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

"So... are there still anyone who's having second thoughts and wants to come up here to die?" Maou Sadao tugged at his gloves. These gloves, which Shinji had given him, were supposedly smuggled from some mountain god festival. They were indeed quite useful. Although they didn't have any particularly good magical enhancements, their ability to remove dirt was really strong! Maou Sadao liked them very much!

Before him lay more than twenty large pits, in which lay various lifeless monsters. Although these monsters were indeed somewhat terrified by the killing at the Mountain God Festival, they were reluctant to give up such a good thing as the blood of the apostles. However, they were intercepted just as they rushed into the city's outskirts. In this direction was a smiling Sadao Masao.

"Don't you even look at the gap between yourself and it? Even I wouldn't think of confronting this giant monster head-on. How could you be so foolish as to decide to go and fight it yourselves?" Sadao Maou sneered at the monsters in front of him. He had a very good relationship with Shinji Ikari, so to avoid some of the trouble that had happened before.

For the sake of peace and stability on the streets of Third New Tokyo City, Maou Sadao did not hesitate to block this group of obviously abnormal monsters. In front of him, these monsters were not of high rank, and the two leading monsters were at most A-rank.

It would be strange if these monsters could talk properly. The two sides broke down in negotiations right away. Then, Maou Sadao grinned and blasted more than a dozen monsters into the ground, creating more than a dozen craters in the hard road.

“There are a bunch of big shots inside. They’ve already finalized things. And you’re still trying to get a piece of the action? To be honest, your behavior is a bit presumptuous.” Maou Sadao, who feeds on human fear, had just enjoyed a surge of power, which was one of the reasons he was willing to help.

"This doesn't belong to you humans!" a monster with a pair of horns shouted. "What right do you have to monopolize it!"

"You've got two things wrong. First, whoever kills gets to keep it. You didn't contribute anything, so naturally the spoils aren't yours. Second... I'm not human..." A series of magical runes instantly formed, and a dazzling barrage of magical missiles slammed into the opponent's body. This time, another deep crater appeared on the ground, and inside the crater, there seemed to be a thin layer of meat paste.

Chapter 178 Misato Katsuragi's Writing Assignments

"This is the battle report against the Seventh Angel." Misato Katsuragi stood in Gendo Ikari's office, saluting the two men in front of her with a serious expression, while inwardly complaining that although Shinji Ikari and Gendo Ikari were father and son, they really didn't have the slightest similarity in personality.

At least in terms of appearance, Shinji is much cuter than Gendo Ikari. Is it because his mother's genes are too good? However, Gendo Ikari is so disliked by his son, basically treating him as a tool. To be fair... wait a minute... Shinji said that Rei Ayanami is his sister, and... well, okay, Commander, you've had a tough time.

"Well done. This operation plan is excellent. You've prepared for this operation in such a short time. Your ability is amazing." Gendo Ikari struck his standard pose and praised Misato Katsuragi with great satisfaction. To be fair, although this operation plan was still haphazard, it felt quite professional overall. It included tactics like maneuvering, baiting, and a concealed final strike. Very good.

"Yes." Lost in her own thoughts, Katsuragi Misato looked at Ikari Gendo and could only try to maintain a poker face, trying her best to keep her gaze from wandering. This environmental light, ah, it's so dazzling! Feeling that she was about to break down, Katsuragi Misato could only say quickly, "I still have a lot of things to deal with, so I'll take my leave."

"Go ahead." Gendo Ikari was unaware that his subordinate was harboring such disrespectful thoughts. Instead, he thought that Misato Katsuragi's faint smile was probably due to pride after being praised, so he didn't pay any attention to it and let Misato go about her business.

It should be said that although the Thunder Angel was the Angel that was dealt with most decisively, it also caused the greatest losses. Previously, the Water Angel and the Day Angel had both invaded the core area of ​​Third New Tokyo. However, firstly, they did not extensively destroy Third New Tokyo's defenses, and secondly, the losses from the initial battles were mostly quickly transferred to a remote corner, unlike this time when the main battle broke out directly in the city.

So after this battle, although NERV's personnel losses were not that great, there is no doubt that the equipment losses of NERV were astronomical, and the basic defensive facilities on the perimeter were basically in a state of semi-destruction.

