Shinji Ikari, returned from Warhammer

What truly sparked global discussion was Shinji Ikari's victory over the Daytime Angel in two minutes and fifty-eight seconds.

—Berlin, Germany, branch base.

"Luxe, what's so great about killing just one apostle? If I encountered him, I could take him down in less than two minutes! I'm just not at headquarters, how can I let him be so arrogant!"

Standing in front of the elevator, Asuka, dressed in an orange uniform, crossed her arms and uttered a disdainful, mocking remark. But despite her words, she ultimately returned to the cockpit to conduct a simulated battle.

Her commander, Sir Tiffany, watched the girl's retreating figure with a smile, a look of satisfaction on his face.

—NERV Division, Bethany Base.

“Mary, you seem to have the talent of a suitable candidate as well.”

At this moment, in front of the elevator platform of the temporary Unit 5, the ponytail-wearing young man holding the internal special edition greeted the girl above.

Standing on the high platform was a girl dressed in an old-fashioned dark green combat uniform. She wore glasses and had beautiful long chestnut hair. Despite wearing glasses, she was quite active.

"What?" Mari turned around.

"Come and take a look at this." The young man with the wolf tail beckoned to her.

Upon hearing his colleagues' voices below, he surprisingly jumped from the platform, which was five or six meters high, and landed quite steadily on the ground. He then accepted the newspaper handed to him by the young man.

"Two minutes and fifty-eight seconds to kill the Fifth Apostle, the Day Angel. It seems that headquarters has really discovered a very outstanding ace." Makinami looked at the contents of the internal special issue and couldn't help but be surprised.

Although it's called an internal special issue, most people only get the information a few days earlier than the general public. NERV's activities are generally made public to the media, so there's naturally no need to hide anything, such as the killing of the Daytime Apostle.

"However, I heard that the medical examination report for this third eligible candidate has not been leaked," the young man with a wolf-tail pigtail remarked casually.

"Kashi-kun, are you curious about this?" Mari didn't answer directly, but instead glanced at her new colleague who had recently come from Japan on a labor dispatch program.

"Pretty much, but I'm a little curious about what kind of outstanding physical qualities the qualified candidates who were able to kill the apostles twice in a row with an absolute advantage possess."

“This might disappoint you, because piloting an EVA doesn’t require a physique like a bodybuilding champion,” Mari said, putting away the newspaper. “It’s… something else.”

But she only went this far, because going any further would be prohibited.

But the Japanese colleague named Kaji didn't seem to care, as if he had simply come to find out a little about the situation. Mari Makinami smiled broadly and waved at him, holding up her newspaper.

"Can I have this?"

“Of course, Miss Mary. I would feel guilty refusing a beauty like you.” Kaji gently touched his chest.

Watching Mari skip and hop back to her post on the high platform, Kaji didn't leave immediately; he looked eastward with a faint smile.

"Ikari, Shinji." He murmured the boy's name softly, pausing between each word. "The anchor of destiny, huh? I really want to see you."

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P.S.: Everyone knows that piloting an EVA causes some changes to the body and soul of the chosen individual.

Xiao Jiu has compiled the content based on the four parts of the new theatrical version.

Eligible candidate: As a pilot, your body will gradually change, and depending on the degree of change, you will acquire some of the characteristics of an angel. For example, your lifespan will be extended, and you will age, but your appearance will not change.

In the Q movie, Asuka refers to it as the curse of EVA. This is just Ritsuka's unique affectation, a common trope in Japanese anime, and can be ignored.

So, in the end, it's not a big deal for Mari Makinami and Shinji Ikari to be together. They are kindred spirits, and age is no longer an issue.

Shinji Ikari is currently in the second stage, where his appearance does not change and his vitality does not increase with age.

Chapter Twenty-Four: At Fourteen, Standing Like a Henchman

On a sweltering summer day, in the mountains near Neo-Tokyo, where the fog had not yet dissipated, a boy ran breathlessly, his red sneakers splashing water on the puddled road.

"Faster! Faster!" Misato Katsuragi ate a sandwich in one hand and slowly drove behind him with the other, glancing at the time on the car. "Ten kilometers of mountain running has exhausted you? You call yourself a knight?"

Shinji Ikari didn't speak, but his heart was pounding in his chest like a drum.

Judging by appearance alone, the boy's somewhat delicate face didn't seem suitable for joining the army. If he did join, he'd probably be very popular with his comrades. Of course, the way he expressed that popularity might be unacceptable to most people.

