Does this work too?

At this moment, Misato Katsuragi was waiting for Shinji's arrival in her sports car, feeling very dissatisfied with Shinji's lateness.

"You unpunctual brat!"

Misato Katsuragi complained unhappily, wondering when the other party would arrive.

At this moment, at the foot of a distant mountain, the Third Apostle was walking towards NERV, each step leaving a huge footprint on the ground.

Countless helicopters and tanks appeared in the sky opposite the Third Apostle, and they opened fire without hesitation.

Boom boom boom——!

Countless heavy weapons instantly sprayed towards the Third Apostle, and the violent explosion instantly kicked up thick smoke, accompanied by a violent tremor.

It was filled with an unprecedented intensity.

At this moment, Misato Katsuragi on the ground also felt the tremors of the battle and was filled with a sense of foreboding.

"Won't something terrible happen later?" She looked at the battle ahead with some trepidation, filled with unease.

Just then, Shinji, Leng Mo, and the others arrived on bicycles.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Misato Katsuragi?" Shinji asked politely upon seeing Misato Katsuragi, with a friendly smile on his face.

"Hmm? Shinji Ikari? You seem much more cheerful than in the photos." Misato Katsuragi recognized Shinji at first glance, then looked at Leng Mo and the others with a puzzled expression, "And who are you? I haven't heard of any other people."

"I'm Leng Mo, and behind me are Kaneki Ken, Sato Kazuma, and Madoka-senpai," Leng Mo introduced to Katsuragi Misato, who was sitting on the bicycle.

"This?" Misato Katsuragi didn't understand the situation and had no idea what was going on.

However, just as she was about to say something, a piercing alarm sounded from the Third Apostle's position.

Misato Katsuragi immediately understood what was happening: they were about to launch an N2 missile!

"Hey guys! Get some cover and lie down!!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a missile rained down from the sky, hurtling toward the Third Apostle.

boom--! !

With a huge explosion, intense light and shockwave hit her head, and Misato Katsuragi fell to the ground in terror.

The next second, she saw an unbelievable scene.

Shinji and Leng Mo and the others sat on their bicycles, looking at him with subtle expressions. The violent blast of air flipped the sports car next to them, but Leng Mo and the others were completely unharmed and instead looked at him with concern.

how can that be!

Misato Katsuragi stared wide-eyed at Shinji and the others, as if she were no longer in the midst of an explosion, making her feel somewhat out of place.

After the shockwave subsided, Misato Katsuragi lay on the ground, looking at everyone present with a strange sense of embarrassment.

Even though it's clearly the other person acting strangely, why do I feel like I'm the one who's acting strangely?

"Miss Katsuragi, are you alright?" Shinji asked in a kind and polite tone.

"N-nothing..." Misato Katsuragi didn't know what to say for a moment. She slowly stood up from the ground, looking a little lost.

Shinji, however, pointed to the sports car next to him, "Your car..."

"Huh?" Misato Katsuragi turned her head and realized that the sports car she had bought with a loan was now just scrap metal.

"Ah—! My car!!" She was like a groundhog in the field, utterly devastated, watching her beloved sports car die right in front of her.

But it's alright, Shinji said with a bright smile, "It's okay, I can take you there."

"..."

Misato Katsuragi was deeply moved by Shinji's generosity. Then, looking at the back of the bicycle, she felt a pang of humility… Wasn't she just buying the bike to look cool and go for a ride?

In the end, we've come full circle and returned to the beautiful beginning.

In the end, she had no choice but to ride on the back of Shinji's bicycle towards headquarters.

Sitting sideways in the back row, her face was filled with a sense of humility, as if something was amiss.

So the group quickly headed towards headquarters, and on the way, Shinji met the Third Angel.

"Is this the Angel?" Shinji looked at the enormous body in surprise and couldn't help but sigh.

Misato Katsuragi, standing behind, was surprised. "You knew?"

