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

Thousands of nuclear warheads are approaching.

Meanwhile, over East Asia, the first nuclear missile launched from Batra was entering the atmosphere in a distorted Brownian motion trajectory before crashing towards Japan.

"More than two hundred nuclear warheads have been detected approaching the Japanese archipelago!" Ritsuko Akagi's voice was almost a scream. "Second Tokyo, Third Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka—all within range! The first wave of nuclear warheads is expected to arrive in three minutes!"

“Three minutes…” Misato Katsuragi murmured, her face already drained of color.

Asuka clenched her fists, wanting to say something, but couldn't utter a word.

Shinji Ikari looked at the distant sky. There, tiny points of light could already be seen—those were nuclear bombs passing through the atmosphere, those were the approaching infernal flames.

These flames pose no threat to them; the interior of the EVA is the safest place in the world.

However, these flames can kill everyone they are protecting, and also kill all innocent people.

He couldn't stop it; this was beyond the capabilities of EVA and his own abilities.

His Lord gave him only a word and a gun!

The Spear of Longinus, which he had just thrown, flew back to Unit-01 at an incredible speed, where the crimson double-helix tree of life remained silently.

How should I save myself? My Lord, please guide me.

Shinji Ikari instinctively began to pray for the help of the Holy Spirit, who was like a father to him, but this time, he did not receive a response.

He had embarked on his path to sainthood, and as a father, he could not help his child forever. But he already believed that Shinji knew what should be done.

Shinji himself is no longer the boy who would panic when faced with problems. After calming down, he has found a solution.

“Ikari-kun.” Rei Ayanami’s voice came through the communication channel, soft and calm, like a spring breeze, “I saw it.”

“Those nuclear bombs,” Rei Ayanami continued, “will kill many people. Many innocent people. Those who haven’t been tried yet, those who haven’t had a chance to repent.”

“I know,” Shinji Ikari said softly.

Do you have a solution?

Shinji Ikari was silent for a second.

“Yes,” he said, “but that method…”

He didn't finish speaking, but Rei Ayanami finished it for him.

"You need me, don't you?" Rei Ayanami, Lilith, smiled gently. It wasn't Rei's usual expressionless expression, nor was it the wicked smile from her previous personality; it was a gentler smile.

That was Lilith's smile, the smile that humans call motherhood.

“Kimi Ikari,” she said, “I was born for this.”

“No.” Shinji Ikari finally turned around and looked at the girl on the screen. “You weren’t born for this. You are…”

“I am Lilith’s soul, and also the life your mother created with her genes, but no matter what, it seems that doing this will make me different.” Rei Ayanami interrupted him, her voice still gentle.

"But I want to make my own choice based on my own will. I know what the outcome will be, but I still made this choice."

She reached out, gently touching countless unseen people through the screen, and chuckled softly.

"Is this what they call a mother's feeling? Ikari, I understand your mother a little better now, the feeling of protecting her child and all that."

"Let me go."

Shinji Ikari closed his eyes; he knew what Rei Ayanami was talking about.

The Human Instrumentality Project requires Lilith's soul to unite with Unit-01, which is Lilith's body, so that the fruit of life and the fruit of wisdom can become one. Before him lies the branch of the Kabbalah Tree of Life, the Spear of Longinus, which serves as the activation condition.

Ayanami is Lilith's soul. Unit-01 is a copy of Lilith, and Yui and Gendo Ikari, as her souls, would never violate Shinji Ikari's will.

Therefore, the plan to save all of this is both simple and difficult.

Initiate Human Instrumentality, save all the souls that can be saved, and then find an opportunity to send them back.

This is a gamble.

397

Even if Lilith and he, as the core of the Instrumentality Project, consciously send these souls back, who can guarantee the final outcome?

But now is not the time for sentimentalism.

“Ikari-kun,” Rei Ayanami’s voice rang out again, “time is running out.”

Shinji Ikari opened his eyes and looked at Rei Ayanami on the screen, at the girl who was once as cold as a doll, now wearing such a gentle smile. He remembered the first time he saw her, her empty red eyes, and her lonely figure sitting alone on the hospital bed.

He remembered what Tsurugi had said—

"You will meet many people, Shinji. Some will cause you pain, some will bring you joy, and some will confuse you. But in the end, you will understand that everyone who appears in your life has a reason."

He took a deep breath.

“Li,” he said, “thank you.”

Rei Ayanami smiled, a smile more radiant and beautiful than ever before.

“I am,” she said. “Thank you.”

Zero activated its maneuver, the yellow giant turning and walking towards Unit-01, while Unit-01 stood still, arms outstretched. The posture was like a welcome, like an embrace.

Unit-00 walked up to Unit-01 and stopped. The two giants stood facing each other, like two mirrors, like two different worlds.

Then, Unit-00's insertion plug popped out and opened, and Unit-01 walked over and grasped the insertion plug.

"Hey! Shinji the charlatan, and the honor student, you won't—" Asuka said in a trembling voice, realizing what was about to happen, while Shinji said softly...

"Leave it to me with confidence. This time, I will not run away!"

Unit-01 pulled out the insertion plug from Unit-00, then slowly opened its gaping maw and swallowed it whole.

Rei Ayanami's soul merged into it, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, like fire merging into light.

At that moment, everyone saw it: Unit-01's body began to glow. The light spread from its core, along every line of the machine, every piece of armor, and every inch of its surface.

Then, Unit-01 began to change. He opened his arms, and the Spear of Longinus flew towards him, which he grasped tightly in his hands, raised high, and its shape changed as well.

It transformed from a double-pronged, spiraling spear into a long spear with its blade pointing forward.

The Spear of Longinus became the Spear of Cassius. The Spear of Despair became the Spear of Hope.

At the very bottom of the central dogma section, the enormous Lilith broke free from the cross, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, like a newborn fetus. Her body was pure white as snow, smooth as a mirror, without gender, age, or distinguishing features, only a pure human silhouette, kneeling on the earth.

The white human mother goddess expanded as if she had no mass, until she finally penetrated the entire underground of the Third New Tokyo City.

People looked up and gazed at this enormous white giant.

Then, she began to change; her face melted.

The mask covering the seven eyes, symbolizing the Eye of Jehovah, fell away, and the face, as if scorched by an invisible flame, began to flow, deform, and recombine. Countless faces emerged from that white surface—Rei Ayanami's face, Yui Ikari's face, countless strangers' faces. They appeared alternately, overlapping each other, finally settling on Rei Ayanami's face.

The face was enormous, covering the entire sky. Her eyes were closed, her expression serene, as if she were asleep, or perhaps dead.

At that moment, the soft singing of Rei Ayanami echoed in the ears of every survivor in the world.

"いま private wish いごとが (if my wish can come true~)

かなうならばwing がほしい (I hope God will give me a pair of wings~)

この中に鸟のように (Like a bird on my back~)

白いwingつけてください (Let me have a pair of snow-white wings~)"

Unit-01, having entered a state of near-divine transformation, slowly took off and then merged into the enormous head of Lilith.

"Please do not be afraid, your souls will not vanish." Shinji Ikari's gentle voice echoed throughout the world.

"I am doing my best to save you. After the disaster, I will try my best to get you to a safe place. Please believe me."

The gentle voice seemed to possess a certain magic, and for the people at that moment, they had no choice or power to refuse.

In the command room, no one spoke, no one breathed, and no one even dared to blink.

They were simply staring at the image on the screen—the enormous Rei Ayanami that covered the entire sky, the white giant.

This scene should have filled them with indescribable fear or even despair, but at this moment, they felt no fear.

Then they felt something calling to them.

It's like being surrounded by your mother's heartbeat in the womb, like being warmed by your mother's embrace in swaddling clothes, like being drawn by your deepest desires in a dream.

Misato Katsuragi looked down and saw that her hands were glowing.

The light was faint and gentle, emanating from beneath her skin, as if her body was becoming some kind of translucent entity. She tried to grasp something, but found her fingers beginning to blur, to melt, to turn into—

LCL solution.

Orange liquid dripped from her fingertips and fell to the ground with a soft sound.

"Have a sweet dream," Lilith said gently.

"It's fine if you don't want to wake up, the choice is yours," Tsugumi said jokingly.

On the road to godhood, there must be killing, killing, killing! :277. Finally evolved from a short human!

"As expected of you, Shinji-kun..."

Inside the colossal Tree of Life, Kaworu, bound and hanging upside down by its branches, seemed to see through the thick earth and perceive the white giant towering above the sky.

He had seen and understood Shinji Ikari's actions and choices, and for this, Kaworu showed a happy and gratified smile.

He was born for Shinji Ikari, but Shinji Ikari was also a boy who never disappointed him.

Perhaps he was timid, perhaps he retreated, but these imperfections cannot overshadow his courage and kindness.

He is the one that Kaworu Nagisa feels is the best representative of humanity. He is not perfect, but he can make the most correct and least disappointing choices.

When his courage rises to the surface, the sunlight can obscure all his flaws.

"What do you think of him, friend?" he asked softly, with a hint of boastfulness.

"Even in a world like ours, there will always be humans who are worthy of our love."

"......Um."

"Should we finish it now? Damn it, how could they—"

"Stop talking, it's over, and we don't need to be afraid of them anymore!"

"Gods who merged merely to avoid death are nothing to fear!"

"Yes, we are the true gods of the new world! Only we can guide humanity towards evolution and the future!!!"