to give it a hard time.

"Thump!" Unit-03, which had been dragged along by Unit-01, finally slammed into its original restraints. The already deformed steel was now completely wrapped around its body. Although this was just a minor problem for Unit-03, which had become an Angel, the real problem was that it was now entangled by this minor problem!

"Crack!" The mask of Unit-01 was also broken off at this moment. Under the steel mask, it roared to the sky. Intense holy light quickly swirled around it, and the entire Unit-01 seemed to be plated with a layer of gold. The reinforced concrete base of Unit-03 beneath it also suddenly exploded for some unknown reason.

"This is... going berserk?" Misato Katsuragi said hesitantly. The Evangelion Unit-01 in front of her seemed to have a completely different, more aggressive and ferocious appearance than the one she had shown at the Dark Tournament.

"Style! The Ultimate Technique of Invincible East!" Shinji Ikari closed his eyes, retracted his left hand, extended his right hand forward in a grasping motion, and firmly planted his legs in a horse stance. The intense power surge caused the ground to crack further. The explosive airflow swept out in all directions.

"Oh! Is this Shinji Ikari's true ultimate technique?" Makoto Hyuga excitedly pushed up his glasses, completely unaware that the steel plate on top of the command vehicle was being smashed with loud bangs, and everyone was casting disapproving glances at him.

As Unit-01 brought its hands to its waist, the powerful energy was rapidly compressed, and the rapidly rotating energy quickly took shape, forming a shimmering golden energy sphere.

"The energy index is rising rapidly, even higher than the energy wave released during the last battle with the Thunder Angel!" Shigeru Aoki looked at the rapidly increasing degree on the screen, his tone carrying a hint of joy.

"Hey... Notify the medical team! Get ready..." Ritsuko Akagi sighed, feeling a wave of cold water wash over her. This guy was going to show off again. So far, the most serious injury he had suffered while piloting Unit-01 was because of his own overconfidence! Although her own quantified indicators didn't seem very reliable, they could still serve as a reference. Shinji Ikari's index wasn't low to begin with, but for some reason, it had been steadily decreasing since the start of the battle.

"Stone!..." The roar was already in his throat, but at that moment, Shinji Ikari suddenly felt a sweet taste in his throat. His aura, nearing its peak, suddenly weakened, and Unit-01's left leg slipped slightly. Shinji was puzzled. He had been meditating for so long; he should have been able to unleash this attack by now. Why had he suddenly faltered?! The energy ball in his hand suddenly became difficult to control.

Himuro Kirie, standing behind him, was taken aback and awkwardly hid her hands. However, she quickly reacted, and the Divine Mirror slowly rose and hovered in front of him. "Please allow me to lend Shinji a hand," Himuro Kirie murmured softly. If it were just Shinji alone, it wouldn't matter; after all, it wasn't the first time she had tricked him and cleaned up his messes. But his mother was here.

Shinji Ikari felt a chill run down his spine. Huh? What's going on? Kirie, what are you doing?

There was no reply, but Himuro Kirie sensed something, and in the next instant, she pointed forward with a finger. The dazzling golden light on the entire Evangelion Unit-01 instantly dissipated, and a chilling, pale aura burst forth from the unit.

"Beep beep beep..." All the alarms inside the command vehicle went off simultaneously.

"Unit-01 is being corrupted... Hmm? No, it seems like Unit-01 is actively cooperating..." Maya Ibuki was stunned. When the alarm sounded, she thought that Unit-01 and Unit-03 had been in contact for too long and had also been corrupted by the Angels, but now it seemed that was not the case at all! Unit-01 in front of her was experiencing something they had no idea about.

"What else could it be!" Ritsuko Akagi pulled out a Pocky-style chocolate bar that Shinji Ikari had made himself from the jar in front of her. These things are not difficult to make at all. To put it simply, you just make some stick-shaped cookies and then coat them evenly with a layer of chocolate. The finished product made by Shinji Ikari tastes quite good, much better than the Pocky you can buy outside. Ritsuko Akagi uses it to replace cigarettes, but she can't eat too much of it.

"The cyclone's energy index has risen even further!" Hyuga Makoto stared at the data in front of him in disbelief. "And even faster than before!"

