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

“What we deem worthless may be priceless to others,” Ritsuko Akagi sighed. What was there? The remnants of the evil god's power. There was a shattered EVA here. No one knew exactly how much was left, because all the observation equipment nearby was torn to shreds in the battle between the two EVA Titans. So what happened was known only to those at NERV headquarters. Even the Babem Foundation, who had been staring wide-eyed, couldn't see what had happened due to the chaotic environment.

Therefore, the only way to investigate what exactly happened, and even the condition of Unit 3, is to come to the site. That's why the Babem Foundation spent so much money on them – it's all for this data and the possible wreckage of Unit 3.

"They came really fast!" Misato Katsuragi sipped her almost empty drink, making a "glug glug" sound. Just then, she heard the sound of propeller blades coming from afar, and the three of them, who were talking about the situation, looked up in that direction.

"The U.S. military's Osprey. It seems the Babem family arrived faster than we expected!" The engineering director took out his binoculars from his pocket, glanced at the scene briefly, and frowned. The other side had sent Ospreys, but only Ospreys. Although Ospreys can carry things, they are not proper heavy-duty helicopters, so it's really hard to say what's on them.

"Shigeru, contact them and ask what their purpose is. We might be in trouble." Misato Katsuragi glanced around. The entire NERV facility was destroyed; nothing was operational. The only machinery present was some excavating equipment. None of the NERV personnel had any weapons. In this situation, if any unexpected events occurred... Misato Katsuragi glanced at the small pistol at her waist. Useless!

Misato Katsuragi had heard Shinji Ikari talk about them before. The Babem Foundation's infamous private soldiers... just like the ones before her, wearing helmets very similar to those of WWII German soldiers, carrying general-purpose machine guns, grenade launchers, and flamethrowers. Their heavy black body armor had only a dark red Babem Foundation emblem painted on their chests; just one look at them exuded a murderous aura.

"This really is the worst possible outcome!" Misato Katsuragi's face fell instantly, and she turned to Ritsuko Akagi beside her, "Do you have any good suggestions?"

"What else can we do but take their plane and leave empty-handed?"

"Even though they paid, it was still disgusting!"

Chapter 311 How could it be her? !

"Oh! I didn't expect there to be a McDonald's here..." Helena Babem was clearly taken aback when she stepped off the Osprey helicopter and saw a McDonald's food truck that looked out of place with the sausages. Then she saw Sadao Maou leaning out to hand the food to the engineering staff and immediately realized that this guy had come on a whim.

Helena turned around and said a few words to the person behind her. This person quickly walked over and joined the end of the McDonald's queue. He was obviously going to contribute to the sales team as a sign of respect. However, since McDonald's could still be bought here, probably no one would complain.

"You guys came really fast." Ritsuko Akagi shrugged. It wasn't surprising that they were quick, but what was surprising was that they were able to complete the dispatch so quickly.

"We've been keeping a close eye on it. We originally wanted to be the first to congratulate you on the successful launch of the experiment. You see, we even brought gifts, but now it seems we can only offer them as a token of our appreciation." Helena's emotional intelligence is indeed unmatched by many. Although she can be ruthless in her actions, her words are undeniably comforting to many.

Moreover, Helena wasn't just making empty promises. The Babem family's private soldiers behind her were constantly unloading the supplies from the Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. When they were opened, there were indeed some food and drinks inside. However, judging from the tents and bedding inside, it would be more appropriate to call them relief supplies rather than supplies.

There's no need to hide the current state of disarray at NERV's Matsushiro test site. Given the large number of things to be dealt with, the most important thing is to repair Unit-01's waist injury as soon as possible to prevent it from being found unprepared for its next sortie.

Therefore, the most basic emotional intelligence is to see through things but not say anything...

"Thanks." Ritsuko Akagi and Misato Katsuragi exchanged a glance. Ritsuko Akagi indicated that she had already stated her opinion, so Misato Katsuragi went straight to the point, "I'll leave this trouble to you. I believe you've already received the instructions from NERV headquarters, right?"