To be fair, if in the OVA version, when the Japanese Self-Defense Forces attacked NERV, the defensive facilities that NERV had destroyed by the Raigumi and later the Virtue Angels were still intact, and NERV chose to activate these weapons, how would the Self-Defense Forces fight back?

After all, real warfare isn't like an anime where the Self-Defense Forces can be mobilized from scratch. When a large amount of technological equipment is deployed to NERV, NERV is completely blind and unprepared. This involves a massive mobilization of armored units, long-range rocket artillery, and a large-scale army force of thousands, not just a few trucks. So at that time, NERV's intelligence department was completely sleepwalking, lacking even the most basic vigilance, just like a sentry yawning while guarding the gate, unaware that someone is touching him on the back.

"Phew..." After leaving the house, Katsuragi Misato let out a sigh of relief. Her wild thoughts just now were really...interesting! She chuckled to herself and hummed a tune as she walked towards her office. But as soon as she opened the door, her expression fell! "What are you doing here!"

"Oh, of course I'm here to help. After all, I'm very good at writing these high-sounding articles to fool my superiors." Kaji Ryoji said with a grin. Anyway, he was going to work overtime, so where and with whom he worked was a whole different story. After all, was it better to work with a beautiful woman or to be all alone, burning a bunch of cigarettes and scratching his head while writing a report?

"Great news, Misato!" Ritsuko Akagi typed rapidly on the keyboard in front of her. She didn't even need to ask; the United Nations wasn't blind. The mess of Shinji Ikari slaying the fish angel hadn't even died down yet. This time was even better. The fact that this "Solar Blaze Bullet" could kill an Angel with a single shot was bound to attract the interest of all parties.

Sure enough, the US branch of NERV has already submitted a technical support application and a request for technical personnel to be stationed at NERV headquarters. And the person who came is an old acquaintance, Helena Barbem! Ah, it's clear that Shinji Ikari's battle has once again provoked the Barbem Group.

If NERV headquarters had only conducted a small-scale experiment before and stopped when the results were unsatisfactory, then Babem was truly willing to sacrifice lives! It's said that over a hundred relatively powerful Witchers have died or been crippled in the cockpit of Unit-04, which has already drawn the ire of the Witcher Association of America.

Although the Witcher organization in the United States is a rather loose organization and not very authoritative, they have reached a consensus not to allow any registered Witchers under their command to go to the US branch to participate in any experiments. You can imagine their anger, or rather... panic!

Such actions were almost unquestionable; they were being carried out secretly in all countries that possessed EVA. Although Shinji Ikari's data was edited and modified by Ritsuko Akagi, some data with real significance still leaked out. The other branches naturally understood that this data might not be entirely accurate, but it was still the first-hand information they could obtain.

What they didn't know was that, in all honesty, Ritsuko Akagi was simply using her scientific understanding to make Shinji Ikari's supernatural and fantastical ideas seem more plausible. Of course, some "minor adjustments" to the data were inevitable, but that didn't matter, since none of you... have a Shinji Ikari! Naturally, you wouldn't realize I was talking nonsense.

However, what Shinji Ikari pulled off today made Ritsuko Akagi somewhat unsure how to continue the story. She could explain creating sword energy blasts by cutting with a sword as a matter of aerodynamics, but how was she going to make this solar blast less threatening?! After all, according to the data NERV had collected, quantifying its destructive power meant that it could potentially evaporate Lake Ashi and still leave a large portion intact! It was far beyond her capabilities; after all, Ritsuko Akagi considered herself a scientist, not a novelist.

"Where are Shinji Ikari's men?" She threw her notebook on the table in annoyance, then leaned back in her chair and let out a long sigh. Today, Misato Katsuragi was once again a beautiful couch potato!

Because so many things have piled up, most of NERV's personnel have been deployed to survey and determine the condition of their outer defenses, to see if the destroyed turrets and the like can still be repaired. There are a lot of questions involved.

Furthermore, the Raikou, which was blasted away by Shinji Ikari's Solar Beam, crashed through almost half of the city before plunging into Lake Ashi. Combined with the destruction caused by the Solar Beam's explosion, this was the most destructive of the several Angel attacks.

Earlier, when Misato Katsuragi was talking to Shinji Ikari, Shinji was joking with her, "Don't worry, this will definitely not be the biggest one. If nothing unexpected happens, the destruction will only get bigger and bigger." Misato was so angry that she raised her leg and launched a flying kick. However, it was clear that Misato's physical skills were not as good as Mei Isayama's. Shinji was quick and escaped.

