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

"Seriously! Shinji, what kind of hellish squad did he assign me to!" Misato Katsuragi complained loudly, pouting as she glared resentfully at Ryoji Kaji, who was sitting next to her with his hands on his head, looking completely relaxed. "It would have been better if Shinji and I had formed a covert reconnaissance squad!"

"So Shinji's teams are the youth team and the adult team, right?" Kaji Ryoji grinned wickedly, then suddenly noticed a package on the back seat that seemed to contain some documents. "May I take a look?"

“Oh, this thing is still here! I thought I threw it away.” Misato Katsuragi glanced at the package that Ryoji Kaji had brought over. “The information about Shinji Ikari that NERV’s intelligence department collected is basically all wrong, except for the fact that he is good at studying and sports.”

"Ah, does Ryoko know about this little guy's antics?" Kaji Ryoji looked at the photo of him surrounded by cheerleaders and couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you think a smart girl like Ryoko Sakaki wouldn't know all this?" Misato Katsuragi shook her head. "Time really flies. Shinji seems to have already received his acceptance letter from the University of Tokyo. I wonder how he'll get to school."

"With a leave slip issued by the United Nations, even the University of Tokyo has to give him some face." After laughing, Kaji Ryoji didn't take it to heart. Shinji Ikari was too monstrous in many ways. Even if he openly skipped classes, the school basically didn't care because of his excellent grades.

“But even if Shinji doesn’t go to university, it seems he already has a job, and…” Misato Katsuragi’s lips twitched, unsure how to put it. She was still paying off her mortgage and car loan, while Shinji seemed to have already accumulated a terrifying amount of money.

"He has a large sum of money, the source of which is unknown, but nobody cares about that. After all, even if it was just for his contribution in the Dark Tournament, the United Nations would basically not care about him getting so much money." Kaji Ryoji laughed and threw the document back into his bag. It was basically useless, just something to look at for fun.

"I wonder how Shinji is doing now, and whether he and Asuka are getting along well."

"Achoo!" Sitting in a small roadside restaurant, Asuka held her coffee, feeling the warmth emanating from it. The two of them had arrived long ago. After all, with a speed of over 200 kilometers per hour and Shinji Ikari taking shortcuts, they had left Misato Katsuragi far behind. "Phew, so what do we do next?"

"Wait someone."

"Who are you waiting for?"

"A big sister with a story, just like the one next to you."

"what?"

"Ms. Zi Dongyao, you're late."

"It's really not easy to evade Babem's eyes and ears, Shinji!"

Chapter 431 Inconsistent Goals

"Honestly, aren't you worried?" Asuka asked Shinji Ikari softly. After all, the woman leading them forward was a high-ranking intelligence agent from TERRA, the one who had dragged Ayato Kamina out of his comfort zone and into this vortex. Humanity...

What followed left Haruka in utter despair. Whether viewed from the perspective of a human defense organization similar to NERV, or from the perspective of Ayato Kamina's personal feelings, TERRA, the place where she had worked for so long, was filled with exploitation and indifference. Even the occasional moments of warmth unfortunately turned into cold exploitation in the very end.

Unable to change Ayato Kamina's mind in Tokyo, Haruka Shito felt like the sky had fallen when he heard that Shinji Isshiki, who was about to become the commander-in-chief of TERRA, had killed Ayato Kamina's girlfriend, who had already gone into seclusion.

“She might have a choice, but it’s only a worse one.” Shinji Ikari sighed. If Ayato Kamina’s anger towards her in the original work was just misplaced anger, now, Ayato Kamina has already developed a bit of resentment towards her. This resentment comes from his dissatisfaction with dragging him into this vortex, as well as from the misplaced anger caused by his girlfriend’s death.

“Indeed, everyone has to pay the price for their choices.” Haruka Shito turned to look at Shinji Ikari. When Shinji first met Ayato Kamina, he exposed her identity as an intelligence agent, but he also directly pointed out her past identity. In a sense, if she had been more frank back then, things might have been different.

But she was conflicted, she hesitated. Ayato Kamina was still Ayato Kamina, but she was no longer the same person she used to be... Haruka Shito didn't want to, and didn't dare to, reveal her identity to Ayato Kamina.

