Chapter 79 111: Who is the Guardian????

A fake mastermind has a fragile body and hides in dark corners like a rat, plotting despicable conspiracies.

A true mastermind has a powerful body and enjoys life openly, able to calculate the future clearly even while taking out the trash.

Shinji hadn't changed at all; he didn't look like someone who had just discovered the "script" of this world. It was no wonder SEELE never took this youth seriously. Logically speaking, Gendo Ikari—with his hands perpetually glued to his face—looked much more like a schemer.

That night, Shinji was dragged upstairs by Asuka. He watched helplessly as she was utterly demolished by Rei Ayanami in video games. Just as her mental state was about to shatter, he was forced to step in personally and let Asuka win a few rounds. Only then could he drag the satisfied girl back to her room to sleep.

With only a few days left until the School Festival, busy figures were everywhere. Asuka and Rei were also run off their feet, yet there was something slightly "off" about this busyness.

They were busy rehearsing, busy helping the Class Rep decorate the café, busy shopping, and busy hiding at home practicing games...

"I feel like I'm starting to lose my grip on how this world works."

In the NERV Technology Department, Ritsuko Akagi adjusted her glasses, looking at the youth inside the cockpit. She truly didn't understand anymore. Where was the heavy, dark, and gloomy atmosphere of the apocalypse? Those two girls hardly came to the headquarters for experiments anymore. If Shinji didn't still show up to report, she would have thought the world was at peace.

"Misato, are we being too indulgent with those three? This isn't how Strategic Decisive Battle Weapons are supposed to behave."

Misato Katsuragi was nearby, spinning in her chair and staring at the ceiling with the vacant expression of a total slacker.

"I'm talking to you."

"Huh? Oh. Isn't this fine? The Angels are being wiped out anyway, and your experiments haven't really done much after all this time. I'm so jealous of Asuka and the others—they get to enjoy school life while I just space out in this steel fortress every day."

'Fine, you paid-to-poop tax thief, now you're lecturing me.'

Ritsuko frowned and sharpened her tone: "Major Katsuragi, you are their guardian! You need to manage the pilots' psychological states!"

"I am managing them. Can't you see how stable Rei and Asuka's emotions are? I get it, you're afraid they're becoming 'spoiled,' right?"

Misato stopped spinning and looked back with an equally serious gaze.

"I've always felt that making children shoulder the fate of humanity makes us adults the real failures."

Sigh.

Ritsuko took a breath, finding herself unable to refute. She could only say coldly: "Have you been infected? Why do I feel like you've completely moved to that side?"

"Duh. The one who repeatedly saves the world is Shinji-kun. If I don't stand on his side, whose side should I stand on? To put it bluntly, we're just his support staff. Why worry so much all day long?"

'Done for. This woman is completely done for.'

Ritsuko was fuming but had no way to tell her friend that humanity would face its end after victory. She feared that if she actually said it, her best friend would pull a gun and blow her brains out.

[Initiating first live-combat test of the Power Sword] [AT Field detected, collecting data]

Maya Ibuki and the others were working diligently. They watched as Unit-01 raised a "slender" blade—shaped somewhat like a utility knife—and swung it down at an alloy target.

Shing—

Like cutting through tofu, a steel plate several meters thick was sliced in two. The leaking AT Field created a blade-aura effect, leaving a cut over half a meter deep in the laboratory wall.

"Whoa... I feel like we're becoming more and more like a fantasy show."

Misato's mouth formed an 'O' shape. She understood EVA less and less; in Shinji's hands, this machine seemed to have no upper limit.

"Because we were never a mecha show to begin with."

Ritsuko glanced at the idiot, leaned over, and looked at the dense data on the screen—the sudden spike in wavelengths and that perfectly flat, unmoving synchronization rate.

'It seems Shinji-kun doesn't want me to know his secrets.'

Ritsuko wasn't stupid. No matter how she improved the sensors, they never worked. There was only one reason: the pilot was actively blocking the instrument's detection. What was even stranger was that when she reported these massive findings upward, Gendo Ikari only had one thing to say: Leave him be.

She didn't know what had happened to the powerful man who once captivated her. Unconsciously, the mountain-like charisma he possessed had diminished significantly.

No... more accurately, had it been replaced?

Ritsuko looked at Unit-01. Along with the vibration of the floor and the "thump, thump, thump" of footsteps, the mecha approached the window and looked down at her. Almost instantly, Ritsuko took a half-step back with a look of horror, whereas Misato wasn't afraid in the slightest.

"Back off a bit, Shinji! Don't you know Unit-01 is terrifying?"

A seventy-meter-tall steel giant looking down at a human was indeed horrifying, but Misato was certain she wouldn't be harmed, so why be afraid?

"Sorry. Force of habit."

Shinji maneuvered Unit-01 backward. As his psychic power grew stronger, Unit-01 felt more like a suit of Power Armor—albeit a slightly larger one.

"Dr. Ito's team is impressive. I didn't think he'd actually develop a Power Sword."

"It's a 'Prototype AT Field Auxiliary Convergence Device,'" Ritsuko corrected moodily. "It's only natural. They spent thirty billion dollars, and the higher-ups even told me to open the secret parameters of Project E to him. I almost forgot he was a competitor."

