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

If the enemy intends to continue their attack, then I, slowly swaying up the mountain in the cable car, would be the perfect target for a sniper rifle. Given my current skill level, it's hard to say whether I could avoid being sniped by the enemy's large-caliber anti-materiel rifle when I was caught off guard.

Therefore, Shinji Ikari decided to be cautious. Besides, he wasn't already exhausted from climbing just two mountains. If he ran at full speed, he might even be faster than taking the cable car. After greeting the two agents from the Countermeasures Bureau, Shinji Ikari started sprinting up the mountain. If the road wasn't still closed to vehicles, Shinji Ikari would have really wanted to ride his bike up. After all, he was carrying quite a lot of stuff, and if he could conserve his energy, there was no need for him to push himself to the limit.

"Hmm~ Shinji-kun, good evening!" As Shinji Ikari landed on the ground from the trees, carrying a backpack, Gojo Satoru, who was eating chashu noodles, greeted him. He had been waiting for Shinji since hearing from the Countermeasures Bureau below that Shinji had run up the mountain on his own. After all, this was the fastest route Shinji could take, running directly up the valley; the waterfall's drop was no obstacle for him. "The Totsuki Culinary Master's midnight noodles are truly amazing."

"You freeloader!" Himuro Mimori shouted, pointing at Gojo Satoru with Kurosawa Aise's Soul-Suppressing Ruler. Clearly, the girl held a deep grudge against Gojo Satoru; it was this Soul-Suppressing Ruler he'd pulled out, and it seemed she was about to suffer a terrible fate! "Today, I'm going to settle this with you! Arara!" With that, she charged forward, brandishing the Soul-Suppressing Ruler.

"Oh! Do! Do! Do! Do!" Gojo Satoru swayed left and right while eating noodles, dodging Himuro Mimori's attacks. He was so relaxed that he didn't even shake the soup in his hand. He even had time to pick up some char siu and feed it to Mimori. To Shinji Ikari's dismay, Mimori actually ate it in one bite!

"Those two have such a good relationship." Ryoko Sakaki came out from inside and handed a bento box to Shinji Ikari. Then she opened Shinji Ikari's backpack. "Besides the things for Oise-nee, you finally remembered to bring the things for me."

As she said this, Ryoko Sakaki pinched Shinji Ikari's waist and then took the whole bag. "Aise-nee! I bought you the things Shinji bought for you!" After kicking Shinji's calf, Ryoko Sakaki left with the backpack, which contained a complete set of mobile phones, tablets, and matching SIM cards and mobile Wi-Fi devices that Shinji had bought. Although these electronic devices usually didn't last long in the hands of the fierce gods, whether or not to prepare a certain amount was a matter of attitude.

"Hmm, it's a bit late, but better than nothing." Kurosawa Aise, who lived on the left side of the second floor and watched Himuro Mimori and Gojo Satoru playing, nodded in satisfaction. She watched as Sakaki Ryoko came up and took some desserts prepared by a little girl, obviously as an offering for her and Himuro Kirie that evening.

"Hmph!" After brandishing her King's Staff Technique for a while, Himuro Mimori stood to the side, glaring at Gojo Satoru with a face full of resentment! Then she opened her mouth and caught a piece of rice ball that Shinji Ikari fed her. Clearly, she was somewhat indignant that she couldn't crush this guy.

"Are you having fun bullying the little one?" Shinji Ikari looked at Satoru Gojo, who, after finishing his ramen soup, was twirling the bowl with his finger and sticking his tongue out at Mimori Himuro. Shinji was utterly speechless. My Mimori isn't even a year old! And you're like her too?!

"But it's fun! Playing with Mimori makes me so happy! Happiness is priceless!" As he spoke, Gojo Satoru squatted down in front of the sulking Himuro Mimori, flicked her nose, and took out a piece of chocolate. "Hey! Want some?"

Shinji Ikari looked at Gojo Satoru in front of him and sighed, "I really can't learn your carefree attitude." He tossed the last rice ball over, and Gojo Satoru grabbed it, took a bite, and his face quickly turned into a look of surprise, "Ryoko's cooking skills are amazing! You're really lucky."