"So you know what Ayato Kamina's Ishrith looks like?" Shinji Ikari crossed his arms and looked at Haruka Shito leading him along the path, asking a rather pointed question.

"..." Zi Dongyao's face was bitter. Although Ishrith's appearance did not have a physical form, Ayato Kamina's painting was displayed in her house... She wasn't blind, how could she not know? "It seems you knew?"

"Yes, I've dealt with him before. He's quite petty." Shinji Ikari's lips curled up. They had indeed dealt with each other, and even fought. On the day when Ayato Kamina was consumed by despair and anger, the one who initially led the battle against Unit-01 was naturally not the depressed Ayato Kamina.

"Is that so..." Haruka Shido gave a wry smile. Did he already have someone by his side? He took out his card, swiped it to open the electronic door in front of him, and led Shinji Ikari and the others into a warehouse in a corner of Terra. According to their agreement, after providing the map, Haruka Shido would leave. Shinji and the others would then wait until nightfall when Terra's security lowered before making their escape, infiltrating Terra for a true infiltration.

"Clap... Clap..." Amidst the sudden applause, the warehouse lights began to come on. Clearly, such infiltration was not suitable for Shinji Ikari.

"I must commend Captain Haruka Shito, although your abilities are rather average, you did a good job this time." Isshiki Shinji walked to the front with a sarcastic smile on his face. He looked at Shinji Ikari below, "Respected NERV... oh no, now the SSSP (Science Facility) under the United Nations, the quasi-head of the organization, suddenly infiltrated our TERRA. I wonder if you have any advice to offer? Even if you have investigative powers granted by the United Nations, you shouldn't interfere with a rating agency like ours."

"Oh, what if I said I came here to avoid my girlfriend and to hide from someone else? What do you think of that reason?" Shinji Ikari looked at Makoto Isshiki above him and gently clenched his fist. "I wonder what his number is... D!"

"You really are a damned bastard!" With a wave of his hand, Isshiki Makoto summoned over a thousand soldiers dressed in the infamous uniforms of the Babem family, who raised their general-purpose machine guns and pointed them at the three people below. Clearly, this "Isshiki Makoto" possessed a more ruthless aura than the previous one. He wasn't going to pretend anymore, nor was he going to waste words; he simply killed Lancer and proceeded to use dozens of general-purpose machine guns to unleash a frenzied barrage, killing the two men and one woman before him!

"Bang!" But before he could give the order to attack, the glass in front of him suddenly shattered. Shinji Ikari appeared in front of him as if he could teleport, and then a series of punches pounded into his body, with dull thuds and sonic booms echoing continuously.

"You... TERRA idiots, okay, you haven't even seen many A-ranks, let alone S-rank or near-S-rank." Asuka looked at Haruka Shito with a speechless expression. Although even Shinji couldn't possibly withstand a hundred bullets from a general-purpose machine gun, the people operating these machines simply couldn't keep up with Shinji's movements and speed.

Just like now, Shinji was decisively venting his anger by beating Isshiki Makoto in front of him, using the lightest punches to cause the least injury and inflict the greatest pain on him. However, because he kept moving his body, even though there were many private soldiers around, they could only stand there dumbfounded and could not shoot at Shinji at all.

"You really didn't expect that, did you?" Zi Dongyao sighed, a relieved expression on his face. Undoubtedly, Zi Dongyao also harbored immense hatred for the guy in front of him. The root cause of the falling out between Kamina Ayato and TERRA was an arrogant and completely disdainful piece of trash.

"So that's enough, Shinji, for my sake." The warehouse door opened, and Helena Barbem came in with the sunlight. "After all... you've already killed one, so even if it's revenge, it should be enough, right?"

Helena Barbem's face was filled with helplessness. She had befriended Shinji Ikari and Ayato Kamina, and they were on good terms too! But that good-for-nothing had ruined everything. And this guy in front of her actually thought he could defeat Shinji Ikari, who had just returned from the Demon World, with only a few dozen private soldiers assigned to him? This wasn't just wishful thinking; it was pure stupidity. "I need him to carry out the plan."