"I've already prepared two reports for you here. Let's work together on the rest!" Kaji Ryoji interjected. Shinji Ikari? That brat had already run off. He'd just chatted briefly with me and then reminded me not to forget that the reservation at Fuyumi Mizuhara's shop was for tonight. What else could Kaji Ryoji do? Shinji Ikari clearly didn't want to talk.

"Hmph! Who's going with you! I didn't agree! Shinji said you'd go with him!" Misato Katsuragi turned her head away, not wanting to pay any attention to Ryoji Kaji.

“I’ll handle it for you from here to here.” Kaji Ryoji’s smile was utterly despicable as he gestured across the pile of documents.

Ritsuko Akagi, standing nearby, also laughed. Ryoji Kaji had Misato Katsuragi completely under his thumb. Misato Katsuragi, who was carefree and easygoing, hated paperwork the most. Every time, she would stay up all night to finish all the paperwork by the deadline, hand it in, and then sleep soundly for a long time.

Now that Ryoji Kaji is willing to help, Misato Katsuragi has no reason to refuse. So Ritsuko Akagi is laughing heartily, as if everything has returned to her university days.

"..." Misato Katsuragi glanced sideways at Ryoji Kaji, "Ristorante F! I'm ordering, don't try to fool me with a set meal!"

“No problem!” Kaji Ryoji nodded with a smile. He hadn’t planned on having any set meal in the first place. He had already bought the wine. Since he was planning to reconcile with Katsuragi Misato, he was naturally willing to spend a lot of money.

“The document processing is here!” Misato Katsuragi gestured with her hand, and Ritsuko Akagi immediately let out a muffled laugh.

"Why did you keep three copies for yourself? Wouldn't it have been better to just have Ryoji write them all for you?" Ritsuko Akagi propped her face up with one hand, her smile completely undisguised. Misato Katsuragi had improved a bit since her university days, at least she had kept three or five copies for herself. In the past, she probably would have given them all to Ryoji Kaji.

"Hmph, wasn't that just a random point?" Misato Katsuragi rolled her eyes, rubbed her stomach, checked the time—there was still some time before dinner—"Ritsuko, do you have any cake left?"

"Shinji made this?" Ritsuko Akagi asked without turning her head.

"Yes."

"Gone!"

"What are you stuffing in your mouth?!"

"the last one!"

Chapter 179 The New Neighbor

"Hey! Shinji!" Gojo Satoru, who had just finished his cola, squatted on a few thick drainpipes and called out to Shinji. At the same time, he was spinning a dog head in his hand, obviously the dog demon he had killed before coming. "Itadori Yuuji, you know him, my student, your classmate! This handsome guy over there is Fushiguro Megumi, and the hot-tempered beauty next to him is Kugizaki Nobara! They're the best among the first-year students of Tokyo's Jujutsu High School this year! Hurry up and call them senpai!"

"Greetings, senpai!" Yuji Itadori, being very straightforward, followed the instructions of his shameless teacher, Satoru Gojo, and respectfully addressed Shinji Ikari as "senpai." The other two rolled their eyes and glanced sideways at the concrete ground, not wanting to pay any attention to Satoru Gojo or Shinji Ikari standing there. They had just witnessed a huge shock, so they were a little reluctant to speak.

"He's the pilot of that robot you just saw," Gojo Satoru said with a mischievous grin. "And our Shinji could probably take on all three of you by himself!"

"Oh!" Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugizaki rolled their eyes and didn't react much, but Yuuji Itadori's eyes widened. "Oh! Shinji-kun, it's been a while since we last met, and you've actually... become a super robot pilot?"

"Idiot, shouldn't the end result be that the three of us can't beat him alone?" Nobara Kugizaki smoothed her hair and stared at Shinji Ikari. "I've heard of you! Whether it's the Onmyo Bureau, the Spellcaster Association, or even the Countermeasures Bureau, there are rumors about you!"