"Being able to be with Ryoko..." Shinji Ikari smiled, about to say something, when suddenly a cold hand touched Shinji's cheek.

"How heartless! Doesn't she have the blessing of being with me?" Kurosawa Aise was not even a tenth as composed as she was in the game. But then again, she was always running around with Shinji Ikari, causing trouble here. With that kind of personality, it would be strange if she were composed.

"Pfft..." Gojo Satoru didn't hold back. As Shinji Ikari's strength grew, it became less and less common to see him suffer setbacks. Clearly, the person in front of him, Kurosawa Aise, posed no threat to Shinji and would readily teach him a lesson. This was a very rare find.

"Sister Aise, may I ask... Sister Rei's status code?" Shinji Ikari took a deep breath. If even his sister acknowledged that the other party had indeed done him a favor, Shinji felt that even if he ultimately failed, fulfilling the promise might not be so bad.

"Asking about another woman before your fiancée! Humph! You've got guts!" Kurosawa Aise chuckled and teased. "She just fell asleep, and your sister is taking care of her now. She gave her a bracelet made of a barrier rope, but it seems she can't completely sever the connection. It looks like she has a deep connection with that person. Sometimes you have to change your perspective. If the other party doesn't have any particular malice, it might not be a bad thing, just like how you and I have a deep connection with your sister."

"...Can they be the same?" Shinji Ikari was a little speechless. "Rei isn't an exorcist. Besides, how could she know whether it was an accident or someone did it on purpose?"

"I didn't see it." Kurosawa Aise spread his hands, a somewhat helpless expression on his face. "Your sister doesn't think there's any unlucky guy in this world who can command evil spirits to work for you like you!" Kurosawa Aise reached out and pinched Shinji Ikari. "You'll have to investigate this yourself. But just like you and this Mr. Gojo Satoru suspected, they might have Yozumi's aura on them."

"..." Shinji Ikari frowned. "I understand. This is indeed a deadly direction for investigation."

"Buzz...buzz..." At this moment, Shinji Ikari's phone suddenly rang. Shinji took it out and saw that it was Misato Katsuragi calling. Before he could react, Ayase Kurosawa reached out and answered the call, then put it on speakerphone. Shinji looked at Ayase Kurosawa in horror. Ayase Kurosawa made a gesture to not say anything.

"Shinji!" Misato Katsuragi's voice was tinged with suppressed excitement. "The latest intelligence is that the South American branch directly controlled by SEELE has started fighting!"

"Huh?" Shinji Ikari was taken aback. "It's the invasion of the Five Permanent Members' armies?"

"No, no! It was the Babem Group that found a pretext to thoroughly investigate their spaceport in the name of the United Nations! Then they refused, and then the Babem family's private army that you told me about launched an attack! Now they have begun to appeal to the United Nations and request support from all NERV departments."

"We... can't reach them, can we?" Shinji Ikari felt his scalp tingling. The two giants had really started fighting, and frankly, their movements were on the level of cataclysmic destruction!

All of NERV's known branches can basically be considered as independent fortresses, or even massive strongholds! To be able to defeat such a branch in such a short time, to the point of urgently requesting reinforcements and even running to the United Nations to cry for help, demonstrates the efficiency and intensity of the attack!

"Yes, all NERV branches have been warned by the local government not to cause any trouble. Commander-in-Chief Gendo is still on the phone with the Prime Minister. The Barbem Foundation seems to have a stronger international influence than SEELE." Misato Katsuragi took a deep breath to calm her excitement at the juicy gossip. After all, while she might still have some sympathy for the Barbem Foundation, she had absolutely no goodwill towards SEELE.

According to the information he and Shinji Ikari gathered, the enemy's plan... was definitely not something as simple as bringing choices and happiness to humanity! So when these two started fighting, Misato Katsuragi wanted nothing more than to pour two buckets of gasoline on them!

"Now we don't know how things will turn out."

"Yes!"

"The first squad has infiltrated the main road. The 7th assault squad is ready to launch its assault!"

"The attack helicopter squadron has completed surface fire suppression and is now pursuing ground targets."