“That’s right!” Helena reached out, and a man in a suit next to her took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Misato Katsuragi. “This is an order signed by Commander Gendo Ikari. It should meet your requirements.”

“…” Misato Katsuragi glanced at it briefly. The content was short and could be summarized as roughly the same situation she and Ritsuko Akagi had discussed: “From now on, all activities at the NERV Matsushiro Test Site shall be suspended and the entire site shall be handed over to the United Nations Special Representative, Helena Barbem.”

The Matsushiro test site has been almost completely destroyed. If we're talking about handover, it's just the few observation posts and command modules that have been relatively well protected so far. Obviously, that's what the Babem Foundation wants!

Helena didn't believe anything Ritsuko Akagi had said. They had all witnessed NERV's frantic reinforcement of the Matsushiro Test Site, so they were well aware that NERV possessed all the data on Unit-03's activation and subsequent battle with Unit-01—there was no doubt about that! So, the remaining question was how to extract this data from NERV.

The method used by the Babem Group is very simple and crude, but very effective: throw money at it!

"Here you go!" Ritsuko Akagi handed over a bunch of keys and several electronic cards without hesitation. "We'll leave all the construction machinery behind, which should make things a little easier for you. We left everything else there; we didn't do anything pointless with the hard drive. Please make yourselves at home." Ritsuko Akagi said casually, "Oh, by the way, since your helicopter will be going back empty anyway, could you help us take some of our people back? Also, we might need your help with the hoisting of Unit 1."

"That's not a problem at all." Seeing Ritsuko Akagi's quick agreement, Helena also readily agreed, then smiled and said, "It's just that I brought a gift for Shinji Ikari, but I don't know where he is?"

"Oh, because he overexerted himself in battle and an accident occurred, he returned to NERV ahead of schedule." Ritsuko Akagi laughed. Just as Ryoji Kaji said, after a long period of numerous attempts, the Babem Foundation, which had failed, had set its sights on the strongest and most reliable EVA pilot at present. However, the time when they set their sights on him might be a little earlier, but now it was almost time to reveal their true intentions.

"Really? Then please pass it on. I'll go to Tokyo-3 to talk to him when I have the chance. After all, it's always been a failure for us, and we'd really like to know what the reason is. If there's really a problem with our manufacturing approach, then we can just change it back. If it wasn't an accident..." Helena laughed. At that moment, the person in charge of the Babem Group, who held the most power externally, subtly revealed the tip of her fangs, but it also instantly made the head of the engineering department next to her feel a chill down her spine.

“You should ask Ritsuko instead of Shinji. Shinji is a top student, but he’s not at a level where he can even begin to grasp these things,” Misato Katsuragi said with a smile. “Unless that’s not what you want to ask about.”

“Of course, we’ll have to trouble Dr. Akagi, but Shinji Ikari is the one who directly pilots Unit-01, so we’re quite curious about his judgment on this matter.” Helena maintained her smile. As for her, she didn’t care at all about Misato Katsuragi’s veiled sarcasm. Besides, Misato Katsuragi wasn’t entirely wrong… she did have ulterior motives.

"Well, we'll talk about that later. The things here are yours now, and everything else has been destroyed. Our people will be leaving after we finish eating. Please ask your pilots to wait a moment. Oh, and Maya, ask the manager to prepare a meal for the pilots too; it's on us." Akagi Ritsuko knew they weren't buying it, and turned to leave.

“Then I’ll take my leave!” Helena smiled and walked away, entering the messy command center.

“所以，你说真嗣这家伙现在在干嘛，如果已经跑回去和凉子卿卿我我，我真的会想要揍他！”葛城美里看着海莲娜的背影，一脸无语的说到。

“Probably not…” Ritsuko Akagi shook her head, thinking that Shinji Ikari wasn’t that bored. “But whether he’s meeting with some woman or not is hard to say! This little rascal, sometimes it seems like he has too many female friends.”

"Achoo!" Shinji Ikari sneezed towards the roadside. He was stopped by two policewomen waving flashbangs and was now leaning against the roadside. This sneeze naturally wouldn't cause any great danger.

