Storm over Paradis Island (I)

"Erwin, you look exhausted. Are you still busy with that Imperialists thing?" Hange walked into Erwin's office and naturally pulled up a chair to sit opposite Erwin.

When Erwin saw Hange arrive, he put down the documents in his hand, rubbed his Temple, and looked exhausted. "Hange, you're here. How did the task I asked you to do go?"

Seeing Erwin's exhausted appearance, Hange lost her initial intention to tease him and instead handed the few documents she was holding to Erwin.

Erwin took the documents and began to examine them carefully, while Hange chattered on and on, "This Imperialists has been quite something lately. They've lured Soldiers from the Garrison Regiment, the Military Police Brigade, and even our Survey Corps into joining them. To get this intelligence, I had Nifa and Aiya infiltrate for a month."

No one could have predicted that the Imperialists, an inconspicuous organization, would grow to its current size. This force, developed from the Eldia Restorationists across the sea, has now reached a level that has begun to attract the attention of the higher-ups on Paradis Island.

By highlighting the past glory of the Eldia Empire and the hostility of other countries towards the Eldians, they quickly gained the support of a large number of passionate and patriotic Soldiers. This ideology even spread to the general public and received a great response. Their slogan of rebuilding the Eldia Empire became widely known, so they were also called the Imperialists.

Erwin nodded, looking at the information in his hand. It detailed the information of several people. Erwin pointed to the first name, Hange glanced at it before explaining, "Lance Uriel, a Section Commander in the Garrison Regiment, and also the leader of the Imperialists's efforts to develop its influence within the Garrison Regiment. He is now one of the leaders of the Imperialists, and thanks to the Imperialists's influence, he is about to be promoted to Branch Commander of the Garrison Regiment."

Erwin circled Lance's name with his pen, then looked at the next name.

Hange continued, "Arno Zot, you should also remember him, the Soldiers that Commander Nile of the Military Police Brigade had high hopes for. I never expected him to join the Imperialists. I always thought he was a very composed person. Commander Nile seemed very surprised as well, and quite a few Soldiers in the Military Police Brigade were also affected."

Erwin drew a circle again, then asked, "Does our Survey Corps have people like them too?"

Hange paused for a moment, then nodded with a somewhat grim expression. "That's right. However, the intelligence Aiya and the others gathered is that the Imperialists originally wanted to win over Floch, but Floch seems to have refused to join. Nevertheless, nearly half of our Soldiers have been drawn to the Imperialists."

"Floch?" Erwin immediately thought of the Soldiers. Perhaps it was because of Floch's extreme hatred for the Titan that Erwin had such a deep impression of him. Logically speaking, someone as radical as Floch would be the most easily attracted to the Imperialists, but Erwin was very surprised that Floch would refuse.

Through Erwin meticulous investigation over the past few days, Erwin quickly grasped the basic intelligence and structure of the Imperialists. He was not interested in the Imperialists's propaganda about restoring the Eldia Empire. Looking beyond the surface, Erwin saw more than just the so-called restoration of the Eldia Empire; there was much more hidden behind it.

Now, combined with the intelligence Hange had gathered, Erwin was almost certain that the Imperialists was being manipulated by someone behind the scenes. Erwin didn't know those people's motives, but Erwin knew that if the Imperialists was allowed to grow stronger, it would definitely not be a good thing for Paradis Island.

The Imperialists wants to restore the Eldia Empire, but intelligence gathered from them and from Erwin through the Hizuru and the Marley Volunteers indicates that almost the entire world is hostile to the Eldians. This may be because the Eldia Empire oppressed the world a century ago. If the Eldia Empire is to be restored, the world's nations will certainly not stand idly by. If things go wrong, Paradis Island may become an enemy of the world.

Although Paradis Island is developing rapidly with the help of the Hizuru and the Marley Volunteers, it still lags far behind the countries of the outside world. If war were to break out, the only trump card that Erwin could think of for Paradis Island was the "The Rumbling," which Yago had once mentioned.

Erwin had always longed to discover the truth about the world beyond the walls, but when the truth was finally laid out before him, he only felt its cruelty. Compared to the Titan, the other humans were the more terrifying enemies.

At this moment, Hange delivered another piece of bad news, "The Imperialists's recent goal is to win over the Wallist Church and Eren. What's most frightening is that President Zackly met with representatives of the Imperialists a few days ago, and his attitude towards the Imperialists has indeed become much more ambiguous lately. The situation is very bad now, Erwin." The equally intelligent Hange had also foreseen the crisis hidden beneath the surface of the Imperialists.

After a moment of contemplation, Erwin opened his drawer, handed a secret letter to Hange, and gestured for Hange to open it.

Hange curiously opened the secret letter, exclaiming in surprise, "Wow, it's a letter from Little Yago... The war between Marley and the Middle East... What? New Titan Warriors? Eh... The Restoration Army?... The Restoration Army!? Wait!"

Hange suddenly looked up at Erwin with some surprise. She seemed to have guessed what Erwin was planning to do. "Erwin, you... you want to... spread the ideology of the Eldia Revival Army?"

Erwin nodded in agreement. The current situation was that even though the high command on Paradis Island was aware of the hidden dangers of the radical ideology of the Imperialists, they could not take action against them because the Imperialists's influence was too vast and extensive, spreading throughout the various legions and the general public. It was impossible to eliminate the Imperialists. Compared to the radical Imperialists, supporting the Eldia Revival Army, which had a more moderate ideology, seemed to be a better option.

Moreover, according to the intelligence transmitted by Yago, the Eldia Revival Army, which he founded, was developed based on the former Eldia Restorationists. It can be said that the Restoration Army and the Imperialists are almost from the same root.

Moreover, the slogan of the Restoration Army —uniting the Eldians and reviving the Eldia People— was indeed much better than the slogan of the Imperialists.

The most effective way to deal with an idea is to use another, more advanced idea.

But then Erwin thought about it again. It seemed that the ideology of the Imperialists had spread on Paradis Island because Yago had rescued a group of Eldia Restorationists in Marley. And now, in order to suppress the Imperialists, the ideology of the Eldia Revival Army that was being spread also seemed to be the work of that kid Yago.

Thinking about this, Erwin felt a headache coming on. He regretted letting the kid run wild in the outside world; it was a real headache. But who could have imagined? Perhaps even Yago himself didn't expect that while he wasn't on Paradis Island, he would indirectly stir up trouble for the entire Paradis Island.