"Stop! Who goes there!?" A Marleyan soldier raised his rifle and shouted loudly at the figure that suddenly appeared in the darkness.
This shout from the Marleyan soldier also alerted his companions. Before long, more than a dozen fully armed Marleyan soldiers rushed over.
"This is a restricted military supply depot. No one is allowed to approach casually. Who are you people!?" the Marleyan soldier from earlier continued to demand loudly.
At this moment, the figures in the darkness also stepped forward. It turned out to be a squad of Marleyan soldiers in uniform, led by a fat Marleyan officer with his hands behind his back, his body round like a balloon.
Just as the soldiers guarding the depot were still puzzled, the fat Marleyan officer suddenly arrogantly shouted,
"What are you doing? What are you doing? Are you blind? Do you know who I am? How dare you point your guns at me? You idiots with brains smaller than walnuts—believe it or not, I'll have all of you cleaning toilets tomorrow!"
The arrogant tone made the Marleyan soldiers exchange glances. Damn, this fat bastard was really cocky.
"Sorry, sir. We are not aware of your identity. We are simply following military orders. May I ask what your business is at the supply depot?" Fortunately, the leading Marleyan soldier had some experience. Although the fat officer clearly held a high rank and spoke arrogantly, he still asked calmly and respectfully.
"What business? I'm here to take over my territory and subordinates. I am the commander of this No. 3 supply depot—Colonel Bagge. Do you understand my identity now?" Bagge said, lifting his chin.
"Bagge?" The Marleyan soldier was a bit suspicious. Before the previous depot commander left, he did mention that someone would come to replace him, and it did seem like the name was Bagge.
However, the Marleyan soldier still insisted on checking Bagge's identification and documents. After confirming everything was correct, he respectfully returned the papers, saluted, and said apologetically,
"Sorry, sir. We are only fulfilling our duties. We apologize for the inconvenience."
With the misunderstanding cleared, the Marleyan soldiers relaxed their guard, and the soldiers behind Bagge also walked forward.
Bagge looked at the soldier apologizing to him, his expression a bit complicated. His lips moved slightly, and he softly said,
"Sorry..."
The Marleyan soldier frowned in confusion.
"What did you say..."
Pfft!
With a muffled sound, the Marleyan soldier's eyes widened. A metallic taste filled his throat, and an intense suffocating sensation surged into his brain—a sharp dagger had pierced through his neck.
A gurgling sound came from his throat as blood continuously poured out. His body went limp, collapsing to the ground, twitching a few times before completely losing all signs of life.
At the same time, more than a dozen Marleyan soldiers were taken out simultaneously, and the air was filled with the smell of blood.
Serena pulled off her helmet, shook the blood from the dagger in her hand, glanced at the still-dazed Bagge, then waved her hand. Chaotic footsteps soon emerged from the darkness.
A large group of Eldian Revival Army members, with cloth bands tied around their arms, appeared and quickly flooded into the supply depot.
"Didn't expect bringing this guy along would make things this much easier. At least we don't need the Female Titan to step in," Serena said, glancing at Bagge before turning to Annie standing beside her.
Annie shook her head. "Since there's no problem here, I'll head out first. I'm going to Yago."
Serena nodded. "Alright! We'll regroup later! Our Eldian Revival Army won't disappoint Yago. The horn of counterattack has been sounded!"
...
"The will of the Fritz King on Paradis Island has already been tampered with. A rebellion has broken out on the island, and the power of the Founder has been seized by the rebels. The Eldians who launched the rebellion are all radical warmongers. At any moment, they could unleash the terrifying Rumbling and destroy this world.
When that happens, it will be a disaster for humanity. Countless people will cry out in despair as they are trampled to death beneath the feet of the Colossal Titans.
But I do not want to die. I, Willy Tybur, want to live—want to live in our beautiful world. Therefore, today, here, I stand on behalf of Marley, on behalf of the Eldians in the Liberio internment zone who still long for peace, to call upon the entire world, to call upon all of humanity—to unite and face this crisis together!
The crisis facing the world is right before us. So today, once again, I take the lead on behalf of Marley to formally declare war on the rebels who seized the power of the Founder on Paradis Island—Eren Yeager—and on the radical forces of Paradis Island!"
Willy's voice was clearly transmitted to everyone through the microphone and broadcast.
At first, there was complete silence among the audience, then an unimaginable wave of cheers erupted.
"Well done, Willy!"
"The descendant of a savior!"
"Destroy those damned devils of Paradis Island!"
"Destroy the Founder!!"
...
All kinds of cheers echoed throughout the venue. The representatives of various nations were all shrewd, naturally seeing through Willy's intentions—at a time when Marley was weakened, he was shifting the conflicts of the world's nations onto a relatively inactive Paradis Island, cleverly making use of humanity's long-standing hostility toward Eldians.
However, none of the ambassadors exposed this directly. After all, this matter was beneficial to them.
First, even a weakened Marley was still formidable—aside from the Middle Eastern coalition, no nation was willing to confront Marley head-on.
Second, the threat of Paradis Island had always existed and was a reasonable justification. Moreover, the island's vast territory meant abundant resources. Being able to claim benefits openly—only a fool would oppose that.
Although the audience saw Willy's speech as outstanding, in reality, his forehead was already covered in fine beads of sweat.
His nerves were stretched to the limit as he waited for a surprise attack. When preparing this explosive speech, Willy had already made peace with the possibility of sacrifice. If enemies from Paradis Island had infiltrated Marley, it would be nearly impossible for them to resist acting now—and who could be a more attractive target than himself, an unguarded speaker and the representative behind Marley?
Willy clenched his teeth and waited, but unfortunately, there was no movement at all. This left him somewhat deflated. Had he guessed wrong? What a pity—if someone from Paradis Island had struck at this moment, his plan would have been even more perfect.
The applause gradually faded. Willy let out a soft sigh, then shifted his gaze toward the stands where Marley's nobility sat. Since one group of guests hadn't arrived, he might as well attend to the other.
By the window, Yago dusted off his coat.
"Tybur, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed this time. We're not in a hurry to make a move yet. What's that brat Eren doing right now?"
Meanwhile, the Eren Yago was thinking about was currently at a loss, because a scruffy, bearded man had suddenly rushed up and hugged him tightly, shouting something like "Brother is here" and rambling on endlessly.