The Trash Returned from Warhammer

The First Angel is Adam, confined within the Terminal Dogma beneath NERV. The reason the Angels continuously assault Tokyo-3 is that instinct drives them to make contact with Adam. Once contact is achieved, the Third Impact will trigger immediately—enough to completely annihilate humanity.

Listening to the rhythm of the rotor blades, Shinji sat in his seat reviewing the main mission, occasionally exchanging a few words with Ritsuko Akagi beside him. He had no personal friendship with this ”Chief Tech-Sergeant,” but she didn’t treat him like a child either; some of his concepts regarding the Negative Universe were quite fruitful for her, which was unfortunate for Misato Katsuragi.

The Major was wearing a pure black military dress uniform today, complete with a garrison cap, finally looking like a reliable adult. However, her face was full of misery; she couldn’t understand a single word the two in front of her were saying.

”The Second Angel is Lilith? Since it had nothing to do with the Second Impact, where is it?”

”The true identity is unknown. At the very least, it’s beyond my level of access.”

Ritsuko Akagi turned her head to look out the window, seeing only the ruins of a city submerged by seawater.

’The scent of a lie.’

Shinji didn’t even need his psychic powers to know Ritsuko was lying. This woman clearly knew a great deal, but he wasn’t in a hurry to replicate Mark’s path for the same reason as before: value.

Aside from the Pilots, only two people in the entirety of NERV possessed irreplaceable value: Gendo Ikari was the bait and the bridge for external communication; Ritsuko Akagi was the internal core—the upgrade of EVA combat power and the research into the Negative Universe depended on her.

’I am at the center of the storm. No matter who it is or what their conspiracy may be, they will inevitably come into contact with me.’

He sat calmly. The embryo had already corroborated his thoughts. No matter how powerful SEELE’s schemes were, they had to be delivered to Tokyo-3. And this place was his domain.

’Finally, it’s my turn to speak. Sitting here mute makes me look like a moron.’

Misato, sitting slightly behind them, cleared her throat and was about to speak, but Ritsuko Akagi beat her to it.

”How have things been progressing between you and Rei lately?”

Shinji turned his head in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to ask about Rei Ayanami. He weighed his words for a moment before saying, ”Her growth is smooth. She has learned many things and has changed significantly since I first met her.”

Ritsuko Akagi nodded. As Rei’s primary physician, she was certainly aware of the changes, but her concern lay elsewhere. Since the last kidnapping incident, Commander Ikari hadn’t asked about Rei once. His attitude was extremely strange—like today, he had actually agreed to let Shinji go to Old Tokyo.

”Commander Ikari seems to be deliberately avoiding you and Rei?”

Misato Katsuragi pricked up her ears. She had noticed this as well and was very curious.

”Yes. Certain things have been spoken plainly. My relationship with him is no longer as twisted as it used to be.”

”You two made up?”

Shinji paused, remembering how he had held Gendo Ikari in his hand like a chicken, explicitly telling him what he should and shouldn’t do. Did that count as ”making up”?

’I call you ’Dad,’ you call me ’Grandpa’—we’ll each have our own way of addressing the other.’

”More or less. There won’t be a psychological burden for future cooperation.”

He flashed a smile tinged with dark humor. It was merely the psychic seed causing Gendo Ikari to subconsciously fear him.

’Ah? They actually made up? Doesn’t seem like it.’

Misato and Ritsuko exchanged a glance, their eyes full of suspicion. After a thought, they realized it was possible; this deliberate avoidance might be a way to handle oversight from above.

”That’s good to hear. However, regarding Rei, I must offer a reminder: do not spend too much time on her.”

”Why? Is someone planning to harm her?”

Shinji turned his head, his gaze like that of a predatory beast, making it impossible to look him in the eye.

’Because she is merely a doll, a necessary consumable tool. Investing too much emotion is an extravagance.’

Ritsuko Akagi instinctively averted her gaze. She couldn’t possibly tell the truth, so she whispered, ”It’s just a friendly reminder. We’ve arrived. Prepare to face the competition.”

Shinji narrowed his eyes. For a moment, he had felt an impulse to unleash his full psychic potential and completely shatter Ritsuko Akagi’s personality.

The topic was skillfully diverted, and he didn’t push it. Why did he have such an impulse when he had decided to explore things slowly? Was it simply because it involved Rei Ayanami’s secrets?

Unlike his daily banter with Misato, the collision between emotional impulse and rational decision-making made him realize something he usually ignored: the weight of that cold girl was seemingly heavier than he had imagined.

’Is this the price of integrating into the world without the suppression of a nineteen-step surgical body?’

Shinji sighed, having long since come to terms with it. After all, this body lacked surgical suppression, and the mental shackles were gradually loosening—just as his instinct made him steal an extra glance or two when Misato Katsuragi frequently came out wrapped in a towel after her shower.

Whatever. As long as it didn’t violate his oaths, change was also the Emperor’s guidance. When in doubt, the Emperor’s guidance will guide you.

