An exchange

Shinji asked Kaji in confusion, "How do you know my name?"

Kaji raised a finger and replied, "Of course I know. You're pretty famous in our line of work. You activated an Eva in actual combat without any training. The Third Children."

Hearing Kaji praise Shinji, Asuka shot Shinji Ikari a displeased look.

Shinji, meanwhile, scratched his head in a classic meme-worthy pose and said sheepishly, "Not really. It was just a fluke."

"Luck is part of destiny, too. You could call it a talent of yours," Kaji remarked.

"Exactly. Shinji, piloting an Eva might be just the right thing for you. There's a saying about heaven chasing after you with a bowl of food and spoon-feeding you." Huang Zhetian set down his orange juice and tossed his seed shells into the trash, speaking enviously. If he had talent, he wouldn't have needed to practice a skill two or three times just to meet the standard, and the system wouldn't have awarded him a mere thousand practice points over two whole years. Otherwise, he would have had time to practice other skills long ago.

"Thanks, but I'm not that amazing." Shinji turned his head away and grinned.

Huang Zhetian thought his expression looked a little like Crayon Shin-chan...

"Thank you for explaining things to the Captain for me before we arrived," Misato said with a slight bow.

"No need. I just couldn't stand hearing the Captain call the Eva a toy, so I showed him some information on the Angels. Once you arrived, he would've gone around bad-mouthing NERV to everyone he met. Better to show him the truth. It's not top secret or anything," Huang Zhetian replied after finishing the last of his orange juice.

"I still owe you my thanks," Misato said with a smile. Hmph! Unlike a certain man... Argh! This is so annoying! Why am I thinking about him again?! Damn it! Ծ‸Ծ

Kaji set down his drink and stood up. "See you later, then." With that, he sauntered out, and Asuka followed him.

By the ship's railing, Asuka held on to it and rocked back and forth. Kaji stood beside her and asked, "What do you think of Shinji?"

Asuka replied dismissively, "What a boring guy. I never imagined someone like him would be chosen as the Third Children. So much for my expectations."

Kaji had known she would answer that way, so he continued calmly, "But his Synchronization Rate exceeded forty percent in a battle he was thrown into without warning."

Asuka turned back in surprise. "No way!"

"Wait! What about that Chinese kid? Do you have his records, Mr. Kaji?" Asuka hastily changed the subject.

"Him? Hmm... how should I put it? It's hard to compare him with Shinji Ikari. Shinji Ikari was in actual combat, and he wasn't even wearing a plugsuit. That Chinese boy, Huang Zhetian, passed two tests at once. His Synchronization Rate reached fifty-seven percent, and he fought for over three minutes. He even passed the internal battery combat test at the same time. It was a simulator test, but the Angel data had been enhanced, making it a little harder than Shinji's battle. If Shinji has natural talent, then Huang Zhetian is the sort who trains like mad to make up for it. He could give you a run for your money," Kaji said slowly, rubbing his chin.

After saying that, Kaji looked up at Asuka. She had lowered her head and was biting her lower lip. She muttered, "How can someone be better than me and work harder, too? How did this happen? The talented ones and the untalented ones are all the same."

"All right, Asuka. No matter who surpasses whom, it's a kind of encouragement for both you and everyone else. Don't lose heart, Asuka. Just work hard to catch up. If you can't, stop for a bit. If you're tired, take a break and try again," Kaji said, stroking her head.

"I can't do that! I'm going to see right now whether they really have what it takes! I'll check them out myself!" Asuka let go of the railing and went off to find them.

Kaji watched Asuka leave, then shook his head and sighed.

Meanwhile, Huang Zhetian, Misato, and the others were chatting on the escalator. Toji said, "That old Captain sure was arrogant."

Misato smiled. "He's got a lot of pride, so he's not very appreciative. Anyway, I still have to thank you, Zhetian-kun. If it weren't for you, things might have gotten unpleasant with the Captain."

"Mr. Kaji is really outgoing and funny," Shinji said, sounding rather happy. Few people ever praised him, after all, and Mr. Kaji had given him honest praise. Shinji felt he ought to compliment someone else, too.

Everything would have been fine if Shinji had kept quiet, but bringing it up set Misato off again.

"He's always been like that, the idiot," Misato grumbled, turning her head away in disgust.

"Third Children, Fourth Children. Come with me." Asuka stood at the top of the escalator with a stern expression, one hand on her hip as she looked down at them.

Another transport ship

Asuka lifted the protective tarp to show the two boys her own combat machine-Unit-02.

"Unit-02 is red. I didn't know that," Shinji said as he looked at the red machine.

Asuka jumped onto Unit-02 and proudly began introducing it. "The color isn't the only difference. To put it simply, Unit-00 and Unit-01 are only a prototype and a test model built during development. The Special Unit goes without saying. It's a replacement for Unit-01. If Unit-01 had failed back then, the Special Unit might have taken its place. Shinji Ikari, you synchronized with your machine right away without any training. And you, Chinese kid, reached a Synchronization Rate of fifty-seven percent after only two years of training. But Unit-02 is different. This one was built for actual combat-the world's first Evangelion production model."

The moment she finished speaking, the transport ship lurched violently. Huang Zhetian narrowed his eyes and thought, ...Here it comes.

The Sixth Angel, the Fish Angel.

"What's going on?" Shinji hurried to steady himself on the floating platform.

"An underwater shock wave. There was an explosion nearby," Asuka said, looking outside.

The three ran to the outer railing and watched as the underwater creature destroyed the warships one after another.

Boom-boom-boom!

One warship after another was rammed in two and sank to the seabed.

"Is that... an Angel?!" Shinji exclaimed in surprise.

"Is that a real one?" Asuka stared blankly at the explosive scene.

"What should we do? We need to get back to Miss Misato," Shinji said anxiously.

Huang Zhetian thought, Oh, no. Another classic meme-worthy expression.

"My chance." Asuka flashed a wicked smile.