A Sudden Stab of Pain

"Selina, infiltrating the army is too risky. Do you really want to go?" Jack leaned on a cane. Although she had lost her sight, Selina still felt watched.

"Uncle Jack, don't worry, I know what I'm doing. What we Eldia Restorationists have done in the past has not been able to shake the rule of the Marleyan. We can't keep dragging this on. Half of the Marley Army are our Eldia compatriots. They are the hope of us Eldians!" Selina said firmly.

"But... you shouldn't have to take this risk alone." Jack tried to persuade her further, but Selina retorted, "In the last assassination Soldiers, our Restorationists suffered heavy losses; almost all the core members were killed. Of the remaining guys, who is as capable as me?"

Selina slung her bag over her shoulder, turned to leave, but stopped after a few steps, saying hesitantly, "That Ebson, Uncle Jack, I still can't trust him. My gut feeling tells me something's wrong with him."

"Selina..." Jack opened his mouth in confusion, but ultimately said nothing.

On the other side, in the dark basement, the faint sound of dripping water could be heard. Under the dim light, the basement's former dilapidation and chaos were still evident.

Scattered on the ground were broken glass instruments, scraps of paper, several somewhat rotten wooden beds, and even some dried bloodstains.

A flurry of hurried, chaotic footsteps echoed in the basement. A pair of slender hands impatiently opened a cabinet filled with various test tubes and glass bottles, which looked quite old, covered in dust and cobwebs.

After opening the cabinet, there was an urgent rummaging and a low growl, "Where is it? Where is it?"

One bottle and test tube after another was tossed aside, falling heavily to the ground and turning into a pile of shards; some bottles even leaked viscous liquid.

After a long while, an excited shout was heard, "Found it!" A brown bottle with a label was held up in front of them, and the YN logo could be faintly seen on the yellowed label.

Ebson looked at the bottle in his hand with excitement, got up and left the Laboratory he had used long ago. After Ebson stepped out of the basement, barrels of gasoline were poured down, and the flames quickly engulfed everything.

Back at Louis Estate, Ebson rushed back to his room, much to Bill's surprise, who was smoking nearby. He had never seen Ebson so out of control.

Opening the hidden compartment in the study, a secluded room was revealed to Ebson.

Ebson, dressed in a white lab coat, was seen fiddling with a large pile of experimental equipment with a frenzied expression.

Soon, a petri dish was placed in front of him. Ebson carefully opened the bottle he had brought back from the basement and used a pipette to draw two drops of dark red liquid onto the petri dish.

Then, Ebson took out a bottle that looked like an ink bottle, sucked out a few drops of the black liquid inside, and dripped them into the petri dish.

Ebson immediately grabbed a microscope and began examining the petri dish with great tension.

After an unknown amount of time, Ebson let out a maniacal laugh, "Hahahaha, just as I expected! Just as I expected!!"

Ebson already held a Syringe in his hand.

Pain! Excruciating pain! Yago suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, as if someone were slowly piercing his skull with a sharp cone.

"Ah!!" The intense pain caused Yago to involuntarily clutch his hair and scream, before collapsing limply to the ground.

Yago's sudden change startled everyone around him. Just moments ago, Yago was chatting and laughing with everyone backstage, so why did he suddenly let out a scream?

The celebration Ritual that was being prepared was temporarily postponed, and everyone backstage quickly gathered around.

Annie, who was next to Yago, reacted quickly and caught Yago just before Yago collapsed.

"Yago? Yago? What's wrong? Don't scare me!" Annie called out anxiously.

But Yago kept his eyes tightly closed, gritted his teeth, and let out painful groans.

If Yago opens his eyes, Annie will find that Yago's eyes are bloodshot and emit a strange light.

In Yago's mind, he seemed to see a Titan with sharp teeth and bloodshot eyes roaring to the sky, looking extremely frenzied. Yago recognized it at a glance as his transformed form, the Fate Titan, except that the Fate Titan was covered with strange black lines.

The excruciating pain came and went quickly, and Yago soon regained consciousness. He opened his eyes blankly and saw Annie's anxious little face right in front of him. Instinctively, Yago leaned closer.

Pop!

The crisp sound startled Annie, and also surprised everyone around her.

"What's going on? Is Yago messing with us? If he wants to kiss Annie, can't he just kiss her directly? You scared us!" Historia said angrily, hands on her hips. If she weren't wearing her Queen's gown for the Survey Corps' victory Ritual later, Historia would have made Yago experience what the Queen's wrath was like.

That's right, the first thing Yago did after opening his eyes was to give Annie a crisp kiss on the cheek.

"Tch!" Seeing that Yago was unharmed, everyone scattered immediately, with Rang and Connie each giving Yago a disdainful look. Even Armin, who was usually very good-tempered, glared at Yago with some dissatisfaction.

Yago: "No, it really hurt just now!"

However, even Annie was holding Yago, didn't believe him. Annie leaned close to Yago's ear shyly and whispered, "Don't play pranks like that next time. I... I just need to tell you beforehand, and then... we can kiss."

After saying that, Annie helped Yago up. Yago looked at Annie, whose face was flushed, and didn't know how to explain for a moment.

Yago could feel that the intense pain he had just experienced was wrong, and why did he see his own Fate Titan being bound by strange black lines?

"Sigh, things are unpredictable." Unable to understand Yago could only sigh helplessly, then leaned closer to Annie. What did Annie just say? "Okay...?"

"Bill, make the arrangements. I'd like to meet the Tybur family." Ebson's voice came from behind. Bill turned around and was momentarily stunned, because Ebson was acting strangely, exuding a completely different aura than before.

But Bill still replied, "Yes, Master."

Ebson lowered his head, a glint of red light flashing in his eyes.

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