"Hmph!" Shinji Ikari grabbed Isshiki Makoto by the neck and lifted him up. "Looks like you have quite a few spies in the UN. You should already know what we're here for." Shinji didn't want to waste any more words with Helena in front of him and directly crushed Isshiki Makoto's neck bones.

Helena sighed upon witnessing this scene. It was the first time she had seen Shinji Ikari display such a bloodthirsty nature. However, this might not be the first time. The mass deaths of clones that had previously terrified the Barbem Foundation were very likely caused by the decision made by this young man, followed by a large-scale curse unleashed by his sister and fiancée…

"He's not Isshiki Shin at all, is he?" Shinji Ikari sneered. Kurosawa Aise had given him this "answer." The person in front of him had absolutely no connection to "Isshiki Shin" on a soul level. "Should I congratulate you on your advanced technology?"

"Get out..." Helena gestured to the people behind her, and her subordinates and Babem's private soldiers naturally did not disobey her.

Then he pressed on his chest, as if turning off something, and took out a pack of women's cigarettes from his chest pocket. He took a deep drag, leaned against the railing, choked a couple of times, and then threw most of the cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his foot. "You're right, he's not Isshiki Shinichi. That idiot has already been killed by you. This one isn't even a copy. They're all dead, all dead."

“This is really interesting. I won’t ask how you found me, but you guys were probably monitoring Haruka Shidou and the higher-ups at NERV from the beginning.” Shinji Ikari leaned against the railing and gestured to Asuka, who then pulled the still dazed Haruka Shidou towards Shinji and the others. “Why do we have to force the MU clan? I don’t need to tell you what will happen once Tokyo Jupiter disappears. With TERRA and the current UN naval and air power, we still can’t withstand their attack.”

"..." Helena turned her head slightly and glanced at Shinji Ikari. Many analysis reports pointed out that Shinji Ikari was very mysterious! Even according to Babem's own internal assessment, this mystery might have reached a level that even NERV itself had not fully understood.

“Because we have no choice. Since it’s something that’s bound to happen, even if we don’t open it, we’ll eventually have to face the MU race. Why wait until they’re fully prepared?” Helena sighed. “The Babem Corporation isn’t exactly a good person, but we don’t want to lose.”

"Where's Ayato Kamina?" Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes. There might be some truth to that reason. No one would want to see a device like this, which restarts the world, activated by someone else. But to be honest, Shinji Ikari didn't want Babem to activate it at all.

“This is what was prepared for him.” Helena kicked the corpse of “Isshiki Makoto” on the ground. “I didn’t expect to lure you here. It seems you know the role that Ayato Kamina is about to play.”

"What if my character was almost the same as his?" Shinji Ikari briefly introduced his identity in a certain sense.

"The one who pulls the trigger last?" Helena looked at her palm, then at Shinji Ikari. "So our goals for now... seem to be aligned?"

“Who’s on your side? Don’t get in my way. How much time do we have left? The higher-ups want to know. I need to give an explanation and prove that I’ve done something.”

“Oh…” Helena nodded, indicating that she understood. “Ten days. All preparations will be completed in ten days.”

"Understood, best of luck."

Chapter 432 Each Person's Schemes

"I have to admit, your actions and energy are truly impressive..." Shinji Ikari closed his phone and looked at Helena Barbem beside him, his eyes filled with admiration. After Shinji directly contacted Misato Katsuragi and the others, Barbem, in order to bring in strong reinforcements, managed to get the opinions of all parties in the United Nations within just 24 hours. She sent a joint operation mission plan between the Special Search Team and TERRA to the representatives of Shinji's two Special Search Teams, while also stating that a maximum of two of the three EVAs could be used.

Although the United Nations has great respect for Shinji Ikari and the rest of NERV, this respect obviously does not translate into the enormous influence of the Babem Foundation. After all, even SEELE, which once claimed to control the major countries of the United Nations from behind the scenes, could not compete with the Babem Foundation, which had been operating for an unknown amount of time, in terms of actual influence. Shinji Ikari has once again learned a small lesson about this today.

