Chapter 169 201: The Flesh is Weak, the Psionic Ascends.

Shinji eventually followed the group to a family restaurant. However, sitting by the window with Ryoji Kaji made the ace spy feel extremely uncomfortable.

Meeting with Shinji-kun was always a strange affair; it was either by a trash can or at a family restaurant. It seemed as if he didn't care about secrecy at all. After sitting down, Shinji kept watching Ayanami Rei and the others. Seeing this group of boys and girls playing "Werewolf," a trace of envy appeared on his face.

"It's strange. We are here discussing the fate of humanity, while that group is playing a game. Separated by less than a few meters, it feels like two different worlds."

"Isn't the future of humanity just about letting everyone live a peaceful and tranquil life? People of different ages and professions doing different things."

Shinji ordered a milk tea and gently stirred the ice cubes with a straw.

"How come I never noticed you were good at preaching?"

"Because the truth is self-evident. Battle is battle, life is life; they do not affect each other."

'Yet I've traveled around the world, crawling through ice and snow in the Arctic half a month ago, and infiltrating the deep sea ten days ago.'

Ryoji Kaji felt a surge of resentment. He was the one who had taught this line to someone, and he couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose: "You really have changed, Shinji-kun."

"Of course. I am also undergoing completion, but I have never slacked off on my primary duties."

This was exactly what made Shinji so valuable. He could attend the school festival and play board games with his friends, yet his combat effectiveness remained unaffected; every time an Angel arrived, it died. Not long ago, he had just displayed his power to the world.

"That is why I admire you. Only the strong can both enjoy life and fulfill their mission. Ordinary people either become obsessed with play or their personalities change drastically due to overwhelming pressure."

"Aren't you the same, Ryoji Kaji?"

The two shared a smile. In terms of mental fortitude, they both belonged to the ranks of the strong. Ryoji Kaji was clearly doing dangerous work where he kept his head on the line, yet he still had the energy to flirt; he was far from as miserable as he described himself to be.

"Are you sure you want to listen to the report here?"

"Yes. Changing locations is both unnecessary and inefficient."

Ryoji Kaji nodded without saying more. Amidst the laughter of the girls, he took out the laptop he carried with him, inserted an encrypted storage device, and after a complex decryption process, many charts and text files popped up.

"First, the high-energy battery. The tracker last located it here, in Alaska, USA. It should be the legendary first secret branch of NERV."

"The place where the EVA mass-production models and the Free Angel are located?"

"I don't know, but it is highly probable. The surrounding 200 kilometers are a restricted zone, and my people are currently infiltrating it."

"I understand."

Shinji had already met with Kaworu Nagisa. Figuring out his location was just to add an insurance policy, because no one knew what conclusion the Free Angel would reach. He could only infer from the results of the "Great Upheaval"—it seemed he still didn't have any malicious intent.

"What about intelligence on the official EVA units?"

"The Unit 03 Angel is under repair after being cleared. Unit 04 was destroyed during an experiment. Units 05 and 06 are nearly finished with construction. Units 07 and 09 have a completion rate of over 90%. Unit 08 has seen some delays due to its transfer to the Shanghai branch. Units 10 and 11 just had their budget approved."

Ryoji Kaji's intelligence was very detailed, including which branch was building them, the unit parameters, the selection status of pilots, and so on. Because of Unit 01's near-perfect performance in this timeline, countries were pouring massive resources into the EVAs.

These official units were all modeled after Unit 02, and at a 'scientific' level, they were superior to Unit 01 in metrics such as body flexibility and joint strength. Of course, even without Shinji, Unit 01 didn't follow science.

"The progress of selecting candidates has accelerated. Do they have time for training?"

'You didn't go through training either, did you? You just went straight into battle against the Angels. Besides, these people were all prepared by SEELE; what more training do they need?'

Ryoji Kaji muttered to himself and explained: "It's because of the Sahaquiel (The Angel of Sky), I suppose. Even though all evidence now suggests that the framework of the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' hasn't been broken, the big shots don't dare to gamble. Also, you scared them."

