"Yago, you bastard! I'm remembering this grudge. Sooner or later, I'm slapping you back!" Eren said resentfully while clutching his face.
Yago chuckled awkwardly and scratched his head before hooking an arm around Eren's shoulder.
"Come on, what are you saying? Eren. It was just a tiny little accident. You're really going to hold a grudge over that?"
"Eren: "A tiny little accident?""
Instantly, scenes from the Paths space and Shiganshina District flooded back into his mind, and the pain on his face seemed to grow even worse. (Details in Chapter 174)
"As expected! I should just take revenge right now! Yago! Take this!"
Eren was clearly furious as he raised his hand and charged forward, but unfortunately for Squad Leader Eren, whether in rank or strength, he was completely suppressed by Commander Yago. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and "magnanimously" forgive the honorable Commander Yago.
"Alex, notify all officers above Squad Leader rank in the New Army, along with all Corps officers. An emergency military conference will be held this afternoon, and everyone must attend. Also, notify Prime Minister Pixis and Parliament and have them send representatives as well."
Returning to the main matter, after coming out of the Paths space, Yago realized they had to stop Ebson immediately. Otherwise, not only the Eldians, but all humanity across the world might suffer disaster.
"Yes, Commander!"
The young soldier outside the door responded loudly before hurrying off to carry out the Commander's orders.
Eren frowned. He had come out of the Paths space earlier than Yago, so he had no idea what Yago had experienced afterward. But seeing how serious Yago looked now, Eren guessed something major must have happened.
"What happened? Calling a military conference... does it have something to do with war?"
Yago took a deep breath and nodded, his tone slightly heavy.
"That's right, Eren. There's a war that we Eldians have to fight. I don't know how many brave soldiers will die in it. They may fall on foreign soil... on lands that hate us Eldians..."
Eren fell silent for a while before softly asking:
"Do we really have to fight it?"
Images of the maddened Ebson flashed through Yago's mind, and he gave a bitter smile.
"I'm not sure either. But we can't place our hopes on a madman, especially not a mad scientist. Besides, joining this war is also a chance for us Eldians to step back onto the world stage. The Rumbling deterrence is ultimately only the worst possible option."
At the mention of the Rumbling deterrence, Eren's face suddenly stiffened, and his green eyes dimmed somewhat.
After a long silence, Eren suddenly asked Yago out of nowhere:
"Yago, what do you think freedom is?"
Hearing the question, Yago froze.
This kind of question... why did it sound so familiar?
It reminded him of a certain old acquaintance.
But when Yago looked at Eren, Eren was staring at him sincerely, seemingly waiting for his answer.
"Freedom, huh? It's actually a very simple word, and the freedom I believe in is simple too. Follow your true heart, hold firmly to your own will, don't let yourself be controlled by other desires... and believe in the future."
Yago answered with a smile.
After hearing Yago's words, Eren thought for a moment before smiling as well.
Walking over beside Yago, he patted him on the shoulder.
"Is that so? Then Yago, you're not free at all."
Before Yago could ask what he meant, Eren had already walked out of the office.
For some reason, Yago suddenly felt that Eren's back looked different somehow.
At that moment, Alex also reported that the conference notifications had all been delivered, so Yago temporarily pushed aside all thoughts about freedom. The military conference about to begin was the top priority.
...
"What? Participating in the war of the people outside the island? And helping Marley? Impossible! Haven't we already seen clearly enough how those Marleyans treat us Eldians? Why should we help them? On the battlefield, can you guarantee they won't stab us in the back?"
At the high-level military conference on Paradis Island, a young New Army officer shouted emotionally.
His words resonated with many of the younger officers.
And the topic of today's military conference was precisely the proposal Yago had put forward regarding the recent world war started by the nations of the Far East.
That's right—the war in the outside world had already escalated into a massive conflict engulfing two-thirds of the world.
Thanks to the Far Eastern nations' terrifying military technology and their unknown biochemical weapons—the kind capable of infecting humans and transforming them into short-lived Blood Titans—the Far Eastern armies had swept across the battlefield with unstoppable momentum.
In just a few short months, nearly the entirety of the Middle Eastern Federation had fallen. Along with it, more than ten nearby small nations had surrendered to the Far East.
At the same time, opportunists took notice of the Far East's overwhelming strength.
Driven by profit, the nation of Leitner from Europa took the lead as dozens of countries united to form the World Alliance. Regarding the Far East's previous declaration of war against the world, the World Alliance straightforwardly chose to verbally acknowledge defeat.
Furthermore, they announced that the World Alliance would follow the Far East's leadership, indirectly expressing submission to them.
Naturally, the Far East had no reason to reject such loyalty.
Where there was submission, there was also resistance.
Former mortal enemies Marley and the Middle East had, in the face of the overwhelming Far East, unexpectedly united together.
Although nearly the entire Middle East had fallen, with Marley's assistance, over a hundred thousand Middle Eastern soldiers successfully retreated to Marley's borders, avoiding total annihilation.
To resist the increasingly terrifying Far East, along with the World Alliance that now eyed the world greedily under the Far East's protection, Marley also issued calls to the remaining neutral nations, urging them to form an alliance together against the brutal Far East.
Of course, these "nations" did not include Paradis Island or the former Marleyan capital controlled by the Eldian Revival Army.
Or rather, Marley had never considered Paradis Island to be a nation at all.
However, there were not many countries willing to stand alongside Marley and the Middle East against the Far East.
Everyone had witnessed the terrifying strength of the Far Eastern armies during this period.
Aside from several nations in India that clearly declared their participation, some nations in Africa and Asia verbally expressed support while refusing to send any troops themselves. Most countries simply chose to wait and see.
Under mounting pressure, Marley even sent invitations to the nations of the Eastern region.
But now the Eastern nations were led by Hizuru, and without Hizuru making a statement, the other Eastern nations naturally would not respond either.
Of course, the Eastern nations' limited military strength was also incapable of resisting the Far East.
And amidst this global atmosphere thick with the smell of gunpowder, Yago, as the Commander-in-Chief of Paradis Island and leader of the Eldian Revival Army, took the initiative during the high-level military conference to propose that both Paradis Island and the Eldian Revival Army send troops to participate in this war!
If it were merely joining the war, none of the officers present would have feared it.
But Yago stated that their enemies would be the Far East and the armies of the World Alliance that had submitted to them.
That left the officers confused and even resentful.
Those were Marley's enemies!
Why should we Eldians help the Marleyans?
They enslaved our people for hundreds of years!
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