Ultraman grunts? Call me Space Policeman outside!

How can this be?

This was the first time he had ever seen this thing.

"This... is too much." Shinji Ikari subconsciously took a half step back, not daring to meet the gaze of the enormous mecha.

Meanwhile, several maintenance personnel on the side of the hangar also looked over, their eyes filled with surprise. They hadn't expected that the pilot of Unit-01 would be a 14-year-old child.

Chapter 86 The Iron Fist of Love

"Drive it." Suddenly, Gendo Ikari's voice came from the monitoring room above, and his face covered with a thick beard could be seen through the glass.

He was looking down at Shinji Ikari from his elevated position, speaking in an unquestionable tone.

“Father…” Shinji raised his head, finally seeing his father after a long time, but he never expected it to be under these circumstances.

However, despite being ordered by his father, this 14-year-old boy with a withdrawn personality had no idea how to fight and had never received any related training.

"How could I possibly do that?"

"How could I possibly fight such a terrifying monster with my own strength?"

"I will die! Father!"

Unlike his previous escapes, this time he took the initiative to confront the monster that even the army could not kill.

Is this a joke?

He still longed in his heart for his father to understand him a little.

Even though he had anticipated his father's personality, he still hoped that his father would not be so cruel. As a son, he instinctively wanted to rely on his closest relatives at such times.

"It doesn't matter, we'll provide remote guidance while you fight." Gendo Ikari listened to his son's request, his attitude unchanged, his gaze still icy.

This completely extinguished Shinji's hope.

He couldn't understand why his father could be so heartless.

When he was in school, he envied other students who had relatives to rely on. Why was he all alone?

He couldn't find a solution and even began to question whether it was his own problem, whether he was useless and unable to provide value to his father, which led to all of this.

"It's alright, Shinji." A comforting voice came from behind. "If you don't want to, it's okay not to pilot this mech."

"I have personally witnessed the courage and kindness in your heart."

"You just want to escape all of this because of your unfortunate experiences, but in reality you are a gentle and kind person."

"You now possess the power to save the world."

"Don't be afraid, because I'm always standing behind you."

After seeing Gendo Ikari in person, Natsuki finally understood why Shinji had such a personality.

This father is a complete bastard.

She completely treated her son as a tool.

"Mr. Natsuki..." Shinji was deeply moved when he suddenly heard such comforting words while he was caught in a dilemma.

Although their time together was short, he felt that Mr. Natsuki was more like his father because of their deep connection.

He had never experienced being understood.

What he lacked was precisely this kind of encouragement.

His inner fears have been largely dispelled, and now he is willing to board Unit-01 and save more people, just as he saved the girl before.

But just as that thought crossed his mind, Gendo Ikari spoke again.

"Who are you talking to?" Gendo Ikari noticed Shinji turning his head to look in an empty direction and saying something, and felt a little puzzled.

At the same time, he was extremely dissatisfied with Shinji's performance.

He decided to provoke Shinji again.

"What exactly brought you here?"

"If you can't do it... then get back here!" Gendo Ikari said sternly.

He was the one who invited Shinji here, but now he's telling Shinji to go back because of Shinji's behavior.

Once those words were spoken...

Shinji, who had just begun to muster a little courage, froze instantly, his eyes widening.

Her entire belief was extinguished by her father's cold words.

He slowly lowered his head, not daring to look directly at anyone.

"Isn't this going too far?" Misato Katsuragi felt a pang of sympathy for Shinji when she heard this, but Gendo Ikari was his superior, and they did need Shinji, so he couldn't directly contradict Gendo at this moment.

"That's enough, let Rei in." Gendo Ikari frowned as he looked at Shinji, who had his head bowed, and said in the monitoring room.

He also prepared backup plans.

"Rei? I remember she was injured during the activation test of Unit-00?" Misato Katsuragi was shocked. Rei Ayanami was also one of their EVA pilots, but her current physical condition made it impossible for her to pilot an EVA.

Soon, the door on the side of the hangar was opened.

Two staff members pushed in a white hospital bed. The wheels under the bed creaked as they rubbed against the steel corridor. Lying on the bed was a girl with short sky-blue hair and a face as beautiful as a doll.

Rei Ayanami, pilot of EVA Unit-00

The frail girl appeared to have suffered severe injuries; her arms, right eye, forehead, and chest were all wrapped in medical bandages. She was wearing a white, tight-fitting combat suit, which concealed many of her injuries.

