Ultraman grunts? Call me Space Policeman outside!

Everyone was watching this tense scene. Facing the beam of the Thunder Angel, the giant neither dodged nor defended. What was he going to do?

The moment the beam of light reached him, the giant's other arm slammed down on the already raised arm, their wrists meeting to form a cross.

"Boom!!!"

Blue light emanated from the side of the giant's palm, creating a high-pitched sound as it rubbed against the air.

A simple Specium Ray tore through the beam of light fired by the Thunder Angel the moment it was unleashed, and hurtled toward the Thunder Angel's core with unstoppable force!

"It's a beam of light!" the technician exclaimed, sweat beading on his forehead as he calculated the beam's power. "A conservative estimate is over 500,000 degrees Celsius!"

"And it can continuously output power in a dense manner... its strength... is incalculable!"

"The Apostle's AT Field... has shattered!"

Faced with this blue light, the AT Field that the Thunder Angel was so proud of was as thin as a sheet of paper.

"boom!!!"

The core of the Thunder Angel was pierced, emitting a sharp explosion. The subsequent beam of light struck the mountain directly, and the intense energy blasted the entire mountain away, reshaping the landscape of the area.

"The apostle's life signs have disappeared!"

"That giant... he... he used a beam of light to destroy the Fifth Apostle!"

Chapter 106 Doubt

When the flames of the explosion subsided, only a giant with a red and silver body remained standing on the battlefield.

Under the cover of night, those gleaming eyes stood out conspicuously.

“The Giant of Light…” Misato Katsuragi stared blankly at the giant in the distance, countless fragments of memories flashing through her mind, and she gripped the cross on her chest even tighter.

The government's official statement regarding the destruction of Antarctica fifteen years ago was that it was a natural disaster caused by a meteorite.

Misato Katsuragi was present when the disaster struck.

She was the sole survivor of that incident and one of the few people in the world who knew the inside story.

The cause of the second impact... was not a meteorite at all, but a giant awakening from the light, a god about to cleanse and restart the entire world—Adam.

The SEELE organization, which holds the secrets of the world and secretly controls human society, wanted to conduct a series of experiments on the sleeping Adam. So, according to the plan, they awakened Adam, who was once the creator.

However, they found that Adam could not be easily controlled after he woke up, so they had to activate the self-destruct system that had been placed in Adam's body in advance to reverse and destroy Adam's AT field.

The shockwave from Adam's self-destruction destroyed Antarctic glaciers, causing the extinction of thousands of species and claiming half of humanity's life. This is the truth behind the Second Impact.

Misato Katsuragi's father's team consisted of experimenters sent by [SEELE]. She also participated in that mission and witnessed Adam's awakening, which left a deep shadow in her heart.

So now, seeing the giant with destructive power again, she can't help but recall that day fifteen years ago.

"Are you...Adam...or...the giant who brings hope?" Misato Katsuragi stood in front of a group of NERV members, her gaze never leaving the giant, her expression complex.

She didn't know if the giants would turn their attention to them after destroying the apostles.

All she knew was that if the giants wanted to wreak havoc right now, they would be powerless to stop them.

Not only her, but also Professor Fuyutsuki and Gendo Ikari in the command room were speculating about the Titans' next move.

But to their surprise...

"An energy reaction has reappeared on the giant!"

"He... took flight!" the technician who had been monitoring the giant shouted.

Those at the scene heard a loud "bang" as the giant leaped into the night sky. The impact of its high-speed flight created a hurricane that swept across the area.

Misato Katsuragi raised her hand to shield herself from the approaching hurricane, then stared blankly at the sky: "...They're gone?"

"Lock onto their location. Don't lose them this time." In the command room, Gendo Ikari stared at the screen and gave the order to several technicians.

Last time, the giant suddenly appeared and then disappeared, and they were unable to react in time. But now he wouldn't let the giant slip away right under his nose.

"The target's speed has exceeded twice the speed of sound and is still accelerating. It is about to enter the troposphere and is breaking out of the atmosphere... Oh no! The target has disappeared!" The technicians monitoring the giant exclaimed in unison.

"What?" Gendo Ikari turned to look at them, frowning. "Why did we lose them?"

"The specific situation is still being assessed, but... judging from the footage, the other party disappeared instantly after entering the clouds in the troposphere."

"This... is truly a mysterious entity." Professor Fuyutsuki frowned upon hearing the technician's report.

They appear when people are in crisis, quickly eliminate the apostles, and then quickly disappear.

There was absolutely no intention to communicate with them, nor could it be determined whether they possessed intelligence. The only certainty was that they did not have an AT stance, but still possessed extremely powerful strength.

Judging from this battle, the opponent's power far exceeds that of the Angels, and even far exceeds that of the EVA series mobile suits.

Even if EVA goes berserk, it probably won't be able to withstand it.

"Why would such a powerful being appear on Earth?" Professor Fuyutsuki was completely baffled.

They knew far too little about the giants; even the Book of Prophecy made no mention of their existence.

The only information we can currently ascertain is that the Titans harbor no ill will towards humanity and have even actively helped them eliminate the Angels.

Whether viewed from the perspective of humanity or from the perspective of those who implement the Human Instrumentality Project, there is currently no conflict of opinion between them.

