"Dong dong dong."
The striking of the bell echoed throughout Trost District. For the soldiers engaged in bloody battles, this was undoubtedly celestial music, for it signaled the end of the civilians' evacuation and the moment the soldiers could finally retreat.
"Whoosh thud!"
Rayan landed on the roof of a house. Before he could steady himself, a figure dashed over.
"Rayan, you're alright!"
"I'm alright." Rayan looked up, saw the red marks at the corners of Krista's eyes, and smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"You should be relieved now, right?" Ymir walked over, sighed, and looked at Rayan. "You have no idea how many times Krista has mentioned you just now. She even cried..."
"Ymir!" Krista's small face flushed red. She reached out and covered Ymir's mouth to stop her from continuing, then stammered, "Because... because it was really dangerous." As she spoke, her eyes welled up again, and she looked very sad. "So many of our classmates have... have died..."
"..."
Rayan patted her shoulder, saying nothing.
His gaze swept around. The survivors of the 104th Squad were mostly gathered on the roof of this relatively tall building, which could barely provide some shelter from the titans. After scanning the area, he immediately found Armin sitting in a corner, his hands clutching his head, trembling all over.
He was alone.
It seemed Eren and Mikasa had been eaten after all, Rayan thought. Sure enough, this part of the plot couldn't be changed... but then again, compared to the plot, this was likely Eren's "fate."
There's a saying that "character determines fate," and it's quite true.
Faced with an enemy, people will rationally judge whether to fight or flee, but personality also plays a decisive role, often leading to completely different outcomes. Eren's personality was clearly "fight."
His hatred for titans and his confidence in his own strength had clouded his judgment, making him want to kill every titan he saw. However, humans were ultimately no match for titans. Not to mention him, even the elites in the Survey Corps would run if they could, only fighting when absolutely necessary.
But Eren, at least the current Eren, was all about "kill." He wouldn't think about running, only about confronting them head-on. And in this situation, it was only natural that he would die.
Saying things like, "The more afraid of death you are on the battlefield, the faster you die, and the less afraid you are, the more likely you are to survive," is complete nonsense.
In fact, the duty of veterans is to drive and coax the recruits to charge forward because if one out of ten charging survives, they've hit the jackpot. Experienced veterans all try to avoid danger if they can, or participate in things like spearhead operations, but they never throw their lives away meaninglessly.
So, it was normal for Eren to be eaten. It would have been abnormal if he hadn't been, even if it wasn't to save Armin. He would have definitely perished in a titan's mouth soon enough. After all, there had been people like him in the past, like the former commander of the Survey Corps, Keith Shadis, the current instructor of the Training Corps.
It was precisely because his strategy was "charge, charge, charge, kill, kill, kill" that the Survey Corps suffered such heavy losses in every expedition outside the walls. Of course, Eren was a bit smarter than him, but only to a limited extent. That's why someone like Erwin was more suited for survival.
In short, generally, those who don't have the protagonist's aura and charge headfirst usually die a miserable death.
"Say, what about the supply squad soldiers?" Marco asked the others at this moment. "We're out of gas and need to resupply."
"Supply squad?" Jean, sitting to the side, sneered. "Those guys are completely terrified and don't dare to come out! Speaking of which, we're really unlucky. We were lucky enough to survive until the end of the operation and could retreat, but we don't have gas, so we can only sit here and wait to die! Haha!"
"How... could this be..."
Marco was somewhat incredulous, clearly struggling to accept it.
"I think we can only try our luck!" Connie stood up and said loudly, "Let's see if we can kill the titans over there! Lingering here will have the same result. It won't be long before the titans gather here!"
"That may be true, but can we do it with our current forces?" Jean said coldly. "Most of the seniors in the vanguard squad are dead, and we..."
"Don't worry," Rayan suddenly interrupted, his gaze looking towards the outer wall. Someone was speeding over there. "Humanity's blade, the Survey Corps, is here."
"That's right..."
"Exactly! If Captain Levi is here, they can definitely do it!"
"Where is he now?!"
People suddenly remembered this and immediately gained a new pillar of hope, becoming excited all at once.
At this moment, Survey Corps Commander Erwin also landed on the rooftop with his men.
"Commander Erwin..."
"You are trainees, right? Thank you for your hard work."
As Erwin spoke, he was covered in blood, having killed countless titans. Of course, many had also been sacrificed.
Rayan looked at the Survey Corps soldiers behind him. Even though some had been sent to the inner wall, only about thirty were left here. The rest must have been sacrificed.
At this moment, Erwin glanced at the dejected crowd and immediately understood the current situation.
"Your gas is almost gone, right?"
"Yes, Commander Erwin," someone said angrily. "Those damn supply soldiers are all hiding in headquarters and won't come out! We can't get any supplies!"
"Please have the Survey Corps' elite eliminate the titans surrounding that area!"