"The rocket artillery units have completely destroyed the enemy's power cables and intercity transportation facilities!"

"The other party started pouring water into the passage."

"The passage has been destroyed, so the enemy's water-filling operation is pointless."

"The other side has begun to disregard the evacuation of its own personnel, completely sealing off the gates and injecting poison gas into the passage."

"Foolish creatures... wolves, it's time for you to hunt! Werewolf unit, begin your assault! Other units, quickly prepare for NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical) defense!"

"Understood!" With this final command, a Chinook slowly landed on the ground. The tail hatch opened, revealing two rows of scarlet eyes in the night. They were men, but they were also wolves! They were wolves in human skin!

Besides their clone army, the Barbem family also has another force: a group of bloodthirsty butchers, bloodthirsty executioners recruited from various places by the Barbem Corporation. Now they are covered in armor and armed with heavy firearms!

"Attack begins! Don't let anything go wrong like what happened in Japan!" the leading soldier said with a laugh over the comms, and then the group rushed through a gate that had just been blown open.

"Whoosh!" Not long after they went in, the soldiers in the front row raised their guns. The multi-functional goggles on their heads had marked the targets they needed to attack. Several people were hiding in a large pipe. At the captain's signal, a soldier came up and his flamethrower spewed out scorching flames.

"Ah!" A scream rang out instantly! But the executioners remained unmoved and continued to burn the wound with flamethrowers for a few seconds. Then the group continued to run forward, and the last one pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it in.

Upon learning of their actions, some NERV members, knowing they couldn't escape, attempted to retaliate with their guns. However, their limited firepower was utterly ineffective against several general-purpose machine guns. With a tearing sound, their flesh and blood were instantly pulverized.

This scene wasn't happening in just one or two places, but rather it was playing out repeatedly throughout this base. Without a doubt, the Babem Foundation never considered holding back from the moment they launched the attack! They had invested so much resources and manpower, and the two EVAs they developed had been tampered with; the financial and human losses were almost incalculable!

So once they make a move, it's a full-scale attack!

Contrary to Shinji Ikari's expectations, the main mission of this base was to transport supplies from the ground to space. Its location in South America was also to avoid attracting the attention of other countries as much as possible, and they did not want to expose the fact that they were secretly building a base on the moon.

However, unexpectedly, some time ago, Shinji Ikari had a sudden idea to have TERRA investigate SEELE, which directly exposed the base to Babem's view!

So, the instant Unit 3 was destroyed, the Babem Foundation decided to take its anger out on the base and seize control of the supplies to the lunar base! Besides, with SEELE currently investigating Units 3 and 4, everyone has their secrets! You're investigating me? Well, I'll just have to ask you to be my scapegoat!

SEELE seemed somewhat unprepared for this battle. The base's defenses were only operating normally, and it happened to be the weekend, so many security personnel were on leave and had gone to nearby towns to relax! As a result, a surprise attack came right at their doorstep!

But is SEELE really ready to surrender like this? No way!

"Unit 7 activated immediately. Puppet System active for 220 seconds! Engage in battle!"

A group of soldiers watched in horror as the road and buildings on the ground began to collapse, and an exit slowly opened...

Chapter 318 Babem Has No Mercy

The appearance of Unit 7, although it frightened the soldiers here, was something the Babem Foundation had expected. Unlike the timeline where they had to rely entirely on the Army EVAs to fight after the surprise attack on NERV headquarters, here, the moment Unit 7's elevator came to a stop on the ground, a beam of light shot straight towards it from a distance!

"Whoosh!" The particle jet was blocked, and a series of cheers immediately erupted in the branch command post. Although Unit 7, controlled by the Puppet System, was not comparable to Unit 1 piloted by Shinji Ikari, and might not even be comparable to Unit 2 piloted by Asuka Langley Soryu, once it could activate the AT Field, Unit 7, controlled by the Puppet System, was definitely an S-class combat force.

