Chapter 180 212: A sin is a sin.

Facts proved that even if the "cannon" (Asuka) stripped away her "glass" properties, she still couldn't defeat the Second Angel, Lilith. Asuka went back into Unit-02 to sulk and draw circles cursing Rei Ayanami, but no one was worried about her.

With Unit-02 as her safety net, she wouldn't suffer a mental breakdown. Incidentally, she also complained to Misato Katsuragi, which gave the latter some important intelligence and led to her stepping up her training.

Under the influence of the Astartes' unique philosophy, school romantic comedies were trending toward the intensity of Baki the Grappler. Shinji recently felt that everyone around him had intensified their fitness routines, and he couldn't help but feel gratified.

It was a good thing. He had always felt these people were too weak and fragile, especially Misato and Asuka, who spent their days lazing in bed and living highly unhealthy lifestyles. Now that they had learned to wake up early to go running, his suggestion was clearly forward-thinking, promoting an increase in the entire team's strength.

Days passed by. After the high-tension triple-threat of the Sahaquiel, Matarael, and Ireul, things had recently returned to calm.

But Shinji knew this was merely the eve of the next storm. The Warp was gathering its strength, ready at any moment to whip up a monstrous wave.

Entering March, spring break had ended, and Shinji and the others had begun the next semester. NERV hadn't been idle either; Unit-03 had finished repairs and was equipped with brand-new defensive armor, while the monitoring of Angel signals globally remained ongoing.

This was classified as top secret, for any person who saw the light points scattered across the globe would feel their scalp go numb and their breathing grow shallow.

"The situation is dire, but as long as the framework of the Dead Sea Scrolls isn't broken, the Angels can only line up one by one to die."

Dressed in a brand-new school uniform, Shinji had just returned from the opening ceremony and was holding several documents, reading them through.

"What if the framework is broken? If the number of suspected signals exceeds ten, even if half are genuine Angels, we won't be able to hold them off, right?"

Misato Katsuragi sat nearby, full of worry. Thanks to her improved lifestyle habits recently, she was in much better spirits.

"It doesn't matter. This isn't a one-sided crushing defeat."

Shinji tapped his keyboard a few times, pulling up a mountain of charts. At times, he felt this disloyal AI was actually quite useful.

"Four new defensive positions have been built, and the new mass-produced positron cannons are installed. The defensive strength of Tokyo-3 has increased by 20 percent. Units-03 and 00 have finished their armor replacements, and the Ito team has brought out new equipment."

An Astartes is not a gladiator, but a war expert. Shinji's combat power enhancement plan even included the UN forces, crazily stacking armor onto this fortress city.

"At the current intensity, even without Unit-01, we could take down Sahaquiel. This is the power of science."

"But only Tokyo-3 has this level of defense on Earth."

"Other countries are developing, too. Units-07 and 09 are almost finished. By the way, these are their pilots' dossiers. The First Branch is currently running start-up tests."

Shinji tossed out a top-secret file, obviously swiped directly from SEELE.

Ritsuko Akagi picked it up and took a look: a boy and a girl wearing glasses. She didn't recognize either of them. They must be like the pilot candidate for Unit-04 who was destroyed during testing—just more children hidden away by SEELE.

"Oh, right, just received news: Commander Gendo's proposal for Unit-05 has been rejected."

"Is that so? Those people at SEELE still overthink things."

Shinji frowned. Unit-05 was originally prepared for Toji Suzuhara.

"It's normal. The Angel monitoring report can't be hidden from SEELE. They know the Dead Sea Scrolls are crumbling, so they have to keep some defensive strength in reserve. That way, the major powers can rest easy."

It was a fact. Who knew if the Angels would strike other parts of the Earth? Without EVAs, they couldn't even buy time.

Currently, Unit-05 and Unit-06 were at the European branch, Units-07 and 09 were in North America, and Unit-08 was in Shanghai. Thanks to the development of high-energy batteries and giant transport planes, all EVAs now had cross-regional combat capabilities.

"Finally, it feels a bit like humanity is working together to confront the end of the world."

Shinji's attitude was full of approval; he had long disliked the way things used to be.

Every time an Angel attacked, aside from the commotion in Tokyo-3, the rest of the planet—dozens of countries—would just stand by and watch. Now, it finally had the familiar flavor of a planetary defense war.

It is true that Astartes are born saviors, but they were never intended to be the only saviors.

"Ritsuko, have the results from last time come in?"

"Preliminary results are in; more in-depth research is continuing."

Ritsuko Akagi immediately pulled up some data. Shinji carefully examined the reports on the microscopic level and finally reached a conclusion.

Even the preliminary results showed differences from previous Angels. Sure enough, these were Angels not recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls. How to put it? These Angels newly created by "God" were a bit rushed.

"It seems future Angels can be divided into 'New' and 'Old' categories. They emit the same biological wavelengths, but there are differences in the microscopic details."

Ritsuko sighed, looking up at the boy.

