Chapter 184 216: Astartes Teaches You How to Infiltrate

Win!

From Asuka's perspective, she had absolutely "won" today. Not only did she get Rei Ayanami to owe her a favor, easing a burden on her heart, but she also figured out what Shinji was struggling with. With her incredible empathy, she had guided him through it in just a few words.

She was in such a great mood that she even threw her diet plan to the back of her mind, polishing off two plates of spaghetti. Shinji, for his part, was exceptionally accommodating to her today; after all, Asuka had provided him with a new line of thinking, and she deserved a reward.

Big Win!

'As I thought, I'm a genius,' she mused. The problem that had the "idiot" Ayanami at a loss was handled by her in just a few sentences, making Shinji listen and even become submissive.

She could hardly wait to run back to Unit-02 and tell her mother about her total victory, but the sky had just darkened, and Shinji was already preparing to head out.

"Hey, where are you running off to? I still have a lot to say to you, like some more psychological counseling."

Shinji's eye twitched. He never expected that one day he would be the one receiving "psychological counseling" from Asuka. He restrained his patience and said, "I'll consider the issues you mentioned. I have to go out and handle some business now."

"You... you aren't going to the place next door again, are you?" Asuka looked immediately displeased, scratching her cheek. "If you like maid outfits, I can wear one too, you know. Want me to order one online right now?"

"I'm going to find Kaji Ryoji."

"What? You're making a man wear... alright, so you're going to do actual work. Fine, I won't stop you." Asuka cut herself off mid-sentence, changing her tone quickly, her eyes rolling. "Remember to come back early! I'm going to 'correct' you properly."

'Huh, you're going to 'correct' me?'

Shinji glanced at his watch. If he hadn't been short on time, he really would have had a serious talk with Asuka. Give her an inch, and she'll take a mile—when would she ever get rid of those bad habits?

Bang.

The door closed, and the room returned to silence. Asuka let out a burp, sprawled across the dining table, and as she heard the whirring of helicopter rotors outside, she finally couldn't help but reveal a smile.

She had finally gotten her revenge. Back when she was in Germany, she had been angered to the point of collapse by Shinji over the phone, and after they met, she had been lectured endlessly. No matter how she argued, she could never beat this blockhead.

'Heh heh, so you have moments where you're speechless too.'

She bobbed her head. She had intended to take a shower, but in the end, she couldn't help but knock on the door next door.

"Ayanami, you're playing video games again? Hurry up and thank me again!"

-

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"I get the feeling you're quite happy?"

Inside the cabin, Kaji Ryoji was full of confusion. The helicopter had picked up Shinji and set off on its journey. As for the latter's stunt of jumping into the cabin like an action hero, Kaji was already used to it.

"To be accurate, I'm feeling a bit relieved. Asuka was actually able to provide me with a line of thought, and it made some sense. As it turns out, optimistic people do have their merits."

"Asuka? She used to be a fake optimist; thanks to you, she's become a real one." Kaji didn't know what had happened, but he was equally happy. In his eyes, Asuka was just a child who hadn't grown up yet. Speaking of this topic, he suddenly felt a bit sentimental.

"You are cold-blooded, but you've done many warm things. Not to mention Rei Ayanami and Asuka, even the three of us are somehow on the same page. I never dared to hope that our friendship could continue."

Kaji Ryoji, Akagi Ritsuko, and Katsuragi Misato—the trio hadn't turned on each other yet, and there was no need to mention why.

"Walking with me is never a bad thing."

"And being sent off by you is a sure death?"

"Not necessarily. That depends on how much utility you have. If you're worth keeping alive, I will keep you until the moment you ought to die."

Kaji's cheek twitched. Sometimes it was truly hard to evaluate the youth in front of him; occasionally his gentleness was beyond description, and occasionally he was extremely cruel. He thought for a moment and felt fortunate that he had listened to the voice in his heart and chosen the right path.

