"Did you escape?" Bless Ryoji pushed the switch of the flashlight, and a cone-shaped beam of light came out, illuminating the surroundings.

He felt a lot smoother, no longer floating up and down and sinking.

"Probably, now that we are five thousand meters below sea level, I have sealed the fish angel, and the external pressure is borne by the AT force field, and now it is like a large submarine, so the atmospheric pressure in its stomach is still maintained at a normal level." Ian stretched out his hand and pressed it against the crystallization barrier: "At this point, SEELE shouldn't be able to track it down." ”

"The oceans occupy 70 percent of the Earth's total area." Blessing Ryoji nodded: "Five thousand meters deep in the sea is already a realm beyond the jurisdiction of human beings."

The blessing breathed a sigh of relief, and finally had a little time to rest.

The tense nerves relaxed slightly, but then, Ian opened the crystal barrier.

The thick smell of blood hit their faces, blood dripping from their feet, and Bless Ryoji shone the flashlight in the direction where the smell came from, and the pale beam illuminated the huge wreckage.

Bless Ryoji looked up to see Machine Four's head facing his face, and he had to look up to see the whole picture of the huge object.

"Was EVA something like that? It's the first time I've seen the structure inside. ”

The Four's restraints were a silvery-white colorway, the alloy plates reflected a cold glow, and it had two raised devices on its shoulders, which were intact only when viewed from the head, but once the line of sight looked down slightly, its torn chest could be seen.

The alloy plate was bitten to pieces, and the torn flesh could be seen in the tubes and wires, the blood was still ticking, and there were many long nails and wires nailed into the broken spine of the fourth machine.

Ian stepped on the pool of blood, which felt a little sticky and wet to the touch.

If you look at it with your eyes, you can't see any difference between EVA blood and human blood, as if it were the same substance.

"Mr. Blessed, you can rest over there for a while, Shinji-kun is still inserting it into the bolt, I'll get him out first."

"Okay." Blessing moved his wrist and sat down, he was very tired, and the muscles in his legs and arms were trembling slightly.

He licked his dry lips, grabbed the travel bag next to him, took out a bottle of water, gurgled it, took a few bites, and ate another pack of compressed biscuits.

Inside the insertion bolt of machine four, Shinji Ikari was in complete darkness.

He knew he was alive, but he didn't feel anything, he felt as if he had been abandoned by the world, locked in a deep black box, as if he were dead.

He was scared, his memory stuck at the last moment, and the fish angel pounced on him.

As a driver, he can feel the pain of the EVA at the same time.

When EVA is attacked, he also feels pain.

The degree of pain depends on the synchronization rate between the driver and the EVA, and although the synchronization rate between him and the No. 4 is slightly lower, it still makes him feel like he is on the ground.

When Machine Four was suppressed by the Angel of Music and knelt on the ground, when he was forced to lower his head and not move, it was as if he himself was put on the ground by the apostles.

The most painful thing was the moment when the No. 4 machine was torn apart by the fish angel, although the No. 4 machine was soon damaged and lost contact with him, but the fear of being bitten off his head alive was still imprinted in his heart at this moment, making him breathless.

The LCL with the bolt inserted is gradually getting colder, and although the No. 4 machine is already ready for combat use, some functions are not yet perfect, such as the driver's life support system.

In the case of the zero, first and second units, even if the battery is lost, as long as the bolt is inserted and there is no direct damage, it can enter the emergency avoidance mode and maintain the driver's life at a minimum.

Drivers can exchange oxygen and nutrients directly from the LCL, and the driver will not be in danger of life for 24 hours.

But Unit 4 is different, the LCL is getting cold, indicating that its thermostatic system is failing.

Shinji doesn't know how long it has been, and although every minute and second makes him feel tormented and painful, it certainly hasn't been as long as 24 hours

He began to feel like he was soaking in cold water and could breathe, but his hands and feet had lost their temperature.

If this continues, it won't be long before he freezes to death in the plug.

"It's scary."

"I don't want to die."

"Who comes. Help me."