"I know a little, but not much." Shinji didn't say much, just gave a simple explanation.

"Eh? Really? It seems you're not completely clueless after all." Misato Katsuragi smiled subtly, sensing that Shinji was completely different from what she knew.

"well enough."

"So do you know what to do next?"

"What are we doing? Fighting?"

"It seems your father didn't say anything."

“My father…didn’t say anything.”

“As a third-generation adaptee, you are asking to pilot an EVA to fight the Angels. The hopes of all humanity rest on you adaptees.” Misato Katsuragi said with emotion, “I know you are still just a child and shouldn’t have to bear all this. But… humanity has no other choice.”

Shinji paused for a moment upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "It seems you didn't know."

"Huh? What do you know?" Misato Katsuragi looked at Shinji in surprise.

"It's nothing, it's probably better not to know." Shinji smiled without explaining, his face bearing a friendly smile.

Upon receiving this answer, Misato Katsuragi looked puzzled and sensed something was amiss. It was as if something she didn't know about had happened, and judging from Shinji's attitude, it was clearly something else entirely.

However, seeing that Shinji didn't want to talk, Misato Katsuragi didn't press him further, but instead turned to look at Leng Mo and the others beside her.

"Why did you guys come with Shinji?"

According to the information, Shinji should be alone, as his grandmother has also passed away.

Hearing this, Leng Mo, who was speeding along on a bicycle, said subtly, "We were eating hot pot and singing when we suddenly received the letter. Since we had nothing to do and Shinji wanted to come over, we decided to come together. It just so happens that we've never been to Tokyo before, so we came here for sightseeing."

"Really? That's great. If the Angels were eliminated, Neo-Tokyo would be wonderful. It's just a pity that the future is uncertain now," Misato Katsuragi said helplessly. If there were no Angels, everything would be perfect.

Leng Mo didn't pay attention and stopped talking.

-----------------

About half an hour later, Leng Mo and the others arrived at the headquarters gate.

When Misato Katsuragi saw that Leng Mo and the others had arrived, she couldn't very well refuse to let them in. Although it was a military stronghold, they were still Shinji's friends and she couldn't leave them outside.

After passing numerous tests, Misato Katsuragi and everyone else encountered Ritsuko Akagi in the elevator.

Ritsuko Akagi paused upon seeing so many people in the elevator, then looked at Leng Mo and the others before asking Misato Katsuragi, "Why are there so many people?"

Misato Katsuragi laughed and said, "The Commander asked me to pick up his son. This is Shinji, and the others are Shinji's friends: Leng Mo, Kaneki Ken, Sato Kazuma, and Madoka... Senpai?"

"Whoosh! My surname is Xiaoyuan, and my given name is Senior." Senior Xiaoyuan introduced himself in a funny way, feeling that his name was a bit of an advantage.

Ritsuko Akagi paused upon hearing this, wanting to retort, but decided against it.

"What does the commander want with his son?" She still doesn't know what happened.

Misato Katsuragi remarked with a sigh, "The third adaptor."

"Are you kidding me?! Unit-01?! You know Unit-01's activation rate is 0.0000001%! Besides, we can't let such a young child fight!"

"The commander's meaning."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ritsuko Akagi was at a loss for words and had no opinion on the matter what.

After all, as a technician, she knew the situation of Unit-01 better than anyone else. She glanced at Shinji beside her, who didn't seem to care at all, and wasn't even a little flustered.

"Sigh... what is the Commander thinking..." Ritsuko Akagi sighed helplessly, and at the same time, the elevator arrived. She walked out of the elevator without looking back.

Before leaving, she gave Shinji a tender look, full of concern.

After Ritsuko Akagi left, Leng Mo quietly said to Shinji, "That woman just now was Dad's mistress."

"What?! Holy crap? Really?!" Shinji's eyes widened upon hearing Leng Mo's words, shocking my mother for a whole year.

"real."

