Chapter 1059
World Consciousness: Brother, all you need to do is kill.
After listening to the world consciousness's complete explanation, Cui Ming had roughly outlined how to complete the mission, his thoughts were very clear.
The core message is simple and direct: kill Gendo Ikari. As for that autistic kid named Shinji Ikari, Cui Ming never expected him to shoulder the burden of saving the world from the very beginning. He could already imagine the kid's state; even piloting an EVA to fight the Angels caused him to completely break down and nearly die, unable to maintain even the most basic emotional stability, let alone stay in combat mode. To place the hope of fighting those monsters with explosive numerical values and the ability to destroy the world at will on him was pure fantasy, gambling with the survival of the entire world, and in a way that was a sure loss.
The world consciousness had also mentioned a crucial piece of information to him: their world's EVA Unit-01 had been torn to shreds by a monster and then eaten. And the one who was most devastated at the time was none other than Gendo Ikari.
After all, the core of Unit-01 houses the soul of his beloved wife, Yui Ikari, whom he desperately wants to resurrect. To him, Unit-01 is not just a weapon of war, but also his only hope for reuniting with his deceased wife.
Although Unit-01 fought with all its might, unleashing the full firepower of its weapons and each attack a desperate gamble, it did not retreat even when severely damaged, but the result was still regrettable.
It was simply not in the same league as that monster. The difference in their strength was ridiculously large, like an ant trying to shake a tree. No matter how hard Unit-01 struggled and resisted, it could not overcome the monster's absolute power and could only suffer the miserable fate of being torn apart and devoured.
After hearing this intelligence, Cui Ming couldn't help but shake his head slightly, a hint of mockery in his eyes. Gendo Ikari had dug himself a huge hole and ended up burying himself in it—a classic case of reaping what you sow.
He was single-mindedly obsessed with resurrecting his wife. To achieve this goal, he was willing to sacrifice everything, even planning to drag the entire world down with him, committing countless crazy and selfish acts. And what was the result? Before he could even push his insane plan to its conclusion, he had to watch helplessly as Unit-01, which housed his wife's soul, was torn to pieces by a monster and swallowed whole, with no chance of redemption whatsoever.
Thinking of Gendo Ikari's desperate and broken state at that time, a cold glint flashed in Cui Ming's eyes. He felt no sympathy whatsoever, only three words: Serves him right.
In any case, Choi Myung wouldn't sympathize with that Gendo Ikari guy.
In his view, it is a waste of emotion to sympathize with that madman who is willing to drag billions of people around the world down with him for his own selfish desires. It would be better to sympathize with the flowers and grass swaying in the wind by the roadside—at least those flowers and grass grow peacefully and never actively create disasters for the world, much less use other people's lives as stepping stones to achieve their own goals.
However, agreeing to help is one thing, but asking him to work for free is another. Cui Ming never does anything that doesn't benefit him, and even when helping people around him, he always makes sure they receive the due compensation. This has always been his principle.
"Although I promised to help, you know I'm not the kind of person who does things for free or works for nothing." Cui Ming's gaze calmly fell on the slightly trembling light and shadow in front of him. His tone didn't reveal much emotion, but it carried an undeniable certainty, as if he were stating a very simple fact.
Am I entitled to overtime pay?
"What do you want?" The world consciousness clearly hadn't expected Cui Ming to ask for payment so directly. The light and shadow paused noticeably, the core of its light flickering somewhat flusteredly. Its tone was hesitant, yet also deliberately ingratiating. It had assumed that since the other party had already agreed to help, they probably wouldn't be too concerned about the reward, after all, this was saving its world from collapse, a good thing for both sides.
"What do you have to offer?" Cui Ming asked instead of answering, his eyes briefly sweeping over the ball of light and shadow. He then added, his tone clearly showing disdain, "Don't mention mechas like EVA. Those things look intimidating, but they're actually too unsafe. They go out of control and go berserk all the time, and you have to rely on a half-mad kid to pilot them. Not only are they unreliable, but they're also prone to causing trouble. They're just a burden in battle."
"That's a bit difficult." The light and shadow of the world consciousness dimmed slightly, while the light at its core flickered even more intensely, as if desperately searching for anything in its world that was presentable and could catch the eye of this powerful being. After pondering for a while, it tentatively spoke: "How about I give you an AT Field? This is a special ability unique to our world, capable of forming a stable defensive barrier to resist many conventional attacks, which is very useful when we fight against the Apostles."
“It’s useless.” Cui Ming rejected it without even thinking, his disdain growing stronger. “This thing is only good for dealing with the apostles of your world. If it encounters an opponent who uses the method of throwing bricks with great force and crushing them with absolute power, it will break instantly. If it were to face those monsters with explosive stats, it would shatter in less than three seconds. It’s just taking up space.”
The world consciousness fell completely silent. The already flickering light and shadow drooped listlessly, looking extremely dejected, clearly stumped by Cui Ming's question. It carefully reviewed its world's core resources and capabilities, finding that the only things it could offer were EVA and AT Field, but both had been ruthlessly rejected by the other party. Apart from that, it seemed that nothing else could catch the eye of this powerful figure.
After a long while, the dejected figure regained some strength, its tone filled with a strong sense of probing and a hint of uncertainty: "Then I can only give you the complete technology tree of our world, but you should know that our world's technology tree is mostly centered around EVA research and development and fighting against the Angels, leaning towards bioengineering and mecha manufacturing. For a strong person like you who can easily deal with monsters, it may not be of much use."
"It's alright, tech trees and all that are easy to deal with." Cui Ming waved his hand casually, his tone still calm and without the slightest hint of disdain. "For me, intangible abilities or combat power improvements are not important. Real resources are the most crucial thing. Only with resources can we support all the subsequent arrangements."
He turned his gaze back to the world consciousness before him, clearly stating his conditions without any ambiguity: "I need all kinds of resources from your side, whether it's minerals, energy, or other materials, in sufficient quantities. In addition, I need your world's complete technology tree, with no concealment or omissions." (End of Chapter)