"Why?"

When he heard the voice coming from the phone, Shinji Ikari couldn't believe his ears.

"There was an explosion in Matsushiro? Then...what about Asuka and Mr. Fang Zheng?"

"There is no news from them yet."

“…”

Hearing this, Shinji Ikari felt his heart beating violently, but soon he forced himself to calm down.

After all, Fang Zheng's Hell Spartan training is no joke.

"I understand! What do you need me to do?"

Ikari Shinji raised his head and clenched his fists.

The dilapidated elevator collapsed, and then Fang Zheng stood up in the flying dust.

"Oh my god... I knew this crappy EVA was unsafe... Luckily I was smart..."

While muttering, Fang Zheng looked at the unconscious Asuka in his arms. Although he blocked the impact in time, Asuka was just a simple human after all, and it was expected that she would be knocked unconscious.

All in all, let’s get out of this damn place first... I don’t know what’s going on with the others.

When Fang Zheng came to the underground command post with the unconscious Asuka, he found it was also in chaos, but fortunately, it was far from the center of the explosion and was not directly impacted. In fact, at this moment, Akagi Ritsuko had woken up from her coma and was directing the rescue work.

Seeing Fang Zheng and Asuka appear, Akagi Ritsuko was also surprised.

"You guys are okay?"

"I was lucky to escape the disaster. I was lucky not to be blown to ashes."

Fang Zheng put Asuka aside and snorted coldly. After hearing his words, Akagi Ritsuko didn't know what to say for a moment. In fact, the start-up test was indeed a bit hasty, and as Fang Zheng said, Unit 3 had not been fully inspected. Of course, no one would have thought that the Angel would corrode the EVA, but the biggest problem was not that it was unthinkable, but that the procedure was not followed.

Just like the first Alien movie, no one thought that they would encounter a monster like the alien in space, but if the procedures had been strictly followed to sterilize and inactivate the aliens and then isolate and observe them, the aliens would not have been running around the spacecraft.

"Where's Asuka?"

"It's nothing serious, he just passed out, that's all. How's Katsuragi?"

"She's unlucky."

Looking at Misato Katsuragi who was not far away, Ritsuko Akagi shook her head. Misato Katsuragi was really unlucky. When the explosion happened, the ceiling fell and broke her arm. She was still unconscious and might have suffered a concussion.

"Where's Unit 3?"

"We are currently heading towards the headquarters. We have reported this and NERV headquarters will send support."

"Then I will take Asuka back first and ask the headquarters to unlock Unit 2."

"I see."

Akagi Ritsuko nodded without hesitation to Fang Zheng's request. After all, Katsuragi Misato was unconscious, and Fang Zheng's duty was to manage and protect the pilot. Since EVA Unit 3 could no longer be used, there was no point for the pilot to stay here.

"I'll send a helicopter immediately."

Soon, a helicopter arrived at the Matsushiro No. 2 test site, picked up Fang Zheng and Asuka, and quickly took off, heading towards the NERV headquarters. The doctor also performed a physical examination on Asuka and confirmed that there was nothing serious, she was just unconscious due to the shock.

“Woo…”

Shortly after the plane took off, Asuka frowned and slowly opened her eyes.

"Yo, you're awake? How do you feel?"

Looking at Asuka beside him, Fang Zheng smiled and reached out his hand to touch her head. Asuka, on the other hand, looked confused, as if she had no idea what had happened.

"We... this is..."

"We're heading back to headquarters. We'll let the on-site staff handle the situation in Matsushiro. How are you feeling? The doctor said it's nothing serious."

"Matsuyo..."

Hearing this, Asuka seemed to finally sober up a little, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

"By the way, EVA... Where's EVA Unit 3?"

"We are heading to the headquarters. We have confirmed that the other party is an apostle. The Americans are really brave. They are doomed this time."

Fang Zheng had no sympathy for the North American branch. Apart from anything else, EVA was actually corrupted by the Apostles. This matter would definitely not end here. Maybe there would be all kinds of retribution later - but that would have to wait until later, so let's just get through this autumn.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng immediately took out his cell phone and started communicating.

"Hey, Rei, Shinji, can you hear me?"

"Mr. Fang Zheng!"

Hearing Fang Zheng's voice, Shinji Ikari who was in the cockpit was also quite excited.

"Are you okay?"

"It's okay. Asuka is with me. We are lucky to have escaped."

“That’s great… It’s really great…”

Hearing this, Ikari Shinji finally breathed a sigh of relief. You know, when he rushed to the headquarters and learned that EVA Unit 03 was corrupted by the Angel, he was shocked when he was on his way to the headquarters.

Fang Zheng's decision not to let Asuka enter Unit 03 was a last minute decision, and Ritsuko Akagi was just doing a test run, so NERV headquarters was not aware of the situation at the time. And since the plug was indeed inside, everyone thought Asuka had already entered the plug.

Although the sensor shows that there is no one inside, this is an EVA that has been corrupted by the Angels after all. It is not surprising if anything happens, right?

It was precisely because of this that Shinji Ikari was quite worried. Now that he knew Fang Zheng and Asuka were both fine, he immediately relaxed.

"Well, you should know that our target this time is an Angel that looks like EVA, or an EVA that looks like an Angel... It doesn't matter, Rei, Shinji, get it done quickly, so we can still go home in time for dinner!"

"yes!"

"etc!"

However, this time, Asuka suddenly sat up just as Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami finished their conversation.

"Let me go! I want to kill that guy myself!"