"We should even add the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department," said Gojo Satoru, still pacing back and forth, seemingly lost in thought. "That exorcist lady from the Metropolitan Police Department has been making quite a stir lately, you know~"

"What does that have to do with me..." Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes. What this nail-wielding woman said was somewhat plausible. What was Gojo Satoru talking about? My relationship with that exorcist goddess is just something we had at McDonald's. We're not even close! Don't frame me! Exorcist goddess? Is she someone I can get close to? I'm already a jinx, don't drag me into this!

"Hahahaha!" Seeing Shinji Ikari's reaction, Satoru Gojo immediately began to laugh loudly.

"Oh right, that thing, my sister took it!" Shinji Ikari blurted out out of the blue.

"Oh! That's a very suitable arrangement indeed! Whether it's for feeding her or for training her, your sister is the most suitable candidate." Gojo Satoru nodded. "Speaking of which, your old friend's training seems to be almost over~ Are you going to pick him up?"

"Let's talk about it later." Shinji Ikari shook his head. That guy suddenly died, then suddenly came back to life, and then disappeared without a trace. As one of the few colleagues of the Spirit Detectives, Shinji Ikari hoped that the other party could contact those guys in the Spirit World and make them at least understand that the Earth is in complete chaos. So Shinji Ikari was waiting for news from the other party.

"This interception seems to have yielded quite a few results." Shinji Ikari blinked, watching as Sadao Maou, wearing gloves, handed him a bag of McDonald's food. Shinji took it, then suddenly realized, "Oh my god, the Demon King is inviting me to dinner!"

"As you said, the Totsuki Group is somewhat interested in those scraps of meat. They just hope that next time I'm scraping meat, I can differentiate them a little. However, I'm still quite satisfied with the price per pound of bone-in scraps." Sadao Maou smiled as he watched Shinji Ikari open the package and look inside. He then briefly described his gains. In addition to the financial benefits, the Totsuki Group said they would relocate his "Demon King's Castle" there, so he wouldn't have to commute to get off work by train every day.

"Is that so?" Shinji Ikari nodded. Their profits from last time were still being processed. Although the first batch of funds had begun to be transferred back through a roundabout route, it was probably only enough to improve the lives of Sadao Maou. After all, he was supporting a NEET and a full-time stay-at-home husband, and the NEET angel had quite a few demands and was quite extravagant. His own salary was still not enough.

"So you'll be moving to Tokyo-3 too?" Shinji Ikari said with a smile. He had already heard Misato Katsuragi's heartbeat. Wouldn't the corresponding security, surveillance, and monitoring plans all fall to her?

“Yes, I’ve already found a house. It’s not far from where you are. There’s a detached house over there that I really like. It has great natural light,” Sadao Mao said with a smile. He clearly thought, “Having my own living space will make my life more comfortable.”

"Wow..." Gojo Satoru's lips curled up. If this person has moved here, then the female opponent who is theoretically monitoring him and is also a transmigrator should also move here with her small bag.

Both the Spellcaster Association and the Onmyodo sent a woman to work at the McDonald's where Maou Sadao worked. Their residences were also not far from Maou Sadao's. The one from the Onmyodo was bolder and lived right across from Maou Sadao. She could see the "Demon King's Castle" across the street just by opening her window, so it could be said that they basically went to work and came home together.

Therefore, they were very clear about the situation around Sadao Mao and the population status of Sadao Mao's family. Naturally, the woman who suddenly appeared next to Sadao Mao was immediately investigated. After a simple investigation, her unreliable forged documents were immediately exposed under the spotlight. However, these people did not directly confront her.

Of course, it wasn't because they discovered the woman was exceptionally powerful, but rather because of Maou Sadao's reaction to her. After all, even after she had clearly made a move, Maou Sadao didn't kill her as he usually did; instead, he took her home. The personnel monitoring Maou Sadao were already planning to evacuate nearby residents, but ultimately nothing happened.

Subsequent observations revealed a surprising truth: the woman appeared to be Maou Sadao's former adversary. It seemed the two had reached some kind of agreement, with the woman monitoring Maou Sadao's daily life.

This conclusion satisfied all parties. Although Sadao Maou didn't seem to take any particularly drastic actions, anyone who could help monitor him would be more than welcome.

"Thump!" Shinji Ikari tossed out four hamburgers, and Gojo Satoru and the three people in his class (as I write this, I suddenly realize...tsk, isn't this a replica of Team 7? A mysterious but very powerful class teacher, and they all like to cover something up, one covering his mouth, one covering his eyes; a hot-blooded idiot, who knows what's going on in his head; a somewhat gloomy genius, who at first glance is also a bit arrogant; and a strong woman), each caught a hamburger.

