Half a month later.

The sun was shining on the earth, and four helicopters formed a square in the sky, and they hung a huge alloy safe, which was transported to the city of New Tokyo No. 3, which was almost in ruins, under the watchful eye of the military.

Bless Ryoji was also in the transport team, and the predetermined handover was ahead, he stretched out his hand to command, and the plane slowly descended in altitude, throwing the heavy safe to the ground.

Ritsuko Akagi waited here with a document in her hand.

The staff used their equipment to open the safe, and the Longinus Gun appeared in front of everyone, a behemoth nearly fifty meters long, with dried blood stains on the twisted tip of the gun.

Ritsuko Akagi asked, "How far did you go on this business trip?" ”

"I only brought back the Spear of Longinus halfway across the world, and it's already on the other side of the world." Bless Ryoji fanned the wind with his hand: "Having said that, Japan is still as hot as ever." ”

"Is the road going well?"

"It's going well, whether it's recovering the Lance of Longinus or reorganizing the remaining NERV divisions, it's all going very well."

"It's almost the end of the world, and those who survived the second shock, no one wants to go through the same thing again."

"I'm also afraid of the first machine, after all, even the top of SEELE was stabbed to death by the holy spear." Bless Ryoji smiled: "In this way, we can finally usher in a peaceful day." ”

He and Ritsuko Akagi completed the handover of the Spear of Longinus, taking the Spear to the Final Dogma Zone.

Ian is in the final dogma zone, Lilith's body has been recovered here again, and although the human completion plan has failed, Lilith and Adam will not perish, and EVA still exists.

After that day, Shinji Ikari regrouped his body from the first machine and left the plug.

Then the zero, the first and second machines were all recovered to the final dogma area, and they have not been started again to this day.

Ian didn't get involved too much in the outside affairs, and basically left it to Bless Ryoji and Katsuragi Misato to deal with.

When the battle was over, he fell asleep.

Before SEELE launched a general assault on the third new Tokyo city, he was at the military base of his own warband, first disposing of three JAs, and then sleepless searching for the second machine in the Dirac Sea, and before he could catch his breath, the Apostle, the production machine, and the Mark.06 arrived.

SEELE probably also picked one of several plans, knowing that Ian went to a distant self-fight base in order to deal with JA, and the NERV headquarters was when the defense was weak, so he chose to make a desperate bet and launched a general attack.

I have to say that the old people are very calculating, and they are all human spirits.

Ian arrived almost exhausted and didn't do much to deal with it beforehand.

In the end, though, SEELE paid the price for what they did.

Their attempt to trigger a third shock, the fact that all human beings are turning into water of life has been revealed.

The second shock was also caused by them, and they intend to cause a third shock as well.

The evidence is conclusive, the facts are in front of everyone's eyes, and all countries in the world have seen the wings of light that almost obscured the sky that day and the Second Apostle Lilith, who swelled to a height of tens of thousands of meters.

Even after the plan failed, those guys wanted to drop N2 bombs, destroy corpses, and bury traces of their actions.

All this has been disclosed to the international community.

However, Ian was not involved in these things, the apostles have all been eliminated, the mass production machine no longer exists, the threat of SEELE has also been removed, and Lilith herself will not interfere with the life born by herself, and her own duty is to create and spread the seeds of life.

That is, there will be no more possibilities for a third shock.

He's doing another job, and most of the time, he's in the Final Dogma Zone.

Today is the scheduled day, and the automatic door behind him opens, and Shinji Ikari and Asuka come over.

The two had just finished their physical examinations, and Shinji Ikari had been lying on the hospital bed since he came out of the first machine.

Because LCL reconstructed his body, he had nothing wrong with his body, but the exhaustion and wear and tear of his soul was severe, and he slept in bed longer than Ian, sleeping for several days in a row, and relying on intravenous drips to maintain his vital signs until the day before yesterday, he was allowed to be discharged from the hospital with the permission of the doctor.