“But this is how it looks…” Misato Katsuragi looked at the scene on the screen. If Shinji Ikari’s power before was a power that brought hope to people in a righteous way, then Unit-01 now was simply filled with despair and fear!

"Who else could it be? Isn't the answer right there?" Ritsuko Akagi gestured to the scene inside the insertion plug of Unit-01, "The Divine Mirror is right above Shinji Ikari's head."

"I have a feeling... this insertion plug is useless." Misato Katsuragi rolled her eyes at him, completely unable to comprehend such a thing—a fierce goddess, her power appearing in Unit-01?!

“Then why don’t you just scrap the entire Unit-01?” Ritsuko Akagi shook her head, her eyes flickering. “It seems that Himuro Ryu and Shinji Ikari have a deep connection.” Ritsuko Akagi breathed a sigh of relief. Now that Himuro Kirie had made her move, this matter should… well, it’s gotten even worse. Now she has to fight for it even if she doesn’t want to!

"Himuro-ryu!" Shinji Ikari decisively changed his name. Since it was a technique powered by his sister's power, he naturally couldn't call it the "Invincible East Style" anymore. Although the old man probably couldn't travel through time to beat him up, Shinji Ikari himself couldn't afford to lose face. "Final Secret Technique!"

"stone!"

"break!"

"sky!"

"shock!"

"fist!"

As Unit-01 pushed forward, the energy blasts between its palms slammed into Unit-03, which was not far away. The explosion of the energy blasts was silent, except for the sounds of steel bars twisting and breaking as buildings collapsed, and the sounds of various building materials colliding and flying everywhere. Apart from that, the pale white ball of light that erupted engulfed everything!

Looking at the elongated silhouette of Unit-01 on the screen under the bright light, Misato Katsuragi felt for some reason that the greatest gain of the day might not be defeating Unit-03, which had unexpectedly failed to activate and turned into an Angel, but rather everything that was happening right before her eyes... "Ritsuko, should we destroy all the records?"

"Destroy? Why destroy it? Today is the start-up test of Unit 3. If it fails, there will be no record."

Chapter 310 Babem Arrives

"Thank you for digging us out so quickly!" Ritsuko Akagi said with a smile to the construction workers from the engineering department. The entire No. 3 unit activation test site was completely destroyed, especially the final earth-shattering punch, which blasted the original activation test pit apart. The explosion tore apart large amounts of soil, steel bars, cement, and wood, sending them flying into the sky. After the battle ended, these debris covered the surrounding area, including the command post...

Looking around, Ritsuko Akagi was somewhat astonished. Although the destruction of Tokyo-3 had been severe in the previous battles, it had never reached such an exaggerated state! The entire terrain had been completely altered. Apart from a large lake in the distance that was already rippling with water, the entire experimental pit had become a terrifying muddy swamp, with water, mud, broken metal, and ruined buildings covering the ground in a thick layer.

Unit-01 was kneeling on the ground, its insertion plug already activated. There was a small makeshift tent nearby, and a McDonald's food truck that, for some reason, made me happy to see, but also seemed completely out of place in the scene...

“It seems we also have strong support from the businesses in the Third New Tokyo City.” Misato Katsuragi walked towards the food truck without looking back. She was hungry, very hungry! After a tense night, she suddenly relaxed and the hunger suddenly surged up.

The night was filled with anxiety. The location of their command vehicle had indeed been reinforced by the engineering department, but listening to the thumping sound of steel plates being hammered, and the growing darkness, followed by the dripping of water inside, it was impossible not to have some doubts. If the power supply hadn't been guaranteed and the internal air circulation system still in operation, they would have panicked long ago.

"How is the situation now? Where are Shinji's men?" Ritsuko Akagi shook her head. She had finished off her entire jar of homemade Pocky while she was trapped, but she wasn't very hungry now.

"Some of the wreckage of Unit 3 seems to be in the original test pit, but it's buried in a mud pit tens of meters deep. If we really want to dig it out, it will be a huge project. Unit 1 doesn't seem to have much damage according to visual inspection. We're preparing for high-pressure spraying. We'll know the specifics after the spraying ends." After saying that, the head of the engineering department sighed deeply. "The Matsushiro test site is completely finished."