He curled up in a ball, there was no light, no sound, not even breath, all he could feel was the coldness and discomfort of the LCL flowing through his lungs.

Consciousness gradually blurred, even the oxygen supply began to run low, and there was a rusty smell in his mouth, which was the smell of blood.

At this moment, there was a sound of metal twisting from above, like a big hand, tearing the metal plate open.

Amid the murky sound of metal grinding, the exit of the plug was unscrewed open by brute force.

The pale yellow LCL flowed out of the opening, and the light of the flashlight shone in, and the blurry white light made Shinji feel very dazzling.

In the midst of this blinding light, a hand reached out to Shinji.

"Come, Shinji, catch me, I'll get you out."

Shinji, who was soaked in the LCL, couldn't see that face very clearly, but felt very familiar.

In the face of that hand, he was a little timid, like a frightened little animal.

But after a moment of hesitation, he still held on to his only hope.

The man reached out and pulled Shinji out of the icy LCL.

Shinji coughed violently, he patted his chest and spat out a large pool of LCL, the water of life draining from his lungs.

He breathed in the air, as if he were reborn.

A large warm hand patted him on the back, and after a few big breaths, he finally saw the face of the man next to him.

Standing with him on the EVA was none other than Ian.

Shinji froze, his gaze fixed on that face.

"I know you must have a lot of things to ask." Ian said, "Don't worry, I'll tell you everything I know." ”

"I hope you can trust me, Shinji."

Shinji looked down from above and saw the smiling Bless Ryoji, who waved at him: "Hungry or not, do you want to come down and eat something first." ”

Shinji sat silently next to Ian and Bless Ryoji as they lit a bonfire with scavenged wood for fuel.

Shinji changed into a clean outfit, a white lab coat that belonged to a researcher, and it was so ill-fitting that the sleeves had to be rolled up before he could reach out.

In the process of swallowing the S2 trap, the Fish Angel also swallowed a portion of the second branch of the NERV.

They spent some time digging through the mess of rubbish to find something useful, dismantling the wooden benches and long tables and using them to keep warm.

The tongue of fire scorched the bottom of the iron pot, the hot water in the iron pot was bubbling and steaming, and Bless Ryoji poured the boiling water into the instant noodle bucket, which was the instant noodles they had found, and the fish angel seemed to have swallowed a convenience store inside the branch, and from the utility room, they found a lot of canned food, water, and snacks.

After a few minutes, the noodles were soaked, and the three of them each ate the noodles with a plastic fork.

"I am not the Ninth Apostle." Ian explained to Shinji as he ate his noodles, "But I'm not an ordinary human. ”

"Why. to kill." Shinji couldn't pick the noodles into his mouth, he was very hungry, but his physiological reaction prevented him from eating the fragrant pork bone instant noodles in front of him.

I've only seen so many dead people, how can I eat with peace of mind?

"Those are the troops sent by SEELE." Ian ate with relish: "I don't know what information you got, but that day, Mr. Bless and I were investigating the underground wiring map of NERV, and they suddenly barged in and shot us. ”

"As for the reason for the shooting, well, probably because I'm an 'outsider', Shinji-kun, I'm not like you, I'm not a human born on this planet, although it looks similar on the outside, but in essence, I and you are two different species."

"Mr. Ian. Be. Alien? Shinji looked surprised.

"No, it's from another world." Ian said, "Asuka and Mr. Blessed, both know my identity, and in order to protect me, they hid my affairs from NERV, but the matter was still exposed, and SEELE decided to get rid of me and Mr. Blessed, so that I would not affect the human completion plan." ”

"What is it when humanity finishes making up the plan?"

"What you and Asuka are doing in Japan is part of humanity's plan to make up for it."

"You mean, destroy the apostles?"

"That's right, in order to complete the human completion plan, SEELE wants to eliminate all the apostles, but after eliminating the apostles, whether SEELE will cause a third impact, or really benefit mankind, Mr. Blessing was investigating the ultimate purpose of that organization in NERV before he was hunted down."

Shinji looked at the blessing of Ryoji and wanted to ask for proof.

