Chapter 189: Now, the Astartes Take Command

Chapter 189: Chapter 221: Now, the Astartes Take Command

Chapter 221: Now, the Astartes Take Command

Silence filled the spacious room. Chairman Keel had lived a long life, witnessed all kinds of storms, and had even changed the course of history more than once.

But the moment he saw Shinji, his unfathomably steady inner world was rocked by a colossal wave. His brain, which had plotted countless conspiracies, simply crashed. Too many questions assaulted him like a storm, and coupled with the alarms from his life-support system, he remained stunned for a long time.

‘What does “the same age” mean? Isn’t he Ikari Gendo’s son, a fourteen-year-old boy?

How does he know me so well? He seems so familiar with the “Human Instrumentality Project.”

No, his appearance here is impossible; that door is not something a human could open.

My reaction speed was already fast enough; I left the moment I sensed something was wrong. What is the meaning of this “waiting for a long time” look?’

The asymmetry of information left Chairman Keel completely bewildered. Shinji knew him inside and out, yet every agent SEELE had sent to the boy had never returned, and they knew nothing about him. Such immense psychological shock would have driven a normal person mad, but he was a great man whose name had left a mark in history; he regained his composure in just one minute.

“Did you plan all of this?”

That was the key. At this moment, he should focus on what the boy intended to do, rather than how he managed to do it; otherwise, his chaotic thoughts would never find a lead.

“You are the most mentally resilient and intelligent mortal I have ever met. Unfortunately, a mortal is a mortal, after all, and will never understand the great power of the Emperor.” Shinji looked at him with appreciation. This man could be considered a hero among Earth’s mortals to have regained his cool so quickly.

This person might not be as good at research as Gendo Ikari, but he was a crafty old fox. He ran immediately upon sensing something was wrong. If not for the fact that he was a Blood Raven with the Chapter’s innate talent for picking locks and prying doors, he really wouldn’t have been able to stop him.

Who could have guessed that the SEELE Chairman’s shelter was actually an armored train? Just when you thought you were catching a turtle in a jar, the guy had already slipped away.

“Your vigilance is commendable. You even considered details like the snow covering the tracks. After escaping, the tracks were heated electromagnetically—quite a heavy investment for a getaway. Once confirmed safe, you could control everything via online meetings. The so-called impregnable First Branch was nothing more than a smokescreen.” Shinji nodded

slightly, sitting calmly in the high-backed chair. “Do you think I’m just a tool who knows nothing, playing out the script you’ve set up like an idiot?”

“I have never looked down on you, but the surprises you’ve given me are simply too great.” Chairman Keel spoke the truth, but in his eyes, no matter how powerful a tool was, it was still a tool. How could it appear in his own shelter like a chess player?

“Were all the people we sent bribed by you? Was the intelligence sent back entirely false?”

“It was control. The intelligence wasn’t false, either; it was just the truth I wanted you to know.”

“What about Ikari Gendo? He has his own ambitions.”

“Even you couldn’t escape my control—could he possibly be spared?”

“Was the Free Angel also acting with you?”

“Something like that. He is carrying out my orders. But this cannot be called acting. I needed the EVA Mass Production models anyway; they just happened to be more useful in his hands.”

Keel shut his mouth and held his breath. Smart people didn’t need overly detailed explanations; through that one question and answer, he had already grasped the situation.

This boy was the higher-level chess player. SEELE and he had been manipulated all along, performing strenuously like clowns. In moments he didn’t know about, Shinji Ikari had already controlled everything. One could say that for a long time, the lives of all these old men had been held in the boy’s palm, decided by a single thought.

How terrifying. How incredible.

Keel lowered his head. This game of chess was lost before it had even begun. The two sides were simply not on the same level, but he really couldn’t fathom how this was achieved.

“You are not human—or rather, humans are incapable of doing even one of the things you’ve mentioned.”

“To be precise, I am not a mortal. I should have told you all long ago: I am an Astartes.”

The Chairman was choked up. Who could have imagined that the boy’s teenage fantasies were actually real? Instantly, the phrase “we are the same age” made perfect sense, and he felt a strange sense of tranquility. Losing to a boy was humiliating, but losing to an Astartes who had been through a hundred battles? It was barely an honorable defeat.

From the very beginning, SEELE never had a chance. Never mind resisting—they couldn’t even discern the truth. Or perhaps the truth had been there the whole time, just something mortals found hard to believe. It was a one-sided crushing victory. Recalling the stories he had once read, Keel suddenly felt calm.

“Humanity still lost to the Angels. You are the Apostle of that Emperor.”

“You have self-awareness, but I want to remind you: the Emperor is the protector of humanity. How could humanity lose to me?” Shinji corrected him solemnly. The biggest difference between him and the Angels was their stance.

“Then do you think I acted only out of selfish desire!?” Keel suddenly became agitated, as if he had been bottling up his emotions for a long time and finally found a chance to vent.

“I don’t know how much you understand, but this Instrumentality is necessary. Do you know how much damage the Second Impact caused? The Earth is gradually becoming unsuitable for life. Even if you wipe out SEELE and stop the project, that is nothing more than a slow death.”