Asuka's condition was slightly better, but those who recovered from the water of life that day were hospitalized for observation at the request of Ritsuko Akagi to avoid any emergencies.

The observation period was fourteen days, and it was only until yesterday that Asuka was given freedom of entry and exit.

Shinji Ikari was a little apprehensive, and he looked at Machine Zero, which had a deep hole in its head.

Both he and Asuka are back, but Rei Ayana, who has become one with Lilith, can't find her anywhere

As the two entered the final dogma area, the large hatch above them opened.

"Looks like the Lance of Longnookis has been shipped back, too." Ian looked up, "In this way, all the conditions are in order, Shinji, Asuka, please drive the EVA again." ”

"Hmm." Shinji nodded.

Asuka stood next to the second machine: "But can you really bring back the honor students?" Shinji Ikari's father, didn't that person come back either? ”

"How do you know if you haven't tried?" Ian said.

"Yes." Asuka stared at the second machine and whispered, "Mom, you're here too, are you looking at me?" ”

Shinji Ikari and Asuka change into combat uniforms and enter the insertion bolt.

"Stupid Shinji, what are you going to do if you don't have to drive an EVA anymore?" Asuka is talking in the channel.

Shinji Ikari said, "I think I'll go back to school in Daisui-Tokyo City, I was at the school there before I drove the EVA." ”

"It's really stupid, I'm still studying at the age of fourteen, and when I was your age, I even got a college degree."

"It's Asuka, you're amazing." Shinji Ikari scratches his head.

"What about other than going to school? Don't you have anything you want to do? ”

"What do you want to do" Shinji Ikari was asked.

He doesn't seem to have this concept, and all along, he has been pushing by others to follow the established line.

But to be said, he does have one thing that he really wants to do right now.

"I want to see Ayana."

"Yes." Asuka rarely didn't taunt him: "Then work hard." ”

"What do you want to do in the future?" Shinji asked rhetorically.

"Probably. I'm going to be a teacher. Asuka said.

"Teacher? Why? ”

"Where did you come from so many why, concentrate and start connecting!"

The first and second machines started again, and their eyes lit up.

"Rei Ayanami's memories have a backup archive in MAGI, but the ones made from those memories are just puppets, and her soul is still in Lilith's." Ritsuko Akagi said, "So, to bring her soul back through you, we have re-injected LCL into the insertion plug of machine zero, although there is no theoretical basis yet, but if we can hear your call, she may be able to wake up." ”

"If she can succeed, she will be an independent individual in the future, and she will no longer need to use the life support system to maintain her body once a week."

"Let's get started." Ian nodded: "Next, I will use the power of the first machine to take you into Lilith's realm together." ”

"I'm ready." Shinji Ikari said.

"I'm OK too." Asuka replied.

Ian nodded, closed his eyes, and connected with the two of them.

"It's . Ayana's room? Shinji opened his eyes and saw an extremely modest room.

There were injected syringes and drug packages on the floor, discarded haphazardly in the corners, a rudimentary bed, a bedside table, and that's all.

It's hard to imagine that this is a girl's room, but Shinji doesn't have to imagine, he's been here, and that day the teacher asked him to send materials to Rei Ayana, and the door wasn't closed, so he quietly broke in.

Rei Ayanami has no concept of male or female, she just finished taking a shower, she appeared naked in front of Shinji, and the two also fell, and the scene was very embarrassing for a while.

"Ayaami! Are you here! ”

Shinji looked at his hands, he was wearing a combat uniform, but he was the only one who arrived here, and he couldn't see Ian and Asuka.

I don't know why, being in this space makes him feel very sad.

Rei Ayanami. She, like Shinji Ikati, is a child without a home.

Shinji strolled along the small, dark room, his fingers swept over the cold syringes and drugs at the bedside, and sat down on the bed.

The bed was hard, there was no mattress, it was just a hard iron plate.