The Osprey tiltrotor flew into the dark Pacific, heading north. Being with Shinji was inevitably boring; this guy was too indifferent, arguably an upgraded version of the puppet Ayanami Rei, capable of maintaining a rigid sitting posture for hours without changing.

Kaji looked at the pilots in front. Those two were just as stiff, gripping the control stick like robots, and he couldn't help himself.

"Are those two also puppets?"

"Yes. While you were executing the mission, I expanded the scope of my control. Don't worry, they are absolutely loyal and focused."

'Quite useful.'

Kaji took a few more looks, recalling the puppets that had accompanied him. Whether in the scorching heat of Africa or the ice-covered Arctic, these people never complained and firmly executed every order.

Yes, there were a few times they were discovered by SEELE security forces, and those warriors didn't even think about it—they covered the retreat and pulled the pins on grenades, determined never to be captured.

"Why don't you make more of them? With these things around, NERV has no reason to exist." He suddenly felt a sense of threat. If Shinji wanted to be the master of the world, he wouldn't even need to hide in the shadows like SEELE.

Psychic assistance, extremely high intelligence, absolute individual strength crushing all others—the youth sitting in front of him could be the King of the World at any moment.

"Psychic puppets have flaws; they cannot complete more complex tasks, so I need you to command them. However, I have recently found an optimized version." Shinji knew Kaji was fishing for information, and he couldn't be bothered to hide it. He folded his arms and said:

"You don't need to worry about me usurping power and becoming the Planetary Governor. I will not violate the Codex. As the Emperor's Death Angel, it is impossible for me to be a steward for mortals."

Kaji rubbed his nose in embarrassment. It was true—the more he cooperated with Shinji, the more he feared him. This youth was too strong, and he was curious about how such supermen were kept in check in that Human Empire.

Judging by Shinji's performance, he wasn't just a pure warrior; his political maneuvering was no less than that of those old men. Now he finally understood.

It turned out that the guy didn't care about the right to rule a planet at all. The "King of the World" was just a mortal steward in the eyes of an Astartes, and they were higher-ranking angels.

"But you aren't an Astartes now, and you don't have that Codex to restrain you."

Shinji glanced at him, feeling that Kaji was a bit too clever, but he also understood his concern. Yes, an Astartes managing a planet would only do it better; that level of willpower and sense of mission was not something mortals could compare to.

"Right now, I just want to get things done quickly."

"Afraid the Angels will take advantage of the opportunity to attack?" Kaji frowned slightly, though he followed Shinji's lead in changing the subject.

"No, it's just that if I don't cook for a few days, certain people will starve to death."

Kaji was stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. So he was still answering his question.

Shinji had indeed broken away from his original constraints and was slowly changing, but the direction of his change was the exact opposite of what Kaji had worried about.

"I suddenly see the use for Asuka and the others. Having them hold you back is at least enough to let me sleep a few peaceful nights."

'Useless, groundless worry. If I really wanted to rule the world, could you stop me with just yourself?'

Shinji glanced at him and closed his eyes. The rest of the journey was dead silent in the cabin, and Kaji didn't ask anything else.

The transport plane flew north. The foreshadowing from the past was manifesting one by one. Shinji could now leave Tokyo-3 at will, and no one knew where he had gone. All of SEELE's surveillance perimeters turned green; on any tactical radar screen, this was an allied plane. It even had a mission: transporting research materials to the First Branch in North America. Top secret—personnel below A-level were not allowed to touch it.

Shinji was unconstrained on the human side and could go wherever he wanted. He didn't need to worry about the Angels, either; Tokyo-3 was currently defended by a full three EVAs.

'It really is unimpeded...'

Kaji didn't know what else to say. Looking at the ice-filled bay below, which hid quite a few anti-aircraft positions—anyone else who dared to rush in like this would have long since been driven away or shot down.

The elders of SEELE were all deathly afraid; they used their trusted confidants to control very powerful defensive forces. There was no shortage of people in the world who wanted to find the truth or act recklessly. Just recently, he had been playing hide-and-seek with a patrol team right here.