"Haha, I knew you would think so. I've already asked Ritsuko Akagi to lift the blockade on Unit 2. We can go back and prepare and launch it."

Fang Zheng naturally understood that with Asuka's personality, she would never suffer such a loss. And if he hadn't stopped her, she would probably be the one sitting in the apostle. As long as Asuka thought of this, she would definitely not be able to remain calm.

As an EVA pilot, I was almost tricked by an Angel. Don't I have any dignity?!

Not to mention that I didn't want to drive Unit-3 in the first place. I have my own Unit-2. In order to drive Unit-3, Unit-2 was sealed. How could it be easy for me?

So you play this trick on me?

If I can't get this place back, I'll write my name upside down!

So Fang Zheng didn't care about Asuka's reaction. He patted Asuka on the shoulder, then turned around and talked quietly with the staff next to him. When Fang Zheng turned around and looked behind him, Asuka was suddenly stunned.

The uniform behind Fang Zheng had been blown to tatters, and even some white bandages could be seen in the middle - this was not because Fang Zheng was injured. After all, as a time dragon, his skin was thick and tough, and the Spear of Longinus could not have scratched his skin. But he and Asuka were both ejected from the center of the explosion, and it would be unreasonable for you to be alive and well without any injuries, so Fang Zheng just wrapped it up casually to pretend.

As for the clothes... Fang Zheng really didn't care. After all, they were NERV's uniforms, not his dragon scales. If they were torn, he could just go back and change into new ones.

However, seeing this scene, Asuka's eyes suddenly changed.

There is nothing much to say about the process of dealing with EVA Unit 03. Without the driver's worries, it is very easy to deal with such a guy who can do nothing but erosion.

only……

"What's wrong with Asuka?"

Fang Zheng was completely confused when he saw Unit-2 pinning Unit-3 to the ground and beating it like it was going to tear it apart alive. He was not surprised that Asuka would fight actively, but this was the first time she was so violent after seeing the enemy.

"Could it be that he has gone berserk... Is the data normal?"

"Everything is normal, the driver's mental state has not exceeded the critical value."

Hearing Fang Zheng's question, Maya Ibuki, who was in charge of monitoring the scene, also hurriedly responded.

"Maybe...Asuka just wants to vent."

"Perhaps."

Looking at Unit-2 lifting Unit-3 and then breaking its spine in the middle... Fang Zheng said...

Never mind. Anything is fine.

As long as I can make it in time for dinner.

There is no problem in making it in time for dinner.

To be honest, when returning home, Shinji Ikari was a little embarrassed. In his opinion, Fang Zheng and Asuka had finally escaped death, and it was a bit inappropriate for him to hold a banquet.

But Fang Zheng obviously didn't think so.

"Asuka and I survived a disaster, and now that we're back, you guys aren't even going to throw a party to celebrate?"

"this……"

Hearing this, Shinji Ikari was speechless.

The party was very successful. Shinji Ikari brought over the other two members of the Idiot Trio, and Asuka brought over the class monitor. Ayanami Rei didn't have many friends - which was normal. If she had to say, her only friends were Asuka and Shinji Ikari. Since they were already here, there was naturally no need to invite anyone else.

"Well, congratulations to Shinji Ikari on his birthday, and to Asuka and I for surviving a disaster. Cheers!"

As Fang Zheng raised the juice in his hand, the lively banquet began.

Under the dark night sky, everything goes on.

Even in the dark.

In the following days, everything went well.

At least on the surface, it seems so. The lives of Ikari Shinji, Ayanami Rei and Asuka are getting closer and closer to the daily lives of the protagonists in many Japanese orthodox robot animations. Ikari Shinji gradually becomes more cheerful, Ayanami Rei also knows how to greet others, and Asuka's relationship with the class monitor has improved by leaps and bounds, and they have become a pair of good girlfriends.

We occasionally quarreled, chatted, and argued in class, and then did homework and received training after class. When the apostles came, we beat them up - if life could continue like this, it would not be bad.

But Fang Zheng knew that things were not that simple.

On the surface, NERV's development was normal. Red Ponytail did not appear after that, and the struggle between various forces and organizations seemed to have temporarily stagnated. It began to present a lively scene of everyone uniting to fight against the apostles.

However, as the apostles were eliminated one by one, NERV, SEELE, the United Nations, and various organizations gradually began to sprint towards the final finish line.

It's like a marathon. From the starting point to the halfway point, everyone doesn't have to care about each other's progress, but when the finish line appears in front of them, it's a completely different picture.

And in this atmosphere, the most powerful enemy for Shinji Ikari and others appeared.

"The target has broken through the final line of defense!"

Looking at the apostle on the screen in front of him, Fang Zheng also had a solemn expression, so the next moment he saw a gleam of light in the apostle's eyes, and then the armor of the entire underground city was directly blasted through. The city buildings that were originally hanging upside down above the underground fell down one after another and hit the ground.

"Amazing! Twenty-four layers of armor were penetrated in an instant!"

That’s right, the one who appeared here was the famous Toilet Paper Angel among all the apostles... Well, from the appearance, this angel looked a bit funny.

However, its strength is still obvious to all.

"EVA, attack immediately and deploy all three machines to the underground cave to prepare for battle!"

At this moment, Misato Katsuragi's expression was also serious and dignified. She also saw how powerful this apostle was. She was afraid that this would become the most severe battle in NERV's history.

As for Fang Zheng...

It seems that I have to wear a red ponytail.