Chapter 1288
Cui Ming: Apostles, please don't try to extort money.
Emotions are so interesting.
Lilith grabbed another potato chip, her gaze sweeping over the mountain of comics, light novels, game discs, and snack wrappers piled up in the corner of the room. This was prepared by Cui Ming, who reasoned, "Since you can't do anything really bad, you might as well find something to do." She hadn't understood this logic at first, but now she did—it was called "idling away."
Inside the isolation room, Kaworu's expression became subtle.
You mean that sir?
“Yesterday she asked me to help her snag a limited-edition game console.” Cui Ming shrugged, his tone as flat as if he were reporting the weather. “She also asked me why online payments require a password. I explained it three times, and she finally said, ‘Human inventions are so troublesome, I might as well just mind-control the cashier,’ which I stopped her from doing.”
Kaworu opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, finally letting out a long sigh. That was the progenitor of the Angels, the endpoint of all life's return, the core of the Instrumentality Project—yet he was now agonizing over the ending of a romance anime, feeling sullen because the male protagonist chose the long-haired female lead instead of the short-haired female supporting character.
"She added," Choi Ming paused, a slight smile playing on her lips, "that if everyone turned into orange juice after the completion of the animation, there would be no one to produce a second season. Therefore, the completion project is indefinitely postponed."
"."
Kaworu finally burst into laughter, not with an elegant, composed smile, but with a genuine, somewhat helpless and liberated laugh. His shoulders trembled as he laughed, the energy chains making a soft clanging sound, and his silver hair swaying in the light.
"I see. I see." He wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes, a sense of relief flickering in his red eyes. "The mission we risked our lives to complete is less important to the Mother Goddess than the second season of an animated film."
“So,” Cui Ming leaned forward slightly, placing his hands clasped on the table, “what reason do you still have to persist? Your teammates are either brainless or just slacking off. Adam’s embryos are hidden somewhere, but even if you gather them all, Lilith won’t cooperate. The Human Instrumentality Project… was an impossible task from the start.”
Kaworu Nagisa was silent for a moment, then looked up at the ceiling of the isolation room, as if he could see through the layers of concrete to the figure watching anime on the sofa.
“Mr. Choi,” he asked softly, “what do you want me to do?”
“It’s not what I want,” Cui Ming stood up, walked to the door, and glanced back at him, “it’s what you want to do. You are free, an angel of freedom. That title should have some real meaning.”
The door closed behind Cui Ming, leaving Kaworu sitting alone under the warm yellow light. The energy chains automatically unlocked, turning into specks of light and dissipating—a signal left by Cui Ming, and also a kind of invitation.
At the very bottom of NERV, Lilith pressed the pause button and turned to look at the doorway. She sensed something, but quickly turned back and resumed the animation. The male and female protagonists were kissing, and the background music reached its climax.
"Human reproductive behavior," she commented expressionlessly, "is incredibly inefficient."
Then she grabbed a potato chip.
Click.
Lilith Games has completely given up.
She slumped on the sofa, limbs outstretched in a starfish shape, her long, silvery-white hair cascading onto the cushions like a pool of melting moonlight. The television screen in front of her was still lit, playing the ending theme of some late-night anime, but she was no longer watching. Her crimson eyes, identical to Rei Ayanami's, stared blankly at the ceiling, reflecting emptiness. She felt that this was fine.
It's better than going out to your death.
Lilith—the Second Apostle, the source of life, the ruler of the Black Moon, the mother goddess of all Lilin—was currently huddled in a plush pillow with a cartoon penguin pattern, burying her face in the soft stuffing and whimpering. Certain images kept replaying in her mind: a water angel being crushed underfoot by some enormous creature, a thunder angel's beam of light being casually scattered, a fish angel turning into a beam of light before even having a chance to deploy its AT field.
The outside world of TM is simply beyond the capabilities of even apostles.
She rolled over, pressing the pillow against her stomach, her legs kicking unconsciously in the air. This clone's nervous system seemed overly sensitive, allowing her to clearly feel an emotion called "fear." As a divine being who should theoretically be without desires, this experience was so unfamiliar that it was both addictive and agonizing.
Oh oh oh!
They are all terrifying monsters!
She remembered the silver giant, its body covered in hideous scars, each one a testament to carnage across the stars. She remembered the enormous insect that crawled out of the earth, its mandibles capable of tearing apart an Angel's armor with a single bite. She remembered the metallic lifeform floating in space, its mere passing energy distorting space itself. These beings did not obey the rules of this world; the AT field was like a paper toy before them.
Holy crap! What kind of stats do these monsters have?! Damn it!!!
Lilith slammed her fist on the sofa, throwing the pillow away. It hit the wall, bounced to the floor, and landed right by the door. The door opened, and Cui Ming walked in carrying a cup of hot cocoa. He glanced down at the penguin pillow at his feet, then at the sulking girl on the sofa.
"Watching another horror movie?" He put the cup on the coffee table.
"A million times scarier than a horror movie!" Lilith grabbed the remote and frantically changed channels, finally stopping at a channel playing cute cat videos. "Those monsters, those aliens... they're completely unreasonable! My AT field analysis shows that the silver giant's energy reading..."
She couldn't continue, because the number was beyond her comprehension.
"The reading says 'You're dead,'" Cui Ming finished for her, then sat down on the single sofa next to her. "So you've decided to quit?"
“This is called a strategic retreat!” Lilith buried her face in her knees, her voice muffled. “Adam hasn’t woken up yet, and the other apostles are all idiots. The Completion Plan can’t possibly proceed. Why should I go out and die? Here I have food, drink, and animations to watch. If I die, I’ll have nothing!”
Cui Ming picked up his hot cocoa, took a sip, and his gaze fell on the television screen. An orange cat was trying to squeeze into an oversized cardboard box, a scene both comical and heartwarming.
“A wise choice,” he said, “is that only by living can there be endless possibilities.”
Lilith raised her head, a hint of doubt flashing in her crimson eyes: "You're not going to kill me?"
Why should I kill you?
"I am an apostle. I am the enemy of humanity, and I am part of the Instrumentality Project."
“You’re a homebody now,” Cui Ming corrected. “Homebodies aren’t the enemy; homebodies are spending power.”
"Besides, I don't care about anything else, I just want to kill the monster." (End of Chapter)