'Dammit, if he would just investigate the intelligence himself, I wouldn't have to work so hard.'

"I have many things to do. I won't move until the critical node."

Shinji opened his eyes, not knowing when he had done so, and punctured Kaji's thoughts as if he had mind-reading powers.

"Uh, are we just going to the First Branch like this?"

"I am not a god. I cannot control the First Branch's defensive forces without contact. This aircraft is intended for transporting experimental materials anyway."

"Then we're going to infiltrate? Also, you're going to see that Free Angel—is this too risky?" Kaji was very worried. There was no Unit-01 here; what if the Free Angel had bad intentions?

This was different from Tokyo-3; there weren't many "our people" here.

"It's not that complicated. Kaworu Nagisa has already sensed my approach; he will come out to see me." Shinji stood up. His time was limited, so he decided to replace his explanation with action, grabbing Kaji Ryoji by the collar.

"As for how to get in, we'll walk, of course."

'Ah?'

Before Kaji could react, the tail hatch of the transport plane opened. Icy wind and snow rolled in, causing his whole body to tremble, but what happened next made his scalp tingle.

Shinji kicked him out—low-altitude parachute jump, he understood that. But what he didn't understand was:

'I don't have a parachute on, dammit!'

The vast white earth magnified in his vision. Before Kaji could scream, a hand rested on his shoulder. Then, he felt his body lighten, and both inertia and gravity vanished without a trace.

Shinji carried him like this, defying gravity, slowly descending from the air. The scene, like something out of a magical novel, made the man's eyes stare blankly. In an instant, he understood how ridiculous his worries had been.

'What politics, what mental manipulation—just this maneuver alone, enough to make Newton jump out of his coffin, was a profound demonstration of what it means to be a "superman."'

"Do you understand now?" Shinji landed on the ground, placed Kaji to the side, and patted the snow off his shoulders.

"Understood."

Shinji was used to that look of fear. How to put it? After returning to his hometown and stepping over the piled corpses of Angels, he had already surpassed his own self from tens of thousands of years in the future in some respects.

What Kaworu Nagisa could do, the Emperor's Angel had no reason not to be able to do.

"If you understand, follow me." Shinji turned around and disappeared into the wind and snow.

'Looks like no explanation is needed.'

The Free Angel was a special existence; commoners could not understand His motives. Being fooled by SEELE into becoming a tool was more plausible than some desire to be friends with Shinji.

An Astartes never underestimates the enemy, and Shinji couldn't rule out the possibility of a trap. But the reason he dared to come had nothing to do with trust.

Simply because, even without Unit-01, he wasn't afraid of the Free Angel...

Even with the biting cold wind blowing on his face, Kaji's expression was full of bewilderment. He knew Shinji wasn't a mortal, but this was too extraordinary. Could he actually use an AT Field to fly in the air? Could humans release an AT Field without an EVA?

Looking at the back ahead, it seemed as if the wind and snow were retreating for him. He couldn't say anything other than a low whisper of "The Emperor protect."

'Superman? That's right, Shinji was always a superman. As expected, anyone who dares to head deep into a dragon's lair has some real skills.'

Just as he was thinking this, Shinji suddenly raised his hand. Not long after, the sound of helicopter rotors arrived. Kaji quickly laid flat, watching an armed helicopter pierce through the wind and snow, flying directly overhead, its searchlight scanning the bay.

'Has it begun?'

This chaotic appearance clearly meant that Kaworu Nagisa had sensed his approach and left the underground on his own initiative, causing SEELE to panic and send out a search party. This, in turn, confirmed from the side that Nagisa had not colluded with SEELE.

Otherwise, the truth would be revealed once Shinji got close to the base. There was no reason for the Third Child to contact the Free Angel no matter what; it was impossible to say they had become inseparable best friends just because they met a few times in Tokyo-3.

"Go this way."

Shinji waved his hand, walking casually toward the peak beside the bay. Kaji quickly followed, only then feeling that something was wrong.