Shinji leaned out the window. Below was a ruined metropolis. The impact of the Second Impact wasn’t limited to the evaporation of the Antarctic and rising sea levels; in the early years of the second millennium, the world had plunged into massive chaos. War and famine filled the Earth. No one knows how many people starved to death just to build Tokyo-3.

The misery of 2K couldn’t compare to 40K, of course, but one couldn’t forget that there was no steadfast faith in the Emperor here. Just like the ruins beneath them that stretched as far as the eye could see—a metropolis of tens of millions had been destroyed by terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb.

The distant buildings stood out abruptly; it was a testing ground filled with high-grade cement, the helipad crowded with various types of helicopters.

”You’ve all seen the data on that big toy, right?”

Ritsuko Akagi’s tone carried a hint of disdain, finally bringing the conversation back on track.

”Yes. Nuclear-powered, remote control modules, capable of swapping equipment and torsos based on the situation. A decent idea. The key is that it can be mass-produced in a short time.”

Shinji nodded slightly. He knew the JA project had been affected by his butterfly effect.

Originally, the JA was supposed to be released much earlier, but starting from the Third Angel, the EVA had proven its value: it didn’t go out of control, it possessed immense combat power, and it didn’t cause mental pollution for the pilot.

Aside from the short battery life and the difficulty of finding pilots, there were almost no flaws—it was a perfect weapon of war.

Consequently, nations invested massive resources into manufacturing subsequent units. As Misato Katsuragi had once mocked, the ”big shots” always thought ahead: if the EVA was good at killing Angels, it wouldn’t be bad for fighting wars either.

With resources shifting, resource investment for the JA had decreased significantly. Of course, this also spurred Dr. Ito’s team’s fighting spirit to develop more armaments.

”You have a high opinion of it,” Ritsuko noted.

”I only examine a weapon with the most rational attitude. JA has its advantages, but it also has fatal weaknesses.”

Shinji held up two fingers and said calmly, ”First, remote control is extremely unreliable. We don’t know what abilities the next Angel will have. If it’s a type that corrupts electronic equipment, it’s equivalent to supplying the enemy.

Second, they will never be able to develop an AT Field. Without it, they will never be on the same level as an Angel.”

Simple, concise, and well-reasoned.

Ritsuko Akagi nodded in approval. If she weren’t afraid of him knowing too much, she would have seriously considered taking him as a disciple. There were many people with high degrees, but this rigorous scientific attitude was rare.

”So, why are you so curious about the JA?”

”It stems from the needs of a frontline combatant. Dr. Akagi, you are unparalleled in the development of biological weapons, but in terms of energy and equipment design, you are inferior to Dr. Ito.”

Shinji spoke the truth plainly, not caring that Ritsuko’s face darkened.

”The AT Field can be used for offense, defense, and propulsion. Dragging an external power cable behind us is simply too stupid; it severely cripples the ceiling of the unit. Furthermore, the armor on Unit-01 is useless except for adding weight. Why not study material science to strengthen defense and develop shoulder-mounted particle cannons, missile launchers, and other modular armaments?”

’Because it’s not necessary!!’

Ritsuko’s face grew darker as she listened, her mind screaming. As the executor of the plan, much like Gendo Ikari, she was also a victim of Shinji Ikari being ”too reliable.”

Unit-01 is only most powerful when its power is exhausted. That armor is just to restrain its body; I never intended to research increasing its defensive power.

’You don’t understand the true nature of the EVA... though, I suppose there’s no need for you to know.’

The woman gently rubbed her forehead. She had ten thousand things to say but couldn’t get any of them out. Because Shinji treated the EVA as a pure combat weapon, using his own strength to defeat the Angels, it felt a bit like...

’Oh, I clearly wrote a cheat code for you, but because you’re too powerful, you don’t need the cheat.’

”Alright, I see what you mean. You want to apply JA’s research results to the EVA, right?”

Ritsuko Akagi interrupted him. Seeing the boy nod, she sighed softly, feeling that the world had truly gone mad.

To have a cheat code and not use it, insisted on finding a different path. And Commander Ikari—how could he tolerate this nonsense? Hadn’t they agreed to secretly sabotage the JA?

She didn’t know that if Gendo Ikari had sabotaged the JA, Shinji would have squeezed the life out of him. That was a literal threat to his life. The agents he had sent out were immediately eliminated by Mark’s men, and he was still paranoid to this day.

”Yes. Commander Ikari is also very supportive.”

Shinji smiled grimly. He had already received the news; controlling the Chief of Security was a brilliant move. Precisely because Mark was SEELE’s man, it would cause Gendo Ikari to overthink frantically, wondering if SEELE was pushing the JA project behind the scenes to compete with the EVA. Thus, after his reaching hands were severed, he immediately didn’t dare to do anything extra.

’Supportive? How could he possibly be supportive? Letting Unit-01 go berserk was supposed to be the first step. This must be pressure from SEELE.’

Ritsuko Akagi could only think to this level. She had approached Gendo Ikari recently; though he hadn’t said it explicitly, he gave her a faint feeling.

Shinji Ikari hadn’t been put in his place—it was more like he had turned the heavens upside down.

In reverse, he was influencing Gendo Ikari’s judgment?!

Read ahead (100 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting