The thirteen-year deadline had arrived. Not wanting his wife and children to get involved in Titan-related matters, Grisha took a day off and lay at home, preparing to silently welcome the arrival of death.
As a result, he lay there all day, waiting and waiting, but he didn't die. It made him wonder if he had remembered the date wrong.
After a few more days of trembling in fear, he realized he was truly still alive, and the Power of the Titans was still there. He could only interpret this as a gift from fate, and the family continued to enjoy their domestic bliss.
On the other hand, Zenith's territory began supplying wheat and potatoes to the outside world in massive quantities at low prices.
Many traveling merchants who came to purchase goods took away tales of what they saw and heard in the SPW Autonomous Zone, and these accounts gradually trended toward becoming legends.
The very real, cheap grain filled people with fantasies about this "Autonomous Zone" they had never seen. The scenes described by the merchants—iron vehicles driving on roads, forests of high-rise buildings, and a prosperous society filled with song and dance—were far more attractive to them than the kingdom of heaven spoken of by priests.
After all, this was a kingdom of heaven established on earth. People began calling the SPW Autonomous Zone the distant utopia.
Autumn gave way to winter, and winter turned to spring. After confirming that he truly couldn't trigger any tech mods in this world, Zenith decisively slipped away from the factory.
He was sick of staying at home; it was time to go out and find some fun.
The year 847 was a very crucial point in the original plot. The 104th Training Corps was formed, and a bunch of brats with the Power of the Titans flocked to enlist this year. It was an absolute circus of chaos.
The carriage slowly drove toward the recruitment area. Zenith was driving at the front, and the inside of the carriage was a picture of harmony.
Reiner, Little Bert, and Eren were playing Fight the Landlord, while Annie and Mikasa were arm-wrestling to see who was stronger.
Eren's buddy Armin was cheering Annie on, which made Mikasa occasionally turn her head to glare at Eren and sulk.
The simple romance of these teenage boys and girls was slowly sprouting. Zenith had spent a lot of effort to drag Eren and the others out of their homes.
For one, Grisha, relying on the power of the Attack Titan, had seen the future version of that crazy bastard Eren and knew just how much terrifying inner energy the kid possessed.
Secondly, over the past year, the casualty rate of soldiers across all military branches had seen a significant drop.
Of course, this mainly applied to the Survey Corps; the other branches didn't really have people dying in the first place. Currently, the main combat squads of the Survey Corps had all been equipped with the new model of ODM gear, officially announced to the public as: X-Maneuver Gear.
"X" represented the unknown. To this day, they hadn't even scratched the surface of researching magic. After all, cross-disciplinary research was inherently difficult, and they didn't have a walking magical library like Serie to assist them.
In the current Survey Corps, two squads boasted the strongest combat power. One was the Levi Squad led by Captain Levi, which had now been renamed the Crimson Squad, symbolizing an aggression as fierce as fire.
The other was Hannes's True Courage Squad, fighting after having regained their bravery, mostly consisting of veterans with unwavering conviction.
That's right. After thinking it over, Hannes still chose to bring the power of Seven and join the Survey Corps. There was no place inside the walls that required the power of an Ultraman, and no one knew what kind of unexpected situations might arise outside the walls.
Even with the X-Maneuver Gear, it wasn't completely foolproof.
In today's Survey Corps, Seven and Zero had become their spiritual symbols—powerful, friendly, and asking for nothing in return.
Everyone didn't know the true identities of these two giants who always arrived accompanied by light, but they had indeed been saved by them more than once.
Enlisting in the military didn't involve a strict initial screening. After quickly eliminating a batch of people who were obviously unfit to be soldiers, these fresh recruits stood on the training grounds wearing the uniforms of the Training Corps.
A group of people stood on the high platform above. They would be the commanding officers, teachers, and instructors of the Training Corps, accompanying them through rigorous training until they were distributed into the various military branches.
The head instructor of the Training Corps was a fierce-looking bald old man. His sunken eye sockets exuded a murderous aura, his words were sharp, and he loved to poke people right where it hurt.
There was also a deputy head instructor—Zenith.
That's right, it was Zenith. Back when he was training Shirou Emiya, he hadn't fully satisfied his cravings, nor had he really let loose.
This time, not only were there more people, but he also had more tricks up his sleeve. If he didn't have a good time playing with these kids, it would be a disservice to all the abilities and mods he had learned.
"You scum, you bugs! Until you become proper, qualified soldiers, you're worse than the livestock in a pigpen!"
Keith Shadis, the prime example of a sharp tongue but a soft heart. The soldiers here needed to fight Titans, so before training the recruits, their pasts had to be completely broken down and denied, training them from scratch.
This was a process every soldier had to go through: denial, then reconstruction. Only by building a new high-rise from the ruins could they withstand the trials ahead.
Shadis walked among the recruits one by one, asking for their names and denying their pasts. This recruit intimidation tactic was going quite smoothly until his gaze swept over a girl munching on a potato in the formation.
To be honest, Shadis was a bit dumbfounded. He prided himself on being experienced and knowledgeable, but a soldier who dared to casually munch on a potato during a recruit orientation was something he had truly never seen before.
How bizarre. Shadis walked over with a look of disbelief, glaring into the girl's innocent eyes. "Hey... what is your name?"
The girl looked left and right. After confirming he was calling her, she snapped to attention and slammed the hand holding the potato against her chest. "Sir! My name is Sasha Braus!"
"Sasha Braus, what is that in your right hand?"
"Sir! It is a steamed potato!"
He didn't get it. He completely didn't get it. On such a serious occasion, at such a solemn recruit ceremony, you're eating a potato?!
Facing Shadis's relentless questioning, Sasha made her judgment. She revealed a reluctant expression, split the potato into a large half and a small half, struggled internally for a few seconds, and handed the smaller piece to Shadis.
The scene fell dead silent, with only Zenith's uproarious laughter echoing through the air.
"No, seriously, save me! Why is this scene so damn funny no matter how many times I watch it?!"
Sure enough, normal people could never understand the world of a foodie. If Sasha were thrown into an anime like *Toriko*, she would definitely become a renowned powerhouse.
But here, a furious Shadis punished Sasha by making her run laps around the training ground until she dropped from exhaustion.
And she wasn't allowed to have dinner.
The recruits were assigned to their respective dormitories, while the instructors discussed the day's recruits in the office.
Because Wall Maria hadn't been breached, the atmosphere here wasn't as tense as in the original story. Many people were still chatting and laughing; only Shadis looked like he was questioning his entire existence.
"I actually think that kid is pretty good," Zenith said, tapping his fingers. "When a person has an obsession with something, they have motivation. All she wants is to eat. If guided correctly, she'll be one of the top graduates of this class."
Shadis remained noncommittal. "I'll assume you're right for now. Tomorrow is the aptitude test for the ODM gear. If her body can't adapt to it, it won't matter how motivated she is by food."
Power Stones, reviews, and comments— really helps a lot
Want to read ahead? Get access to 50+ extra chapters on my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/Aragai_Sama