Late at night, even though it was time for the good boy to go home and sleep, Shinji Ikari, Chu Xuan, Rei Ayana, and Black Cat were still sitting side by side on the hillside, with a thick plastic sheet under them, as if they were having a picnic.

It was an early summer night, and the dark sky was dotted with bright stars, and the temperature was not too low, and the breeze felt warm on their faces, and the smell of grass was still there, and around them there were the cheerful cries of songworms...... If it weren't for the presence of the blue octahedron in the distance, which was focused from the bottom up by many searchlights, it would have been a very pleasant night.

Sadly, the three pilots will soon be on a life-or-death mission, and if they succeed, there may be casualties among them, and failure would lead to the disappearance of the entire Third New Tokyo City, and all the personnel at the NERV base will be buried for them, including the Black Cat.

If the sniper operation fails, in order to prevent the Sixth Apostle from coming into contact with the Second Apostle "Lilith" in the "Final Dogma Zone" sealed in the deepest part of the NERV base, the NERV base will immediately self-detonate to destroy the Second Apostle first, and the explosion will be powerful enough to destroy the Sixth Apostle and the entire city together.

However, Shinji Ikari didn't know that the base would blow itself up if he failed in the battle - because Chu Xuan saved Shinji Ikari in time, so in the "original plot", Misato Katsuragi took him into the "Final Dogma Zone" in order to motivate Shinji Ikari who was unwilling to drive the first plane, so that he could see the existence of the Second Apostle with his own eyes and understand that the burden on his shoulders did not happen.

Rei Ayanami may or may not know, but the lives of others, the self-detonation of the NERV base, didn't mean anything to her, at least at first.

"I went back and made some supper and hot lemon tea when you were doing simulation training before, would you like some more?"

After a few people sat quietly for a while on the plastic sheet that the black cat had brought for camping. The black cat, who was still dressed in school uniform, took the picnic basket and thermos flask placed next to her, and asked the three people who had already put on their driving uniforms in a gentle but steady tone.

"It's better to have an empty stomach at the beginning of the battle, but it is necessary to keep your blood sugar level in check. Therefore, it is important to eat in moderation. ”

Chu Xuan, as the guardian of the qualified, took a sandwich for Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari each, but he took two for himself. The black cat smiled and poured hot lemon tea into the four paper cups, and also took a piece, and put the basket with half of the food left directly in front of Chu Xuan, which was a little too "spoiled" for him.

"Thank you, thank you......"

Shinji Ikari first took the sandwich from Chu Xuan's hand, and then the hot lemon tea from the black cat's hand, and quickly thanked them flatteredly, with a shy flush on his face.

After learning that Chu Xuan had decided to drive the Zagu 2, which shattered at the touch and died with a single shot, by Rei Ayaba's side, Shinji Ikati's resentment towards Chu Xuan immediately disappeared. Instead, there was a heartfelt joy, just like the person Chu Xuan wanted to protect was himself.

However, Chu Xuan is indeed also by his side, and will also protect him - Ayanami Li's mission is to protect him, so Chu Xuan, who protects Ayanami Li, is naturally equivalent to indirectly protecting him.

Honestly. It was really pitiful for him to comfort himself like this, it was simply sad for those who heard it, and tears for those who saw it, but Shinji Ikari could only secretly think so in his heart now, after all, Chu Xuan was not his guardian. He didn't have any obligations that he had to fulfill, so he couldn't rely on Chu Xuan with confidence, and there was no reason to "compete for favor" with Ayanami Li.

Just now that's enough.

As long as we can sit together with a smile as we are now!

As long as he can keep his current relationship, he will have the courage to continue fighting!

And then there will come a day......

He doesn't have to rely on anyone anymore.

He will become a man as tough and powerful as Chu Xuan!

"That's, that'......"

After biting a few bites of the sandwich, Shinji Ikari, who had not yet become so tough and powerful, poked his head out from Chu Xuan's side, and asked Rei Ayanami and the black cat who were sitting on the other side of Chu Xuan with some slurring:

"Don't you feel scared?"

"Nope."

"Not at all."

Rei Ayaami, who had a calm expression, and the smiling black cat did not hesitate and gave a negative answer in an instant.

Shinji Ikari began to wonder if he was a little too timid, and perhaps it was very common for him to go straight into the field and snipe at a giant monster that could destroy the world without any live-fire training (with less than two rounds of ammunition), as is the case in any military organization on Earth that has robots.

However, if Shinji Ikari paid more attention to the news of other organizations, he would be surprised to find that his suspicions might have really hit the bull's eye, not only Nerv, but also many of the ace pilots in military organizations were students, generally between the ages of the second and second years of high school - and more than half of them were inexperienced laymen, like Shinji Ikari, when they first flew robots into battle.

The reason for this is the ...... Maybe it's because the "regular army" is too busy, after all, the interstellar alien insects rely on the regular army of humans to carry out, and the problem of insufficient manpower to protect the peace of the earth must exist.

"But, you're usually scared, aren't you?

If the battle is lost, and the sixth apostle comes into contact with the second apostle, a second shock will be triggered? ”

Shinji Ikari stammers as he tries to prove that he feels fear in his heart as a matter of course, but even he himself has doubts about the reason for his fear.

What he feared didn't seem to be the alarmist "second shock" at all, in fact, he didn't think that humans would be afraid of the kind of asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, according to the current technology...... It should be possible to blow an asteroid to pieces in outer space or push it into other orbits, right?

Moreover, what he was afraid of was not death - although death was indeed terrifying, but to be honest, before death came to him, he really didn't have any feeling that he might die, maybe it was Chu Xuan and Ayanami Rei's protection that made him very relieved.

However, even though there seemed to be nothing to fear in his heart, Shinji Ikari still felt scared - for no reason, just simply afraid, but now he had the courage to shine his inner weakness in front of others compared to before, and hoped to gain the means and strength to overcome this weakness from others.

"I don't feel scared at all, because I believe in Chu Xuan, and Chu Xuan will definitely be able to lead everyone to defeat the Apostle."

The black cat, who had been sitting casually with her legs on her side, was sitting up and confidently said to Shinji Ikari that her eyes as beautiful as rubies were still shining even in the dark night, and it looked like she really believed in Chu Xuan to the point of superstition.

"Me too.

And ......"

Rei Ayana, who was expressionless, faintly echoed the black cat, and then she hesitated for a rare moment, and then said in a softer than usual voice:

"Even if I die, there will be a replacement."

“！”

Although Rei Ayaami's voice was soft, it still felt unusually quiet on the hillside that was filled with insect chirps and still felt unusually quiet, and it clearly reached Shinji Ikari's ears, which was farthest away from her, and Shinji Ikari's eyes widened in surprise, wondering why she suddenly said such sad words.

And Chu Xuan and the black cat, who usually kept Ayanami Li in the middle, naturally couldn't have not heard her words, but these two "people from another world" who knew the inside story couldn't show hypocritical surprise at such a time.

The black cat lowered her head and thought for a while, then affectionately hugged Rei Ayabaami's neck, rubbing her warm cheeks back and forth like a cat, and whispered in her ear:

"Don't say such sad things anymore, you are irreplaceable in my heart and Chu Xuan's hearts.

Don't worry, Chu Xuan will definitely protect you.

Maybe you don't understand it now - just like you think we don't understand, but in the not-too-distant future, you will soon understand. ”

ps：

Ah...... It's a shame that the second chapter has dragged on so late.