"Actually, I'm not hungry..." Although Fushiguro Megumi caught the hamburger, she felt a faint pain in her palm and roughly understood that the Shinji Ikari in front of her was not joking with her unreliable teacher; he was truly very strong.

"Wow! The latest model! Super double Wagyu cheeseburger!" Yuji Itadori exclaimed excitedly after opening the packaging, and then took a big bite.

"So it's okay to eat it?" Kugizaki Nobara glanced at Gojo Satoru, who had also opened his wrapper, sighed, and muttered softly, "Shouldn't we be a little more cautious? After all, there's always a risk in food handed to us by others."

“That’s a good idea!” Gojo Satoru was pleased with Kugizaki Nobara’s caution. “But if those two wanted to kill you, eating you would probably be the most troublesome option.” He then took a bite. “Mmm…satisfaction! Speaking of which, Sadao-san, next time I go to your shop, could you prepare a little more food for me? After all, I’ve already spent tens of thousands of yen, haven’t I?”

“Let’s talk about it next time we come.” Maou Sadao ignored his words. “By the way, wasn’t Ms. Okuni from the Onmyōryō here before? Where is she?” Maou Sadao looked around, seemingly searching for her. Last time, before they robbed… no, before they carried out their justice against the Evil Spirits, her sudden appearance surprised Maou Sadao quite a bit. He hadn’t even noticed how this woman had gotten so close to him.

"I was a little busy just now, after all, I can't just smash you into a meat pie like you did, Sadao!" Sadao wasn't surprised by Izumo no Okuni's appearance, but her stealth skills still made Sadao frown a little. It wasn't that Sadao didn't have the means to detect her, but being approached so stealthily by the other party was not good news for any strong person.

"Heh, so the Onmyōryō also reaped a great harvest this time?" Shinji Ikari glanced at Izumo no Okuni, who arrived late, with annoyance. This woman was no pushover.

“Yes, if I hadn’t been busy teaching Tensou and Tensou Mio, I wouldn’t have needed this much time,” Izumo Okuni said with a smile.

"They seem to be learning very quickly?" Shinji Ikari shook his head. He hoped that the twins' fate wouldn't drag them into some strange place again. Of course, given the two girls' strength and skill, it was only a matter of time before they took on difficult tasks. In fact, they were already equipped with a spirit camera that had become very useful after being modified by Yuu Asou.

"Yes, very quickly! We've seen the baby!"

"Alright, the people from Far Moon don't need to wait anymore. So I'm curious, how much did you actually earn this time?"

"Shinji! You're so nosy! You're asking about our loot again!"

"Shouldn't it be?"

"I think it's quite reasonable."

"Sadao Maou, you've betrayed us!"

Chapter 180 Every man has a battle waiting for him

"Speaking of which, are you no longer going to hide it? Or are you really looking forward to reuniting with Sensui? And then avenging your neighbor?" Izumo no Okuni, who was munching on fries after taking a McDonald's bag from Shinji Ikari, asked softly.

"Is he strong?" Seeing the serious expression on Gojo Satoru's face, who seemed "not weak" across from him, Sadao Maou, holding a soda, asked curiously. In Maou's eyes, Shinji Ikari was a nice person, someone he could be a friend, but his strength was still lacking. Only if Shinji had unleashed that technique, comparable to a forbidden spell, would he have been considered somewhat strong in Maou's eyes.

"Very strong. He could probably go toe-to-toe with Gojo Satoru in front of him?" Shinji Ikari wasn't quite sure, and looked at Gojo Satoru beside him.

"No, no, no... I should put it this way, if I get too close to that legendary senior, I'm doomed. If we increase the distance, even just twenty meters or so, he's probably doomed too." Gojo Satoru said with a grin, "But I'm confident, I'm fast enough!" The confidence of a top mage when facing a warrior.

"I can roughly gauge it." Maou Sadao nodded, indicating that he understood. At the very least, the words of the person in front of him conveyed one meaning: this Sensui ninja was probably a strong person of his level. At most, in a life-or-death struggle, it would come down to who had the better position. Moreover, his statement about running very fast could mean that he could quickly create distance and enter his advantageous combat range, or it could mean that he would simply avoid the battle.