The AT Field steadily withstood the attack. As the energy flow dissipated, sparks flew onto the ground. Unit-07 opened its mouth and began to roar wildly, giving the entire NERV branch immense confidence! Despite the time limit of three and a half minutes, it was enough for Unit-07 to wipe out all the SEELE forces on the ground!

but……

A whooshing sound quickly followed as several more energy beams struck the EVA Unit-7. At the same time, a whooshing sound rapidly approached from afar, as more than ten humanoid mechs, smaller than the EVAs and armed with heavy weapons, flew at low altitude. Clearly, these were the true forms that had launched the attack earlier: humanoid mechs built by the Babem Foundation (suspected to be shelled semi-biological weapons using the same technology as the Dorem in Tokyo Jupiter).

"Damn it! When did the Babem Foundation get equipment like this?!" The base commander stared in shock at the robot that was spraying bullets at Unit 7.

The barrage of bullets relentlessly swarmed Unit 7, with over a dozen Vamilian units coordinating their attacks, maneuvering around it and firing indiscriminately. Occasionally, two units would abruptly stop mid-air, unleash their weapons, and carefully aim at Unit 7 before firing wildly. While these projectiles were unlikely to penetrate Unit 7's AT field, the spectacle still sent shivers down the spines of onlookers.

"Eject weapons! Quickly!" the base commander issued the order swiftly.

“Yes! But…” the operator seemed to want to say something. But the commander immediately interrupted him.

"We'll all die if we don't eject! Eject everyone, even if it's just to distract them!" The commander waved his hand. The surface of the base had been basically occupied by SEELE, and the upper and middle underground levels had also been ravaged. They had no choice but to flood these two levels to stop the enemy's advance. However, the enemy blew up the partition wall, causing the water to escape. It didn't have enough killing effect, at most it just slowed down the enemy's advance.

But now, the enemy has begun to attack deeper into the base. If they cannot find a way to resist the enemy's attack, it is only a matter of time before their underground command center, located in the core of the base, is attacked. Moreover, those hangars have already been lost, but the enemy does not have time to deal with the things inside for the time being. The commander is right. If they do not use them now, the enemy may directly destroy the catapult tracks in a while.

The commander's order was immediately executed! One weapon crate after another rose from the ground, instantly changing the situation. These crates, equivalent to dozens of stories high, transformed the originally flat terrain into a complex skyscraper city. Moreover, the rising weapon crates immediately resolved Unit 7's biggest predicament; after its failed jump attack, Unit 7 had even picked up a rock from the ground and thrown it...

"Boom..." With a series of explosions, the protective plates on the weapon cabinets were removed, and Unit 7 immediately rushed forward, grabbing an assault rifle from the two nearest buildings and lunging forward. It then unleashed a rapid burst of fire at a target that had only briefly stopped. Several bursts of fire! These projectiles, developed to penetrate the Apostle's AT field, instantly tore through the frontal armor of the Valmilion, riddling it with bullet holes!

"Hmm?" The base commander stared at the video camera. Yes, the Vamilian, without a doubt, splattered blood the moment it was shot, just like the EVA! Undoubtedly, the Vamilian deployed by the enemy, like the EVA, was a biological weapon that appeared to be a robot but was actually made up of living organisms! And so a very natural conclusion emerged… "Is it EVA's technology?"

So the news was urgently sent out: Oh no! The Babem Foundation has deployed a flying biomechanical weapon that is suspected to be developed using EVA technology!

I don't know about anything else, but this news from the secret circuit about the secret weapons in the hands of the Babem Group terrified SEELE! They had gone to great lengths to collect just a few EVAs?! And the enemy had deployed more than a dozen in a single battle! What kind of crazy story is this?!

Of course, after the initial shock, SEELE being attacked by Babem and her group was already big news enough! Moreover, the escalating situation forced them to focus most of their attention on this matter! Furthermore, they had been involved in the entire EVA production process and theoretically possessed a complete set of EVA-related technologies. It wouldn't be impossible for the Babem Foundation to have created a degraded version of EVA.

Judging from its performance, this degraded model, whose exact nature is still unknown, lacks an AT field. Its biggest highlight seems to be its ability to fly independently and its high maneuverability, making it a very good combat weapon.

