Chapter 1213
Kaworu: You can stay calm in front of this thing?!
While Shinji Ikari was in his living room, relentlessly punching Rokubun Gigendo and venting his pent-up anger of over a decade, Choi had already returned to his temporary base with Kaworu. Without a word, he simply tossed Kaworu into a specially made cage that had been prepared beforehand.
After all, this thing is an apostle, inherently dangerous. If it's not locked up in a reliable place, it might cause trouble at any time. Cui Ming doesn't have time to keep an eye on it all the time.
Kaworu Nagisa, thrown into the cage, staggered to his feet, looking at the sturdy cage walls that exuded a unique oppressive force. His face showed little emotion; he neither struggled nor complained.
He had only one thought in mind—it was good enough that he was alive! The brutal slam he had just been delivered by Cui Ming, and the humiliating experience of being dragged along, had completely extinguished any will to resist. He didn't even dare to breathe loudly, let alone struggle. He just wanted to stay quiet and not upset Cui Ming any further.
Therefore, Kaworu behaved exceptionally well, obediently standing against the cage wall with a docile gaze, not making any unnecessary movements, for fear that he might be dealt with on the spot by Choi Ming if he made a mistake.
Just then, Ritsuko Akagi walked over with a tablet computer, her eyes fixed on Kaworu Nagisa in the cage, her tone full of research excitement. She turned to Cui Ming and asked, "He's an Angel. By the way, can we dissect him? I've been wanting to study the anatomy of Angels for a long time."
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Upon hearing the word "dissection," Kaworu froze instantly, cold sweat pouring down his face and turning deathly pale. He looked up at Ritsuko Akagi, only to see her eyes filled with fanaticism, as if she wanted nothing more than to drag him out and dissect him immediately. Kaworu instinctively shrank back in fear, cursing Ritsuko's name a hundred times over in his mind—he'd just escaped one danger only to fall into another!
Cui Ming glanced at Akagi Ritsuko and calmly stopped him, saying, "I have some questions for him. Let's wait and put the dissection aside for now."
“Well, what a pity.” Ritsuko Akagi pouted, her tone full of disappointment. She reluctantly looked away from Kaoru Nagisa, then sat down next to Choi Myung and casually put her tablet aside.
“Oh, right,” Ritsuko Akagi said casually, as if she had just remembered something, “NERV contacted me, wanting to invite me to do research, and offered me a lot of benefits.”
Cui Ming scoffed, his tone full of disdain and mockery: "Tsk, these guys are really still up to no good. Even at this point, they're still thinking about doing research and having crooked ideas."
“Indeed.” Ritsuko Akagi nodded, her tone tinged with sarcasm. Then, her eyes flashed with cunning as she hinted, “But don’t you need me to go? If I go, I might be able to find out some details about them and stir up some trouble to disrupt their plans.”
Cui Ming shook his head, his tone resolute yet calm: "There's no need. They can't cause any big trouble. Your going would only cause more trouble. Just focus on your research."
“Alright.” Ritsuko Akagi didn’t press the issue. She smiled, shrugged, and stood up to pick up her tablet. “Then I’ll continue researching that monster. This thing is much more powerful than the Apostles, and its research value is far greater.”
"Yes, thank you for your hard work." Cui Ming looked up at her, his tone unusually gentle.
"It's nothing, I just enjoy researching too." Ritsuko Akagi smiled, leaned down and kissed Cui Ming's cheek, then turned and strode quickly toward the research lab, her steps hurried, clearly eager to continue researching the monster that was even more powerful than the Angel.
Kaworu, trapped in his cage, watched this scene, his lips twitching, feeling utterly helpless—so he was the only one here to suffer, huh?
After Ritsuko Akagi left, Choi Myeong slowly walked to the specially made cage, crossed his arms, leaned slightly against the cage wall, and asked in a calm and emotionless tone, "So, Angel, what is your purpose?" Kaworu looked at the powerful man before him, a man he feared, his fingertips unconsciously tightening their grip on the cage bars. His eyes held a hint of probing and caution. He took a deep breath before slowly speaking, his tone tinged with uncertainty: "If I said that we want to cooperate with humans now, would you believe me?"
When he said this, he didn't really have any hope—after all, the apostles and humans have been enemies for generations, and Cui Ming is so powerful, how could he easily believe their sudden proposal for cooperation? He was even prepared to be ridiculed and rejected.
But Cui Ming merely glanced at him indifferently, and without the slightest hesitation, uttered two words: "I believe you."
"!!!"
Kaworu froze instantly, his pupils contracting sharply, his face filled with disbelief, his mouth slightly agape, and even his grip on the railing loosening slightly. He truly hadn't expected Choi Myung to believe him so readily! There was no questioning, no mockery, not even a moment's hesitation—this was completely different from what he had anticipated.
After a long pause, Kaworu Nagisa finally reacted and quickly continued the conversation, his tone becoming more urgent: "Then..."
But before he could finish speaking, Cui Ming interrupted him. Cui Ming remained calm, a hint of doubt in his eyes, and casually asked, "But I don't believe it. Hasn't your goal, the Apostles, always been to exterminate humanity? Why are you suddenly thinking of cooperating?"
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Kaworu's anxious expression gradually faded. He sighed softly, his tone heavy with helplessness. He loosened his grip on the railing and said slowly, "That depends on when. Things are different now. The existence of monsters is no longer just a feud between Angels and humans—they are more terrifying than us Angels. If we continue to ignore it, both humans and Angels will eventually be completely wiped out by those monsters."
After listening to Nagisa Kaoru's words, Choi Myung raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone carrying a hint of impatience, but without any extra emotion, and slowly asked, "Oh, so how do you plan to cooperate?"
"..." Kaworu opened his mouth, a look of embarrassment and helplessness on his face. His fingertips gripped the bars of the cage tightly, and his tone was heavy and urgent. "The problem is this: I really want to cooperate with humans, but the other Angels are like uncivilized beasts. They only know how to destroy and kill. They won't listen to my advice at all, and I can't persuade them."
Cui Ming listened quietly without speaking, only nodding slowly, as if he had already anticipated this outcome. The next second, he pulled out a pistol from his waist with swift and decisive movements, his fingertips skillfully manipulating the gun to load bullets. The "click-click" sounds were exceptionally clear in the quiet room, carrying a chilling sense of oppression.
“Waste of time.” Cui Ming lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the gun in his hand. His tone was flat and without any ripples, but the impatience and determination in his words made Zhu Xun freeze instantly.
Upon seeing this, Kaworu panicked instantly. His face turned deathly pale, and he rushed to the cage bars, gripping them tightly with both hands. His body trembled slightly, and his voice was filled with sobs and desperate pleas: "Brother! No! I was wrong!!! Give me a little more time, I can definitely persuade the other Angels! I really can do it, please don't kill me!"
He knew Cui Ming's temperament all too well; he was a man of his word, and once he felt something was pointless, he would act without hesitation. Cui Ming's action of loading bullets at this moment was undoubtedly an attempt to eliminate this "useless" apostle. Zhu Xun was so frightened that he didn't dare breathe, and could only desperately plead, begging Cui Ming to give her another chance. (End of Chapter)