"So, we'll have to rely on you to deal with the enemy. According to our estimates, the moment Tokyo Jupiter is breached, they'll launch a furious counterattack. Because of our previous actions, we've paid a price, so the bad thing this time is that relying solely on TERRA's own fighting power is definitely not enough." Helena looked at Shinji Ikari earnestly. "I believe you don't want Earth's future to be decided by another race, right!?"

"Hmph, I just fought tooth and nail to solve the huge problem caused by a bunch of bastards who wanted to shape the future of humanity, and now you guys are going to cause trouble again... To be honest, shouldn't I prepare to have a fight with you guys right after the battle with MU is over!" Shinji Ikari stared at Helena Barbem, who was hosting the banquet.

"If you really have that idea, to be honest, I don't mind." Helena smiled, quite confident. Obviously, since they dared to extend an invitation to NERV for support, they had already made certain preparations. As for what would happen then, Helena could only say that you'd better take care of us first.

Because without a doubt, the moment all of this ends will be the moment the final moment begins. Whether it's SEELE, who is secretly plotting to resurrect itself, or the United Nations, which is watching everything with wary eyes, they know nothing of this, nor do they know what they are about to face. Even the most powerful human creation known to date, EVA, cannot fight against... two Raging Gods!

"You seem quite confident." Shinji Ikari looked at the woman in front of him and shook his head. Others might not know, but he certainly knew what was going to happen. So Shinji felt quite speechless. He was about to face another series of battles. This realization left Shinji speechless.

"So, what are your requirements during the cooperation, Mr. Shinji Ikari?!" Helena smiled.

"Just remember the terms of the exchange." Shinji Ikari shook his head. He didn't even want to touch anything from Babem anymore. It wasn't about moral fastidiousness; he just felt uneasy! Did these guys even have a bottom line? Using someone's life to lure Ayato Kamina?

"Phew..." Helena breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Shinji Ikari turn and leave. Ever since she was captured last time, Helena had been very clear that all of her relationship with Shinji Ikari was completely over. So now, Shinji Ikari could send her away with a single punch without any psychological burden.

Not to mention that Helena herself felt there was no doubt about it. The sudden death of the clone she had previously observed was directly related to Shinji Ikari—no, to be precise, to Shinji Ikari's sister and his fiancée! The Babem Foundation was a master of playing the mystery game, and even in the face of such power that had almost reached its ceiling, they still maintained a great deal of awe!

Otherwise, how could it be so quiet around Shinji Ikari? The Babem Foundation would have already started taking action, just afraid of touching the red line of these two fierce gods. In that case, there would be another wave of widespread curses. No one knows what would happen if Sion the Winged God were tainted by a powerful enough curse.

As for her personally, Shinji Ikari was once considered one of her friends, but now, when facing Shinji, she actually felt a little guilty. This was a very novel experience for her, who had become somewhat hard-hearted due to a series of events.

What she didn't know was that after Shinji Ikari left, one of the Babem Foundation soldiers responsible for keeping an eye on him ran into trouble.

"Shinji Ikari has come out of the temporary office." The soldier was holding a pair of binoculars, and there was a sniper rifle next to him. However, since he had not received an order to attack, he did not take it out of the gun box, but simply lay on the roof to observe.

"Keep observing..." Their captain was about to issue the order to continue observing, as was customary, when the communication suddenly went down.

"Is the communication being interfered with?" This question came to the soldier's mind instinctively.

“No, team…” Another soldier in another position paused for a moment, then immediately started calling to his teammates, but before he could say anything, the voice call suddenly cut off.

"..." This development seemed a bit like a ghost story. The soldier quickly glanced closer and saw Shinji Ikari, just like yesterday, leisurely walking towards his assigned office not far away, seemingly planning to spend the rest of the day there. "Red Fox Squad, please reply. OVER!" the soldier said.

"..." There was absolutely no response in the complete silence...

"Gulp!" The soldier swallowed hard. Although these soldiers were not new recruits hired by the Babem Corporation, the Babem Corporation had previously used clone units that they could trust more. They were just mercenaries doing the dirty work for the Babem Corporation on the periphery. They never expected that such a situation would arise.