Then they quickly learned of another huge advantage of the Vamilians: when Unit 7 destroyed the third unit with a rocket, these Vamilians suddenly took off en masse. They created distance, and at the same time, their weapons opened their muzzles, revealing special reaction equipment underneath—yes, they weren't just armed with live ammunition.

"Immediately input the command: instruct the puppet system to maximize its AT field!" The base commander took a deep breath, his eyes filled with extreme helplessness. He could only hope that the enemy would retreat after realizing this final attack was ineffective. Of course, he knew very well that this possibility was extremely slim.

"Ugh!" With a roar from Unit 7, the AT Field was fully activated, the ground beneath its feet exploded, and the wrecked vehicles beneath it were all blown away!

But at that moment, the Valmillion pilots, hundreds of meters in the air, pulled the triggers in unison, and the guns in the Valmillion's hands opened their muzzles!

"10 high-energy rounds approaching! Direct hit..." The consultant's report stopped there, because he and everyone else stared silently at the heavy armor plates above them. At that moment, a heavy rumbling sound began to come from above, and the entire base was teetering on the brink of collapse amidst this terrifying roar. However, it was their hearts that were collapsing, while the entire base was shaking.

"Surface facility 95 lost contact, all weapon crates offline... Unit 7's signal is still active! But..." The communications officer looked utterly desperate, tears already streaming down her face without his knowledge! If Pandora in Greek mythology left behind a last hope, then now... their last hope has been shattered.

"The overload caused Unit 7's power to run out prematurely, and the Babem family got what they wanted... EVA!" The base commander sighed. Because of the depleted energy and the damage to all the base's surface facilities, they couldn't even destroy the EVA.

"You've all worked hard, we've all done our best..." The base commander sighed. He had lost this base. SEELE was no merciful organization, they wouldn't let him off the hook, but what could he do? They were finished.

The commander picked up the communicator and broadcast a message throughout the base: "I am Edmund Cantru, commander of the South American Special Branch. Given that this base is effectively incapacitated and the last counterattack has failed, we hereby declare the end of resistance and surrender to the attackers. To reiterate, this base surrenders now."

"Boom..." An explosion erupted not far from them. The heavy blast door did indeed stop Babem's fiercest private soldiers, but the not-so-thick wall was not enough to stop them.

Dozens of soldiers in black armor swarmed in from outside, and the last one, a captain whose identity was simply marked with a special glowing strip on his shoulder, walked in.

“Ah, yes, they did surrender, but I don’t like having so many loose ends to clean up, so let’s get it over with.” Helena Barbem’s voice clearly reached the ears of the captain in front of her, who silently took a few steps forward.

Edmund Kantru, having surrendered, straightened his slightly wrinkled clothes and stepped down. He intended to formally surrender and buy some time. At his signal, the vice commander was quietly completing the final steps, activating the computer program's self-destruct sequence to erase all relevant data. It would take a little more time!

"Bang!" Without a word, the captain drew his pistol and shot Commander Edmund dead. The werewolves around him immediately pulled the triggers and unleashed a hail of fire upon their target! The entire command room was instantly soaked in blood and bullets.

Upon hearing the commander's order, the NERV South American Special Branch members who stood up to surrender were all executed by the soldiers of the Babem Group!

There was no compassion, no kindness, and no mercy!

Just as Shinji Ikari said, not a single drop of blood in the Barbem Foundation is hot, not even warm...

Chapter 319 The Friendship of Two Women

"As expected... EVA is a very valuable thing! Although the process was a bit unexpected, we finally got everything we wanted." Helena Barbem, wearing a yukata, leaned back in a recliner, looking at the screens surrounding her. Several of them were monitoring something that was somewhat concerning: the Winged God Seine, who had just severely injured the enemy with a Spirit Ball and broken through their barrier, and had severely damaged the MU Dorem, was slowly sinking into Tokyo Jupiter.

"Isshiki Makoto, you've really caused a huge problem for everyone..." She had just arrived in South America to deal with the retaliatory actions here, but she never expected that not long after she left, Ayato Kamina, who had just made a name for himself, would take the initiative to pursue the truth as he became increasingly confused (he was surrounded by riddle-makers).

