The gunship's rotor throbbed overhead, its reflection shimmering in the water filling the enormous crater lake.
The vegetation around the enormous craters and the smooth erosion marks made it clear they had been there for some time.
"A second and third Lake Ashi? I certainly hope there won't be any more." Fuyutsuki leaned out to look at the scene below with some concern, then turned to Gendo Ikari beside him.
"Chairman Ghil came to complain about the delay in the plan yesterday. He even came directly to me." Fuyutsuki's expression held a hint of disdain.
"He seems to be getting rather impatient..." Gendo Ikari replied unhurriedly.
As always, his clasped hands hid his chin, and the light reflecting off his glasses made him impossible to read.
"He even hinted at dismissing you at the end..."
"The Adam Project is proceeding smoothly, and the EVA Project has already begun work on the Dummy Plug. What more could those old men at Seele be dissatisfied with?" Gendo Ikari seemed to have anticipated their little tricks and laid out the latest progress to Fuyutsuki.
"The most important one, the Human Instrumentality Project, is behind schedule," Fuyutsuki said with a smile.
"All the plans are interconnected. There won't be any problems," Gendo Ikari said with absolute confidence.
"Does that include Zero?" Fuyutsuki suddenly asked.
Gendo Ikari: "..."
"And there's that boy from China-Huang Zhetian."
Unwilling to answer those questions, Gendo Ikari shut down the subject. "Never mind. Let's not discuss that."
"But speaking of which, what should we do about that man, Kaji?" Something seemed to occur to Fuyutsuki, and he put the question to Gendo Ikari.
"Let him be. Like the Marduk Institute, he still has some use to us for now... There's no need to bother with Huang Zhetian, either. Asuka is