Shinji Ikari sighed. "Sen-sui-sensei...?" Shinji's eyes were somewhat unfocused. If a person hasn't gone to extremes, some things can be understood or accepted. But Sen-sui Shinobu was different. From the very beginning, his thinking had gone to an extreme. He firmly believed that humans were good, demons were evil, and his mission was to slay demons and protect humanity!

Therefore, he was so extreme that he quickly went from one extreme to another... In his previous life, Shinji Ikari once advised him that people are always mercenary and selfish, but also kind and compassionate. In short, people are never pure black or pure white, but rather a light gray.

At the time, Sensui Shinobu just smiled and obviously didn't take it to heart, because a few days later, Sensui Shinobu still took action. After this battle, the Spirit Detectives, who had once been a high-end force, almost disappeared from Japan.

"It seems you've seen him before?" Shinji Ikari's sigh and wistful gaze caught Satoru Gojo's attention, though it didn't seem particularly strange. Satoru Gojo did some mental calculations. Considering Shinji's age, it was quite possible he had indeed seen Shinobu Sensui. After all, Shinobu Sensui's disciple was right next door to him, and she had even taught Shinji skills including Holy Light Aura. It was almost impossible for him not to know Shinobu Sensui.

"I've seen him before. I've seen him several times when I came to ask Shinichiro for a mission. I even got my forehead rubbed. My aptitude was determined by Sensui Shinobu." Shinji Ikari shrugged. He was completely talking nonsense. At that time, he was still in a daze. He didn't have this uke-like face in his memories of his previous life. But since this world was already connected, no one could prove that he was talking nonsense.

"Oh~ I've even met that legendary senior!" Izumo no Okuni looked surprised, but Shinji Ikari glanced at her and knew she was just pretending. This woman already knew, and the Onmyōryō had been maintaining Honda Shinichirō's grave, so how could they not know about Shinji Ikari's relationship with Sensui Shinobu?

"So what will you do if he comes back?" After roughly understanding the ins and outs of Sensui Shinobu's story, Maou Sadao looked at Shinji Ikari with great interest. As the Demon King, he was very interested in such trivial matters that tested human nature, and he wanted to know Shinji Ikari's choice.

"What else can we do?" Shinji Ikari said irritably. He had tried to persuade Shinobu Sensui, and then Shinobu Sensui was beaten to death. If Gendo Ikari, the "Demon Father," owed him two punches, then Shinobu Sensui owed him a beating! What's the point of reasoning with him!

Shinji Ikari recalled how he had painstakingly tried to stop Shinobu Sensui's madness, and the only conclusion he had reached was that Shinobu was even crazier than that old bastard, Master Asia! This guy actually wanted to open a portal to allow the Demon World to communicate with Earth! Well, there's no hope! Today is another good day for betraying one's master and ancestors! It's just a little different from the previous life. Back then, Shinichiro Honda's talent wasn't exactly mediocre, but it was utterly unremarkable.

So when facing the most powerful genius in history, Sensui Shinobu, Honda Shinichiro used some techniques from the Invincible East style he had learned in his previous life. In close combat, he seized the opportunity to strike Sensui's right arm with his Exploding Flame Finger. Then, while enduring a fatal blow, he successfully dealt a second blow, blasting Sensui Shinobu into the Demon World. However, he himself was also struck by Sensui Shinobu's fatal blow and fell before the Demon World gate, which had failed to open and was beginning to collapse. By the time the others arrived, he was already dead.

"So... you're planning to kill him?" Sadao Maou curled his lip. He's already made up his mind? This is really a bit bland and boring, but it seems to fit his understanding of Shinji Ikari. It's definitely in line with his personality.

“Yes, since I inherited all these skills from Shinichiro-nii…” Shinji Ikari swallowed hard. Calling himself “brother”… thankfully not “father”. “It’s only natural that I should bear all this responsibility now.” Shinji Ikari spread his hands and put the leftover wrappers back into the empty plastic bag. “It might be a fight to the death then. I just hope I can be stronger than I am now.”

“Actually, you don’t need to. You can fight him in Unit-01! Who says equipment isn’t part of strength?” Gojo Satoru patted Shinji Ikari on the shoulder, gave him a thumbs up, and wore a shameless smile, while offering a very wicked idea.