So this time, it wasn't that he was kidnapped by Kuon, but rather that after a series of inexplicable actions by Isshiki Shin when he first took office, which annoyed him, he chatted with Kuon. Taking advantage of the moment when he originally wanted to strip Ayato Kamina of his right to pilot the Winged Goddess Seine, but had to let Ayato pilot it because of the attack of Dorem, he took the initiative to use his considerable skills honed in Genkai to directly pull Kuon away and run away.

In a sense, TERRA's intelligence department experienced for the first time the pain that NERV's intelligence department had felt back then. Damn it, how could they possibly keep an eye on such a monster!

“Well, it’s alright, we still have to go eventually anyway.” Helena Barbem smiled, not surprised by the situation. “Although it’s a bit early, we still have to go back eventually.” Helena glanced at the lights outside the window and smiled again. “Compared to Ayato, Shinji seems like a better man, busy with things at Mount Hikami, though he has a lot more women around him.”

"Ding!" With a bang from the elevator, Helena flicked her wrist and turned off all the screens. "I'm surprised you actually had time to come here today! Shouldn't you be battling those mystical cultists?"

"I heard you guys have something big going on. The Metropolitan Police Department called me more than a dozen times, telling me to drop everything and come begging you not to embarrass them too much. They said if you're going to launch an attack, they'd better find a good place to kneel down and surrender to you." Yakushiji Ryoko walked in irritably, went straight to the bar, picked up a bottle of whiskey that looked very expensive, and poured two glasses of it.

"Live stream! I want to see how big of a mess you guys have made." Ryoko Yakushiji handed a glass of wine to Helena Barbem and sat down next to her. The two of them met by chance because of Shinji Ikari. After fighting several times without the help of outsiders, they unexpectedly became good friends because of their similar personalities and some reasons that were not known to outsiders.

"How could I possibly show you? Speaking of which, have you finished your feud with the Eternal Life Society?" Helena took the wine glass, looking like she didn't want to say anything more, and even subtly poked at Yakushiji Ryoko's sore spot.

Ryoko Yakushiji noticed something amiss; something seemed to be stirring up trouble in the shadows, perhaps planning a major scandal. Worse still, the military was involved. To deal with this, besides searching for those demonic portals, she focused her energy on confronting the Eternal Life Society.

Among these groups, the Eternal Life Society is arguably the most conspicuous one that has been discovered. Naturally, keeping an eye on them has become an important matter for Yakushiji Ryoko recently. As a result, the government supporters of the Eternal Life Society began to involve Yakushiji Ryoko, and the two sides have been locked in a power struggle ever since.

Ryoko Yakushiji's style of doing things, to put it nicely, is decisive and efficient; to put it bluntly, it's reckless and completely disregards the interests of all parties. As a result, many people disliked Ryoko Yakushiji, and the suppression from higher-ups came almost immediately. Her original expansion plan was halted, her plans to further upgrade equipment were prevented, and even pressure was put on the Metropolitan Police Department's higher-ups, forcing them to force Ryoko Yakushiji to abandon her investigation of the Eternal Life Society.

However, it wasn't entirely a bad thing. In a sense, the obstruction from these high-ranking individuals who were good at causing trouble but incompetent at achieving anything caused many people and organizations in the middle and lower ranks who clearly felt that the status quo was problematic and hoped for change to quickly move towards Yakushiji Ryoko's direction. Some of them even withstood the pressure and brought the Special Vehicle Section 1 and Section 2 under the jurisdiction of the Special Affairs Section. It should be noted that, theoretically, these two are on the same level as the Special Affairs Section controlled by the young lady.

If it weren't for the swift intervention of those above, the Special Affairs Section might have been upgraded to a Special Affairs Bureau. If this upgrade had actually succeeded, the problem facing those above would have been that Yakushiji Ryoko's forces wouldn't be a platoon or company of less than 100 people, but rather a small combat group of over 300 people, equipped with police robots and combat vehicles. At that point, they would really have to think twice.

"Come on, you think you don't know? You want to see me make a fool of myself, don't you!" Yakushiji Ryoko poked Helena Barbem's calf, and Helena crossed her legs to make room for her.

