"Mr. Zeke, the captain wants to see you in the cabin to discuss the landing." A female voice came from behind Zeke.
He turned around and saw a beautiful young girl who looked to be about fifteen years old.
The girl had long loose hair and fair skin. She waved at Zeke, wearing the same red armband as him on her right arm.
She was Pieck Finger, the successor of the Cart Titan, a young woman who, despite her great beauty, chose to become a Marleyan warrior.
She relied on crutches to walk, and her posture while walking looked somewhat awkward.
It was not because she was injured anywhere; she simply was not used to the way "humans" walked.
After all, before boarding this ship, Pieck had still been using the Cart Titan form to patrol Marley's borders.
It was common knowledge that the Cart Titan possessed the greatest endurance among the seven Titans owned by Marley.
Although its combat power was almost nonexistent compared to the other Titans, it could remain in Titan form continuously for several months.
She and Zeke had been supporting small skirmishes on the border until they received new orders from the Marleyan government, after which they returned from the frontier and boarded the ship bound for Paradis Island.
After spending nearly two months in her Cart Titan form on the border, Pieck Finger suffered side effects, becoming more accustomed to the Cart Titan's quadrupedal movement than to the bipedal posture of humans.
Sometimes, without realizing it, she would do strange things. For example, while chatting with someone, she would suddenly lie on the floor and crawl like a baby with her rear raised in the air.
It would be one thing if she were a man, but for a young and beautiful woman, that posture was quite inappropriate, which was why she used crutches to walk.
"I understand. Let's go together, little Pik." Zeke nodded and stepped forward to help Pieck reach the captain's cabin.
When they opened the door, the captain had a very serious expression. "Commander Zeke, I've discovered something strange."
"What is it, Commander Theo Magath?"
"It's the island. I've been sailing this route for ten years. Ever since I accepted this job ten years ago, I've constantly traveled between Paradis Island and Marley."
Commander Theo handed a nautical telescope to Zeke so he could observe while saying, "Before landing on this island, I always used a telescope to observe the Titans."
"The number I saw was never fixed. Sometimes I saw three or five a day. The highest number I ever saw was on July 13th eight years ago, when I observed fifty-three Titans. But regardless of the amount, there has never been a situation like this, where I haven't seen a single giant through the telescope for two consecutive days despite being close to Paradis Island."
Theo Magath's expression was unusually serious, even somewhat distorted.
"Commander Zeke! It's already the third day, and we're about to land on the island, yet I still haven't seen a single Titan!"
"That island has never been as quiet as it is today. Those man-eating monsters must be hiding somewhere!" Commander Theo Magath suddenly became agitated, gasping while clutching his chest.
His asthma worsened, and his assistant immediately helped him sit down on a bench.
"Calm down, Commander," Zeke said in a low voice. "This mission only requires our warriors. You only need to bring the ship to the port. Even if those Titans are hiding, they won't be able to catch the Cart Titan."
"Yes, I'll protect everyone."
Pieck smiled and winked, while a marine standing beside her lowered his hat and turned his head to hide his slightly flushed face.
Although Pieck was a "warrior," her adorable appearance made many Marleyan soldiers fond of her, and many soldiers in the army admired the girl.
Pieck also knew how to take advantage of this goodwill. She was a cunning woman who had been chosen as a candidate to inherit the Cart Titan because of her intelligence.
However, the 53-year-old Theo Magath paid no attention to Pieck's seductive charms.
"What do you know?!" Theo Magath roared furiously and pointed at them. "That island is filled with demons and monsters! Yes, you Eldians don't care, but I... I've seen them many times!"
"You Eldians, the Titans you have transformed into, the sight of you devouring your own kind!"
Cough, cough, cough... cough, cough, cough... The 53-year-old Commander Theo Magath suddenly began coughing violently.
Clutching his chest, and with the help of his aide, he coughed up several mouthfuls of thick phlegm.
"Commander, I will take full responsibility for the landing so as not to further disturb your rest." Zeke adjusted his glasses and left the commander's cabin with Pieck, heading toward the deck.
Pieck shrugged helplessly and limped toward Zeke.
"Pieck, don't pay attention to him. I'm the one in command of this operation." Zeke adjusted his binoculars, observing Paradis Island from a spot with a good view.
"It's fine, I trust you." Pieck said with a gentle smile and pointed ahead. "Speaking of which, Mr. Zeke, shall we proceed according to the original plan? Should I transform into the Cart Titan and head to the island first to gather information?"
"Proceed according to the original plan. Even if something really has changed on the island, we won't know unless we go see it with our own eyes."
"Understood."
…
Two hours later, the ship arrived at the port.
Zeke and Pieck Finger stood at the harbor, looking at the distant sandy land.
The desolate yellow sand filled their field of vision, and the surroundings were silent, carrying a slightly unsettling atmosphere.
They did not see a single Titan, despite already standing on the land of "Paradise."
"What the hell is going on...?" Zeke frowned deeply; this was undoubtedly far too unusual.
According to the data he had obtained, the total number of Eldians exiled to the island during the past two decades was 5,215.
This number was above the average of the last eighty years, partly because material development had allowed Marley to expand its controlled territory, thus increasing the Eldian population.
The main factor was that the government wanted to use Pure Titans to isolate the people inside the walls.
Last month, a ship transported nearly 100 Eldians to the area to receive spinal fluid injections.
Logically speaking, it was impossible that they would not have encountered even a single Titan during the landing process.
"Pieck, can you carry me around the surrounding area?" Zeke had a bad feeling.
"Alright." Pieck threw aside her crutches, cut the palm of her hand, and lay down on the ground.
While the Marleyan soldiers behind her became absorbed in admiring the curves of her hips, a golden lightning bolt exploded, and the four-meter-tall Cart Titan appeared at the port.
Its flat lips resembled those of a platypus, and it had strange short black hair; in short, it was extremely ugly, sending chills down the backs of the testosterone-driven soldiers.