The central city of the Marley Empire's capital.
...
Outside the offices of the Central Command and the Ministry of National Defense, a Marley officer with short hair and a face marked by the stamp of a career soldier walked up to the office.
After giving a military salute, two armed guards opened the office door.
Inside the office, the long conference table was already filled with the top leadership of the Marley Empire.
Seated at the head was a soldier with a calm expression, his hair neatly combed, his chest covered in medals, and a red sash slung diagonally across his body, clearly marking his identity—the General the Marleyan military forces.
Seeing the person enter, Calvi spoke, "Magath, you're here?"
Magath gave a military salute and called out, "General."
"Sit. The meeting will begin shortly."
After waiting about ten minutes, once all participants had arrived, Calvi announced the start of the meeting.
The first matter concerned Magath. Calvi looked at him and said,
"Magath, you've seen the information Zeke sent back, right?"
Magath nodded and replied, "Yes. The Warrior Unit discovered the Founder, but the island's strength seems to be beyond our expectations. The Female Titan, the Jaw Titan, and the Colossal Titan have fallen one after another."
A senior Marley official cried out in shock,
"What? Even the Colossal Titan has fallen? What is the Warrior Unit doing? The Colossal Titan is an extremely important weapon!"
At once, several senior Marley officials began to verbally attack Magath, because Magath was the chief instructor of the Marley Warrior Unit—every Marley Titan warrior had been trained by him.
"Silence!" Seeing the meeting descend into chaos, General Calvi slammed the table in anger. His authority immediately cowed the noisy officials.
After things quieted down, Calvi looked at Magath and asked, "So, what are the Warrior Unit's plans going forward?"
Magath's expression did not change. He nodded and said,
"Zeke reported to me that he plans to organize one final operation against the Founder. If he can successfully obtain the Founder, then no amount of losses would be too much."
As soon as this idea was voiced, everyone present showed thoughtful expressions.
"How confident is Zeke?"
"Very. If he can't bring back the Founder, he will at least do his best to withdraw with the remaining warriors back to the homeland."
Calvi nodded and said, "Good. Let him proceed. The Marley Navy will cooperate as much as possible."
Magath: "Yes, General."
After finishing this topic, Calvi turned his gaze to the last person at the conference table. This man wore a suit and had the look of a shrewd businessman.
Calvi clasped his hands together and said, "The next matter concerns the procurement of armaments from the Louis family. Mr. Kenke, please explain."
Kenke, the manager of the Louis family's arms company, immediately put on a commercial smile and said,
"General, gentlemen, please follow me to the firing range for a demonstration."
Everyone looked at Calvi. After he nodded, they all stood and followed Kenke toward the firing range.
...
At the firing range, rows of Marley soldiers stood in formation, with two rifles laid out in front of each of them.
At Kenke's signal, the soldiers first picked up one rifle. At the commander's order, "Free fire!" Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunshots rang out without pause, while Kenke explained to the Marley leadership,
"This is the standard-issue Mauser rifle currently used by the military. It has excellent accuracy and is very reliable. However, as times advance, the five-round Mauser rifle is no longer suited to the era."
One Marley officer spoke up irritably, "What do you mean? The Mauser rifle is already outstanding! Our army has countless sharpshooters who have made enemies tremble with fear using Mausers!"
"Oh no, you misunderstand. I have no intention of belittling the Mauser rifle. But on today's battlefield, superiority of firepower is absolute. No matter how precise a shot is, it can't compare to dense barrages of bullets. Please watch..."
The Marley soldiers set down the Mauser rifles and picked up the bulkier-looking rifles beside them. To the officers' surprise, the soldiers directly loaded two rows of ammunition, raised the rifles, and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Firepower ten times more ferocious than before erupted. Each soldier simply kept pulling the trigger, lethal bullets continuously spewing from the muzzles. After ten consecutive volleys, the en-bloc clip ejected with a crisp metallic ping.
Calvi frowned slightly. The firepower of this rifle was indeed many times stronger than the Mauser.
"This is our company's latest development—the Garand Type II rifle. A semi-automatic weapon with powerful firepower, a sturdy structure, and excellent accuracy. This will be the mainstay of future warfare."
"It truly is an excellent weapon. Then what about the price?"
Kenke smiled and quoted a figure. The finance minister beside Calvi exclaimed,
"Impossible! The manufacturing cost is that high? One Garand Type II rifle costs as much as five Mauser rifles. That's far too expensive!"
Kenke smiled and said, "The price can be negotiated. After all, on the battlefield, a soldier's life is the most important thing."
A Marley officer retorted, "No. The lives of Eldians aren't that valuable. Besides, are you really comfortable putting such weapons into Eldian hands?"
More than half of Marley's current military strength consisted of Eldians serving in the vanguard forces.
Calvi fell silent again. The other high-ranking officials began arguing among themselves, but most opposed purchasing the new equipment, since there was no need to launch a war at present.
"Magath, what do you think?"
Magath glanced at the rifle in the soldiers' hands.
"We can first equip Marleyan Guard Corps with these new weapons. After all, Mr. Kenke is right about one thing—on the battlefield, a soldier's life is more valuable."
Calvi nodded in agreement.
Kenke's face once again displayed his signature commercial smile.
"General Calvi, a very wise decision. Next, we also have the latest submachine gun developed by the Louis family. I'm certain you'll be interested."
Magath looked at Kenke. He knew that behind the Louis family's arms company stood one of Marley's great noble houses.