"Wait, did that Free Angel escape?"

"SEELE could never have trapped Nagisa; the shackles that held him were not on the human side." Shinji knew the Free Angel's capabilities. Honestly, He was the strongest Angel.

He could manipulate EVAs, crack all human electronic systems, and his target signature was small, allowing him to integrate perfectly into crowds. Even he couldn't detect an Angel from a long distance.

"But SEELE must have left a backup plan."

"There is a self-destruct collar, but it's useless. They need the Free Angel as a trump card. In the original script, this was the first and last of the Angels." Shinji spread his hands. Nagisa was similar to Ayanami Rei, yet far stronger. He already had his own ideas.

Ayanami Rei could be fooled, just as Gendo Ikari did in the beginning, but Nagisa could not be brainwashed. What he pursued was inherently at odds with SEELE and the gods.

'Fine, I'll give you a chance to meet.'

Shinji suddenly stopped and leaned back, hearing a shrill whistle—a bullet whizzed past the bridge of his nose.

'Thermal detection? Shoot on sight without IFF signals?'

Kaji threw himself down, burying his face in the snow. It was clear that the Free Angel had triggered an alarm, putting the entire First Branch on high alert. Just as he wanted to ask what Shinji should do, the youth who had been in front of him was already gone.

[Thermal signal detected in Sector D3, suspected intruder.] [Headquarters? Dammit, all signals lost!]

Several soldiers in white camouflage only felt that things were taking a turn for the worse. All signals were suffering from interference. As soon as they looked up, they saw a black-haired youth standing in front of them.

In the blink of an eye, he had arrived from hundreds of meters away. He wasn't wearing camouflage; in this frozen landscape, he was even wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He was looking down at the squad. Both sides stared at each other for a brief moment, and these elite soldiers, personally trained by SEELE, immediately raised their rifles.

Their loyalty was commendable, and their reaction was extremely fast. But just as the signal to "fire" traveled from their brains to their fingers, their whole bodies flew up.

Boom—

An invisible shockwave flipped the human bodies away like sheets of paper. The wind and snow within ten meters were cleared away in an instant. When they landed, all signs of life were extinguished; their internal organs had been pulverized in a split second.

Death.

Shinji swept a glance over the corpses. Anyone who aimed at him was an enemy, and the Astartes had always had little patience for enemies.

"Hurry, the First Branch has entered a state of war. The defensive power here is no less than that of Tokyo-3." Kaji ran over, picked up a rifle from the ground, and pulled the bolt. "Did that Free Angel really not set a trap for you? The security forces have clearly entered a Level 1 combat state."

This was normal; he estimated that the alarm in that underground fortress was already sounding non-stop.

"He just didn't expect me to come; he was too eager, that's all." Shinji shook his head slightly. If he really were in cahoots with SEELE, he wouldn't need to take action on the periphery.

The First Branch was dozens of kilometers away; these were just some picket lines.

"If I had come alone, I could have used psychic invisibility, and I wouldn't have been discovered. Now I have to use a different way to infiltrate."

'Right, then why did you bring me along?'

Kaji was stunned. He wasn't a superman; he would die if hit by a bullet.

"I brought you along to improve efficiency. Keep close to me. Depending on the situation later, I'll arrange a new task for you."

Shinji didn't finish his sentence, heading straight for the nearby peak, listening to the faint alarms, and gently working his fingers.

"Now, I'll teach you the correct way to infiltrate."

Psychic power was released—a super-wide-range, full-channel jammer. The entire First Branch fell into chaos. The big screen at Central Command showed nothing; everything seemed buried in the northern snow.

The sounds of battle drew nearby security forces, followed by reinforcements sent from the First Branch—and then, there was no "after."

They only knew the attacker was very powerful, having single-handedly wiped out hundreds of troops configured with various heavy weapons. Aside from Angels, what else in this world could do that? But there was a problem: so far, they had only found one blue signal.