"No wonder I felt something was off about the way she was looking at me." Shinji suddenly realized what was going on.

At that moment, the image of Unit-01 appeared on the transparent glass of the elevator. The instant Shinji saw Unit-01, his eyes widened, feeling a sense of familiarity. Also, for some reason, the purple head gave him a strange feeling of green.

Illusion?

He subtly wiped his eyes and looked at Unit-01 again, confirming that there was no green color.

"This is Unit-01. Shinji, you should be able to pilot it if you can," Misato Katsuragi said earnestly, looking at Unit-01.

"Oh." Shinji didn't have much of a reaction to this, he just thought it was outrageous.

A moment later, Misato Katsuragi led everyone to the control room. At that moment, vibrations continued to come from the room, indicating that the Angels were about to arrive.

When Shinji arrived, the monitor above his head showed the image of Gendo Ikari.

It was that classic commander's pose, which made people feel dull and mysterious.

"Go and take the wheel." Gendo Ikari didn't waste any words and gave the order to Shinji.

Shinji frowned, looking at Gendo Ikari with displeasure. Gendo didn't say anything to show his concern, but simply told him to take over the piloting.

What's the difference between this and leaving without a word back then?

Shinji looked at Gendo Ikari with displeasure. "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Gendo Ikari: "No."

Shinji immediately felt a surge of reluctance. "Don't you feel even a little bit guilty?"

Gendo Ikari: "If you don't want to drive, then go back."

Not only Shinji, but also Leng Mo, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, extremely angry.

"Shinji, do what you want to do." Leng Mo patted Shinji's shoulder encouragingly.

"Yes." Shinji nodded affirmatively. He wasn't alone now; he had his companions! If they didn't need him here, then there were other places that needed him.

Without a word, Gendo Ikari said, "Let Rei take the helm."

丽？

Shinji paused upon hearing the name, recalling Leng Mo's earlier introduction, and stared at Leng Mo with wide eyes.

Leng Mo nodded thoughtfully, as if he were wondering.

Soon, Rei Ayanami, who was seriously injured and unable to get up, was wheeled out of the gurney. Shinji stared in shock at the sight.

"What's going on?!" He turned to Misato Katsuragi and questioned her.

Misato Katsuragi couldn't bear to look at Shinji, feeling guilty. "Rei is an Adaptor; only she can fight."

"What a joke! He's in this state! How can he fight like this?!" Shinji asked angrily, feeling an unprecedented sense of disbelief.

Chapter 645 EVA Unit-01: Shinji's Pegasus!

Shinji was immediately angered when he saw Rei Ayanami's appearance. How could someone like that fight? She couldn't even stand up.

However, just as Shinji was about to express his anger, Gendo Ikari spoke to Rei Ayanami without any mercy.

"Li, get up and go drive."

Upon hearing this, Rei Ayanami, who was lying on the gurney, sat up and answered tremblingly, "Yes."

“Actually, you don’t have to get up.” Suddenly, Leng Mo, with Rei Ayanami on her head, said with a smile, full of kindness and gentleness.

When Rei Ayanami heard Leng Mo say this, she looked at Leng Mo and said, "An order cannot be refused."

"Fine, whatever makes you happy." Leng Mo shrugged, indicating that there was nothing he could do, and didn't say anything more.

Although Leng Mo disliked Gendo Ikari, he actually longed for Shinji to pilot Unit-01, after all, that was a man's romance!

And Shinji's mother probably wanted Shinji to pilot it too.

At this moment, everyone looked at Shinji, whose face was filled with anger and resentment in the face of this situation.

However, Gendo Ikari knew that Shinji would definitely pilot Unit-01.

After a moment of silence, Shinji looked at Leng Mo and whispered mysteriously, "Ah Mo, is there any way to teach my father a lesson?"

"Hehe! You've come to the right person." Leng Mo's face instantly lit up with a comical smile, full of anticipation.