"It's true." Bless Ryoji took a sip of noodle soup: "The world of adults is very complicated, and the task of the driver is only to drive EVA to fight with the apostles, but there are actually a lot of things involved behind this. ”

"But the only thing I can tell you with certainty is that everything I'm doing is to prevent something like the second shock from happening again."

Shinji turned around, and behind him was the remains of EVA, a hideous and terrifying shell, exposed to his vision.

After a moment of silence, Shinji bowed his head and said, "I didn't know before, I was driving something like this."

He put down the instant noodle bucket and hugged his legs.

Why was he saved?

Is it because he is the first pilot?

Ian and Bless Ryoji, are they trying to convince him to join and then let him go to fight in the EVA?

"I'm sorry. Even if what you say is true, I probably won't be able to help you anymore" Shinji said with a low mood, "I don't want to drive an EVA anymore." ”

"Shinji-kun, I didn't say I wanted you to drive an EVA." Ian put down the instant noodles he had eaten: "After all, it's ridiculous to ask a child to fight. ”

"Don't worry, I won't ask you to do anything, but for the time being, I can't get you to a safe place After all, Mr. Blessing and I are wanted criminals, if the fish angel surfaces now, I'm afraid that there will be fighter jets flying over soon and dropping N2 on us, so I can only force you to stay here for a while."

"Mr. Ian and Mr. Blessing, what are you going to do after that?" Shinji looked up.

Bless Ryoji shrugged, saying that he had no right to decide now.

"Also, the plan for the future has not been decided."

Ian stood up and yawned.

"It's over, let's get some sleep."

"Huh?" Shinji was shocked: "Sleep?" ”

He didn't know how Ian could sleep, could he really fall asleep at this time?

"Now that you've eaten and drunk, isn't it time to get some sleep?" Ian said confidently, "If you are tired, you can sleep, the bed is ready." ”

Ian pointed to the corners inside the crystal ball, where he had made three hardboard beds, which had no quilts, but stone pillows, which were more than enough to serve as temporary resting places.

So saying, he lay down on the bed by himself.

It's not that he has thick nerves, but he can't bear it.

Although it is the S2 mechanism that powers the fish angel now, it was all his physical strength that was consumed before, and he was already tired, so he fell asleep with a pillow.

"Well, I don't think there's anything else to do but sleep." Bless Ryoji smiled helplessly: "There is a saying in China that the ship will naturally go straight to the bridge, and the affairs of the adults will be handled by the adults, Shinji-kun, don't worry too much." ”

"Oooh." Shinji scratched his head.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and Shinji thought about it and picked up the instant noodle bucket again to eat.

Bless Ryoji tidied up the looted items a little, put out the fire, and lay down on the bed.

Shinji held the flashlight he had picked up, and there were some dusty magazines on the side, only science magazines, which were picked up by Mr. Blessing to relieve boredom, and if he said something boring, he would read a book.

But Shinji flipped through it a little, and it was all a mess of English symbols, after all, the second branch was built in the United States, and the people there must only read American magazines.

No one spoke to him, and he was stunned for a while, feeling bored, and finally sat down on the bed.

"It's over, let's get some sleep." He nodded to Ian's expression, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and quickly settled down and fell asleep.

Within the coordinates, Ian pulled Hanji next to the grotesque worm.

"I'm out of danger for the time being." Ian recounted what had happened recently.

"Yes." Hanji patted his chest: "That's good, we've been worried about you these days." ”

"What's going on over there on Parady Island, can I use the technology I shared?"

"Of course, the phone, we developed it!" Hanji was very excited, and when it came to this kind of thing, it came to her point of interest: "The technology over there is really amazing!" ”

"Ah, if only I could live there for a while, the fifty-meter-tall super robot, and the Apostle, the base on the moon, damn it, I can't stand it just thinking about it, it's worth dying!"

"Captain Hanji, in fact, this is the case, I came to you this time to ask you to count how many people can be transferred on Paradis Island recently."

"Extract. Do you think," Hanji paused slightly.

Ian smiled, "You don't want to live here, you should be able to do it now, as long as it's next to the S2 machine." ”

(End of chapter)