"Captain Levi can definitely do it! Where is he?!"
Everyone spoke at once. Erwin raised a hand, and his invisible aura immediately silenced everyone.
"Captain Levi is currently leading the elite to guard the inner gate," Erwin said. "Right now, the Armored Titan may appear at any time, so they must guard that place and cannot provide support here."
"As for gas, we can spare some for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Survey Corps soldiers stepped forward one after another, unfastening the gas canisters hanging from their waists. Unlike the trainees, the Survey Corps had not only people and horses but also carriages on every expedition outside the walls. And the carriages naturally carried resources, including gas canisters and blades.
Because of the information in Rayan's note, the Survey Corps hadn't gone far, so they had naturally saved their gas. They had used a lot in the fierce battle against the titans at the outer gate earlier, and after hearing the retreat bell, they had replenished their gas before coming over, so their canisters were now full.
This was naturally great news for the trainees. This way, they wouldn't have to risk going to headquarters, nor would they have to wait to die on this rooftop.
At this moment, after replenishing some gas, everyone regained their spirits. However, the good-natured Marco looked at the distant headquarters, hesitated for a moment, and asked Erwin, "Commander Erwin, what about... the supply soldiers trapped in headquarters? Are we going to abandon them?"
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.
"We should abandon them!" someone said. "It's their fault for being afraid of death and not fulfilling their duties, which almost led to our deaths! Are we still going to risk our lives to save them?"
"That's right, we can't take the risk!"
"I don't want to face the titans again..."
Regarding Marco's question, before Erwin could speak, the other trainees gave their answer, unanimously two words: don't save them.
Marco felt a pang in his heart upon hearing this, his gaze expectant as he looked at Erwin.
Erwin: "We currently don't have the resources or time to do that."
"..."
"The area around headquarters is full of 8-15 meter class titans. Our current state would lead to even greater losses if we went there," he said. "Ensuring the safety of the inner city is the most important thing right now, recruits."
After speaking, he led the Survey Corps soldiers towards the inner city gate, and the trainees followed one after another.
Rayan looked at the disappointed Marco, patted his shoulder, and said, "Commander Erwin is right. You should understand that, right?"
Indeed, going to save the soldiers in headquarters at this time would be putting the cart before the horse and pointlessly wasting lives.
Although Erwin seemed a bit cold, it was precisely this rationality that allowed him to continuously reduce the mortality rate of the Survey Corps' expeditions outside the walls. Only those who dared to make choices and bear the consequences of those choices could truly gain something.
"I understand. It's just a little hard to bear."
"Don't worry, they'll be saved."
"Just have to see when Eren can successfully transform... it should be soon, right?"
The Survey Corps group and the trainee group arrived at the inner wall. Levi and Hange, who were stationed here, were subtly relieved to see Erwin was alright. But after glancing at the almost halved number of soldiers, their expressions weren't good either.
"So many more were sacrificed..." Hange said, feeling pained.
"They were very valuable sacrifices," Levi said. "Erwin, because of your efforts, we had time to get ninety percent of the civilians into the inner city for refuge."
"Yeah," Erwin nodded. "So, it seems the Armored Titan didn't appear this time."
"Right, I was even thinking of cutting open that bastard's nape to take a look. Ended up waiting an hour for nothing."
"Then..."
"Roar!!"
A non-human roar suddenly resounded, and in an instant, everyone looked towards the source of the sound. Looking down from a high vantage point, many could see clearly. For example, the long-haired titan punching other titans away.
"That's..."
"A titan attacking other titans?"
"An abnormal?!"
Everyone was extremely surprised by this scene. Rayan specifically glanced at the warrior trio. Sure enough, their shocked expressions held a hint of certainty, as if saying, "It's that one."
If titans possess intelligence... Erwin recalled his previous deduction and immediately decided, "We need to understand the situation with that titan."
As he spoke, he selected a few Survey Corps soldiers and told them to follow it. "You don't need to fight the titan, just observe from the side."
"Yes!"
Several soldiers quickly jumped off the wall and rushed over. Rayan watched the rampaging long-haired titan, thinking that with this, the plot was back on track. As for the part about going to headquarters to replenish gas, it could only be considered a "side story," and it didn't matter if it didn't happen.
The most important thing was the information that Eren could transform into a titan.
Rayan thought that he had once speculated about the manga author's intentions. If the idea of "Eren's titan transformation information being revealed" was conceived first, then the corresponding event had to be "city destroyed and people killed" to highlight its impact and tension.
"Being eaten during the wall exterior survey and then transforming" was undoubtedly not impactful enough and might not fully utilize Eren's "revenge" motivation, so it was discarded.
Speaking of which, the fall of this entire walled city, Trost District, was to allow Eren to show his power and step onto the stage—how cruel.
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Need More Chapters
Every 300 Power Stones
2 Bonus chapter
Every 500 Power Stones
4 Bonus chapter.
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