"Here!" Miyuki pulled a small bag of tissues from her waist pouch and handed it over. "If only I could have stopped you before!" The one who dared to intercept a motorcycle speeding at at least 200 kilometers per hour was naturally no ordinary policewoman. It was Miyuki and Natsumi, who had been assigned to the Special Affairs Division. They had strongly requested and fought for this assignment, after all, they had quite a grudge against Shinji Ikari. It was because of Shinji Ikari that they were forced to work under Ryoko Yakushiji (of course, it doesn't matter that they were having a good time there).

"I'm sorry, I couldn't grant your wish." Shinji Ikari retorted without any politeness.

"But did your motorcycle overturn into the ditch by the roadside? It's such a mess." Miyuki looked around and saw Hayabusa covered in mud, feeling a little sorry for it, of course, for the motorcycle.

“This is much worse than falling into a ditch.” Ryoko Yakushiji walked over and waved her hand, complaining, “Congratulations, but what are you NERV doing? One after another, they’re going out of control. You two have probably wrecked the whole of Matsushiro.”

"You'll lose me if you keep criticizing your partners like that," Shinji Ikari joked. "Since you've already staked out this remote place for me, there must be something unexpected going on?"

“There is some, but you can’t take this information with you. Take a quick look through it.” Ryoko Yakushiji handed a few pages to Shinji Ikari. “Although it was somewhat unexpected, your intuition coincided with mine. Can you tell me how you came up with that?”

“…Hey, the reasoning is simple. There’s always been a legend on Mount Hikami about immortality, and a rather advanced kind of eternal youth.” Shinji Ikari said simply as he quickly read the information on the papers. “And coincidentally, there’s a cult that uses this as a pretext to swindle people, and it has a lot of power to do just that.”

"A very interesting deduction." Yakushiji Ryoko clapped her hands, praising Shinji Ikari's deduction. Shinji Ikari had too many troublesome matters to deal with, so he entrusted the investigation of the large-scale attack on Mount Hikami to the "Exorcist Queen". Compared to searching for small demon world passages and fighting to the death with the scum who controlled these passages, it was just a matter of investigating whether the Eternal Society was involved in the previous large-scale attack on Mount Hikami.

After all, even if a fierce god has a good temper, she is still a fierce god, so an explanation must be given to Kurosawa Aise. Naturally, Kurosawa Aise is unhappy to be confronted like this. In order to appease her, Shinji Ikari felt that he needed to find out the mastermind behind the scenes.

“They did it, but their motives might be different from what you think, and…” Yakushiji Ryoko paused for a moment, “and the people involved might also be different from what you think.”

"Saki Soga?! How could it be her?!"

Chapter 312 The Awakening Princess

Shinji Ikari and Ryoko Yakushiji didn't talk much. They arranged to meet again at McDonald's, a famous restaurant in Tokyo-3, and then Ikari left.

Yes, the most famous restaurant in the Third New Tokyo City is not Fuyumi Mizuhara's restaurant, but a McDonald's that always has a smiling face handing out coupons at the door. After all, for many people, what they eat is not important, but the environment is the most important. Behind the triple silence and soundproofing spell, no one can hear anything except the manager.

Furthermore, with the Totsuki Group's involvement, the McDonald's restaurant in Tokyo-3 has long surpassed the level of a typical McDonald's. Although the dishes seem to be exactly the same, the taste is indeed much better! Calling it a famous restaurant isn't just a random criticism.

"How is Asuka doing..." Upon arriving at the medical department, the staff expertly began conducting a basic physical examination on Shinji Ikari. Shinji casually inquired about Asuka's condition.

"Judging from her physical condition, there are no injuries, no bleeding, and not even any noticeable external symptoms. Her basic condition is good, but... she remains unconscious, so we haven't been able to assess her mental state." The medical team doctor gave a brief explanation, then gestured for Shinji Ikari to get up. "Your data is excellent. I won't keep you here any longer. Asuka's room is next door, but it's full of cameras, so don't do anything strange!"