It was indeed strange. Gendo Ikari hadn't sabotaged anything; he had been very cooperative. Without the parameters she provided, there would have been no results. As for SEELE, it was normal enough—the equipment developed by Dr. Ito's team could be used by other EVAs, and the military-industrial complex they supported would profit from it.

"Then I'll proceed with modifying Unit-01 according to the Operations Department's plan. I'll try to finish before the next Angel comes knocking."

"Mm. For the next step, focus on breaking through with high-energy batteries. Let's completely get rid of that stupid external power supply design."

Ritsuko's face twitched. Several times she had wanted to sabotage Unit-01 to make it run out of power, but she didn't dare. She felt very frustrated in her heart.

'Why won't you just use a cheat code?'

"I'll swap in the prototype batteries first. That should bring the internal power duration over 200%. If there are no issues, I'll roll it out to the other EVAs."

"I'm counting on you."

Vroom—

The screen went black as Unit-01 entered standby mode. Shinji was very satisfied with the current situation; everything was going according to plan. War is a rigorous science. If it weren't for the fact that psychic energy couldn't be easily replenished, he would have loved to run psychic simulations every time. Some of the seeds he'd planted earlier were beginning to show their effects.

That trip to Tokyo-2 was definitely the right move. A talent like Dr. Ito had certainly given him enough surprises. As for Ritsuko Akagi's minor attitude, he didn't care.

"A Machine Spirit? Before long, I'll be able to speak with you directly."

Shinji rubbed the control sticks, yet he didn't view "her" as a trump card. He felt both an instinctive loathing for loss of control and the combat philosophy of an Astartes. The Emperor's protection is important, but victory stems from a rigorous attitude and meticulous planning. Even those Tech-Priests who constantly prattled about the Omnissiah didn't dare stake everything on a Machine Spirit.

'I can handle the Angels myself. Why should I rely on a Berserk state?'

The entry plug ejected. Shinji took the lift down from Unit-01 and saw many maintenance workers heading up to service the unit. Massive mechanical arms began dismantling the armor. Misato Katsuragi, wearing a safety helmet, stood on the umbilical bridge giving orders.

Shinji walked over and caught a coffee thrown his way, asking directly: "When will it be finished?"

"Don't push me! You really treat me like a beast of burden! How can you treat people so differently?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a beast of burden while Asuka and Rei are enjoying life. Isn't that a bit much?" Misato swung her pen, her face full of complaints. "Hmph, you're quite the gentleman, aren't you? Coming here to do the experiments yourself so they can have fun."

She was quite annoyed. They all lived under the same roof, yet why was the gap in treatment so huge? An ordinary person would have probably apologized, but the steel-willed youth found it difficult to comprehend.

"These experiments don't require three people. Therefore, I chose the most efficient method. As for you, don't you often say people should do what's appropriate for their age? Twenty-eight is exactly the age to be a 'beast of burden.'"

'What the hell is 'the age to be a beast of burden'?!'

Misato nearly snapped her pen. She finally understood why Asuka suffered so much; this idiot was so good at "logic" that he could shut you up in just a few sentences.

'I'm just a bit jealous of them! It's just unfair! You pursue 'efficiency' by letting them prepare for the festival while I work like a horse every day. Why?!'

Shinji said nothing. He was skilled at reading emotions and could sense the buildup of negative feelings. He checked his watch, then his surroundings, and suddenly asked: "Do you have to work overtime today?"

"Hehe. What task does Shinji-sama wish to assign? This humble subordinate will certainly strive to complete it."

Shinji ignored the sarcasm and held out his hand: "Give me your car keys."

"What for? You're not thinking of taking my car to pick up Asuka and the others from school, are you?" Misato looked wary, thinking to herself that she hadn't even finished paying off the car loan.

"Bring the design drafts. We'll discuss them while we take a drive. Send a text to Rei and the others—tell them they're on their own for dinner tonight."

Shinji headed toward the changing room, then turned back to look at Misato, who was standing there in a daze.

"What are you waiting for? I heard there's a mountain nearby where you can look out over all of Tokyo-3. Let's go there."

'Huh? How did this guy suddenly change his tune?'

Misato truly hadn't recovered, but she felt a surge of joy. It didn't matter what Shinji was thinking; what mattered was that after she couldn't help but complain, he changed his attitude. It was an "I am also important" kind of attitude.

"If you don't want to go, forget it. We'll find a meeting room to talk."

"I'm going, I'm going! It's rare for Shinji-sama to take the time to go for a drive with me, how could I not go?!"

Misato cheered and ran over, grabbing Shinji's arm. "If we hurry, we can catch the solar collection! You don't know—under the setting sun, the reflectors turn golden. It's beautiful. I've wanted to take you to see it for a long time."

She described it enthusiastically. A few members of the Operations Department who were coming over for signatures stopped in their tracks. They saw a world-famous "painting."

A twenty-eight-year-old woman clinging to a boy's arm with a face full of smiles, while the boy remained expressionless, constantly reminding her that they were at NERV HQ and to control her emotions.

The title of the painting: Who is the Guardian?

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