Yui Ikari's will, imbued with maternal love, was so pure and radiant that even the scattered cube fragments resonated with it, transforming her fragile soul into an unyielding barrier.
To destroy such a rare, pure soul would indeed be a bit of a waste.
Various potential future scenarios of this world flashed through Hansen's mind.
SEELE's cold and ruthless Human Instrumentality Project, Gendo Ikari's paranoid and insane personal plan, and the tragic end of this mother, who ultimately chose self-sacrifice for her son's survival.
It seemed she sensed Hansen's brief hesitation, or perhaps she had come to understand everything in the deathly silence.
Yui Ikari gazed at him, a nearly humble plea in her beautiful, crimson eyes.
"If you take what is within me, I will perish... This is the price I must pay as a vessel."
She calmly accepted her fate, but her voice held an uncontrollable tremor: "My only request is that after I die, please... look after my son, Shinji. He is a... poor child."
In the face of absolute power, Yui Ikari knew resistance was futile.
She immediately placed herself in the most humble position, attempting to use her last remaining value to secure a sliver of hope for the son to whom she owed so much.
"Good courage," Hansen said, looking at her with interest, his handsome face betraying no emotion. "It's clear you care deeply for your son."
"He is my everything," Yui Ikari's voice was unwavering, her maternal radiance at that moment even overshadowing her rationality as a genius scientist.
"An interesting transaction, but I refuse," Hansen said indifferently, his voice devoid of emotion.
In an instant, Yui Ikari's heart felt as if it had been plunged into an endless icy sea, sinking completely to the bottom.
"Because," Hansen continued, a mischievous smile appearing on his face, "I'm not in a hurry to take it now."
"Compared to an inanimate object, I am more interested in your soul."
He extended a finger, and at its tip, a wisp of platinum-gold light, as if containing the principles of creation, slowly brightened.
Like the nascent sun, it instantly illuminated this eternal darkness.
"Believe in me; become my eyes and ears in this world."
"In return, I will nourish your soul with my Divine Power, freeing you from the shackles of this desolate cage."
"When your soul is strong enough, strong enough to naturally separate from that thing, I will return to retrieve it."
Hansen's magnetic voice seemed to possess a magical power, echoing deep within Yui Ikari's soul:
"By then, you will not only not perish but will transform into something even more powerful, even... possessing the strength to personally fulfill all your wishes and protect those you wish to protect."
"After all, Madam, you wouldn't want to miss Shinji-kun's new life after Instrumentality, would you?"
Yui Ikari was stunned.
She had envisioned countless endings, but never this one.
This unfathomable deity had actually extended an olive branch to her, offering her a future she could neither refuse nor had ever imagined.
She was such an intelligent woman; in just an instant, she understood how advantageous this transaction was for her!
This was not just a glimmer of hope, but her only hope of fulfilling her long-held wish and personally embracing her son in the new world!
There was no longer any hesitation.
In this void of the spiritual universe, Yui Ikari, noble as a goddess, knelt devoutly before Hansen.
She respectfully took Hansen's hand, which emanated a sacred glow, and gently yet with unwavering resolve, kissed his hand.
A soul-level oath was forged at this moment.
"As you wish, my Lord."
"Very good," Hansen nodded in satisfaction, and the wisp of pure Imaginary Divine Power from his fingertip slowly infused into her soul's origin through her soft red lips.
Buzz—
The nourishment of the Divine Power was like a long-parched seedling finally receiving sweet rain; Yui Ikari's soul let out a soft "ooh," a pleasurable moan that sparked imagination.
The moment she became Hansen's first God-Awakened in this world, her previously somewhat ethereal silhouette instantly became solid and brilliant, emitting a faint, colorful halo.
It was as if a raw jade had been meticulously polished into a peerless diamond by a divine craftsman.
An unprecedented sense of power permeated her being.
She could feel that her connection with Unit-01, with this barren and desolate negative universe, and even with the entire world, had become unprecedentedly firm and clear.
She could even "see" the slender boy on the ground of the real world, wearing headphones and curled up, and "hear" his inner loneliness and confusion.
This almost omniscient sensation made her soul tremble with excitement.
This made Yui Ikari once again bow down devoutly: "Thank you for your bestowal, my Lord."
Hansen indifferently withdrew his finger, gently stroking the goddess's hair, which was sky-blue with platinum highlights: "Pleasing me is your deserved reward."
Yui Ikari blinked instinctively, her ruby-like dazzling eyes showing no maidenly shyness, but rather a look of understanding... Meanwhile, at NERV headquarters, where the next steps were being tensely discussed.
"Achoo—!"
In the massive command center, a sudden sneeze brought a second of silence.
NERV Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki Kouzou looked questioningly at the man who always shrouded himself in shadow at the main seat: "Ikari, are you alright...?"
Gendo Ikari maintained his classic pose of interlaced fingers resting against his chin, his stern face devoid of any expression.
He slowly took a deep breath, his voice as cold as ever: "I'm fine, probably due to too little sleep recently."
Although his outward appearance showed no change, in that very instant.
This man, bristly as a porcupine, was overcome with a strange and uncontrollable surge of immense grief and emptiness.
It was as if, in some unseen way, he had lost something most important, most precious.
The feeling was as if, in the vegetable garden he had meticulously cultivated for over a decade, his most prized cabbage had been uprooted, and the entire plot of land had been taken away!
A sense of anger and powerlessness, as if he had been NTR'd, made him feel an urge to cry.
He subconsciously glanced at the photo of him and Yui in the corner of the command console.
In the photo, Yui's smile was still gentle.
But Gendo Ikari inexplicably felt that her smile seemed... to be moving further and further away from him.
Pain, such intense pain!
His heart felt as if a piece had been forcibly torn out, bleeding with agony.
The stone-cold man inwardly slapped himself hard, reaffirming his conviction.
—Yui, wait for me...!
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