The noisy mess hall—hundreds of soldiers wearing the Wings of Freedom were drinking heartily, and the tables in front of them were piled high with meats rarely seen in everyday life.
Sasha had turned into a red-eyed demon, clutching a huge slab of roast meat as big as her own head and tearing into it. Jean Kirstein and Connie stared at her from the side, afraid she might eat herself to death.
Tomorrow would be the day the Survey Corps set out. After observing the Titan meat grinder jointly created by Hange and Eren, all the top leadership unanimously approved Erwin's plan to retake Wall Maria.
Humanity needed this victory—needed it to dispel the shadow that Titans had cast over them for so long.
Count Duko, in charge of finances, even solemnly bowed to Erwin and said,
"For humanity's future, please return with victory!" After that, Count Duko called on the other nobles and various merchant guilds to give full support to the Survey Corps' upcoming operation.
Now, inside the walls, nearly all of the corrupt nobles of the former royal government had been arrested. Most of the remaining nobles were minor ones or newly elevated nobles who had never participated in royal government actions. One thing was certain: the era when power was concentrated in the hands of nobles had already passed.
Since Historia became queen, many things had been quietly changing. Education was no longer rigid, and creativity had seen tremendous growth.
In the records left behind by the Central Military Police, Hange was furious—so angry she was shaking. Countless novel inventions and advanced ideas that looked immensely meaningful for humanity had all been strangled in their infancy by the Central Military Police.
But now, there would be no more such restraints. It was said that the chief designer of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was currently researching the latest generation of the gear.
With those evil old nobles gone, the lives of commoners had also become much easier. They no longer needed to pay the increasingly heavy taxes imposed since the walls were breached.
Merchants and the military also began actively striving for a voice. Now, the rough outline of a small council was gradually taking shape, and Historia, seated on the throne, instead became the most leisurely person of all.
With full backing, the Survey Corps received unprecedented material supplies. Even the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was almost entirely transferred from the newest batches in other corps' inventories.
Meanwhile, Military Police Commander Nile and several commanders of the Garrison Regiment discussed the matter and unanimously decided to recruit elite soldiers who volunteered to join the Survey Corps from both the Military Police and the Garrison.
This was because the Survey Corps, after several expeditions beyond the walls, had already lost many soldiers. Excluding those guarding the various supply outposts, only a little over a hundred soldiers remained who could participate in combat from start to finish.
Thus, the Survey Corps needed reinforcements.
Without the suppression of the royal government, newspapers inside the walls no longer needed to hold back, and they vigorously publicized the deeds of the Survey Corps and the upcoming operation launched for humanity's future.
One line in the newspaper read: "Those soldiers wearing the Wings of Freedom—when they draw their blades against the Titans, what rings in their ears is no longer humanity's wails of desperate survival, but the horn signaling the beginning of humanity's counterattack against the Titans!"
This newspaper inspired many young, hot-blooded soldiers from the Garrison and the Military Police. Even many ordinary civilians came to regard the Survey Corps with respect and admiration. For a time, many trainees in the Training Corps who had originally aspired to join the Military Police also became filled with longing for the Survey Corps that fought for humanity's future.
...
"So, this is why you came to the Survey Corps?" Yago said, looking at the two people in front of him.
Before Yago stood one person whose face still bore faint bruises, with a bowl-cut hairstyle, and beside him a gray-haired girl. They were Marlo and Hitch, who had just transferred from the Military Police to the Survey Corps.
"Yeah! To fight the Titans to the bitter end for humanity's future! That's what a soldier should do!"
Marlo looked somewhat excited, but it tugged at the wound on his face, making him bare his teeth in pain.
"Tch, how stupid. You couldn't even beat a few kidnappers and you still insist on joining the Survey Corps," Hitch said irritably, looking at Marlo.
Yago said to Hitch, "Those weren't ordinary people. Those were five awakening Ackerman warrior retainers, you know? Basically the equivalent of five Captain Levies. The fact that Marlo managed to hold them back for that long is already impressive."
Hitch looked a little surprised and turned to Marlo.
"Something like that happened? Why didn't you tell me?"
Marlo scratched his head awkwardly and said, "No matter who they were, failing to stop them was my dereliction of duty. It's all the same."
Hitch rolled her eyes. Five ordinary kidnappers and five Captain Levies—how could that be the same?
Yago looked at the two in front of him, feeling slightly astonished. At this time, Marlo and Hitch had not, as in older Eren's memories, helped the Survey Corps fight against the royal government. So why would Marlo still join the Survey Corps?
And Hitch was even stranger—she had actually chosen to join the Survey Corps together with Marlo.
This made Yago sigh involuntarily. "Truly… a mysterious fate."
As he spoke, Yago gave Hitch a meaningful smile and asked, "Hitch, it's understandable that Marlo joined the Survey Corps. But why did you follow him in as well?"
Hitch paused slightly, glanced at Yago, then looked at Annie sitting beside him. That look seemed to say,
"What's wrong with your boyfriend? Why is he smiling so strangely?"
Annie felt Hitch's gaze. Although they had only known each other for a few days, they had quickly become good friends. Seeing the look from her good sister, Annie decisively poked Yago and said,
"Don't smile so weirdly!"
Yago: "But you were the one who told me the day before yesterday to smile more."
Annie: "??"
Without waiting for Annie to speak, Yago grabbed her hand first and said,
"Alright, alright, I'll listen to Annie. If you say smile, I'll smile. If you say don't smile, I won't."
Seeing this, Hitch immediately cut in.
"If that idiot Marlo can come, then of course I can come too."
Marlo looked at Hitch and said very seriously, "I'm not an idiot. Hitch, how can you keep calling me that?"
Hitch stood up, flicked her head, and left behind a single sentence: "You are an idiot!"
Marlo frowned, poking at the bread in his bowl with a spoon, muttering, "That's too much."
Honestly, even an idiot could tell that Hitch had some feelings for Marlo.
Yago and Annie exchanged a glance. Annie said, "Marlo is even more dense than you, Yago."
Yago: "What? That's going too far. You should say Marlo is even more dense than Eren."
Marlo: "What are you two talking about??"
Some Eren somewhere: "Achoo! Who was it?! Who's talking about me again!!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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