Rei Ayanami was created and given the identity of EVA driver, but she just followed the order to drive EVA.

When Shinji first saw her, she was covered in bandages, and blood was oozing from her wounds.

"Ayana, I don't know if you can hear it."

Shinji muttered to himself in the shadow of no one.

"Asuka is fine, Misato-san, everyone's back."

"Mr. Blessing told me that I probably won't have to drive an EVA in the future, but I don't feel happy at all."

"I'm sorry I didn't protect you."

"It's lonely here."

More and more, he remembered the girl's voice, remembering when she was there.

Rei Ayana, who was smiling at him at the end.

What does that smile mean?

Tell him, don't be sad?

But he couldn't do it, he couldn't stop crying, he didn't keep his promise, he didn't protect the girl.

Shinji held his head in his hands and couldn't stop crying.

"Why. Want to cry? ”

The clear, cold voice came from ahead, and Shinji Ikari looked up and stared at the familiar face in a daze.

Rei Ayana, who is dressed in a sailor's school uniform, stands in the shadows.

"A happy life without EVA, this is the life I once wished you had, Ikati-kun."

Ayanami Rei said lightly, and she who was one with Lilith seemed to have returned to her original emotionless appearance.

"I'm fine here, you don't have to bear it for me"

Before the next word could be spoken, Shinji had already stretched out his arms and hugged her.

Shinji hugged Rei Ayanami tightly, as if to confirm that it was not a hallucination.

"This is a tear?"

Tears flowed from the corners of Ayanami's eyes.

"Tears of sadness?"

"Not true. These are happy tears. ”

"Let's go back together." Shinji Ikari said, "Asuka said that she wanted to be a teacher in the future, and she chose her own life, so you can also leave here and live your own life." ”

"Really?"

"Really, I will also choose to live without EVA, let's live together in the new era."

"So I see" Rei Ayanami smiled, "Thank you, Ikati-kun." ”

"A driver's reaction was detected in Unit Zero!"

"It's . Did it work? Ritsuko Akagi looked at the dial of the instrument: "It's the same as Shinji back then, it's a miracle!" ”

Rei Ayanami returned, and the plug of machine zero opened, and Rei Ayanami opened her eyes and saw Shinji Ikari again.

"Welcome back." With tears in the corners of his eyes, Shinji Ikari took Rei Ayana's hand and pulled her out of the LCL.

"At the end of the day, we don't feel involved at all." Asuka forked waist.

"Is your mom gone?" Ian looked at the second machine, where there were no more human souls.

"Originally, she was trapped in the second machine because of an accident." Asuka said, "I told my mom that I had grown up as an adult, so she didn't have to protect me, and I would embrace my life by myself." ”

"I'm not a kid anymore, and I can live alone without my mother."

"And"

"What?"

"Nothing." Asuka stroked her wet hair: "I'm going to take a shower." ”

Ian stood in front of the first machine, looking up at the first machine's facial armor, remembering what had just happened.

"Isn't Commander Ikari here?"

"He's gone."

"Why don't you take this opportunity to meet your son? Ms. Yui Ikari. ”

"Shinji doesn't need me anymore."

"If you're willing, you should be able to recondense your body from the first machine."

"Humans can only survive on this planet, but EVA can exist forever with the hearts of people who live in it, even if five billion years have passed, the earth, the moon, and even the sun have disappeared, EVA will still exist."

"Even if only one person survives, although it will be very lonely, as long as it survives, then the proof of human existence will remain forever."

"But humanity is not limited to this planet." Ian shook his head: "There are still many possibilities for human beings, and if they can cross the barrier of the world, human beings can continue forever." ”

"Tomorrow, I'll be back." Ian waved at the first machine, "Goodbye, then." ”

"Let's go to dinner tonight." Ian said to Asuka who came out of her regular clothes after changing into her regular clothes.

"What to eat?"

"Have a good meal."

(End of chapter)