There were five days left until the 57th expedition outside the walls.
The soldiers had a day off and were allowed to go back to see their relatives. Because after the expedition outside the walls, no one could say for sure if they would return.
However, if they couldn't return, it would only mean failing their filial duty to their parents. There were no other responsibilities like husband to wife, wife to husband, or parents to children.
Because the soldiers of the Survey Corps were all single dogs.
Everyone was very self-aware. Having chosen this corps where they could die at any time, naturally no one would take a liking to them. Even if someone still liked you, you shouldn't reciprocate that feeling. Otherwise, what could you bring the other person besides daily anxiety and one day a cold, incomplete corpse?
Many times, there wasn't even a corpse, nothing at all, just the news: the person died, eaten by a Titan.
Even Commander Erwin of the Survey Corps had chosen the former between dreams and love back then. So the person he liked eventually married Nile, the Commander of the Military Police.
Regarding this, Nile had always been somewhat unable to understand. On the one hand, he felt sorry for Erwin, and on the other hand, he admired him very much. But there was also a trace of relief, glad that he had chosen his dream. Otherwise, with Erwin's ability, if he had joined the Military Police, then probably both the commander position and the girl would have belonged to Erwin instead of him.
At this moment, the headquarters was empty, with only a few soldiers who had no relatives to seek left behind. The higher-ups of the Survey Corps had also stayed behind and were currently discussing matters regarding the expedition outside the walls.
Erwin was the first to ask Hange, "Has Christa shown anything unusual during this time?"
"No," Hange said seriously. "After you talked to her that day, I had several female soldiers secretly watch her every move. We didn't find anything unusual about her behavior compared to usual. She didn't mention that conversation to anyone."
"Mm."
"Erwin," Levi suddenly said, "Now that we've confirmed that guy Rayan is a Titan, does the expedition outside the walls still have meaning?"
Erwin shook his head. "We can't confirm he's a Titan yet. All we can confirm at the moment is that he knew about the Titans a long time ago."
Mikey: "If he's not a Titan, why go through all the trouble of secretly leaving a note? Wouldn't it have been better to just find us and tell us directly? But if he is a Titan, why would he tell us?"
The few of them were silent for a moment, each pondering the possibilities.
Indeed, this matter was somewhat contradictory, and it wasn't possible to immediately sort out a clear line of thought.
After a moment, Erwin spoke again, "From the current perspective, there are two possibilities. One, he's not a Titan, but he knows about the Titans. In this case, the reason he chose this method might be that he was worried that if he came forward directly, we would suspect him of being a Titan and control or capture him. Or he might also be worried that there are Titans within the military, and doing so would alert them, causing the Titans to become aware of his existence and kill him."
"Two, he is a Titan. Then the reason for doing so might not be based on rational judgment but on emotion."
"Emotion?" Hange asked curiously.
"Yes. Regarding one piece of information about him, during the snow mountain training in the training corps, he saved Christa once. Being able to risk his life to save someone in a life-threatening situation can tentatively be judged as him not having a purely rational personality," Erwin paused. "In that case, perhaps as a Titan, he has a reason why he must destroy the walls. However, his emotions made him unwilling to do so, so he secretly gave us a hint."
Levi's head was starting to hurt at this moment. "Erwin, you're thinking too much."
"No!" Hange, on the other hand, was very excited upon hearing this and continued, "If that's the case, it's very possible that there's discord among the enemies! From what we can see now, there are a total of three enemy intelligent Titans. If Rayan is one of them, then perhaps he has ideological differences with the other two and doesn't want to cause too much human death?"
Erwin nodded. "That's also a possibility."
Mikey frowned after listening to the two of them. "Then the first thing we should do is still try to control Rayan, right?"
"It's difficult."
Erwin said, "He's now the new squad leader of the Military Police, and he's within Wall Sina. If he's a Titan, rash action could trigger a huge crisis."
"Then what about requesting the cooperation of the Military Police?"
"It will take time. And Rayan is very smart. He came to the Survey Corps once ten days ago and knows that the expedition outside the walls will begin soon." Erwin's eyes glazed over, as if simulating Rayan's thoughts. "If I were Rayan, I went to the Survey Corps, and as a result, the Survey Corps' planned expedition outside the walls was suddenly canceled. Then I would definitely wonder why. I would definitely become suspicious."
"If he becomes suspicious, then it will be very difficult to control him," Hange said.
"That's right, so the expedition outside the walls will proceed as originally planned. And whether Rayan is a Titan or not, there's a high probability that they will appear during this expedition," Erwin said. "Eren's basement is key. If they don't want us to know the secret of the Titans, they will definitely try to seize or kill Eren."
"..."
Hange: "Many more people will die, won't they?"
The few of them fell into a silent silence. There was no way around it. Apart from the few people in the room now, the other soldiers had no idea that their lives were already in imminent danger. But it was the same for everyone.
Even the cadres present, except for Levi, were equally vulnerable against intelligent Titans. Mikey might be able to hold out for a while, but it would be futile.
...
The gunfight in the forest had entered its final stage.
The enemy's amateurish gun skills were ultimately no match for the Military Police, especially with a sharpshooter like Annie present. Soon, the enemy suffered heavy casualties and began to retreat.
As for the new recruits, besides Baker, Wilson from Annie's squad was also killed in action, and Roberts from Marlo's squad was shot in the shoulder and had lost his combat ability.
