"What's this?"

Looking at the white mist spraying down towards him, Shinji Ikari was stunned. Asuka and Rei also looked at each other, not knowing what was going on.

However, as he looked at the looming figure in the mist, Ikari Gendo's expression became increasingly gloomy.

"Everyone, first combat readiness, target, unknown creature, attack."

First battle preparation?

"But Commander, the other party is not an apostle..."

"That's an order."

Ikari Gendō didn't care what the people below thought and gave the order decisively. Upon hearing this, the staff below also changed their expressions several times, and finally lowered their heads helplessly.

Soon, artillery fire broke out again.

"What on earth is going on?"

Seeing this, Shinji Ikari was completely confused.

"Hasn't the apostle been destroyed?"

"They are not directed at the apostles."

At this moment, Rei Ayanami immediately gave the answer. At the same time, Asuka and Shinji Ikari looked at the girl floating in the air in surprise. She was instantly covered by artillery fire and disappeared completely.

"Dad, what are you doing?!"

Shocked, Shinji Ikari quickly activated the communication and contacted his father.

"That girl saved us! What are you doing?"

"She is not human, and there is no evidence that she is our companion."

"but……"

"Unit-0, Unit-01 and Unit-02, move out immediately and capture the target."

"What?"

Asuka lost her composure after hearing this order.

"Why? He's not an Angel! I refuse! Shinji, who's going to go first?"

“…I’m not going.”

Unlike in the anime, Shinji Ikari no longer needs to act according to his father's expression, so he just hesitated for a moment and gave an immediate answer.

As for Rei Ayanami, she didn't say anything. Instead, Unit 00 immediately took action and ran towards the girl.

"Wait, first of all, what are you going to do?!"

Seeing this, Asuka was furious.

"If you dare to do anything, I will turn against you!"

However, Rei Ayanami did not answer. Instead, Unit 00 rushed to the front of Red Ponytail and raised her shield to help her block this round of attacks!

"……Korea."

Seeing this, Ikari Gendo finally lost his composure.

"That's an order."

"I don't accept it."

Rei Ayanami's voice remained calm, but everyone present was stunned.

Oh my god, Ayanami doesn’t listen to Commander Ikari!

Hearing this, everyone looked at Ikari Gendō to see what he was going to do. In fact, many people were absolutely surprised by Ikari Gendō's inexplicable order. Although the girl's origins were unknown, she did help fight the apostles. It would be fine if you were not grateful, but you also want to repay kindness with enmity?

“…”

At this moment, Ikari Gendo's face was as black as coal.

"Disconnect the EVA from the driver and activate the puppet system."

"this……"

"That's an order."

"yes……"

“——!!”

The next moment, the three EVAs suddenly stopped moving, then they opened their eyes again and emitted a bright red light.

"boom!!"

Unit-01 suddenly stretched out its hand and grabbed the girl in front of it. Unit-0 and Unit-02 on the other side also took out their weapons and slashed at the girl floating in the air.

However……

“Swish!”

A shining blue barrier appeared instantly, blocking the attack of the three EVAs. The red ponytail floating in the air turned around, looked at the NERV headquarters in front of her, and smiled slightly.

"I knew you wouldn't give up until you got to the Yellow River, Ikari Gendo."

As she spoke, Red Ponytail raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The next moment, the three EVAs seemed to have run out of energy and showed no reaction at all.

"What's going on?"

Seeing this scene, Ikari Gendō was also shocked and asked in a low voice.

"I don't know, this is... this is... the puppet system has been forcibly cut off and completely deleted!"

"How could it be? Immediately..."

However, this time, before Ikari Gendo could finish his words, the red ponytail on the screen raised the big sword in his hand. Soon, a forty-meter-long flaming blade shot up into the sky and fell heavily, directly cutting the NERV headquarters in half!

"boom!!!"

The giant blade condensed by flames almost brushed past Ikari Gendō's ear, but even so, Ikari Gendō still sat in the chair, motionless.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, Ikari Gendou."

A strange, clear, sweet voice came from all directions, echoing throughout the underground city.

"You and SEELE want to destroy humanity. Let's see if our Tiandao Palace agrees. This is a warning. If you still refuse to change your mind after the apostles are completely wiped out, then for the sake of all mankind, our Tiandao Palace will completely eliminate you evil demons!"

After saying this, a flame emerged from the red ponytail's body, completely engulfing it, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The entire headquarters was in dead silence.

Ikari Gendō sat in front of the table without saying a word, while the other staff members looked at Ikari Gendō with eyes full of doubts and uneasiness.

All along, they had believed that NERV was just a combat department against the Angels, but now...after listening to what the red-tailed girl said, things didn't seem to be that simple?

Destroy humanity?

What on earth does Commander Ikari want to do?! Wasn't NERV established to protect humanity?