'This isn't scientific. Only EVAs can cause this kind of damage, but Unit-00, Unit-01, Unit-02, etc., are all sitting at their various bases. We aren't blind—how could we not see a steel giant dozens of meters tall?

It's not an Angel, yet it can confront an army single-handedly. When did the Earth become so dangerous that supermen started popping up?'

"Recall all troops to the base. Issue an Angel alert."

Just as the branch commander was sweating profusely, an aged voice sounded in his ear. He didn't even dare to look back.

"Keel-sama, we still haven't found a second blue biological signal."

"Perhaps it is camouflage. The Angels of today are different from those in the Dead Sea Scrolls." Keel glanced at the commander. This man's ability was incomparable to Gendo Ikari's, but he excelled in absolute loyalty.

As his doomsday bunker, the First Branch required loyalty far more than it required capability. Every one of the SEELE elders had to live until the moment the script ended.

"Your task is not to eliminate the enemy, but to hold the First Branch. This place is even more important than Tokyo-3 and absolutely must not fall."

The commander nodded hurriedly, only then realizing he had made a major mistake. Their mission was to protect the Chairman; destroying the Angel was not within their purview.

"Now it seems this may just be a companion brought by the Free Angel. NERV Research reported that there was a signal suspected of being an Angel nearby, and we haven't had time to investigate."

"That makes some sense. I read the Kamchatka report. Dammit, why do strange Angels keep popping up?" Keel really didn't like the feeling of things spinning out of control. The last person who spun out of control had committed suicide in a bunker.

"What about the whereabouts of the Free Angel?"

"He is moving toward the target area. But the self-destruct collar can still be activated. Chairman, should we do it?"

At first glance, this looked like an unknown Angel coming to rescue a fellow kind. Reasonably speaking, Nagisa should have his head exploded now, otherwise, if the two Angels joined forces, it would be troublesome.

But Keel was full of suspicion. He knew very well that humans couldn't trap Nagisa, and an Angel shouldn't have the intelligence to rescue a fellow kind in this way. Humans hadn't even studied what would happen if two Angels met—wouldn't they just fight?

"No rush. I always feel things are a bit strange. According to recent surveillance reports, Nagisa has shown no unusual movement. Why did he go out this time without even saying hello?"

Nagisa wasn't a prisoner, nor was he an experimental subject. He occasionally went out for a stroll, and SEELE wouldn't dare refuse. But when it came to eliminating potential threats, Keel couldn't make up his mind.

The Free Angel was too important. SEELE couldn't actually kill him. Destroying the backup clones and blowing his head off wasn't hard, but he would wake up in a clone in the next second. Would he still be trapped?

'No, if He has a mind to cause a major incident with his fellow kind, wouldn't that mean an inside job from the center?'

The commander admired the old man's ability to withstand pressure. Any ordinary person would have already activated the self-destruct collar; who would worry about so much?

"Then, should we issue a request for aid to NERV Headquarters?"

Keel hesitated this time. He wasn't worried about extra issues—after all, NERV was being quite obedient now and certainly wouldn't cooperate with an Angel. He was just hesitant because the First Branch had too many secrets, and if discovered, it would be hard to wrap up.

"Sir, Helicopter 211 has lost contact. None of the special operations personnel on board survived." "Communication is still under intense interference. We still don't have specific information on the attacker." "Remote optics confirm the target is singular, body size under three meters."

The operator's reports sounded like death knells. Chairman Keel hesitated again and again, finally deciding to listen to his heart.

"Unit-07 and Unit-09, prepare for combat. Fully defend the base entrance. Issue a request for aid to Tokyo-3 and have Unit-01 immediately rush over. But whether it participates in the battle requires my direct order."

No matter what the Free Angel wanted to do, and no matter if the one attacking from the bay was the 16th Angel or not, the best tactic was to remain unchanged and meet all changes.

As long as they firmly held the position, there would be a way. Once Unit-01 arrived, everything would get better.

'The tides turn.'

Asuka: It's my turn!