At this time, Rayan naturally wouldn't let them escape. He immediately led people to chase after them. He took Marlo with him and had Annie and her squad flank from the other side. Rayan himself ran very fast, quickly overtaking the few robbers in front and then firing to block them.
In this way, under the illusion of having people in front, behind, left, and right, the few robbers immediately threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground to surrender. But there was still one person who stubbornly kept running forward, but he still couldn't outrun Rayan and was caught by him. And when he saw that person's face, he wasn't too surprised, it could even be said that it was expected.
"Be honest!"
The new recruits tied up all the surrendered robbers, then watched Rayan drag someone back from a distance.
"That is...?!"
Everyone showed shocked expressions when they saw the person Rayan was dragging by one leg across the ground.
Rayan approached and threw the person on the ground.
Everyone gathered around, looking at his face. It was none other than Woermann Kyle, the captain of the Military Police.
The latter was covered in dirt and had a fierce look in his eyes. Facing everyone's bewilderment and shock, he didn't beg for mercy but instead shouted loudly, "Insubordination! Are you trying to rebel?!"
"Captain Woermann, can you explain why you were mixed up with robbers?" Rayan asked.
"What do you think you are?!" Woermann glared at him. "I am your superior officer, I have no obligation to explain anything to you! Now follow me back to headquarters immediately!"
As he spoke, he tried to stand up and walk out, but he was stopped by everyone.
"Captain Woermann, I didn't expect you to be in league with robbers!" Marlo looked at him with disgust.
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Woermann pointed at the robbers and then at his own face. "Me? In league with robbers? Why would I? Why would I give up being a perfectly good captain to become a robber?!"
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this. Rayan nodded. "Good question. It seems the answer will have to come from these few."
As he spoke, he looked at the few robbers. "Possessing firearms privately, attacking Military Police. That's enough to get you hanged. However, if you confess honestly, maybe you can save your lives and spend your remaining years peacefully in prison."
"Rayan! You're trying to coerce a confession! I'm telling you, you... poof!"
Before Woermann could finish speaking, Rayan kicked him in the stomach. The severe pain immediately made him kneel on the ground, unable to speak.
The other new recruits looked on, feeling somewhat at a loss. They didn't know what to do at this time. After all, the concept of officialdom being supreme was deeply rooted in the minds of the people within the walls. People were afraid of officials, even if this official was already in a predicament, they would still instinctively be afraid.
It was like Feng Jizhong in The Deer and the Cauldron, who, as a Qing palace spy, lurked in the Heaven and Earth Society for most of the book and was never suspected by Wei Xiaobao. However, in the end, just as he was about to capture Wei Xiaobao and his seven wives and return to Beijing, he unexpectedly failed.
The one who defeated him wasn't the cunning Wei Xiaobao, nor the highly skilled Shuang'er, but the unexpected Princess Jianning! (Note 1)
No, more accurately, what defeated him was the word "official."
The situation was the same now. Even though the new recruits clearly understood that Woermann had led people to ambush them, many didn't even dare to feel angry. All they felt was... confusion and fear.
Rayan naturally understood this point, and he didn't intend to change their minds because it was impossible.
Trying to impose one's own values on others was purely asking for trouble. If you could change a deeply rooted belief in someone's heart with just a few words, they could probably be changed back by someone else with a few words the next day.
So, Rayan didn't rely on words but on actions to make everyone understand his thoughts. He also relied on actions to tie everyone to him.
"I... I'll talk!"
At this moment, a robber couldn't withstand the pressure and spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube. "It was him! Woermann found us before, told us to, to gather some people... said he wanted to kill Li... Lin. We had no choice! He's a captain, if we didn't cooperate, they would have found others... and then we would have..."
"You damn shut up!!" Woermann roared, enduring the pain in his abdomen. "You dog dare to slander me! I'll have you hanged..."
"Do you have evidence?" Rayan stared at the robber. The latter nodded, seemingly enraged by Woermann's curses. He said angrily, "We kept records! Every transaction was recorded, the ledger is in my chest!"
"Very good."
Rayan took a small notebook from the robber's chest, opened it, and nodded with satisfaction. He made up his mind and looked at Woermann, who seemed to realize something and looked at Rayan in horror. "You, what do you want to do?! I'm telling you! Even if I committed a crime, it's not your business! It needs to be decided in a military court!"
As he spoke, seeing that Rayan was unmoved, he roared at the other new recruits, "Do you want to rebel with Rayan too?! Capture him! I guarantee you'll all get promoted!"
The new recruits remained silent.
"Had enough?"
Rayan raised his gun, the muzzle pressed against Captain Woermann's forehead. Before the new recruits could react, Rayan's finger pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The gun fired, and the man died.
Rayan looked at the shocked crowd and said calmly, "Captain Woermann colluded with robbers to ambush Military Police, but he was silenced by the robbers themselves. The soldiers, unaware of the situation, retaliated in grief and anger, eliminating all the robbers. Afterward, a ledger was found, and the soldiers learned the truth."
After he finished speaking, he turned to leave. "Deal with them."
The robbers were dumbfounded upon hearing this. What about peacefully spending their old age in prison?
"That's right! That's how it should be!" Marlo looked at Rayan's figure with some admiration. "These 'meat-eaters' deserve to die!"
Annie also turned her head and took a deep look at Rayan. After a long while, she said softly, "...Marlo, are you sure he won't become a new 'meat-eater'?"
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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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