"Tch, I'm not that kind of bored person." Shinji Ikari was speechless. He had already seen everything he was supposed to, so was this considered looking down on him?

"That's all that matters!" The doctor shrugged as he watched Shinji Ikari walk out the door.

As the isolation door opened, Shinji Ikari stepped into an almost entirely white space. Were it not for the slightly different colors on the screens of a few electronic devices, it would have been somewhat unsettling. Looking at Asuka lying unconscious on the bed, Shinji shook his head, walked over, and first infused his inner energy into her. Finding no response, he then helped Asuka sit up, just like he had with Rei Ayanami before, and they sat back-to-back.

"This guy said he wouldn't cause any trouble..." The doctor, rolling his eyes, saw Shinji Ikari's actions and casually began recording Asuka's various data.

The human body is wondrous; many injuries and illnesses are beyond the reach of current medical technology. However, the injury Asuka suffered is the most mysterious—a mental injury—which renders modern medical methods quite ineffective.

"Phew..." Shinji Ikari suddenly realized that it was really convenient for him to have grasped the mindset of "still water under a clear mirror" at this stage. Asuka's inner world was probably much more troublesome than Rei Ayanami's.

Upon opening his eyes, he was greeted by a cold, snow-covered building. Pale and cold filled the space. Shinji Ikari pushed open the door and twitched his lips. After all, the sight of a woman hanging herself was indeed somewhat horrifying.

"What are you doing here?" A cold voice appeared in the space. Shinji Ikari looked around, but he didn't see anyone. Without a doubt, she was hidden deep within this space.

“Someone was being lazy and wouldn’t get out of bed, so I had to come in and drag you out of bed.” Shinji Ikari dragged a chair over from the side, stood on it, and took the corpse down from the rafters. The heavy corpse was like a psychological shadow, so heavy it was hard to breathe. “But what’s with all of you superfluous guys?”

As soon as Shinji Ikari laid the body down, the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned cold and chilly. The cold air was quite uncomfortable, but for Shinji, who frequented the Ice Chamber Mansion, this chill was nothing at all. He was not afraid of it at all.

So when she looked up, they were all staring at her with cold expressions, but they didn't say a word. Their eyes... no, these guys had no eyes at all. They were blank, confused, and manic... It was obvious that the Nen left over from Unit-03 had finally tainted Asuka's mental world. If it wasn't dealt with, it would really be a big problem.

"I think I understand why you can't wake up." Shinji Ikari shook his head. With these guys around, it would be strange if Asuka, who was already in a depressed state, could recover. He had been careless; he should have performed a purification ritual on Asuka before coming in. But now, these guys, whose minds were already shattered, were struggling here with their remaining consciousness. "Don't care about this world anymore. I'll send you to your next life."

Shinji Ikari clasped his hands together, and holy light began to emanate from his body. He didn't chant any incantations; the invisible currents around him slowly propelled the holy light. Under the illumination of the holy light, the cold room quickly began to recede, and the chaotic energy dissipated under this impact.

This doesn't mean their souls have been annihilated; their souls had already vanished within Unit 3. It's more accurate to say that they were merely echoes of themselves. However, if left unattended, they would eventually take root in Asuka's mental world, which would become extremely troublesome. Therefore, it's best to expel them now.

"It's much brighter now!" Shinji Ikari clasped his hands together, looked around, and the room, which had been gloomy and cold, was indeed much brighter now, at least not as eerie as before. Then, Shinji Ikari simply tidied up the remains on the ground and picked them up.

"What are you doing!" Just as Shinji Ikari was carrying Asuka's mother's body off the ground, Asuka, dressed in her Unit-02 combat suit, suddenly appeared not far away, leaning against the wall, looking at Shinji with a conflicted expression. Asuka didn't know if she was dreaming or somewhere else; she only saw her deepest nightmare, sensed these people with unclear intentions, and finally, Shinji's sudden intrusion made the room, which Asuka didn't particularly like, much brighter.

