Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

Page 263

"The Third Apostle fell completely silent. The prophecies of the Dead Sea Scrolls are unfolding, but this is not in accordance with the script!"

"Ikari, we need an explanation!"

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Aside from the speaker, the four members played a game of good cop/bad cop, putting pressure on Gendo Ikari.

"It's alright, everything is under control." Gendo Ikari pushed up his glasses and said coldly.

"Preparations for the first and second Child are already underway, and I will expedite the latter's journey to Japan..."

"How do you control him? Your son is a crucial tool. Unit-01 is the only key that can open the door to salvation, and your son is the only one who can control him."

Speaker Kiru, who had remained silent until now, spoke. The old man, whose upper face had been replaced by machinery, spoke in a cold and mechanical voice.

"We're asking about your son, nothing else!"

For SEELE, neither Unit-00 nor Unit-02 is the main point. These EVAs may be the sharp knives they use to eliminate the Angels, but in the end, they are just useful knives.

Unit-01 is the most special and the most important—because only Unit-01 is a clone of Lilith, and only Unit-01 can assist them in completing the Human Instrumentality Project!

"...We have already obtained information about the weaknesses of the Third Child."

Gendo Ikari remained silent for a moment, somewhat puzzled as to why these elderly people were so 'relaxed' in their attitude.

Even he knew he should do everything he could to control Shinji Ikari, but these old men, who should have been even more controlling than him, didn't seem to care.

I don't understand, but finishing it is the most important thing right now. Gendo Ikari paused for a moment, then said in a cold tone.

“He has an excellent relationship with a group of refugees, and we will make use of that if necessary.”

"That's good. Remember your duty, Ikari!"

"Exterminating the Apostles is only a minor part of the pact we made with Lilith. The Human Instrumentality Project and the return of souls to God's embrace are the most important things."

"Go on, continue to annihilate the Angels for us. As long as Shinji Ikari can help us annihilate the Angels, we can grant his request!"

As the lights went out and the projection disappeared, the old people's mystical questioning and meeting came to an end.

Only Gendo Ikari, with his head bowed, had an unknown light gleaming in his eyes.

Shinji Ikari, I really need to find a way to control you!

The mountain path was muddy and difficult to traverse. The Renault A310 sports car's chassis was too low, forcing Misato Katsuragi to park at an abandoned gas station two kilometers away and hike the rest of the way with Ritsuko Akagi.

“I say, why don’t we just call him back to NERV?” Ritsuko Akagi said, carefully navigating a puddle in her high heels, her voice full of complaint. “Why did we have to come all the way to this godforsaken place?”

"You called," Misato Katsuragi said without turning her head. "Did he answer?"

Ritsuko Akagi remained silent.

In fact, ever since Shinji Ikari disappeared from NERV headquarters that day, all attempts to contact him have been fruitless. He doesn't answer his communicators, the cell phones sent to him are tossed aside at the base entrance, and even the emergency recall order personally issued by Gendo Ikari has vanished without a trace.

If it weren't for the intelligence department's thorough search that eventually led them to this place, NERV's top brass would almost have thought that the Third Child had vanished into thin air.

"So we have to come in person?" Ritsuko Akagi sighed. "I still have a ton of data to process in my lab..."

“Then go back.” Misato Katsuragi stopped and turned to look at her, her tone slightly mocking. “Anyway, MAGI can function without you. I can go see that kid by myself.”

Ritsuko Akagi rolled her eyes at her and didn't say anything.

The two continued walking. The mountain path gradually became gentler, and the view opened up. After rounding a bend in the mountain, they stopped at the same time.

“That is…” Ritsuko Akagi narrowed her eyes, still somewhat surprised by the scene before her, even though she had already read the report.

At the foot of the hill, on a relatively flat piece of land, a small settlement suddenly appeared.

Calling it a small town might be an exaggeration, but there are indeed twenty or thirty poorly repaired buildings scattered around, with a half-collapsed church in the center standing out prominently. Smoke rises from chimneys, some people are patching up leaks in the roofs, others are hanging clothes to dry in the open space, and a few children are chasing and playing, their laughter faintly audible.

The most striking feature is the cultivated land behind the church.

About a dozen people were working in the field. Some were turning the soil, some were sowing seeds, and some were drawing water from the nearby stream in simple wooden buckets to irrigate the fields. Their movements were clumsy but earnest, and their division of labor was clear and orderly.

"They...are farming?" Misato Katsuragi said, somewhat surprised.

“It looks so.” Ritsuko Akagi pushed up her glasses, her gaze sweeping across the field. “Potatoes, radishes, and some leafy greens. The soil doesn’t look very fertile, but it’s at least growable.”

Cultivable land is already a rare and precious resource in this world. After all, Adam's anti-AT force, regardless of other factors, was absolutely destructive to the ecosystem. The so-called 'purification of the earth' means making the geology resemble that of the ocean.

Some land may look black, but nothing can grow in it. In fact, if you dig it up and leave it for a few days, the land will turn bright red, just like the ocean.

“No, what I mean is…” Misato Katsuragi paused for a moment, “Where did these people come from? How do they live here? How do they make a living?”

Ritsuko Akagi was silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "Refugees."

"what?"

“Refugees after the Second Shock.” Ritsuko Akagi’s tone became somewhat complicated. “Do you think everyone is like us, able to live a peaceful life under NERV’s protection? The shock destroyed most of the coastal cities, and half of the inland areas were also affected. The government’s relief food was simply not enough to go around, and the shelters were already overflowing. Those who had neither connections nor resources could only… find a way to survive on their own.”

Ritsuko Akagi didn't say what was on her mind next. Their friend, Ryoji Kaji, had actually been one of these 'refugees' as well.

Misato Katsuragi opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

She knew all this. As NERV's Chief of Operations, she certainly knew about the global situation following the Second Impact. But knowing and seeing are two different things.

Those data, those reports, those cold figures of "estimated affected population" and "estimated mortality rate" have now transformed into these hunched figures, these tattered clothes, and these hands struggling to make a living on the barren land.

“They look…so pitiful,” Misato Katsuragi said softly.

Ritsuko Akagi glanced at her but didn't reply.

Misato Katsuragi's tone did contain pity, but that pity was too distant, too detached, like standing in front of a zoo window looking at an animal in a cage—I sympathize with you, I feel sorry for you, but I am ultimately different from you, I am ultimately on the other side of the glass.

After all, it seems like Misato Katsuragi's fate was so tragic, but her father was the doctor who led the Adam research, and it was he who 'sacrificed' himself to destroy Adam with the N2 bomb. Even if it's just to inherit this lineage, NERV will continue to support her.

Some people are born to be the Celestial Dragons of the city, but ironically, in the repeated shocks of the new theatrical version world, those who are far from the disaster are the first to die. Meanwhile, those who have registered residence in Tokyo-3, because they are close to the eye of the storm, are the only ones who can survive for more than ten years.

“Let’s go down and take a look,” Ritsuko Akagi said.

The two walked down the hillside, gradually approaching the field. The working people noticed them, stopped what they were doing, and scrutinized the two neatly dressed women with wary and distant eyes.

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