At the camp on the outskirts, Levi saw Hange waving her hand.
"You're finally here, Levi! You're so slow!" Hange ran toward him, enthusiastically untying the straw rope that held the canopy.
"The cargo has already been delivered, so how do you plan to open the crystal shell surrounding that girl?" Levi dismounted from his horse, quite intrigued by their methods.
"Let's try it anyway. It's impossible to move a twelve-meter Titan." Hange ordered the soldiers to untie the ropes and, with a whistle, lowered the brown cover.
That bright, crystal-like structure was exposed to the sunlight.
Annie, like an insect frozen in amber, had her eyes closed and was curled up into a ball.
Apparently, she was only a girl of about ten years old, but her transformation into a Titan caused a serious incident, with hundreds of people dead or injured in a single event—almost all of them nobles and military officers with known names and identities.
According to the current laws within the walls, she should be hanged, and those associated with her would also be implicated and executed.
"No matter how many times I look at it, it's still astonishing." Hange stroked the translucent crystal as if caressing a loved one. "Titan girl, you are truly incredible. How is this material made?"
"Come here and give me a hand, help me bring it down!" Hange ordered the soldiers behind her who were standing frozen.
The soldiers gathered around her and, together, moved the heavy object— as heavy as stone—onto the grass.
"If we manage to open the crystal shell, shouldn't we interrogate her first?" Levi asked, staring coldly at Annie's face. "This girl is a Marleyan warrior, an invader. We can get a lot of information from her."
"Gale said it wasn't necessary." Hange crouched down and examined the crystal with a magnifying glass as she explained, "He said that after Dina inherits the Female Titan, we'll deal with the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan."
Levi paused for a moment, turned around, and asked in a low voice, "They've been found?"
"Yes, Gale found them." Hange's attention remained fixed on the crystal. "It seems that Gale found them a long time ago. That's how he found Ymir, but unlike her, the others are soldiers. The reason he didn't say anything is because he was concerned about the destruction that could be caused by fighting them."
"Is that so?" Levi felt the explanation was very vague; the way Gale found Ymir was strange. But he didn't care—he only wanted to eliminate all the Titans who had harmed innocent people.
After thinking about it, Levi said, "Indeed… acting rashly… could cause problems…"
"Let's wait a little longer. In any case, it will take time to eliminate the Titans inside Wall Maria." Hange stood up and brushed off her pant leg.
"It's not too late to act once there are no Titans left within the wall. That way, even if they destroy the gates again, they won't pose a major threat to us."
"Don't forget to call me when you go on the mission." Levi's voice was filled with killing intent.
He had witnessed firsthand the horrors that took place inside Wall Maria.
Many people died at the hands of Titans because they did not have time to evacuate.
Ordinary villages are no match for Titans. A Titan seven or eight meters tall can wipe out a village of around eighty people.
When the wall was breached last year, the Survey Corps moved to the front lines to investigate the situation and cover the evacuation of refugees.
They passed through many villages, and to this day, Levi does not know how to describe the horrifying scenes. In some villages, no one—neither young nor old—was spared. Everywhere there were pieces of corpses devoured and spat out by Titans, and the ground was covered with severed limbs.
It was hell.
The survivors who took refuge in Wall Rose had dark expressions; they were in refugee zones along the desolate border, having lost their homes and their loved ones.
"The Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan are the creators of that hell; they must pay the price for their actions and atone for their sins."