Chapter 157 189: Saving Private Asuka.

Tokyo-3 had ultimately suffered destruction. Even though most of the damage was concentrated in the old district, Bardiel had done a "good deed" in a sense, saving NERV the cost of demolition.

However, the citizens could not yet leave the cramped shelters, as the battle was far from over.

"This is troublesome. This Angel is far too clever. After being severely damaged, it actually knows to take hostages."

With the sound of rotor blades, the helicopter circled above the ruins. Ritsuko Akagi looked at the scene below with furrowed brows.

Hundreds of vehicles of various types had surrounded the ruins. Unit-00 and Unit-01 stood sternly to the side, while in the center of the ruins stood two other EVAs.

On the left, Unit-03 knelt on both knees. It had been beaten mercilessly by Asuka; over 60% of its armor had been physically shattered, and the biological flesh forming its core was reduced to a bloody mess.

Its head had been smashed, its eyeball dangling in mid-air, a sword tip protruded from its chest, and its hands had been severed. Yet, its palms still remained locked around the throat of Unit-02, which was not far away. Unit-02 itself hadn't sustained much external damage, but the "veins" spreading from its neck to its head and chest looked extremely bizarre.

"You mean Shinji severely damaged it, and Bardiel transferred from Unit-03 into Unit-02 at the last moment?"

Misato Katsuragi flipped through the report, gritting her teeth. "Damn it, who would have thought there were two Angels working in coordination."

"Shinji-kun thought of it. If he hadn't kept Unit-00 and Unit-02 in reserve, the headquarters would have been breached. It's a miracle Unit-01 made it back at all, galloping nonstop for over two hundred kilometers. If it weren't for him, Asuka would be finished."

Ritsuko said softly. This was not the time to summarize the "Great Upheaval." Returning to the present, the most important task was saving them.

"Shinji-kun's sword strike precisely destroyed Unit-03's Entry Plug. Bardiel's core must have been located in that section, but it was already infecting Unit-02, so it transferred the remnants of its core over."

She scrolled through her tablet, which was covered in dense data and various images, showing the entire process of infection and the final detection results.

Unit-03 no longer had a Blue wavelength, but Unit-02 did.

"Does that mean Bardiel can infect any EVA?"

"Yes, it's similar to Bardiel's original characteristics, but it doesn't understand evolution. It infects through physical contact. If it succeeds, we're in trouble. That's why that man's judgment was correct."

Ritsuko understood Gendo Ikari's choice perfectly. If Bardiel infected both Unit-02 and Unit-00, it would be equivalent to splitting into three; the difficulty of killing it would increase exponentially.

"By that logic, can it infect Unit-01 too?"

"Theoretically yes, but it's welcome to try."

Ritsuko scoffed and looked up. "The problem now is that I don't know the state of Unit-02 or if Asuka is still alive. However, I suspect Unit-02 hasn't been completely consumed yet. The Angel is currently repairing its heavily damaged core; otherwise, it would have already activated."

"Then you need to hurry. The higher-ups have already designated Unit-02 as an Angel."

Misato urged, glancing coldly at the scene. Nearly a hundred battle tanks and heavy artillery pieces had surrounded Unit-02, their muzzles aimed directly at it.

The "big shots" did not care about the feelings of teenagers; since it was an Angel, it should be annihilated. Waiting this long was already a surprise to them.

"Then they can try."

Ritsuko said dismissively, her gaze fixed on the face of the boy standing on Unit-01's shoulder. "Without Shinji's order, who would dare to fire?"

This was not an unreasonable use of force; rather, because of this upheaval, everyone—from SEELE to the ordinary citizens—had implicitly accepted that Shinji Ikari and Unit-01 were the professionals in handling Angels. If he said it could be saved, then it certainly could be saved.

The rotor wash whipped the boy's black hair. His expression remained cold, without the "how could this happen" astonishment shown by the old men.

As the old saying goes, he had encountered too many accidents in battle, leaving him numb. At least this Angel transformation had warning signs and was predictable. Thinking back to the past—when he was in the middle of a heated fight with Chaos, and suddenly a bunch of Necrons crawled out from underground—that was a true surprise.

This wasn't even an accident; it was merely the verification of a hypothesis.

"I'm sorry, Ikari-kun."

Rei Ayanami clearly lacked such mental fortitude and stood nearby with a downcast expression.

"Apologizing because you didn't protect Asuka well enough?"

"Yes. I had envisioned this situation, but I didn't think it would actually happen."

Rei hung her head. Of course, she hadn't forgotten that she was a pilot, and that status meant danger.

"Asuka is a warrior, too. She doesn't need anyone to protect her. Besides, you two did very well. You have indeed become stronger."

Bardiel was equivalent to a berserk-state EVA; it was no small fry, yet it had been beaten to a pulp.

'Huh? That counts as being praised??'

