Chapter 194: Souls as Kindling

That is difficult; no, to be precise, it is impossible.

Science is a rigorous and complex endeavor. History has never lacked brilliant ideas, but behind every success lie countless failed experiments. This calculation model of Naoko Akagi’s was fundamentally impossible to test.

Humans are not leeks that can be harvested and immediately grown again; there is no opportunity for trial and error. However, this line of thought reminded Shinji of Kaworu Nagisa’s description.

Was the cycle repeating over and over again the process of SEELE discovering that the “Human Complementary Project” was actually a conspiracy, and then constantly attempting to correct the world-line through trial and error? After all, at the end of the story, humanity did eventually open the Door of Guf.

“Impossible. This data model lacks some key elements, and human power cannot solve it.” Ritsuko thought for a long time before shaking her head. “First, at least the MAGI derived a crude theory that one Spear of Longinus is not enough, but there is only one key in this world.”

“Second, even if there were multiple keys, it requires at least two impacts to have a result. The first sacrifices the flesh, the second sacrifices the soul. One impact alone is enough to destroy humanity; the survivors wouldn’t be enough to trigger a Fourth Impact.”

To gather these conditions, Shinji would need to be a time traveler and an undead necromancer. Although the Astartes were formidable, even they could not accomplish this.

“I understand. It just provides me with a line of thought: that a massive energy impact can open the Door of Guf.”

“I see. You are wondering where this energy comes from. Angels and humans are the sources. Let me think… roughly one billion people could form the total soul mass of ten Angels. The cost is quite high.”

“Yes. Unless it is an absolute last resort, such a sacrifice must not be made.”

“The total soul mass of ten Angels is far from enough. Without enough ‘keys’ to cheat, we must rely on sufficient energy to force the door open. At least three billion—no, four billion—are needed.”

“But after the Second Impact, there are only about three billion people left in the world.”

“Should I have SEELE increase investment in public welfare and encourage childbirth? Perhaps I can conduct research on the source of human souls. This is clearly a violation of the conservation of energy.”

“That is too slow, and the Earth is currently withering. But Ritsuko, you can conduct the research. Perhaps the real world is nurturing the originally weak energy to grow, and then recycling it on a scale hundreds of times larger.”

Apart from Rei Ayanami, Misato and Asuka were stunned. What were these two doing? Discussing how to destroy the world? Should they call the police?

It turns out there was a reason Shinji didn’t let unnecessary people listen in. What “views on love”? In the Astartes worldview, that was the thing with the least presence. In 40K, there has always been a saying:

‘If the result is good, no sacrifice is too great to accept.’

To mortals, this is a form of extreme cruelty. Ordinary people simply cannot understand how many people died on those worlds that were subjected to Exterminatus and scorched-earth policies when the Tyranids attacked. Tens of billions, at least?

Therefore, 40K is also known as a “Transmigrator’s Nightmare.” Regardless of whether you are a “Dragon Overlord” or a “Smartphone Hero,” if your luck is bad, you might be wiped out by your own side’s Exterminatus before you even start showing off.

Returning to the present, Ritsuko considered it seriously for a while and roughly understood Shinji’s mindset. He did not reject the plan of sacrificing 99% of humanity to gamble for the future, but it was the worst-case scenario and would not be used lightly.

As a “bad woman,” she felt her scalp crawl. Compared to the boy in front of her, the times she had been scolded as a “mad scientist” made her look like a saint.

“This… it’s best not to use it.”

“Of course. If there is no guarantee of success, it is nothing more than the struggle of the incompetent. I will try my best to avoid reaching that step.” Shinji’s answer made everyone breathe a sigh of relief, even if the premise of “success rate” sounded a bit off.

“I cannot modify the world-line, so I cannot solve the issue of the keys. But my existence has already changed the world-line, like the world looping endlessly, creating many new conditions.”

“Right. These keys are things the Dead Sea Scrolls perfected themselves, and you have jumped out of the framework.” Ritsuko had a moment of inspiration. The biggest upheaval now is not humanity, but the Angels.

Whether in quantity or quality, the current Angels have far surpassed the original world-line. No, even their objectives have mutated. According to the Angel of Freedom, it is a path of martyrdom.

“The Angels possess the Fruit of Power; one is worth a billion weak humans. The essence of the EVA mass-production models is man-made Angels. No wonder they are the core of the ritual.”

Some things became clear. The essence of the “Human Complementary Project” is to trigger a resonance with the negative universe, disintegrating the AT Fields of billions of people and returning humanity to the Sea of LCL—combining all into one. Adam or Lilith providing the coordinates is a prerequisite; the resonance also requires massive energy. Therefore, it needs the EVA mass-production models to be deployed in a special ritual. In scientific terms, a ritual is a type of energy resonance array.

The EVA mass-production models equipped with pseudo-S2 engines are the fuel source, lighting the torch of “human evolution.” According to this draft, the original fuel source was humanity itself. If it were just triggering resonance with the negative universe, there is no difference between the two. However, if humans used themselves as kindling and burned away, there would be no “complementation” or “evolution.”

“So that’s it. Because we want to preserve humanity, it’s impossible to let humans act as kindling. On this basis, SEELE developed the EVA mass-production models to act as the fuel for burning, letting humanity be the result of the burning.” Ritsuko touched the draft gently, suddenly missing her mother.

“Yes. The principle is universal. Regardless of what goal is to be achieved, the kindling must burn. This is the most basic theory. It’s just that the goals of SEELE, Gendo Ikari, and myself are different, so some details need to be modified.” Shinji’s mind moved quickly, connecting everything.