“You’ll understand at a glance, right?” Katsuragi Misato, who had walked back from the side, handed a paper bag to Akagi Ritsuko. “It’s strange that he didn’t raise prices at this time. And how did he even drive his food cart in this road?” Akagi Ritsuko took the bag, picked up a hamburger, and took a bite. It was a special hamburger from the Totsuki Group, a McDonald’s exclusive, and the taste was indeed superb. Plus, she was hungry, so Akagi Ritsuko swallowed the hamburger in a few bites.

"To be honest, without him, how would we have dug you out? He cast a spell that hardened the ground and then accurately pointed out your location. We just dug a small pit and pulled you out." The head of the engineering department said with an expression of admiration. "It was the first time I'd seen such a large-scale spell. It was truly amazing. The soft, wet mud dried up quickly under his spell, and the water was pumped out and drained into the temporary water storage pit. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to bring in large excavators. He even pointed out the location of all the buried people and whether they were alive."

"So, did anyone die?" Misato Katsuragi nodded. The engineering department had made proper preparations beforehand. Judging from the current situation, if the engineering department hadn't done this final, epic reinforcement, the launch test of Unit 3 would probably have ended up like the situation at the American branch! Unit 3 might have gone berserk and immediately started self-destructing, causing countless deaths and injuries.

“Yes, Shinji just went to rest. After he came out of Unit-01, he’s been busy digging with us. He didn’t have to do all that, but he dug up the command vehicle. After that, he called over the excavator next door and then ran back to NERV headquarters. Apparently, he was going to check on Asuka.” The head of the engineering department took out his cigarette and, under Ritsuko Akagi’s sharp gaze, silently tucked it behind his ear. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go get busy. This cleanup alone will probably take a long time.”

“Shinji, that kid, he ran pretty fast, but don’t worry about anything. Someone will probably come to take over soon.” Misato Katsuragi spread her hands. “They’ll rescue everyone, and then someone will take over this mess. Jun said… the Babem Foundation gave us a sum of money that could buy the entire Matsushiro Test Site, and then we’ll hand over everything we left behind to them.”

"Are these people crazy? This damn place was haunted last night! If it weren't for Shinji and the other people from other organizations watching, we would all be dead last night!" the head of the engineering department said irritably.

Because it wasn't Shinji Ikari's power that was ultimately used, Unit-01 only unleashed the Stone-Shattering Fist with the help of Kirie Himuro. Therefore, the Matsushiro Test Site is not only not tainted by the power of the evil god, but it's no joke to say that it's been corrupted by resentment.

The most direct consequence was that this fierce aura, while scaring away the low-level trash, also attracted some higher-level cursed spirits and vengeful spirits, who were tempted and felt that their chance might be right here! So they all came to join in the fun.

However, when the Onmyo-ryo saw the flames on Unit-01 suddenly disappear and turn into an enormous, terrifyingly large object, they basically guessed who had arrived. It seemed that Shinji Ikari had encountered another minor accident, and then Kirie Himuro came to the rescue. However, what they didn't expect was that this time, Kirie Himuro had subtly tricked Shinji Ikari.

Afterwards, Unit-01 was able to successfully unleash the Stone-Shattering Fist because Himuro Kire had already learned the entire Asia-Pacific style from Shinji Ikari and modified it into the Himuro style. Therefore, Himuro Kire could directly use her own power to propel the Stone-Shattering Fist.

Such a thing is simply beyond the imagination of ordinary people, so for them, it's more understandable that Himuro Kirie stepped in to help clean up the mess after Shinji Ikari went too far again. Besides, the fact that Shinji Ikari immediately used the Third New Tokyo City as cannon fodder after digging out the command vehicle also proves the point. Yes, he must have been injured, probably internally, though it's not very visible on the surface.

Therefore, the Onmyōryō, the Countermeasures Bureau, and the Spellcaster Association members present immediately reported the matter and prepared to intercept these things. In addition, some alien beings were able to arrive at the first opportunity last night. They were not too powerful, and Shinji Ikari himself was also present. Basically, they were all killed very smoothly.