Rei didn't quite understand, but Shinji offered no comfort. These two had performed better than he expected. Bardiel had been nearly destroyed; if Ritsuko and the others hadn't been absent, it wouldn't even have been his turn to step in.

The strength of an AT Field was only one aspect of measuring an Angel. More importantly, every Angel possessed a unique authority. This required professional analysis, and the two girls had been forced into a rushed battle without intelligence support.

Even for an Astartes Legion, lack of intelligence support would lead to heavy casualties.

"You two wounded the Angel. If the current Angel weren't so cunning, you would have finished it."

"With you leading the way, we learn a little bit."

"Hmm, you learn by osmosis. You two did fight well."

Shinji nodded slightly, pointing toward Unit-02. "Don't worry. Asuka's soul hasn't returned to the Golden Throne yet; no need to rush to prepare her eulogy."

'I don't know if she's dead, but if she heard you say that, she'd be angry enough to die.'

Rei almost couldn't hold back a smile, feeling her tension melt away. "Then how do we fish her out? Dr. Akagi said Unit-02 has lost control; we don't even know what the situation is inside."

"She is still alive. The mental contamination is within the safety threshold; I can tell."

Shinji answered definitively. His burning pupils transcended science, seeing things invisible to the naked eye.

"But getting her out won't be easy. I've calculated it: Bardiel has forcibly bound Asuka's neural link to Unit-02. Trying to rip it apart with force will tear her to pieces along with it."

The helicopter circled overhead. Ritsuko Akagi held her laptop and quickly provided preliminary data.

"Using Unit-02 and Asuka as hostages?"

"Yes. The Angel, Unit-02, and Asuka are one entity. This connection is a binding of spirit and flesh. Harm any one of them, and the other two will be affected. Surgical removal is impossible."

Shinji glanced not far away. The back of Unit-02's neck, the location of the Entry Plug, was covered in dense mycelium. They were linked to Asuka like nerves.

"Is it trying to use the hostage to repair its core?"

"Yes. Once it finishes repairing, Asuka will be finished, and you will have to destroy them all together."

"How much time?"

"Seven hours at most."

The two traded questions and answers, making Rei clench her fists. She couldn't help but interject: "What if Unit-00 makes contact with Unit-02 and lures the Angel over?"

The Q&A stopped. Shinji looked at Rei quietly. This girl carried the aura of a martyr. If the Angel had infected Unit-00, she would have self-destructed before he could even rush back.

Yes, don't let Rei's blank-faced appearance fool you; she was a standard "hardcore" person.

"The current Angel isn't acting on instinct anymore; it's not as stupid as you think. If that would work, I might as well let Unit-01 do it."

"That won't do!"

"This isn't a question of whether it can be done; it's a question of you not being allowed to think that way."

Shinji's gaze became stern. Sometimes Rei was overly concerned. If Bardiel really were that stupid, it could try infecting Unit-01 and see how Yui Ikari would destroy it.

'Hmm? Mother?'

Thinking of this, Shinji's eyes suddenly flickered. He pressed the communication button: "Surgery won't work. Can we have Unit-02 proactively cut the link?"

"No. We have lost control of Unit-02. That man has already tried. Re-establishing a set of external neural links would take days."

Ritsuko shook her head instinctively, then suddenly her eyes flashed as she thought of a previous experiment.

"You mean let Unit-02 do it itself..."

"Yes. Connect with the machine spirit, bypass the pilot and the Angel, and let Unit-02 make its own decision. Only Unit-01 and Unit-02 can handle this."

"But we don't even understand what a 'machine spirit' is."

"You don't need to understand. I just need to be able to do it."

Shinji immediately constructed a mental model and judged it to be feasible—it was the only way.

"Misato, set the following combat operation to top secret. Order the UN forces to retreat, clear the site, and let Unit-00 stand guard. Prepare to begin the rescue operation."

Shinji spoke as he jumped into the Entry Plug. Misato was stunned for a moment before moving to execute it. But just as she had anticipated, the higher-ups would absolutely not agree to risk Unit-01.

In their eyes, losing a hundred Unit-02s was preferable to risking Unit-01. Thus, after Shinji activated Unit-01 and saw the 2nd Division's troops still surrounding them, continuing to send communication requests, he became annoyed.

"Why haven't they left yet?"

"Uh, the request was rejected. The UN forces refuse to allow a rescue operation, and they said they are going to use force..."

BOOM!!

Before she could finish, Unit-01 stepped down with its right foot. A visible shockwave expanded outward, sweeping the ruins clean.

Yes, physically clean. The half-collapsed houses were directly pulverized, turning into smoke and dust. In the blink of an eye, only the four EVAs remained on the battlefield.

Gulp.

The liaison officer in the front row swallowed hard. If he had stepped even one step forward, he and his infantry fighting vehicle would have been annihilated together. He raised his head with difficulty, looking at Unit-00's dark gun muzzle and the Unit-01 that appeared to have done nothing at all.

"This is an order, not a request.

Get lost!!"

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