"Really..." Izumo no Okuni covered his face. No one had thought of this before. After all, who would compare the combat power of Shinji Ikari, who was 1.7 meters tall, and Unit-01, which was tens of meters tall? Everyone was more used to calculating Shinji Ikari's combat power as Shinji's, but Unit-01... it was still Unit-01. Who would think of Shinji Ikari piloting Unit-01 to fight someone else? Unit-01 wasn't his property...

Then everyone suddenly realized that the commander of NERV really was his father. Even if their relationship was terrible, when it came to Shinji Ikari's life and death, who could guarantee it? Apart from Sadao Maou and Satoru Gojo, who said these words, everyone looked at Shinji Ikari with a very strange look.

"Stop talking nonsense. Unit-01 has a fatal flaw, as you should know. Remember how embarrassing that mess in Tokyo Bay was?" Shinji Ikari shook his head. The attack in Tokyo Bay exposed the biggest problem with all EVAs compared to Ryougi Shion: the limitation on operational time. Why was the US NERV branch so stubborn in its decision to deactivate the S2 engine on the EVAs? It directly led to the entire branch being reduced to ashes in a self-destruction.

Moreover, judging from the scenes in the anime, there seems to be a flash of light from the ascension of an Angel within the huge smoke ring generated by the self-destruction. Including Unit 4 later, it seems that both of the American-built EVAs have become Angels, which is incredibly powerful!

"That seems to be true..." Against a top-tier powerhouse like Sensui Shinobu, the battle could never end in just a few minutes. Even if someone's combat power is much higher than Sensui Shinobu's, the opponent will prolong the battle and look for opportunities as soon as they confirm the situation. Generally, the only way to be killed outright is to play dumb and take advantage of the situation. Moreover, once Sensui Shinobu returns to Earth, it won't be long before she understands what happened. So, the ridiculous story of Shinji Ikari ambushing Sensui Shinobu in Unit-01 is out of the question.

"But isn't this really interesting?" Gojo Satoru, still somewhat unwilling to give up, was trying to persuade Shinji Ikari. Fushiguro Megumi and Kugizaki Nobara, standing nearby, both wore deadpan expressions. In contrast, Itadori Yuuji's eyes were shining. He didn't understand who Sensui Shinobu was, but it was clearly someone powerful. Then Gojo Satoru was suggesting that Shinji Ikari use that giant robot they had seen today to fight?! This was truly an eye-opening suggestion (Fushiguro Megumi: The common language of idiots).

"Alright, stop making things difficult for Shinji. I just happen to need to talk to him about something, Manager-san~" Izumo no Okuni immediately hugged Maou Sadao, who was standing next to Shinji, "Special offer!"

“Special price: 2 yen!” Maou Sadao scratched his face with an embarrassed smile.

"I love how decisive you are~" Izumo no Okuni raised an eyebrow at Shinji Ikari beside her with a smug look! Look at my charm! My fighting power! You blind brat! It would normally cost 50,000 yen, but we got it for 40% off!

"..." Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes at Izumo no Okuni's reaction. You old woman, don't you think it's embarrassing to act so coquettishly?

"No drinks or desserts included." Maou Sadao, who had suddenly dropped his awkward expression, uttered the next words that shocked Izumo Okuni.

"Pfft... Hahaha..." Shinji Ikari laughed rather unkindly! Serves you right for trying to cause trouble! Serves you right for stirring things up! You've kicked a hornet's nest! What haven't they eaten and seen! 2 yen for a seat, isn't that the most basic package they offer? Do you really need to cause trouble?

"Men are all the same!" Izumo no Okuni, who had kicked Shinji Ikari but missed, shook off Sadao Maou's arm and said angrily.

"Let's go, Shinji. Let's have a few drinks at the shopkeeper's place. I'm also quite curious about what Izumo no Okuni wants with you." Actually, Gojo Satoru had already exchanged information via hard drive at the beginning and was happy to see the pillar of Izumo Taisha make a fool of himself.

Chapter 181 Life

"You're back?" It was already late at night when Shinji Ikari arrived home on his motorcycle. Ryoko Sakaki poked her head out from the second floor and looked at Shinji. Next to her was Reimi Kanzaki's head. That girl was coming to stay overnight again to mooch cake. The little bit of snacks I made was not enough for these people to consume.