Truth.

Shinji nodded slightly. This was top-secret information; because of the focus of their work, even NERV didn’t know, but he had discovered it long ago.

The most intuitive feeling was the climate anomaly. Japan was in midsummer year-round—besides being a bit sultry, it was fine—but some places were in perpetual winter, or had seen no rain for years. As a fragile race, humanity had high requirements for its environment.

“Agricultural yields are declining year by year, and habitable areas are shrinking. The number of people starving to death increases annually. The Earth is gradually withering. This may be a long process, but do you know that the AT Fields are also thickening?” Keel suddenly grew spirited; he had always been famous in history for his oratory skills.

“The estrangement between people is deepening. As resources become more strained, conflicts between nations are becoming sharper. We are suppressing it entirely; otherwise, we wouldn’t need a Third Impact. Humanity would have already had a Third World War over resources. Do you know what excuse we use?”

He paced back and forth, appearing thirty years younger, perfectly portraying that stifled frustration, helplessness, and sense of righteousness.

“The Angels are that excuse. We shift these unsolvable contradictions onto them. Therefore, nations need to know the truth, but they cannot know the whole truth. The public is stupid. We have killed many people to protect these secrets, but we have had to—otherwise, more would have died.”

“I have never denied SEELE’s contributions, nor do I think you are incompetent. This is exactly why you have been able to survive until now.” Shinji nodded solemnly. He was never one for holding grudges; SEELE had its own meaning for existing.

The collective known as humanity was indeed short-sighted and foolish. If the secret of the world’s end were exposed, there would be no need for a Third Impact. When it came to destroying themselves, humans were always tireless.

Therefore, SEELE hid the secrets, killed who knows how many curious reporters or fools who deemed themselves “partners of justice,” and cleverly shifted the internal contradiction of humanity struggling for survival resources onto the external contradiction of fighting the Angels for the right to exist.

This was normal. The destiny established by a high-dimensional life was not something that could be resolved by killing a few old men to bring about world peace. He didn’t know if there was a similar ending in the cycles Kaworu dreamt of.

“Yes. The moment Adam was awakened, the train of destiny raced toward the end of the line. No one could stop what the will of the negative universe had decided. Even if I had exterminated SEELE at the very beginning, under the threat of doomsday, humanity would always keep looking for a way to survive. Coincidentally, the outline—the Dead Sea Scrolls—was within reach.”

“I am starting to believe your story now, Shinji-kun. You really are not as mindless and impulsive as a teenager.” Keel’s expression softened a little. He gasped for air and sat in the chair opposite the office desk.

Combat power was nothing. This kind of wisdom and rationality was what made him feel like an equal. At their age, how could one act on impulse at the slightest rumor?

“So, you are rejecting the ‘Human Instrumentality Project’? But through my explanation, you should understand why this plan exists.”

“Hmm. The excuse of the Angels will eventually be exhausted. Only by achieving Instrumentality according to the Dead Sea Scrolls can humanity continue to exist in another form, thus avoiding this inevitable withering and destruction.”

“It’s good that you can understand. I don’t deny there is selfish desire, but there truly is no other way. If you kill us, someone else will execute the ‘Human Instrumentality Project,’ or the Earth will turn into a dead star, and humanity will perish entirely.” Keel rested his hands on his abdomen, his expression nothing but calm. “In the East, there is a saying: ‘A bad life is better than a good death.’ I think returning to the Sea of LCL is better than a wasteland of ruins and bones.”

“As mortals, SEELE has indeed done its utmost. You have barely managed to find a path.”

The train sped along smoothly. With the two “old men” meeting, the atmosphere was surprisingly harmonious. There was no shouting, no black-and-white moralizing, and not even much intense emotion. An onlooker might have thought this was two friends in conversation.

For some reason, Keel’s mood suddenly improved. He couldn’t speak of these matters to anyone outside the committee; at this moment, it served as a form of catharsis, and he had even gained the acknowledgment of this Astartes.

Talking with an equal was pleasant. In this world, there weren’t so many black-and-white things, and there were no such things as evil villains. SEELE were also survivors, just with a perspective somewhat different from the public’s perception.

But just then, he felt something was wrong. The person before him didn’t look like he had achieved some great enlightenment; his expression had been calm from the very start.

“Wait, you already knew?”

“It wasn’t hard to guess. Don’t let your imagination run wild—Gendo Ikari doesn’t care about these things at all. He is the most selfish person of all.” Shinji flicked his fingers. Of course, he didn’t know this from Gendo—after all, that man only had his mind set on meeting his mother and didn’t care about humanity’s future.

“Then you came to find me…”

“I acknowledge the significance of SEELE’s existence, but I still reject the ‘Human Instrumentality Project.’ The reason is simple: the result you crave is to change the human form. This is not loyalty, and disloyalty is the greatest of sins.”

Shinji stood up, and that powerful pressure returned. Chairman Keel had said a great deal, but he couldn’t shake the will of an Astartes.

“Don’t forget the premise I mentioned earlier. As mortals, you have done your utmost, but given the current complex situation—

—the Astartes must take command.”