This was normal. Only EVAs could fight the Angels, and if that failed, there was always the Dummy Plug system to replace the pilots. Everyone understood the saying that authority comes from the barrel of a gun.

"Come to think of it, NERV Headquarters is indeed a bit over-the-top, with a total of four EVAs."

Shinji could understand this mentality.

"But this place is too important, so they have no choice but to swallow their pride and accept it, at most making some preparations in advance."

Ryoji Kaji stopped talking and said "thank you" to the waiter who brought the pasta. The latter saw the dense English and data on the screen and assumed it was holiday tutoring.

"However, the technology from the JA project was used in these units, strengthening their performance. Aren't you afraid these things will be used against you?"

The official EVA units were different from the mass-production models; the former did not function as ritual items and were purely combat weapons.

"It doesn't matter. They wouldn't dare move against me, and the strengthening of human power can also serve as a floor. The framework of the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' has already loosened. I have always liked to overestimate the enemy."

Hearing this, Ryoji Kaji said no more. The outline had been changed; he didn't know how many Angels there would be in the future or how strong they would be, but he understood that SEELE, the group controlling these forces, could be physically erased.

When that time came, these combat machines, which had consumed countless hours and resources, would only be under Shinji's command.

He ate a mouthful of pasta and followed the logic to the most important topic, tapping the keyboard to bring up photos and profiles of certain people. One of them was Gendo Ikari.

"This is intelligence on the 'Human Instrumentality Committee,' the true core of SEELE. These old schemers are hiding really deep. Some of them have been dead for decades, and I never expected they were still alive, secretly manipulating everything."

Ryoji Kaji looked stunned. If the Great Upheaval hadn't caused SEELE to panic, leading them to use classified lines for a long time and exposing their location, he feared he wouldn't have been able to find a single shred of evidence even after ten years. No, without the elder named Saionji to split their focus, and the auxiliary calculations of MAGI, it would have been impossible even in a hundred years.

Shinji sat up straight, a rather curious look in his eyes as he saw these names. They were all world-famous figures who could make it into textbooks; each one was interesting enough to write a "Game of Thrones" style novel about.

Some of them already had birth and death dates listed in textbooks, yet he hadn't expected them to be alive, extending their lives using humanity's highest technology. The moment he saw these names, he finally understood why these people had agreed to the "Human Instrumentality Project."

These individuals' lifespans had reached their ends, and they were surviving entirely on various life-support devices. Some had even lost their physical bodies, retaining only their brains and consciousness. No wonder they didn't care about turning into orange juice.

'The flesh is weak, the psionic ascends, right?'

"Looking at it this way, SEELE's motivation becomes logical."

Shinji looked through the segments of data, at their past glorious achievements: "Each one of them is a big shot who once changed history. They abandoned their past names, yet they never let go of the power in their hands."

"Yeah, I used to think the names Keel, Julian, John, Hans, and Seelelov were quite ordinary. I couldn't find any traces of them, but it turns out they were aliases."

Ryoji Kaji gave a wry smile and pointed to the screen:

"Honestly, there was a lot of pressure after finding out the truth. These are all big shots who changed history; both World Wars were related to them. That Chairman Keel must be nearly 140 years old, right?"

"This is normal. SEELE's control over the world was formed step by step. It's impossible for a group of behind-the-scenes manipulators to just pop out of nowhere."

Shinji was in no mood to discuss historical mysteries; these mortals were nothing in the context of 40K.

They were just elites on a single planet. Even true Planetary Governors could be killed at a whim.

"So, when do you plan to make a move?"

Ryoji Kaji asked, looking surprisingly excited: "The offline locations have been determined. With their physical conditions, they couldn't possibly relocate."

That was indeed good news; the difficulty was greatly reduced.

Shinji glanced at the world map. They were scattered all over the world, and while their defense forces could be called super strong, he didn't hold them in any regard at all.

"When they have exhausted their self-value, that is when I will move. As for the specific time, it will be very soon."

He answered as such.

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