Simply put, they are the type who don't seem to be very capable of enduring hardship.

However, Shinji Ikari proactively applied for training. Gendo Ikari stopped him, and when he applied a second time, the higher-ups sent a doctor to examine him. The doctor regretfully concluded that Shinji's innate energy was insufficient, his body weak, and that prolonged, strenuous exercise could even be fatal. They then tactfully suggested that EVA pilots didn't require exceptional physical abilities, and that he should focus on training his skills.

However, Shinji Ikari's statement was utter nonsense. Whether he was physically weak or not, just ask the victims he repeatedly beat in the hospital; they would know best. But his word didn't count. The doctor, with a stamped and signed medical report, said he was frail and sickly, so he was frail and sickly. Even if he were as strong as Yujiro Hanma, he would still be frail and sickly.

Shinji Ikari always had a feeling that someone was interfering. It was as if they didn't like the person he was now, and preferred the pathetic kid he used to be. For some reason, he kept thinking about that man with the black-rimmed glasses.

Just as he was preparing to train alone, Misato Katsuragi stepped forward and chose to train with him.

For the past two weeks, Misato Katsuragi, unusually, has abandoned her habit of sleeping in late and has been driving her Mazda with Shinji Ikari for a morning run along the roadside on an empty stomach before sunrise. After completing their daily tasks, she takes the exhausted boy out for a high-calorie breakfast.

It only took half a month to go from the initial three kilometers to the current ten kilometers. But this level of physical training is already the limit.

It's not that Shinji Ikari's body can't support higher-intensity training; on the contrary, Shinji's physical recovery ability is quite amazing. Even though he has a congenital disadvantage in physique, it's not impossible for him to become a muscular giant through hard work, thanks to his outstanding talent and iron will.

But some things can't be done just because you want to.

"Get in the car." Misato Katsuragi patted the passenger seat as Shinji Ikari finished training. "Today, I'm taking you to eat some Otsutsuki ramen to warm you up. Akagi recommended it to me."

The blue Mazda's engine roared, disappearing into the distance with two plumes of white smoke.

In summer, a warm breeze gently lifts the girls' very short skirts, the cicadas still chirp under the green shade, and the water ripples when viewed from the rooftop of the teaching building towards the school's Friendship River.

After returning from Hakone, Shinji Ikari's life returned to the monotonous routine of his dormitory, school, and training. He would occasionally receive simulation training from NERV, but it was only a casual pastime.

It was still the same physical education teacher who was frail and often ill. The boys and girls were divided into two groups: the boys had long-distance running lessons and the girls had swimming lessons.

"Great! Liangliang, run faster, you'll be in second place soon!" The boys roared on the playground. "It's okay, take a moment to calm down. It's just that yesterday's heavy rain ruined your championship dream! You can do it, brother!"

"Go for it, Kayoko! If you lose, you have to buy us sundaes!" The girls started getting into the water too.

Girls dressed in simple school swimsuits stood by the pool. Some had already jumped in, while others clung to the mesh railing, watching the male students peeking out from the other side.

"Oh dear, I feel like those people are watching us." The girl, who had tucked her long hair into her hood, fiddled with the edge of her swimsuit on her buttocks.

"Absolutely, I feel like Suzuhara is leering at me!" one girl exclaimed, then grabbed the girl in front of her around the waist.

"Ugh, how annoying! I wasn't talking about him, I was talking about you, Lin-chan!" The girl wearing the hood giggled and dodged.

At this moment, Suzuhara Toji, who was lying on the other side of the lawn, was not actually looking at the girls, but at Ikari Shinji sitting there.

Having witnessed firsthand the Angels wreaking havoc on Tokyo, and seeing how Shinji Ikari, piloting Unit-01, would destroy the Angels, Suzuhara Toji no longer harbored much hatred for the domineering transfer student; he even felt a pang of guilt for his reckless actions.

But getting him to apologize was out of the question. He was even working out hard, determined to get his revenge on Shinji Ikari for beating him before graduation.

But just a few seconds later, you could hear a collective shout from the girls on the other side of the pool.

"So cute, Ikari-chan!"

Suzuhara Toji, whose hatred had dissipated, once again fixed his gaze intently on the white-shirted boy sitting atop the lawn. Without a doubt, "Ikari-chan" referred to was Ikari Shinji.