As she tried to get up, red blood seeped from under the bandages, and her expression seemed to indicate that she was enduring great pain.

This is nothing like a soldier who can go straight to the battlefield.

"Rei, you will pilot Unit-01." Gendo Ikari said, looking down from the control room.

“...Yes.” The girl on the hospital bed responded weakly, then, ignoring the pain, she tried to get out of bed.

At that moment, a tremor came from the base. The Angels had entered Tokyo-3 and were engaged in battle with the automated defense towers. The aftershocks of the battle caused the base below to shake.

Ayanami Rei lost control and fell off the hospital bed amidst a jolt.

Shinji, who was standing nearby, reacted quickly and caught the girl before they could even react, placing her back on the hospital bed.

"Oh?" Gendo Ikari smiled slightly upon seeing this, thinking that his self-inflicted injury had succeeded.

Have you changed your mind?

As he spoke, Shinji, standing on the steel corridor bridge, slowly raised his head.

Beneath his short black hair were a pair of sharp eyes that gleamed with gold. The moment their eyes met, Gendo Ikari felt an absurd sense of danger.

"Yes, I've changed my mind."

Shinji straightened up completely, casually brushed the words off the bracelet, clenched his fist, and said, his sharp gaze locking onto Gendo Ikari above him.

"Shinji... what are you going to do?" Misato Katsuragi asked, watching Shinji walk to the side.

“His reflexes… have surpassed common sense.” Ritsuko Akagi frowned as she looked at Rei Ayanami, who was trying to get up again from the hospital bed, and then at Shinji Ikari, who was taking a step forward.

The actions and reactions that Shinji Ikari just displayed were all unexpected by them.

She remembered that Shinji Ikari should have been an ordinary boy with below-average physical abilities.

"Go change into your combat suit, then board Unit-01," Gendo Ikari commanded Shinji through the glass in the monitoring room.

Then he saw that Shinji did not go to the pilot's locker room, but instead headed towards the nearest higher-level corridor.

He leaped nearly ten meters into the air, landing steadily on the upper steel walkway, much to his disbelief.

"What are you going to do?" Gendo Ikari asked, frowning.

He utterly despised disobeying orders.

Shinji did not answer.

Gendo Ikari watched as Shinji suddenly took another step, his figure vanished instantly, and reappeared right in front of him, with only a bulletproof glass separating them!

"What...?" Before Gendo Ikari could react.

The explosion-proof glass in front of him instantly cracked with countless fissures, as if it had been hit by a cannonball. In the impact, it shattered into countless fragments that flew into the monitoring room, two of which cut Gendo Ikari's cheek.

His clenched fist stopped at the tip of his nose, followed by a pair of golden eyes.

Chapter 87 Unit-01 Activation

Misato Katsuragi, who was below, was completely bewildered by what had happened, but she still instinctively called out Shinji's name.

"How is this possible?"

“How could a human possibly break that glass with bare hands…” Ritsuko Akagi stood there, stunned.

The strength of that glass was far beyond that of ordinary explosion-proof glass; basically, only thermal weapons could shatter it.

But now this boy has actually shattered it with a single punch...

If the previous behavior could be explained by extraordinary physical abilities, this scene has now completely deviated from the realm of science!

"Commander Ikari!" the other staff members in the hangar called out anxiously.

“Commander Ikari…” Rei Ayanami also tried to look in that direction.

The boy who had brought all this to the forefront stood before Gendo Ikari, showing no sign of backing down.

"You are...Shinji?" Gendo Ikari stood still, touching the slight bloodstains on his cheek from the glass shards with his white gloves, and asked in a deep voice.

He was always watching Shinji, not out of familial affection, but as a tool.

Shinji Ikari was an indispensable piece in his plan. He knew Shinji's physical condition very well, and Shinji's physical abilities were only at the level of an ordinary person, making it impossible for him to do such a thing.

In other words... something must have happened to Shinji that he didn't notice.

Daring to defy his own orders, and even to attack himself, was something his insecure child would never have done.

"Does someone like you deserve to be a father?" The boy withdrew his fist, stood in front of Gendo Ikari, and questioned him.

'Mr. Natsuki...' The real Shinji Ikari was stunned by what he saw.

Natsuki is now in control of this body, while Shinji is an observer.