"In any case, the existence of the Titan is a good thing for us now." Gendo Ikari crossed his arms, his sunglasses reflecting the light, and said in a deep voice, "If it weren't for the appearance of this Titan, we would have suffered heavy losses this time."

If the Titans had not appeared, they would have lost both Unit-01 and Unit-00 in this mission.

"Shinji's actions this time also took us by surprise." Professor Fuyutsuki, upon hearing the word "loss," recalled Shinji Ikari's actions at the crucial moment. "At that time, he should have fired the second shot under the cover of Unit-00."

Shinji Ikari did not obey their orders, which was a headache for them as well.

"We can completely accept the current outcome." Gendo Ikari didn't seem to care much about it.

After all, he never had high hopes for his son.

"Furthermore... Shinji and that giant may very well have some connection." Gendo Ikari recalled the details of the past few days and keenly noticed this.

On the day the Titans descended, Shinji was not far from the battlefield when he was affected by the explosion of the military's N2 mines, but he was unharmed in the end.

Afterwards, she even showed a side of herself that she was not familiar with.

Today, when Shinji is in danger, the giant has reappeared, and it's hard for him not to connect the two sides based on the various clues.

“That kind of look… is definitely not something Shinji could have.” Gendo Ikari touched the scabbed wound on his face, recalling the scene in the Unit-01 hangar earlier.

Even though they hadn't seen each other for years, he knew his son's personality and knew he would never act so forcefully.

"Shinji and the Titans?" Professor Fuyutsuki narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. "Are you planning to get information about the Titans from Shinji?"

If there is a connection between the two, then Gendo Ikari must have a way to obtain information about the Titans as the father of the Titans.

“No need.” Gendo Ikari clasped his hands together again, returning to his sculpted state.

"Given Shinji's current condition, doing that would only backfire."

"All I need is for him to kill the apostle, that's enough."

He could only guess that Shinji might have some connection with the Titans, but he had no idea what kind of relationship they had.

Everything is as he hoped, so there's no need to add any more variables.

“Shinji’s specific situation doesn’t need to be reported to SEELE. We just need to execute our plan as intended,” Gendo Ikari said to Professor Fuyutsuki.

Chapter 107 Ayanami Rei

The giants have disappeared; the battle is over.

Although the process was tortuous, they fortunately achieved their ultimate goal on this mission.

Misato Katsuragi is directing NERV personnel to clean up the battlefield.

On Erzi Mountain, near the emergency-released insertion plug.

"Isn't Ikari coming out yet?" Rei Ayanami looked at the insertion plug of Unit-01 lying on the other side and wondered why the hatch hadn't opened.

After hesitating for a second, she endured the pain, stood up, and walked towards the insertion plug of Unit-01.

She wondered if Shinji was trapped inside.

However, after being removed from Unit-00's insertion plug, her injuries could no longer be ignored. She already had unhealed wounds, and during the battle, she had also experienced the pain felt by Unit-00. Now, she was on the verge of collapse.

After walking a few steps, I felt a little dizzy, lost my balance and fell to the ground, panting heavily.

She reached down to her abdomen and felt blood seeping from her combat uniform.

Her body was already unsuitable for participating in combat operations, and with her repeated efforts to push herself, her bodily functions were gradually reaching their limit.

Her vision blurred, and she wondered what she would become.

Is it to return to the glass container filled with LCL water for treatment? Or... be abandoned...?

At this moment, Unit-01's insertion plug was opened.

She vaguely heard the sound of a conversation.

"That's wonderful, Mr. Natsuki!"

"We successfully defeated that guy, fighting to protect others... That was amazing!" Shinji hadn't recovered from the previous battle. This was his first time transforming into Ultraman and participating in a battle, and it was a completely different experience from piloting Unit-01.

It's so wonderful to have the desire to protect others arise in your heart, and then put it into action, using powerful strength to eliminate the enemy.

"Wait, Shinji." Natsuki didn't reply this time, but looked at the muddy grass in the distance. "There are people over there."

Upon hearing this, Shinji looked in the direction Natsuki was pointing and saw a familiar figure.

"Rei Ayanami!" He recognized her at a glance. She was lying on the ground, her chest heaving with heavy breathing, and the blood seeping from her combat suit stained the grass beside her.

He immediately started running towards that direction, his heart filled with anxiety.

"Ayanami, are you alright?" He came to Rei Ayanami's side, squatted down, and checked Rei Ayanami's injuries.

“…Hmm.” Rei Ayanami heard Shinji’s voice, slowly opened her eyes, and replied calmly as usual.

"We need to get to the hospital quickly... the hospital..." Shinji touched the blood on Rei Ayanami's body and his heart instantly panicked.

He didn't want to watch the person he had just saved die before his eyes.

Although Rei Ayanami is usually cold and aloof, Shinji knows that she is kind at heart and that she would stand up for him when he is in danger, so Shinji doesn't want anything to happen to her.

“Her injuries are serious. Although they are not fatal, they are still very troublesome.” Natsuki’s phantom stood behind Shinji, examining Rei Ayanami’s injuries. “And the most troublesome thing is that even if she successfully receives treatment, she may continue to fight with her injuries.”