"Eren, I don't think joining the Survey Corps is a good idea."
On the way home, Mikasa said this, and it made Eren very unhappy.
"Why is that? Are they also stupid like those Garrison soldiers and Uncle Hannes?"
"I didn't say that..."
Ding! Dong! Ding!
The large bell placed on top of the high tower rang, interrupting the children's conversation. Hearing this bell, Eren's face lit up as if he had found the truth.
"The Survey Corps is back! The main gate is opening!"
"Let's go, Mikasa! The heroes are returning!"
For the somewhat "boring" and "dull" life inside the Wall, the people who dared to go out and explore—the Survey Corps—had long been his idols. He also wanted to be like them, to go out there, to explore.
Every time the announcement bell rang, he would take Mikasa and run to the area near the main gate to witness the returning heroes.
And what both children, and the residents, saw was a disaster.
The sparse procession trudged back wearily. Injuries and bandages were mostly what could be seen on their bodies. Everyone's face was heavy, their eyes deeply sunken in exhaustion.
When faced with Eren's bright, expectant gaze, a few people unconsciously looked away.
"Why are there so many fewer people? Over a hundred when they left, now less than thirty."
"They must have been eaten a lot."
"Tsk, the consequence of daring to go outside the Wall."
The murmurs of the surrounding residents were heard by the Survey Corps. But they remained silent without a single word of rebuttal.
From the side of the road, a desperate sound rang out.
"Moses! Moses!"
It was a middle-aged woman with harsh wrinkles on her face. She pushed through the crowd and walked up to the Survey Corps commander.
"My son, Moses... why don't I see him?"
"Where is my son?"
"This is Moses' mother. Give it to her."
To the woman's astonishment, the commander was silent, ordering a soldier behind him to take out something wrapped in a blood-stained cloth.
She opened it. Inside was a hand, dry of blood, purplish and pale.
Without anyone having to say it, the viewers could immediately understand what happened to her son Moses.
Dead.
The woman choked up, clutching the remains of her son. The commander clenched his fists, turning them white.
"I apologize, ma'am. This is... all we could retrieve."
"But... my son... he didn't die in vain, did he?"
Faced with this question, the commander was distraught.
The woman, with two streams of tears running down her face, continued to press every word.
"He may... not be a hero. But he died for humanity, right?!"
"Of course, ma'am!"
That answer burst out of the commander's mouth. Yes, Moses' sacrifice was valuable, a sacrifice for humanity...
How much longer was he going to lie to himself?
"No..."
"This time... and all the times before..."
"We achieved absolutely nothing!"
"I am an incompetent fool. I could only watch them being eaten one by one!"
"Yet we haven't found anything at all about the Titans!"
The commander, Keith Shadis, shouted with two rows of tears rolling down his face. The Survey Corps soldiers behind him were silent. The surrounding residents had various reactions.
Eren and Mikasa were also affected. He was stunned, then enraged when he heard a man mocking the Survey Corps, so he grabbed a piece of firewood from his back and immediately swung it at the man's head.
Fortunately, Mikasa pulled him away, or a brawl would have broken out.
Asahi woke up right after the Survey Corps commander's shout. He opened his eyes and saw a different sky.
However, when he tried to move, his whole body was in unimaginable pain, as if every cell in his body was undergoing continuous disintegration and regeneration.
"System, this..."
"I already warned you."
"You are carrying extremely heavy injuries, and you stayed in Dragon Form for too long. Your body is almost shattered. It will take at least 100 years to fully recover. And during that time, you fundamentally cannot use any power except pure physical strength. Otherwise, you will explode, causing a consequence large enough to collapse an entire continent."
Seeing this, Asahi fell silent.
The price of saving the world, and continually saving the world, was too heavy.
While Asahi was deep in thought, a voice suddenly appeared next to him.
"You're awake?"
Asahi sat up with great difficulty. Even though his body hurt as if it were being torn apart and put back together, with his willpower, forcing movement was not a problem.
Apart from being temporarily unable to transform, he was still himself. What was a little pain?
Having sat up, he realized he had been lying on a crude wooden cart pulled by a horse. Sharing the cart with him was the man with neatly combed blonde hair and a serious face. The very person who found him in the Titan's stomach.
Asahi didn't know that the system had immediately placed him inside the stomach of that giant thing. Its stomach acid couldn't erode him faster than his recovery rate, so the Titan's stomach was, in a sense, the safest place.
"I am Erwin, Erwin Smith. Can you tell me your name?"
"Asahi."
"Which reconnaissance group of the Survey Corps do you belong to?"
"Survey Corps?"
Asahi asked doubtfully, which surprised Erwin a little. But as he was about to ask further, the Survey Corps commander, Keith Shadis, intervened.
"Let this person rest. We will set up camp here. You, what did you say your name was..."
"Asahi."
"Just call me Keith. I will take you to Doctor Yeager's house to have a look."
Erwin said nothing more, sitting quietly in place. Asahi also didn't want to expose his abnormality, so he silently began to survey the world.
In this world, humanity was nearly wiped out? Forced to hide inside the Walls. There were three Walls: Maria, Rose, and Sina, all 50 meters high. They protected humanity from the attack of the "Titans."
The world summary was simple, but there was one point Asahi noted: the "?" behind the phrase "humanity was nearly wiped out."
What did it mean?
While he was lost in thought, the horse-drawn cart carrying him and Erwin was separated by Keith from the reconnaissance group and went to another location.
"We can't use the cart from here. Erwin, lend me a hand."
"Yes."
Both men lifted him up by the shoulders, carrying him to the house of the person called Doctor Yeager. The Yeager family and Keith were old acquaintances.
Fortunately, both husband and wife were home.
"Mister Keith?"
The wife, Carla, opened the door, very surprised that Keith appeared here. He didn't pay much attention, just saying.
"Is Grisha here? I want to ask him to check on this person. It won't take long..."
"What's the matter, Carla?"
The doctor named Grisha Yeager stepped out. An intellectual-looking man with round glasses and a calm demeanor. But deep in his eyes, hidden beneath that composure, was something unusual.
"Mister Keith, who is this person? If he's a soldier, why not go to the military hospital but come to me?"
"No, we found this person inside a Titan's stomach. It's very possible..."