"Do you think those useless bunch can stop you?" Helena knew far more than what was on the surface. The fact that Superintendent Yakushiji Ryoko of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had been stopped didn't mean that JACES's daughter had been stopped! While they couldn't mobilize a huge sum of money to directly force NERV headquarters to hand over information like Helena herself had, hiring outside personnel to conduct investigations was something these bureaucrats couldn't stop.

“Why not? The Metropolitan Police Department’s Superintendent General just called me over and gave me a good scolding! Then he sent me here to chat with you, this troublesome person! Junichiro has already made a reservation at a restaurant. It looks like today is the last day of business for the Lady of the Kiriya this month. I think you would do me the honor, right?” Yakushiji Ryoko swirled her wine glass at Helena in front of her.

"Isn't this a clear indication that we can't do anything about you? A superintendent general, unable to even stop a mere superintendent like you, how interesting." He took a small sip of whiskey and set the glass aside. "However, this matter seems to be getting a bit serious, especially with the latest intelligence. This matter... is already somewhat related to Shinji Ikari."

"Cough cough..." Yakushiji Ryoko choked on Helena's casual remark, "How did he get involved again? He's everywhere!"

"Hey!" Helena smiled. Although the Babem Group was very powerful, Yakushiji Ryoko was the local bigwig. So, the arm-wrestling match between the two of them was evenly matched, even with Yakushiji Ryoko giving it her all. This was also the reason why they were able to become friends.

So now that she's won a small victory, Helena is very happy. She reached out and hooked Yakushiji Ryoko's chin with her finger. "Beg me, and I'll tell you everything, including the latest developments."

"Please~" Yakushiji Ryoko placed her arm on Helena's smooth knee and rested her chin on it. Losing is losing, there's no point in arguing or pretending. "I'll add a bottle of Ryoko's early works to my lunch later, they're really hard to get these days!"

"The Immortal Society used an unknown method to trigger some marks on Kurosawa Rei's body. Now, Asou Yuu is frantically investigating related information. When Shinji arrived at Mount Hikami yesterday, Kurosawa Rei's condition had just been suppressed by Shinji's fiancée. However, according to the information, the other party seems to be at the same level as his fiancée," Helena said quietly. Although top-level strong individuals are very difficult to bribe, many people of mid-to-low level are still in great need of money, and Helena obtained this information very easily.

Of course, during this process, she wasn't just paying attention to Shinji Ikari; the two fierce demons beside him were also key targets! When news spread that the confrontation had occurred almost in full view of everyone, and that Kurosawa Ayase hadn't been able to completely cure the demon, it immediately piqued her interest. After a little investigation, she learned this information. However, it was also because of this investigation that she neglected to monitor Ayane Kamina, allowing the little guy to successfully escape into Tokyo Jupiter and break free from their control for a short period of time.

"...Looks like I can keep Ryoko's sake as a treasure. Here's the latest news." Yakushiji Ryoko immediately frowned, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth. Things couldn't be that simple. "I just received it before I came."

"Hmm?" Helena tilted her head to look at Yakushiji Ryoko. Her serious expression made her skip a beat. Could it be that something she didn't know about had happened?

"Asou Yuu was hit by a car on a mountain road and is currently in the hospital receiving treatment. Her injuries are very serious, and she is still in a deep coma. Because it is a mountainous area, there are no surveillance cameras at all. After the on-site investigation, the only conclusion is that both parties were speeding severely." Yakushiji Ryoko said, "I thought it was just that these speeding maniacs finally crashed, but now it seems that it's not that simple."

“Oh…you can indeed save that bottle of wine, but it seems to mean nothing to me.” Helena nodded. The Eternal Life Society was highly suspicious, and then what? For Babem and the Bem Corporation, it meant nothing. “So, are we still going to have lunch?” Helena Babem asked with a smile.

"Go away! Anyway, someone's going to be in trouble because of this. But it's not me. So relax and enjoy a good meal!"

"Then I'll go change my clothes. By the way, you can go back and tell your boss that the Babem Group isn't very interested in the Japanese regime; they're interested in other things, so they won't be targeting you."

"I almost forgot about this little thing."