After waiting for a while, he seemed to hear a slight knocking sound behind him. The soldier reached into his robes, gently gripped the pistol in its holster, and slowly turned to look behind him.

"Hey..." A beautiful woman with white hair and red eyes waved to him. Normally, he would have been very happy to talk to such a beautiful woman, but now... Looking at the naginata that she was holding like a toothpick, the soldier in front of him subconsciously decided to attack, turned around and prepared to draw his gun to shoot at the woman.

However, his actions were clearly without question, because after greeting him, Mei Isayama kicked him unconscious, then casually took the pistol from his hand, a smile playing on his lips. In the next instant, Mei Isayama leaped up and passed directly through the window that Shinji Ikari had opened, entering Shinji Ikari's office.

"Yo, it's been a while, Katsuragi... Oh, you're the head of the Science Patrol now." After entering, Mei Isayama greeted Misato Katsuragi. As a key member of NERV's freeloaders, Mei Isayama had a high regard for Misato Katsuragi, who gave him special treatment. Recently, when the news of NERV's demise came, Mei Isayama felt a little sad because his long-time freeloader was gone.

"Mei, are you done with things at the dojo?" Misato Katsuragi greeted Mei Isayama. She was there because she had to be. Actually, what she was doing now had little to do with the Babem Foundation. The information Shinji Ikari had given him earlier was still nagging at his heart. Rumor had it that several space battleships were under construction, with high-speed cruising and powerful firepower. Moreover, they were suspected of being able to gain the AT field boost by attaching to EVAs, making them almost perfect battleships.

"How could we possibly be done with all this? A bunch of idiots, they can't even pack properly!" Isayama Mei said with a hint of smugness. You see, his dojo was on Mount Hikami, which was almost perpetually permeated with resentful energy that inspired despair. Calling the entire hotel a haunted house wouldn't be an exaggeration. To transform it into a functional dojo would naturally require a lot of preparation. "But in this state, I can't just hide away and relax. Oh, by the way, I knocked out those idiots who were spying on you outside. Here, a souvenir."

Looking at the pistol that Mei Isayama slammed on the table with a smug expression, Shinji Ikari smiled wryly. "Have you seen the information I gave you?" Shinji Ikari hadn't called her over for any other reason than to rely solely on Mari. He felt that relying on Mari alone was somewhat unreliable, especially since Mari didn't have an EVA. Her abilities were only those of a slightly stronger girl.

“I’ve checked. Distance isn’t a problem. If the help you introduced can handle the language barrier, then we can set off anytime.” Mei Isayama shrugged. Shinji Ikari had made it very clear that she was going there as support for Mari Makinami. If possible, they would need to seize a warship and destroy the rest. It seemed quite difficult, but it wasn’t entirely impossible for Mei Isayama.

"Then I'll leave it to you. These warships might be SEELE's last resort. We must stop them. Humanity already has enough trouble," Misato Katsuragi said seriously.

"Don't worry, I'll take it seriously. But Shinji, are you sure you want to cooperate with the people of Babem? This isn't just asking a tiger for its skin, it's discussing the distribution of property with a dragon." Mei Isayama used a very apt analogy.

"Because I have no scruples, I won't hesitate to take action when the time comes. I'm quite confident in my destructive power."

"Even...Ayato?"

"Hmph... Even Ayato Kamina!"

Chapter 433 Arrangements

"Be careful on the road, don't do anything stupid." Shinji Ikari handed over a small bag. It was something Botan had brought a couple of days ago. Inside were the rewards from the Spirit World for successfully preventing the invasion of the Demon World into the Human World. Shinji glanced at it, and well, he didn't recognize any of them. Worried that if he showed them to Kumo no Kuni for inspection, that damned woman might switch them out or give him a discounted "cash reward," Shinji simply stuffed them all into this bag and tossed it to Mei Isayama, who had recently fallen into poverty due to excessive spending. "But be careful, Mari might not act entirely as we expect."

