Storm over Paradis Island (End)

Upon hearing the familiar footsteps beside him, Eren's smile vanished, and Connie, standing beside him, looked at Eren with a puzzled expression as his face suddenly turned cold.

"Eren, what's wrong?"

Eren shook his head, gesturing for Connie to go back first. "It's nothing. I suddenly remembered I have some things to do. Connie, you go back first."

Connie scratched his head before returning to the dorm. Only after Connie had gone far away did Eren turn around and look at the shadowy corner. "Come out."

As soon as Eren finished speaking, a tall figure emerged from the shadows, clapping softly.

Seeing Yelena's face, Eren's brows furrowed. "It's you again? I remember telling you very clearly before that I have no interest in the Imperialists. Don't waste your breath."

Although Eren refused decisively, Yelena seemed completely unfazed. She simply extended a finger and slowly wiggled it, then looked into Eren's eyes and smiled, saying, "Eren, don't be so quick to refuse. Let's put aside whether or not to join the Imperialists, but it wouldn't hurt to learn about Imperialists ideology, would it?"

Eren replied coldly, "No interest. Goodbye!"

Seeing that Eren was about to leave, Yelena immediately raised her voice and said, "Eren, do you know that your father, Mr. Grisha, was once a member of the Eldia Restorationists?!"

Upon hearing Yelena mention his father, Eren froze. Seeing this, Yelena pressed her advantage, saying, "The ideology of the Imperialists is essentially the ideology of the Restorationists, Eren. Are you denying your father's ideas? Do you know how many humans outside Paradis Island are hostile to the Eldians? Do you know why your father seized the Founding Titan Power on this island?"

Yelena's words slowly eroded Eren's heart like poison. Finally, Eren couldn't hold back any longer and roared, "Enough! What exactly do you want to say?"

Yelena suddenly stood in front of Eren, staring intently at Eren. She grabbed Eren arm and said, emphasizing each word, "The Founding Titan Power is within you! Do you know what this means, Eren? Only you can save the Eldians! And Zeke, you should trust your Older Brother. You are brothers, and it is up to you to save Eldia!"

Eren's heart skipped a beat when he heard Zeke's name. Jaeger —Zeke this name appeared frequently in the notes left by his father, Grisha. The same surname, Zeke, meant he was his half- Older Brother. His mother, Carla, probably didn't even know that.

Eren remained silent, ultimately choosing not to reveal the matter to his mother. He didn't want his father's shining image in her eyes to be tarnished. Similarly, his Comrade and the higher-ups on Paradis Island kept it a secret from Eren's mother.

Yelena struggled as she watched Eren's expression, but in the end, Eren forcefully pried her hands off and turned to leave. Yelena, unwilling to accept this, watched Eren's retreating figure and continued, "Eren! You have to face all of this. Bearing the Founding Titan Power, you should shoulder this responsibility."

"The world can't just sit idly by and watch Paradis Island develop peacefully. The Titan Power only lasts for thirteen years. If you miss this opportunity, you'll regret it for the rest of your life! Eren! You really should see the malice humans have towards the Eldians. Be selfish, Eren, don't you care about your family and Comrade? That girl, isn't her name Mikasa? She seems to care about you a lot. Can you really bear to do this?"

A red scarf suddenly flashed into Eren's mind, causing his vision to go black for a moment and his body to stiffen. The Titan Power the Titans, thirteen years of lifespan, his mother, Mikasa, Armin, Yago, Jean, Connie, Sasha... The images of his former Comrade flooded into Eren's mind, and Eren felt a faint heaviness in his body.

Eren was well aware of the Imperialists's ideology, as Imperialists had repeatedly tried to entice him to join, but Eren had always resisted. The relationships between the world, Marley, Eldians were all too complicated. Now that he thought about it, facing the Titan in the Survey Corps was much easier.

But what his father recorded in his notes kept lingering in Eren's mind. To be honest, Eren didn't want to face it and even wanted to escape from it all.

Eren remembered what Yago had told him before he left, "Eren, don't feel pressured because of the Founding Titan. Remember, you are you. Don't overthink things, and don't try to be a hero all by yourself. You have us, your Comrade, behind you."

Yelena: "Eren, you should trust us, trust Zeke, trust the bond between brothers. You Jaeger brothers are destined to be messengers to liberate the Eldians Yago Norman chose to trust Zeke and was the first to cooperate with Zeke. Eren, why are you unwilling to trust Zeke?"

Eren's pupils contracted slightly, and he turned his head to ask, "What did you say? Yago?"

On the swaying Train, the Marley Warrior Unit gathered in one of the carriages.

Zeke flipped through the Marley newspaper in his hand; a large portion of the article was about the battles of Marley and the Grayle Fortress on the Middle East front.

After a cursory glance, Zeke found that most of the Marley reports were just filler, using flowery language to embellish how grand the battle was and how powerful the Marley Army was. However, Zeke read through the entire report and found that Marley Marleyan army had achieved very little in terms of substantial results. Only the middle section mentioned that the Marley Army had taken down a dense cluster of Middle Easterners Fortress with almost no losses, and that the Marley commander, Lieutenant Colonel Loa, was brave, fearless, and composed in his command, and so on.

Attached to the newspaper was a small black-and-white photograph, but due to printing issues, the image of Lieutenant Colonel Loa was very blurry. However, Zeke glanced at it but showed no interest; he was just a Marley commander, of no consequence to him.

Just then, the captain of the Warrior Unit Magath, walked into the carriage with a livid face, and several Marley Warriors immediately stood at attention and saluted.

Magath, barely containing his anger, gestured for everyone to sit down before walking over to Zeke. He slammed the report in his hand in front of Zeke and growled through gritted teeth, "That bastard Koslow! What has he done? How dare he!? The Warrior Unit have lost face big time!"

Zeke was somewhat surprised; he had never seen Captain Magath so angry before. Picking up the report that had been slammed on the table, Zeke read it carefully, and then he understood why Captain Magath was so furious. "Marley Warrior Candidates? Those kids seem to have gone too far," Zeke muttered to himself, looking at the report.

(P. S. Muzi, so I'm asking for a day off in advance ಥ_ಥ. As usual, Muzi 'll make up for it with two updates. Also, the last few chapters might have been a bit dry ≥≤, but that's necessary for setting up the plot, so please forgive me ⊙ω⊙. Just a heads up, the upcoming big scene is absolutely amazing, a three-way battle, a fight between more than a dozen Titan, so stay tuned.)