On top of Wall Maria in the Shiganshina District, an additional group of soldiers appeared, dressed in white uniforms, wearing round steel helmets, and carrying long rifles on their backs.
These soldiers unloaded batch after batch of supplies from the crates carried on the back of the Cart Titan crawling on all fours.
The rank insignia on their shoulders showed that these soldiers were all Marleyan soldiers, and not Eldian auxiliary troops, but genuine Marleyan soldiers.
At the edge of the wall, Zeke, wearing a trench coat, seemed to be pondering something. The coffee he held to his mouth was still steaming, and the rising vapor fogged his glasses.
"Warrior Captain Zeke, everything is almost set up. Do you have any other requirements?" Reiner's voice was somewhat low. Zeke set down the coffee and said, "Reiner, you've been in a bad mood lately, haven't you?"
Judging from Reiner's appearance, his dejection was obvious to the naked eye. The former Marleyan quartet now had only Reiner left. Marcel, Annie, Bertholdt… thinking of this, Reiner couldn't help clenching his fists.
It was all because he was too cowardly, too useless. Marcel had once said that the reason he became the Armored Titan was only because Marcel had belittled Porco and praised him in front of their superiors, allowing him to inherit it. And he himself was the real dead last, always had been!
A trace of obscure brown light flashed through Reiner's eyes.
"Was this wall really built by the island devils? How is that even possible?" several Marleyan soldiers carrying supplies whispered among themselves.
"You lot! What are you chattering about?" a Marleyan officer with the rank of major asked with a frown.
"Captain Koris!" The Marleyan soldiers immediately saluted the officer.
On closer inspection, this Marleyan officer named Koris looked very young, with extremely sharp eyes. Unlike other Marleyan officers, Koris carried a rifle tightly wrapped in moisture-proof cloth on his back.
"Captain, we were just wondering how this wall was built. We don't know how the island devils managed it. Even Marley's best engineering companies probably couldn't do it," the soldiers said with grins as they explained to Koris.
Soldiers familiar with Koris all knew that this superior was a very easygoing officer who often mingled with his subordinates.
And the soldiers aboard the destroyer Tranquility, which Koris commanded, understood his character even more clearly.
During operations against rebel forces in the Far Eastern colonies in previous years, the Marleyan Third Fleet to which Koris belonged was surrounded by an enemy fleet. Less than an hour after the battle began, the flagship was sunk by the rebels.
With half of the engines on the destroyer disabled and all officers of lieutenant rank and above killed in action, Koris stepped forward, reigniting the soldiers' morale. The Tranquility, dragging its nearly wrecked hull, led the charge straight toward the enemy fleet.
The remaining Marleyan warships also seemed to find their backbone, following the Tranquility as they broke through the encirclement together.
Because of this, Koris rose to fame in a single battle, was even exceptionally promoted from second lieutenant to major, and became the new captain of the Tranquility.
When Koris heard his subordinates mention the island devils, his brows knit almost imperceptibly, and a hidden memory suddenly surged into his mind.
After steadying his emotions, Koris said, "Alright, enough idle talk. Don't delay the mission."
"Yes!"
After reprimanding his subordinates, Koris slung his rifle and walked over to Zeke.
Zeke also noticed the arrival, took off his glasses, and wiped the fog from the lenses with a handkerchief.
"Captain Koris, we'll have to trouble the navy again this time," Zeke said very politely.
Koris replied affably, "Warrior Captain Zeke, you're too polite. We all follow orders. The Ministry of National Defense has ordered us to cooperate with your operation, so please don't worry."
Zeke was a bit surprised by Koris's attitude, because no matter what, most Marleyan officers held little goodwill toward Eldians, even when facing Marley's Titan warriors.
Since inheriting the Beast Titan, Zeke had encountered many Marleyan officers, and more or less he could see a hint of contempt or disdain in their eyes.
A Marleyan officer like Koris, whose gaze carried no discrimination or prejudice at all, was something Zeke was seeing for the first time.
"Haha, our operation will definitely succeed." Zeke extended his hand and shook Koris's, but was that truly what Zeke thought?
With a sidelong glance, Zeke noticed the rifle Koris carried and said,
"I've long heard that Captain Koris is a sharpshooter. But why hasn't Captain Koris been equipped with the new weapons? I see the other soldiers have all switched to the new gear."
Koris glanced at the long rifle on his back.
"The new equipment was allocated by the Ministry of National Defense, but for me, the old partner is still more reliable."
Zeke smiled, about to say something, when suddenly he felt a jolt in his heart. In Koris's surprised gaze, Zeke ran to the other side of the wall.
Reiner, who was commanding the Marleyan soldiers, also seemed to sense something and turned his head to look toward the distant reaches beyond Wall Maria.
"Have you come? Eren, are you calling me? It's time we met. We… were all deceived by our father." Gazing into the distance, Zeke murmured to himself.
...
Boom!!! Amid the shocked gazes of the surrounding Survey Corps soldiers, Yago pierced his palm in the open ground. Within yellow arcs of electricity and steam, the fifteen-meter-tall Fate Titan threw its head back and roared, its originally crimson eyes now turning an eerie emerald green.
Nearby, Annie tightened her cloak. Yago's roar at this moment made her feel an inexplicable palpitation, a very strange sensation.
"A—A Titan? Yago is a Titan!" Marlo and Hitch gaped, their faces filled with horror.
At this moment, at the nape of the Fate Titan's neck, Yago's eyes were also flashing with emerald-green light.
"Zeke, you're ready, right? Next, it's time to meet!"