Underground City

The warm sunlight streamed through the glass window and shone on Yago's face. The gentle warmth made Yago groggily open his eyes, and he instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight.

But the slight heaviness in his chest made Yago stop moving. In the small blanket, a delicate body lay beside Yago, her small head resting on Yago chest, her breathing even and soft, as he looked at Annie's slightly flushed face.

This scene inevitably reminded Yago of the madness of last night, like a dream, but the lingering soreness in his lower back proved that it was indeed a crazy night.

Yago carefully and gently moved Annie off him, little by little. Perhaps because he was too tired last night, Annie's long eyelashes only trembled, but she did not wake up.

Leaving the room on tiptoe, Yago felt refreshed, the gloom that had been weighing on his heart for the past few days vanished, and a sense of responsibility welled up within him.

That was the transition from boy to man. Rejuvenated, Yago was in high spirits. He ran into the kitchen and, with a flurry of activity, prepared a large and sumptuous breakfast.

Even after Yago had finished making breakfast, Annie still hadn't woken up. She was probably too tired. Yago gently kissed Annie's smooth forehead with pity, tucked her in, wrote a card reminding Annie to eat breakfast, Yago then took a pot of cooked rice porridge to the hospital.

No sooner had Yago left than Annie opened her eyes, which had been closed. Perhaps out of shyness for the madness of the previous night, Annie had actually been asleep for a while, was actually awake all along. Looking at the neatly folded undergarments by Yago on the bedside, Annie pulled up the blanket and buried her flushed face in it.

Having recovered, Yago felt extremely ashamed of his outrageous behavior a few days prior. How could he be so afraid to see his mother? What kind of person was he? Wouldn't not seeing his mother only make her more worried? He was truly a terrible person!

Arriving at the ward with a heavy heart, Yago saw his mother eating breakfast with Aunt Carla's help, and felt an indescribable sense of guilt.

But Lucia didn't blame her son at all. She had already learned from Carla that her child was now the Commander-in-Chief of the entire Paradis Island, and the burden on his shoulders was quite heavy.

"Yago, you make your Mother proud. Don't blame yourself. You have more important things to do than me. Don't worry, your Aunt Carla will take good care of me." Lucia smiled and patted Yago's hand.

But when Yago looked at the new gray hairs on his mother's head and the wrinkles on her face, his guilt grew even stronger.

Carla, carrying a carefully prepared nutritious soup, came over and said with a smile, "Don't worry, little Yago, I'm here. Your mission is more important right now. I've heard from Eren that you're going to fight for us Eldians. Good luck! Eren said he'll work hard with you too."

Aunt Carla seemed to be in a good mood. Hadn't Zeke's words affected her? However, Yago was too embarrassed to bring up this sensitive issue, but his mother's encouragement cheered Yago up. He did indeed have many important things to do!

Yago bid farewell to his mother, carrying the rice porridge he had brought. Compared to the soup and dishes that Aunt Carla had carefully prepared, he felt it was shameful to bring out his plain rice porridge, but... food shouldn't be wasted, right?

Then.

"Oh, you made this yourself? Not bad! I didn't know you could cook, Yago." Selina said, holding the bowl with some surprise. And it actually tasted quite refreshing.

Yago coughed twice. "This, of course I made it. After all, my men were injured, and as their leader, I had to show my appreciation. Drink up, I made this especially for you."

Selina was a little touched by what Yago said, though she felt a little guilty when Yago mentioned it was intentional.

Lance had already woken up in the bed next to them, stared at the two of them expectantly. Yago felt a little strange being stared at like that by Lance. "Uh, would you like a bowl too?"

Yago might have some misunderstanding about the patients' appetites. He brought a large pot of rice porridge, but only half of it was consumed by Selina and the others. What should they do with the other half? Wouldn't it be a waste to throw it away?

Capital, Underground City.

The Underground City of today are vastly different from those of the past. The once synonymous with violence, bloodshed, poverty, chaos, and filth has undergone a complete transformation.

With Queen Historia's strong support, the Parliament carried out a major overhaul of the entire Underground City. The reason why the Underground City was chaotic in the past was not only due to the local gangsters and thugs, but also because the interests of too many Old Nobility and black market merchants were intertwined there.

These black protective umbrellas blocked any previous Royal Government control over this place, and the corrupt Military Police were too lazy to interfere in the Underground City. On the contrary, the power of the Underground City could give these Military Police Master a lot of tribute every month. Over time, the Underground City became a complete place of chaos, and the poor people living in the Underground City might never see the sunlight in their entire lives.

However, after the Coup overthrew the False King, almost all the Old Nobility Royal Government aristocracy collapsed, and the newly elected Parliament didn't care how many interests were entangled in the Underground City.

Commander Pyxis had no liking for the scumbag gangsters in the Underground City. He bypassed the useless Military Police Brigade and, with a single order, sent a large number of Garrison Regiment Soldiers directly into the Underground City.

The entire Underground City network was completely wiped out, the black market was uprooted, the Capital Prison was overflowing, and even the usually silent Execution Ground was filled with gunfire for four or five days.

After the purging of the underworld forces, the reconstruction of the Underground City began in earnest with the support of Queen Historia. Prime Minister Zackly generously allocated a large sum of money, allowing the young Queen to play house.

For Zackly, it was best that the Queen cared about these trivial matters, so that their power Prime Minister and Parliament would not be restricted. Besides, it wasn't their money anyway; the confiscated property from those Nobility families was enough for the Queen to squander for a hundred years.

The rebuilt Underground City, apart from its name, has nothing to do with the original one. Sunlight shines into the Underground City again, and the once numb and withered faces of the poor have gradually become fuller, and smiles have become more frequent. The lifeless street has gradually become more lively, and children's laughter can be heard everywhere.

Orphans who lost their parents, like Captain Levi in his childhood, were all taken to a specially built Orphanage by the Queen, giving these children a home.

Levi was the one who felt this most deeply, and he was also among those who were most grateful to and admired Historia. After the Orphanage Queen built, Levi was one of the first people to visit the site.

Levi solemnly thanked the little Queen on behalf of the children of the Underground City. Then, Historia, in a playful mood, half-jokingly said to the Captain, "Since you're thanking me, can the kind Queen punch Captain?"

It was a joke, but Levi actually let Historia lightly punch him in the chest, even though the little Queen's hand was trembling at the time.