Hardship or Not
The sun slowly rose above the horizon of Paradis Island, as if exhaling a breath to disperse the clouds gathered on the horizon, before leisurely showering down its light and heat.
Today, Paradis Island is like the rising sun, full of vibrant hope. With the full support of the Hizuru and the Marley Volunteer Army, Paradis Island's technology has entered a period of rapid development. In addition to the most basic technologies such as electricity and water conservancy, people living in the Capital can already see four-wheeled carriages without horses running around in the streets.
Now, thanks to the Survey Corps' relentless efforts in eradicating them time and time again, almost all the Titan on the island have been wiped out. Perhaps from now on, the newborn children on Paradis Island will wonder if Titan are only recorded in history books.
Right now, most of the resources on Paradis Island are busy with a major project: building a railway!
The importance of railways goes without saying. As the saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first." Railways and Train, as means of transportation that can transport goods and people on a large scale, have made the leaders of Paradis Island very eager. However, there are some people who are even more anxious than them, namely the Hizuru, represented by the Kiyomi Azumabito.
The Iceburst Stone resource has caused a sensation in the Hizuru. Without any suspense, the Hizuru has fully sided with Paradis Island, and naturally, the family of the Kiyomi Azumabito, has also gained absolute control over the Hizuru.
Despite their intense desire for the Iceburst Stone resources of Paradis Island, the Paradis Island's outdated transportation methods nearly drove the Hizuru to despair. The tiny steamships and laughable horse-drawn carriages couldn't even carry enough Iceburst Stone to fill a gap in their teeth. Furthermore, Hizuru was separated from Paradis Island by vast oceans, leaving them only able to watch helplessly. Therefore, when they learned that Paradis Island wanted to develop a railway, the Hizuru representative nearly had their head shrug off – how could the Train's capacity possibly be sufficient?
The two sides quickly reached an agreement, and the massive road-building project began. To demonstrate the importance that Paradis Island placed on the railway, everyone from the Queen and Soldiers to the entire army took turns participating in the project. This road-building campaign successfully became a prominent feature of Paradis Island.
"Ugh!! Damn rock! How can it be so hard!" Jean angrily threw down his pickaxe, surrounded by a large group of Survey Corps Soldiers who, like him, had "volunteered" to come here to build the railway.
Unfortunately, when the various military units took turns on duty, the most difficult area was assigned to the Survey Corps, which had the fewest personnel. As a result, the Soldiers who had fought bloody battles against Titan on the battlefield could only grimace and struggle against the rocks.
Just as he was about to break down, he heard a sneer, "Pfft, it really is you, Rang. You can't even handle this little bit? You're a disgrace to the Survey Corps. Maybe you should apply to be transferred to the Garrison Regiment's mess hall to cook."
The mocking tone immediately triggered a reaction in Allen. His eyes reddened as he walked up to the person who had laughed at him, grabbed the man by the collar, and yelled, "Eren! What are you saying, you little dwarf? Looking for a fight?"
That's right, the one who was laughing just now was Eren, who was also holding a manuscript. As for why Rang called Eren "shorty," it depends on their heights. Over the years, the former 104th Cadet Corps Comrade has grown up, not only in age but also in height. Especially recently, Rang has grown to a towering 1.9 meters tall, looking extremely imposing.
On the other hand, Eren is also quite tall, standing at a perfect 1.8 meters. Coupled with Eren increasingly handsome face as he gets older, many of the girls from his generation have only recently realized where this handsome young man came from. They all admire Mikasa's good taste, no wonder she's had her eye on Eren since they were little. Back in the Training Corps, everyone just thought Eren was an overly enthusiastic young man.
Of course, even at 1.8 meters tall, Allen was still a bit short next to Jean's 1.9 meters. Hearing Jean mock him for being short, Eren retorted without hesitation, "You big oaf! Who are you trying to scare? Are you that tall? Dare to compare with me when I'm transformed?"
"You bastard! Do you think I'm stupid?!"
"You're an idiot!"
The way the two bickered with each other amused the Scout around them, who had been working a monotonous job for a long time.
Perhaps it's because Eren is no longer influenced by the Big Eren that Eren is now. The Big Eren in Yago's memories. The current Eren is cheerful and lively. Apart from those who find him extremely disliked, everyone else thinks that Eren is a perfectly sunny and cheerful big boy.
But at this moment, a 1.6-meter- Captain in the distance was not happy. His eyes were filled with murderous intent as he looked at the two clowns, and his fist hardened.
Sasha glanced around, then swiftly stuffed a piece of beef jerky into her mouth. Connie, resting his chin on the shovel handle beside Sasha, looked at the distance with some amazement and said, "Hey, Sasha, don't you think Historia looks radiant with maternal glow right now? She seems even more beautiful."
Sasha, who was chewing beef jerky with her cheeks puffed out, didn't hear anything and just kept nodding.
That's right, Historia is currently playing with a group of children of all ages, along with Ymir.
Although the Queen was nominally involved in the road construction project, it wouldn't look good to actually have Queen swinging a pickaxe and shovel. So, out of boredom, Historia took Ymir to the Capital Orphanage to take care of the children. The children in the Orphanage came from the Underground City that was once filled with sin, a hell where sunlight never shone. But now, with the support of the Parliament and the Queen, sunlight has shone into the former hell.
Levi originally intended to teach Eren and Jean a lesson, but when he saw the smiling children surrounding Historia, half of his anger dissipated. Only someone who had lived in that hell could understand the preciousness of that smile.
The once hellish Underground City is gone. Perhaps it's for the best. Suddenly, Levi thought of his Comrade who had lived with him in the Underground City, especially those two figures. "Farlan, Isabel, this outcome is alright, isn't it?"
Compared to the tall Mikasa beside her, Annie looked rather petite. However, Annie's movements were in no way inferior to Mikasa's. The two seemed to be competing, neither giving an inch, both vigorously smashing the stones in front of them.
As expected of Ackerman, even Annie, the host of the Titan Power, was sweating, while Mikasa still looked quite relaxed.
Finally, Annie stopped first, catching her breath slightly, then pointed at Eren in the distance and asked Mikasa, "Aren't we going to do anything about it?"
But Mikasa calmly replied that she was used to it, then asked Annie, "And you? Haven't you been thinking about Yago lately?"
Mikasa's words immediately stirred Annie's thoughts. She realized it had been almost a year since she'd seen Yago. After so long, she really... missed that big jerk.
Annie pursed her lips almost imperceptibly, but then she thought of the letters that Yago had sent through Hizuru, and she knew what Yago was doing for the sake of the entire Eldia People. Annie felt a little proud of Yago for this.
Annie suddenly adopted a virtuous wife and loving mother demeanor, saying, "Yago is doing now is much more difficult than what we are doing. I will always support him!"
Meanwhile, what was Yago, whom Annie described as enduring hardship, doing?
The air inside the Third Regiment's Military Camp was filled with the aroma of meat. The Soldiers were thoroughly enjoying the delicious freshly squeezed juice and roasted meat brought by the Marleyan —a reward for the victors.
Yago, who was happily munching on a chicken leg, suddenly sneezed. "Who's talking about me??"
Selina, standing to the side, said speechlessly, "Can't you pay attention to your appearance? Your uniform is covered in oil stains, it's filthy."
Upon hearing this, Yago slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "What are you saying? What are you saying! I've been fighting for so long, can't I even enjoy myself a little? Give me more chicken legs! I can keep eating!"
Selina rolled her eyes and replied dismissively, "Fine, fine, whatever makes you happy."