In the eyes of the girls, he is an elegant, polite, and adorable boy. He's the kind of perfect boy that you can't find fault with even on Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media platform).

His identity as an EVA pilot lends him a considerable air of mystery. He might be a bit of a "people pleaser" type, but he respects women, always wears an impeccable smile, and offers help when no one else notices you're vulnerable. In the eyes of the men, however, he's just a lunatic.

Shinji Ikari was completely indifferent to other people's opinions. He rarely participated in club activities and was a member of the Homebound Club at school. He even frequently used work for NERV as an excuse to skip classes at will.

No one knew what he was thinking.

Rei Ayanami sat alone on the edge of the pool, along with many other girls, watching the boy sitting on the lawn.

Was the pilot of Unit-01, who tore apart the Angels like a raging beast, really the same kind-hearted boy before her? Rei Ayanami didn't know, but she was very curious.

"Shinji Ikari".

The boy lying on the lawn was unaware that, as he looked at the blue sky and white clouds, he was adjusting his slightly tight panties in a secluded corner.

After finishing his studies during the day, Shinji Ikari returned home as usual.

Upon opening the door, he saw a red high heel lying on the floor in the entryway, but there was only one. Shinji Ikari wasn't surprised, and then he rummaged through the trash can and found the other one.

“Miss Katsuragi, sometimes you really need to pay more attention to your image.” Shinji Ikari put his high heels back in the shoe cabinet in the entryway, walked to the living room, and said helplessly to Misato Katsuragi, who was lying on the sofa picking at her belly button.

"It's one thing to be mindful of your appearance in public, but you have to be at home too. Could you get me some potato chips, please?"

Shinji Ikari reached out and took the potato chips, then tore open the package and took a big bite himself before handing Misato Katsuragi a can of beer.

“Akagi warned me that I can drink, but you can’t. Oh, speaking of Akagi, I should give you this.”

As Misato Katsuragi spoke, she reached into her pocket, but found nothing on her. Shinji Ikari then stood up and took two hard plastic cards from the inside pocket of his trench coat on the coat rack in the entryway.

“Yes, that’s it.” Misato Katsuragi slapped her forehead, suddenly realizing, “It seems there are too many spies infiltrated into NERV headquarters, so all the security cards need to be replaced with new ones. The one on top is yours, and the one on the bottom is Rei’s. You’re classmates, so please give it to her for me tomorrow.”

"Tomorrow is Saturday." Shinji Ikari clutched the new security card that should have half a fig leaf and a picture of Rei Ayanami.

"That doesn't matter, I've already given it to you. If she can't go home, then that's your responsibility."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Beauty, the Other Side of the Heart

At night, lying in bed, Shinji Ikari looked at the new security card in his hand, with his own photo on the front.

Shinji Ikari rolled over. Come to think of it, he felt like he didn't really understand the organization he was in now.

He served as an internal reserve officer with the rank of lieutenant. Shinji Ikari also knew some of the inside information, knowing that NERV possessed power beyond that of a nation, and that its purpose was essentially to establish an artificial evolution research institute and its surrounding facilities, serving both as a defense force and a military unit. Its main tasks were to develop and research EVA and investigate unidentified Angels, while also capturing and destroying them.

However, he always felt that Akagi and Gendo Ikari were hiding very important secrets from him, and even Misato Katsuragi, who was fast asleep next door, was the same.

Turn the security card over to the back, and you'll see the NERV logo—a half-fig leaf—printed on the black background.

NERVE means "nerve" in German, but the security card only displays NERV. This is because the missing "E" is hidden within the logo, which is composed of half a fig leaf.

Shinji Ikari remembered that fig leaves had religious connotations, so he turned around and took out his phone to search online. Sure enough, the Old Testament described how Adam and Eve, after eating the fruit of knowledge and gaining self-awareness and wisdom, became aware of the existence of others and began to feel shame for being naked. They used fig leaves to cover their genitals. Thus, fig leaves became a symbol of original sin—however, NERV using this as a marker made Shinji Ikari frown slightly.

He vaguely heard a distant, indistinct sound of wind mixed with howling.

"Human beings do not need original sin; these fig leaves represent humanity's victory over nature."

Then why is there only half a piece?

Shinji Ikari narrowed his eyes. Finally, below the NERV logo, he saw a line of small red English text: "God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."

Shinji Ikari read it aloud softly.

"What God will not do, man will do."

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