"Do what you have to do!" Shinji Ikari gave Asuka a smile. Asuka blushed and turned her head away from him. When she turned back, Shinji Ikari had already carried the body out and seemed to have found a good spot near a grove of trees.

Then they went back to the tool shed inside the house, took some tools, dug a simple grave, and put the body inside.

"What's the point..." Asuka looked at Shinji Ikari standing there and said with some doubt. Even in the slightly chaotic dream, Asuka clearly knew that a long time ago, her mother had ended her difficult life in this resolute way.

“It makes sense! Because you haven’t said goodbye to her yet.” Shinji Ikari planted a simple tombstone in the cemetery. “And for you, perhaps your mother is protecting you in a place you never expected?” Shinji Ikari shook his head.

"You really are as good at comforting people as ever." Asuka sat down next to Shinji Ikari. Perhaps because she was in a dream, Asuka was more candid. "You know what? My mother is the person who loves me the most in the world! I can't believe she would just leave me like this. I even feel... she's right here beside me." Asuka looked at her hands, her eyes filled with a look of fear.

As Shinji listened to Asuka speak, he adjusted his posture and sat back-to-back with her. He understood this feeling to some extent. As a wanderer who had traveled through time many times, the word "family" was indeed a bit of a luxury for Shinji.

“Sometimes, I really envy you, you know? The way you can ride your motorcycle so freely with your friends to exorcise spirits from place to place, I really envy you! I can't understand what I want to do at all.” Asuka had a wry smile on her face, seemingly a little uncomfortable with the warmth emanating from behind Shinji Ikari, and she adjusted her posture slightly. “I also envy the relationship between you and Ryoko, and I even envy Yuu... Rei having a friend in class who helps her.”

Perhaps because she was in a dream, Asuka became unusually candid, rambling on and on about all the pressure she had been under, especially her strong resentment at falling from her position as the strongest EVA pilot.

"Hmm... I think I know how to deal with your emotional distress," Shinji Ikari said with a smile. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow!"

"What do you mean, 'pick me up tomorrow'? You've said that so many times, you know? But thank you anyway." Asuka shook her head, which startled Shinji. It seemed that in Asuka's dream, this wasn't the first time she had made such a promise to him. It looked like... she really wanted him to invite her, but what reason could she use this time? Rei Ayanami could at least force an excuse that she was her sister, but Asuka... Mei Isayama had a spare room, and since it was a NERV house anyway, it would be more lively with more people.

Shinji Ikari laughed and said, "As for riding a motorcycle, I'll teach you!"

"Ha..." Asuka laughed, "You always agree so readily, but why can't you remember?"

"This time it will definitely count. Try opening your eyes." Shinji Ikari said with a smile, then reached out and placed his hand on Asuka's shoulder. The holy light on his hand flickered, giving Asuka a warm feeling.

"Okay..." Asuka placed her palm on Shinji Ikari's hand and softly agreed. This guy, she'd been fooled by him again. Oh well, she might as well be fooled one more time.

"Hi! Good morning, Princess~" Shinji Ikari opened his eyes first, and then saw that Asuka, who had been fast asleep, was showing signs of waking up. He smiled, pressed the button to summon the doctor, and then smiled at Asuka.

"Eh!" Asuka, who had just woken up, rubbed her eyes. For some reason, she still felt a little happy. But when she heard Shinji Ikari's voice, a feeling of surprise and shock immediately rushed over her. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Asuka threw everything at Shinji Ikari. "Baka Shinji! Pervert! Who let you into my room! You damn pervert! Spying on me!"

"Hey!" Shinji Ikari was a little confused after being hit, and quickly ran out. "This guy! He really doesn't know anything about gratitude!"

"So our knight saved the princess but was wrongly accused by her?" When Shinji Ikari escaped somewhat disheveled, he found someone already waiting for him. Ryoji Kaji greeted Shinji with a smile and gestured for them to come a few steps. "Hey? Want a drink?"

"Then it can only be something from the vending machine." Shinji Ikari stepped aside to let the doctor and nurse rushing over from next door go in first, before turning to say something to Ryoji Kaji.

However, the first person to push the door open was hit squarely by a pillow, and Asuka's voice came from inside, "You're still doing this!" Then she quickly realized she had hit the wrong person, apologized quietly, and then the door closed and she could no longer hear what was being said inside.

"Let's go, the doctor shouldn't need much time." Shinji Ikari shook his head. To be honest, if he really wanted to keep his promise, then Kaji Ryoji was someone he couldn't avoid. But if the person in front of him objected, Asuka, who was clearly afraid of being alone but pretended to be aloof, would never have a chance to hide with him.

Although SEELE's dissatisfaction with himself had already exploded and everyone had directly started tearing him apart, the person in front of him held the title of Inspector General of the United Nations NERV. To be fair, he was undoubtedly the third most important person in NERV, after Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki, the two commanders-in-chief and deputy commanders-in-chief of NERV.

To be fair, if Asuka were taken away by Shinji Ikari, then in their small area, there would be three NERV EVA pilots living there. It's hard to say how everyone would view that situation. But if Kaji Ryoji can't get past this, then he doesn't need to be thought of anymore.

"You want to take Asuka over? I can help." Kaji Ryoji said with a smile. His observation of Shinji Ikari made him feel that Shinji was a person full of mystery and secrets. He had connected too many resources and forces. SEELE's assassination, or rather attack, had aroused dissatisfaction from all sides. SEELE's forces encountered great obstacles when entering Japan.

Of course, with two big players about to clash head-on, no one can say what will happen next. The collision between the accustomed Babem Group and the eccentric SEELE is something many people are looking forward to.

"Thanks! So, what would you like to talk about?" Shinji Ikari bought two cans of black coffee with coins.

"That's way too much!"

"Asuka still has some time before she can be discharged from the hospital."

"Row!"

Chapter 313 Isayama Mei's Dissatisfaction

“Sure!” Mei Isayama nodded readily, clearly in a good mood. Mei Isayama, who was cleaning the garden with Emi Yusa, nodded in agreement after hearing Shinji Ikari’s idea.

"Uh... so easy to talk to?" Shinji Ikari was completely bewildered. After all, given Mei Isayama's personality, in matters that weren't really her concern, according to her past habits, she would at least ask Shinji for something in return, even if she didn't complain. But today she agreed so readily, and Shinji almost instinctively felt that Mei Isayama was waiting for him somewhere. Don't be surprised, it's all from painful lessons. "This is truly an unexpected situation."

"Have you forgotten that this place originally belonged to NERV, and even the houses next door and the houses next to those are NERV's. So she's just staying in NERV's house. What reason do I have to refuse her?" Mei Isayama looked at Shinji Ikari with a look that said, "Are you out of your mind?"

“NERV has bought so many houses… No wonder it seems like a lot of my colleagues live here lately.” Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes. Although Tokyo-3 is quite large, this area is on the edge of the city and is not very prosperous. If it weren’t for Mei Isayama’s shady business here, the whole neighborhood would be dark after eight o’clock. Even the Wangan Highway area is much more lively than this area.

"Hmph! It's only because Asuka is a decent girl that I'll kill anyone else!" After saying this, Mei Isayama stretched out her increasingly fair and delicate hand and gestured towards Shinji Ikari. "Of course, you get paid."

“Hey…” Shinji Ikari suddenly laughed. This was the Mei Isayama he knew. His previous understanding was just an illusion. “I’ll give it to you later.”

"No need. The profits from the Dark Tournament have already started to arrive. I'll take your share, and you can take Misaki and your sister's shares yourself." Mei Isayama ruthlessly pocketed a large sum of money from Shinji Ikari.

"You bastard, that money could probably keep you living until 2099." Shinji Ikari was somewhat speechless. The enormous wealth of Orochi had just been barely distributed evenly, and although Shinji had only received a tiny share, it was still in the hundreds of millions of yen. Now that Mei Isayama had his eye on that money, Shinji was left feeling rather exasperated.

"Give me a straight answer!" Mei Isayama knew that Shinji Ikari wasn't that concerned about money anymore. After all, even the money he had stolen from the yakuza was enough for Shinji to live a carefree life for the rest of his days. As for increasing his strength, well, with the entire Totsuki Culinary Group supporting him, he had no fear of insufficient resources!

Even without his sister's existence, and even if the Totsuki Group didn't provide him with the support he has now on such a large scale, his girlfriend Ryoko Sakaki's current business empire, with its popular brands of alcohol and chocolate, would certainly not be unable to support him.

Thinking of this, Mei Isayama glared at Shinji Ikari with annoyance. How come such a beautiful woman like herself couldn't find a single young, rich, and handsome man interested in her, while this guy had a sister, a girlfriend, and a fierce-looking fiancée? He was living off women like crazy! "The gigolo prince!"

"Pfft!" Yusa Emi, standing nearby, couldn't help but laugh. Even though she was currently drawing holy light from Shinji Ikari to replenish her own holy energy, she couldn't help but exclaim, "That was a brilliant retort!"

"Tsk! That's enough!" Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time Isayama Mei had felt envious and jealous. Shinji knew very well that Isayama Mei envied his situation, but if you asked her to actually date a rich man, she would gag twice, draw her naginata, and ask herself if her brain needed a major buff. "Alright, consider the money a loan. Pay it back when you have extra. But I do have a rather wicked idea."

“Speak!” Mei Isayama answered with unusual decisiveness. Shinji Ikari would come up with some ideas that sounded absurd at this time, but in terms of execution, most of them were quite good. Izumo no Okuni knew this all too well!

"What did you think of the hot spring inn we stayed at before?" Shinji Ikari asked with a smile, referring naturally to the one in Hikariyama not long ago.

"Holy crap... what a horrible place!" Mei Isayama was immediately shocked. What kind of terrible idea was this? That hot spring inn had been soaked by the night spring water for so long; it really was a haunted place! "Why don't you just suggest that I open the dojo at the Himuro mansion!"

"Do you dare? If you dare, I'll ask my sister for you. As long as you cover the hygiene and three meals a day, my sister shouldn't mind." Shinji Ikari said with a smile, "The Onmyo-ryo are stationed there permanently. Recently, several of those shrine maidens have reached the edge of B-rank. You've seen it yourself. They're the main force going to Mount Hikami this time."

"Now that you mention it, it does seem to make sense." Isayama Mei thought about it carefully. Right now, Mount Hikami is a hot potato that no one dares to take. If he were to take this place, he could not only get the hot spring hotel, but also a large area of ​​land. The cost price of this land would basically be free.

Moreover, I've stayed at that hot spring hotel myself. Although it looks abandoned and somewhat dilapidated, and it's been soaked in the night spring, the main structure is basically intact. It only needs a little reinforcement, which saves a lot of money. Next, I just need to replace some facilities. And once I've completed the renovation, the first batch of tenants will come without even asking. Compared to sleeping in the open on the mountain, isn't this ready-made hotel much better than a tent? All I need to do is recruit a group of brave staff to get the hotel running again.

As for opening his own sect, this is a very good choice. Putting aside everything else, who has the final say at Mount Hikami? The Japanese government certainly doesn't have the final say, and while the relationship between Kurosawa Aise and Ikari Shinji is somewhat strange, it should at least be considered good! So, wouldn't it be more effective to train his future disciples with half the effort?

Thinking this, Mei Isayama looked at Shinji Ikari with a strange expression. This was indeed a good choice, the only problem was... "But wouldn't I become your fiancée's doorman?!"

"Although, in the end, you're the one who benefits." Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes at the person in front of him. Because of something Shinji didn't understand, Kurosawa Aise's methods had become much more ruthless, but he didn't show the signs of his consciousness almost collapsing as Shinji remembered. On the contrary, he was very cheerful and even asked Ryoko Sakaki to get him a cell phone. Yesterday, he even sent Shinji a message that sent a chill down his spine.