"This is troublesome..."

Sensing the gazes coming from all directions, Vice Commander Fuyutsuki frowned slightly. The Human Instrumentality Project was completely unknown to most of the NERV staff. Only a very, very few people knew about the Human Instrumentality Project, and the content of the plan itself was probably known by no more than five people.

But now... the situation is probably hard to say.

And Ikari Gendō's face turned livid and he said nothing.

His arrangements, his plans, everything he had.

At this moment, everything was completely exposed.

As for what the result will be... Ikari Gendo himself doesn't know.

The attack of the Angels was stopped, but what was left to NERV was a situation that was even more difficult to clean up than the mess on the ground.

The first were the three pilots, who were originally to be detained for disobeying orders, but...

"Go back to where you came from."

Fang Zheng stood in front of the three people and didn't even give a single polite look to the NERV Internal Affairs Department members in front of him.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with what they did and I don't think they need to be punished or put in solitary confinement."

“But they disobeyed orders.”

"Disobeying a wrong order is not a mistake in itself. It just means that the person who gave the order was stupid."

"I'm not here to argue with you about right or wrong, Third Lieutenant Fang Zheng."

Having said that, the man in black in front of him also became serious.

"This is an order from NERV's higher-ups. You have no right to refuse."

"Excuse me."

As Fang Zheng spoke, he took out his ID and showed it to others.

"I am not under NERV's jurisdiction, so I really have the right to refuse... If you want to put them in prison, make a report to the League of Nations first."

“…”

Seeing this, the man in black was speechless. Fang Zheng's position had always been in the League of Nations. Strictly speaking, the relationship between him and NERV was a cooperative relationship between the League of Nations and SEELE. So if Fang Zheng cooperated with NERV's work, then he would cooperate. But if he didn't want to cooperate, NERV really couldn't do anything about it except follow the procedures.

"Besides, if you come to trouble these three children, you might as well investigate Ikari Gendō and find out what conspiracy he is secretly plotting to destroy humanity. That's the more important thing to do."

"this……"

"Okay, go away if you have nothing to do. Let me make it clear in advance that if you control the driver without permission, don't blame me for being rude."

“…”

This time the men in black didn't say anything and turned around and left obediently.

Of course, they were not afraid of Fang Zheng's authority. As Fang Zheng said, NERV was a subordinate organization of the League of Nations, and Fang Zheng also came from the League of Nations. The two sides had to coordinate with each other. If they couldn't coordinate, it would depend on who had the bigger fist. In contrast, the Third New Tokyo was NERV's home base. Even if Fang Zheng was a dragon from another country, he couldn't kill the local snake.

But in fact they themselves were not in the mood.

Right now, people in NERV are in a state of panic. Even in the headquarters alone, many people are asking each other for information. They all want to know what Commander Ikari's plan is and what he plans to do with NERV? !

No one thought that the red ponytail girl was lying, for a simple reason. She could single-handedly destroy the AT field of the strongest apostle and saved them several times in a row. She had such strength that she didn't need to lie. And her words clearly contained a warning, which made people think more.

There is also another piece of evidence, that is, after the girl appeared, Commander Ikari had been trying to kill her. At that time, not only Asuka and the others did not understand, but most of the NERV staff also did not understand why he did this. But now that I think about it, there may be some meaningful elements in it. Could it be that Ikari Gendō killed the girl in order to silence her and prevent her from revealing her plan to destroy humanity?

What on earth are Commander Ikari and NERV doing?

What kind of organization is SEELE?

If it were another world, most people would probably just laugh it off as a joke. But the humans in this world are different. It has only been more than a decade since the Second Impact, and humans were really on the brink of destruction. So the people in this world are very sensitive to the words "destroy humanity".

Therefore, when everyone heard that Gendo Ikari and an organization called SEELE were actually plotting to destroy humanity, almost everyone was shocked.

For a moment, the entire NERV was in chaos.

Those who have no ability organized people to march and block the door, hoping to find out the truth. Those who have ability and connections began to collude with each other and began to look for clues. Although they are all NERV staff, they joined NERV to resist the apostles and protect humans and the world.

Not for someone to destroy the world again!

“This is trouble.”

Looking at the staff gathered below the NERV headquarters outside the window, Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki also sighed. Although they issued a gag order internally, it was useless. Now many staff members are demanding to know the truth and want Ikari Gendō to come out and explain what he plans to do with NERV.

Although this time, they did not gain nothing. At least they learned that there was an organization called "Tian Dao Palace" behind the mysterious girl, but... what's the use?

They learned each other's identities, but the other party threw all their hidden trump cards on the table and made them public. In this situation, what can they do?

"Ikari, what do you think?"

“…”

In response to Fuyutsuki's question, Ikari Gendo remained silent for a moment.

"In this case, we have no choice but to speed up the human completion plan."