"Shinji-kun, they came because of you. It's fortunate that they aren't on the level of Adam."

She didn't mean to blame him, and Shinji didn't feel ashamed. The upheaval was brought by him, but along with it came new hope.

"Let's do this: continue to observe. Don't take action until the final research report is out, so as to avoid causing unpredictable consequences."

Shinji remained cautious. Misato nodded and immediately picked up the phone to relay the order. As the operations director, she had supervisory authority over other branches, but SEELE simply didn't want the NERV headquarters and the branches to interact too much.

"Are the coordinates for the First Branch finished?" Shinji asked about another matter.

"I put part of the Ireul's corpse nearby and set up the signal. I'm just waiting for your order."

"Good. I'll wait for Kaji's reply, then have another talk with that Kaworu Nagisa. As the vessel for Adam's soul, it should know more information."

Shinji had already mapped out what to do next. Suddenly, he changed the subject:

"Misato, it's Ayanami's birthday at the end of the month. Let's go out and have a meal together then."

Switching suddenly from operations to something irrelevant, Misato was still struggling to catch up. She looked at the electronic map in front of her and scratched her head.

"Uh, is now the time for this?"

"Its tempo cannot affect my tempo. Everything is arranged. Do you have any questions?"

As it turned out, she didn't. Whether it was the Angels or SEELE, everything was laid out clearly by this boy, and his ability to handle pressure was maxed out. Not just anyone could maintain their own rhythm of life like this.

"No problem, but aren't you afraid Asuka will throw a fit?"

"Why?"

"December 4th is Asuka's birthday. And by the way, mine is December 9th. How come I never heard you mention them?"

She was quite unhappy—wasn't this discriminatory treatment? Rei Ayanami's birthday gets celebrated, but we aren't important, is that it? She was wronging Shinji, however. Recently, because Kensuke Aida became a pilot candidate, Shinji had specially reviewed everyone's data and only then noticed some details.

Birthdays were optional in 40K. For an Astartes, they were even more meaningless, as most Astartes had long forgotten their birth dates, having much deeper impressions of the day they underwent their gene-seed implantation surgery.

"During that time period, we were busy dealing with the 11th Angel."

Shinji made up an excuse, a rare occurrence for him. He knew that if this sort of thing wasn't handled well, it would cause trouble again. "How about this: the three of you can celebrate together. Consider it making up for the missed dates."

"By the way, my birthday is in November of last year." Ritsuko Akagi ignored her friend's murderous glare and quietly raised her hand.

"Fine, then the four of you together. It's just an excuse for a team-building exercise; there's no need to be so rigid about the dates."

Misato was still a bit annoyed, but it was nice that Shinji could notice these details at all. She couldn't really say much, just feeling a bit depressed. Dealing with Shinji meant constantly lowering her baseline for what was normal.

"Asuka might not accept it, you know."

"Then you go handle her. Haven't you been getting along quite well with her lately?"

Shinji decisively passed the buck. The current Asuka was indeed troublesome—no, she was even more troublesome than before.

She had become brave. Even if she suffered a setback, she only had to crouch inside Unit-02, and she would instantly reset to factory settings.

"Hey! You dump this kind of troublesome work on me and run off where?"

Misato felt a headache coming on. Her conscience was already suffering—wasn't she just sinking deeper?

"I have things to deal with. I've left Gendo Ikari out in the cold for long enough. He's been performing well recently; it's time to have a good talk with him. Why don't you come with me?"

Ritsuko Akagi immediately lowered her head to hammer at her keyboard; Misato Katsuragi started whistling. Neither wanted to get involved in the affairs between that father and son. Shinji didn't press them and walked straight out.

Just as he walked out the door, he saw a familiar silhouette standing by the side, who was none other than a somewhat anxious-looking Rei Ayanami.

"Back so early? Don't you have rehearsals this afternoon?"

"I asked for leave."

Rei Ayanami pursed her lips and said somewhat gloomily: "I'm sorry, Ikari-kun. I shouldn't have meddled."

Lately, Gendo Ikari had been acting unusual. Previously, he and Shinji had lived in separate worlds, rarely even meeting once a month, but recently he had been hanging around nearby, looking like he had something to say but couldn't bring himself to, wanting to ask something but unable to lower his pride as a father to his rebellious son.

Shinji, of course, knew what he wanted to ask and had guessed who leaked the intel, yet he kept Gendo on edge, making him feel thoroughly miserable.

"It's fine. After all this time, it's time to take him down."

Seeing that Shinji didn't blame her, Rei Ayanami finally let out a breath and followed the boy's footsteps.

"Then how does Ikari-kun intend to treat Commander Gendo? He has helped quite a bit recently; he was the one who brought in Unit-03, after all."

"Gendo Ikari is the NERV Commander; that is his duty. As for how I intend to treat him?"

Shinji pondered for a moment, leaving only one sentence behind:

"A sin is a sin. A wrong is a wrong."

Among the Astartes, there is no such thing as "washing away" one's crimes.

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