"You said it yourself!" Mei Izayama opened the package, glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow. Although she knew Shinji's temperament, he usually didn't care much about money. For him, everything he owned could be shared with his best friends. But... this whole bag of stuff, any one of it could make people fight over it. Shinji Ikari just dumped it on her. Tsk tsk tsk... this little rascal isn't really trying to woo me, is he?

"What's wrong?" Shinji Ikari is now an S-class powerhouse, so he naturally noticed Mei Isayama's strange look. Then, looking completely bewildered, he was hugged by Mei Isayama.

"It's settled then, the face wash and stuff are fine, it's none of my business if you get taller." Mei Isayama muttered to himself as he let go of the bag and carefully stuffed it into his parcel. He decided to take it to the dojo at Mount Hikami first, since there shouldn't be any thieves capable of stealing from the territory of the evil god. Then he ran off without looking back, afraid that Shinji Ikari would change his mind and take the bag back.

"You sinful little bastard." Mei Isayama muttered under his breath. In such a confined space, no one could not hear him. Misato Katsuragi leaned in and tapped Shinji Ikari on the forehead. "Didn't you say that Aise Kurosawa was always with you? How come you can still be flirting with other women? How can you do this to Ryoko?"

"What...what have I done?" Shinji Ikari said irritably. That damned woman, Mei Isayama, gave him a bunch of seemingly valuable things, and then she turned around and pushed him into a pit. Misato Katsuragi, that old fox, could understand even the most basic flirting. "Never mind, it's just getting worse with you anyway. How are the base preparations going?"

"The preparations for Unit-01 and Unit-02 are complete, as is Unit-00, and they can be delivered at any time."

"NERV's shameful intelligence department, NERV's glorious engineering department." Shinji Ikari shrugged. The guys in the engineering department never disappoint. "Hmph... To be honest... I really want to have a good talk with Ayato Kamina right now, but he has completely disappeared since the last time."

During Shinji Ikari's duel with his father, Sion the Winged God spread her wings and left Tokyo-3. After that, Shinji Ikari had no contact with Ayato Kamina, and all attempts to contact her went unanswered.

“…Because Ayato is a soft-hearted child.” Misato Katsuragi sighed. She knew very well that Shinji Ikari had always wanted to help Ayato Kamina, and in a sense, he almost succeeded! Ayato, who was living in seclusion in the deep mountains, should not have been discovered by anyone. How could he be so unlucky? If she had known this would happen, she would have preferred to move into Mount Hikami or the Himuro mansion from the beginning.

“As you know, many of us saw something different that day… a future that was perhaps what he saw that led him to make his final decision.” Misato Katsuragi, whose own emotional life was still a mess, felt that she didn’t really have much of a say in this matter. “Fine, are you planning to stay here in TERRA, or go back to N… now it’s the SSSP’s base.”

The gap between the Science Search Party and NERV is enormous. Not to mention anything else, the size of the personnel alone has shrunk dramatically to less than one-tenth of the original personnel at NERV headquarters, and the surrounding facilities are beginning to be dismantled and handed over.

"This isn't something that can be resolved overnight. Asuka and I will wander around for a bit, and if we don't find anything, we'll head back tonight." Shinji Ikari made this decision. After all, rather than fighting to the death with TERRA and the Babem Foundation here, it would be better to go back and rest and prepare, since they no longer have the right to fire at will like they did during the NERV era.

"Understood. Then you can't be late for the first full meeting of the Science Patrol tomorrow morning." Misato Katsuragi picked up her bag, said goodbye to Shinji Ikari, and opened the door to leave.

"So where are we going this afternoon?" Asuka, who was sitting next to Shinji, looked at him. She hadn't said anything until now because there was no need to. This bastard had way too many women around him! So Asuka had decided to suppress her own thoughts.

However, Asuka's eyes flickered at Mei Izayama's actions. Perhaps she had misjudged her own identity. As things stood, being Shinji Ikari's comrade-in-arms seemed like a good option. The girl thought to herself, then suddenly lost her temper at Shinji and turned away from him.