Whether to complement humanity, resurrect Yui Ikari, or open the Door of Guf, all required sufficient kindling. This kindling stemmed from Angels and humans, which is why the will of the negative universe had an absolute advantage—no matter who was burned, it was the beneficiary.

“Depending on the goal, the amount of kindling required also differs. The simplest way is to revive Adam; the Second Impact causing tens of billions of deaths was enough.” Ritsuko Akagi immediately had a hypothesis. She curled her finger, and Misato, who was gnashing her teeth moments ago, immediately went to fetch an ashtray, while telling Asuka to go brew coffee.

There was no helping it. Displeased as they were, only Ritsuko Akagi could keep up with Shinji’s speed of thought, and they understood what was truly important.

Ritsuko lit a cigarette and took a satisfied sip of the coffee Asuka had brewed herself, then continued: “Shinji-kun, if you want to stably open the Door of Guf, that is the most difficult part and requires the most kindling. If only we had the conditions from my mother’s calculations…”

“The world loops, and you are no longer yourselves. I have no interest in repeating the same story.” Shinji’s words made everyone freeze. Before they could carefully savor the meaning, he continued: “Besides, the world-line has changed completely. No matter how much the Dead Sea Scrolls correct itself, it won’t actively help me, so—”

He stood up and paced in the living room, as if talking to himself.

“One must use one’s own efforts to obtain victory. If the conditions don’t exist, create them. Fortunately, I have been preparing. The will of the negative universe is already helping me—more Angels, more EVA mass-production models. Using quality to replace quantity; there is no need to sacrifice billions of humans.”

“Right. Because of the butterfly effect you created, there are now 24 EVA mass-production models, not the nine in the ‘Human Complementary Project.’ The Angels have also transcended the framework of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is a qualitative change achieved through quantitative change.” Ritsuko’s eyes lit up. As expected of Shinji-kun, he had started preparing even when he didn’t know the answer.

“But that is still not enough—at least not safe enough.” Shinji raised his hand to stop her flattery, cautious to the point of being terrifying. “Warfare never has words like ‘should’ or ‘perhaps.’ When there is only one chance, there is only ‘inevitability’.”

“To achieve this inevitability, Kaworu Nagisa is an indispensable existence. I let him take away the EVA mass-production models precisely so that they could erupt with the strongest fuel fire at the very last moment.”

“I understand. Adam plus 24 EVA mass-production models will create an unimaginable energy collision. Even if He is completely controlled by the negative universe, it doesn’t matter; He will attack anyway.”

“Not enough. Still not enough. I need more Angels as kindling.”

“Paradox. Angels following the Dead Sea Scrolls framework cannot attack simultaneously. If the framework completely fails, it proves the negative universe’s will has been born. It will set harsher conditions, becoming a problem of ‘add more water when there is too much flour, add more flour when there is too much water’.” Ritsuko Akagi was the only one who dared to argue with Shinji—and the latter would look at her with full approval.

“?”

“It is not a paradox. After wiping out SEELE, I obtained the manufacturing method for the pseudo-S2 engines. Guess why I gathered the corpses of the previous Angels in Neo Tokyo-3?”

Ritsuko froze, holding her breath. Most of the previous fifteen Angels had their corpses preserved, including Lilith and Adam. If they were loaded with S2 engines…

“You want to resurrect the Angels?”

“No. The Angel cores have been shattered; they cannot be resurrected. But they can be used as a pile of low-quality kindling. No matter how low-quality, they are still better than weak humans. By piling up quantity, we can achieve qualitative change.” Shinji paused for a moment and looked at Rei Ayanami, who seemed to be miles away in thought.

“This way, I won’t have to forcefully search for keys or sacrifice Ayanami to open the door with absolute violence.”

“As for the harsher conditions, I will find a way to make His arrangements work for me. Angels are His only way to touch reality; He can’t pull off many tricks.”

This was the purest 40K military strategy. The Empire fights wars exactly like this. Quantitative change leads to qualitative change. Those monsters and demons were all formidable, yet why did the Human Empire still stand? The answer is the double crushing of quantity and quality. If one legion isn’t enough, use ten; if one planet isn’t enough, use ten. Every battle is a meat grinder, but they can crush and exhaust the enemy.

“Ritsuko, your task is to replicate the pseudo-S2 engines, test the activity of the Angel corpses, and modify the ritual to maximize the energy array to help me break open the door. It must succeed; it cannot fail. Otherwise, I will have to use the contingency plan.”

Those billions of humans were not excluded; they served as the “add-on”—if the plan failed, they could also serve as kindling.

This was an extension of the “Emperor’s Hypothesis” and the “Law of Loyalty.” Exploring problems and solving problems were synchronous. There were never any “flashes of insight,” only forward movement as precise as a clock.

“Sounds like a heavy burden. One wrong decimal point represents millions of lives, or rather, making some people become ‘combustion aids’.” Ritsuko laughed instead. She squinted, very much enjoying this task.

‘Gendo Ikari’s plan was such trash. Oh, I’m useless now, am I? Listen, look at how important I am—standing firmly within the core circle while these idiots can’t understand a thing.’

Changing the future of humanity with one’s own wisdom. This is the long-cherished wish of every scientist. Ritsuko could be said to have reached the pinnacle of her life. Even in this small circle, she had a subtle sense of confidence. At least those people around her were no longer fierce, looking at her with anticipation.

‘See? I told you our relationship wouldn’t turn sour.’

She finished her coffee in one gulp and gestured to Asuka with the cup in a calm manner.

“Asuka, the coffee is brewed well. Help me with a refill.”