"..." Shinji Ikari was utterly bewildered. "Let's go check out the place where the Winged Goddess Sion landed, and a very special person." Shinji took a deep breath. Someone who knew everything but did nothing, just watching everything unfold, yet at the most crucial moment, decisively allowed Ayato Kamina to take Kuon aboard the Winged Goddess Sion. This caused TERRA and the Babem Foundation, who had almost two trump cards in their hands, to instantly lose their composure. This was one of the reasons why they chased after Ayato Kamina like mad dogs afterward.

Ayato Kamina can die, but she can't afford to throw away her trump card again! The MU race has clearly reached the point where they don't want to wait any longer, and a clash between the two sides is already a foreseeable outcome.

"Okay." Asuka didn't linger on her pride for long. After Shinji Ikari revealed their destination, she readily nodded in confirmation. "Shall we set off now or what? The person you want to see is probably that Kisaragi Itsuki, right?"

“That’s right, let’s go now. I’ve had enough of the meals provided by TERRA, so it’s a good opportunity to go out and change things up,” Shinji Ikari said with a smile, and then he saw Asuka pick up her small bag.

"I'll sit in the back seat," Asuka said simply, wearing sunglasses and a hat. "Speaking of which, do you have time to come with me to buy some things? I have quite a few things I want to buy."

“These are truly rare guests.” Kisaragi, who was still working in the Neria Temple, was very surprised to see the two visitors who had suddenly appeared.

Of course, the surprise wasn't about how Shinji Ikari got in. Although there was some security around the Neria Shrine, it was practically useless to Shinji. So what surprised him was that Shinji appeared before him with a calm expression.

Although he wasn't directly involved in Ayato Kamina's affair, he was still a high-ranking member of the Babem Foundation, and like everyone else, he remained silent about his brother's ultimate fate, watching him step by step towards the worst possible end. He wasn't the main culprit, but he couldn't escape being an accomplice.

"Don't give me that 'you're actually not killing me' look." Shinji Ikari looked at the person he was meeting for the first time and laughed. "You unlucky bastard, you've been unlucky enough already. Watching you live is probably the best thing."

"Uh..." Kisaragi Itsuki, who hadn't expected Shinji Ikari to give such an answer (for some reason, looking at this guy's art style and name, I always think of another Kisaragi-sensei), smiled somewhat awkwardly, "Unlucky guy..." He himself hadn't expected that Shinji Ikari would define him like this.

"Can you contact Ayato?" Shinji Ikari looked at the unfortunate man in front of him. His female assistant, whom he liked, was a spy for the Barbem Foundation. He suspected he knew this and was eventually killed by her. His childhood friend (Helena Barbem) became an old man's soul vessel after confessing her feelings to him. The only woman he liked was someone he dated briefly because she looked like his older brother, Ayato (there is a time difference between Tokyo Jupiter and the real world, so the older Kisaragi Itsuki is the younger brother), but she eventually left him.

In summary, his love life is a complete mess, so Shinji Ikari has absolutely no interest in targeting such an unlucky guy. As for his career... if we don't count raising a daughter like raising a mother (genetically speaking, Kisaragi Itsuki and Ayato Kamina's genes come from Kisaragi Kuon...), he was firmly rejected by Ishrith of the Winged God Sone, and with a look of disgust, so in a sense, the purpose of his creation was completely lost.

"Hmm?" Kisaragi Itsuki was a little surprised by Shinji Ikari's directness, but quickly shook his head awkwardly. "No, I can't. This isn't to brush you off, but I really can't contact him. I was even thinking of contacting him through you."

"Then what about Kisaragi Hisahi?" Shinji Ikari stared at the Kisaragi Tree in front of him. The Seion System was composed of the Winged God Seion piloted by Ayato Kamina and the Black Winged God Seion piloted by Kisaragi Hisahi. If he couldn't stop Ayato... then there was another option he might be able to choose. Although he didn't really want to kill his sister to prove his Dao, if it could really end all of this, Shinji Ikari would still be able to do it.

“She’s with the MU tribe, and I have no way to contact her…” Ruyue Shu smiled bitterly. Yes, he was now all alone.

"So you see... you've failed somewhat." Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes. Losing his mother is one thing, but wait, I guess I shouldn't be saying that...