Finale: Inside the Parliament Building
"What are you three doing here, sneaking around like that?"
The sudden sound startled them, and they instinctively turned around to see a pair of dead fish eyes that seemed to be scrutinizing them.
"Captain Levi?" Ymir stammered.
Indeed, standing behind everyone was Levi in military uniform. However, the title Ymir was somewhat outdated. The Survey Corps, Military Police Brigade, and Garrison Regiment were not as powerful as they used to be, and most of the Soldiers had been absorbed into the Paradis Defense Force.
However, the designations of the Three Military Branches were not abolished. The Garrison Regiment is now more of Security Force for maintaining daily order, the Military Police Brigade has become a ceremonial force in the Capital, and the Survey Corps has become a kind of Special Operations Force.
Levi had already left the Survey Corps, even though it was the most suitable place for him. However, the Parliament still attached great importance to this Humanity's Strongest Soldiers. Levi's current position is the Supreme Commander of the Capital Defense Force. Including the Military Police Brigade, most of the troops in the Capital, except for the Parliament Building Direct Guard Force, are under Levi's command.
But Levi himself didn't care about this. Most of the time, the affairs of the troops were managed by his old subordinates in the Levi Squad. As for himself, he spent most of his time wandering around doing nothing. When the war ended, humanity's strongest Soldiers was rendered useless.
"You still haven't answered me. What are you doing here? And you, Historia, as the Queen, leaving the Royal Palace without permission, do you know how many people will worry? You're not a child, you can't be so willful!" Levi's expression was somewhat cold. Perhaps only he in the entire Paradis would reprimand Historia, the Queen, so harshly.
Historia also kept her head down and remained submissive. Regardless of whether she was the Queen or not, she maintained a slight sense of awe towards Levi.
"Captain, we're here for only one thing: to take Eren away." Suddenly, Annie walked up to Levi, looked up, and said earnestly.
Her words startled the two people beside her. Was she really going to say something like that so bluntly? Captain Levi, standing before them, was the Supreme Commander guarding the Capital; how could he possibly allow something like this?
Sure enough, as soon as Annie said those words, Levi's brows furrowed instantly. "What did you say? Do you know what you're saying? Take Eren away? Do you know how important Eren's identity is? Ever since the Rumbling stopped, the whole world has been fearing and wary of the power of us Eldians. Eren's identity has already been thoroughly investigated by various countries."
"What if they find out that Eren was suddenly taken away from our Parliament Building? Won't the countries panic? They're not from the Far East, and they can't stop the Rumbling. They'll be filled with fear of us Eldians again, and all the fragile diplomacy we Paradis have painstakingly built will be destroyed. Most importantly, the Titan Power has disappeared. Others may not know, but you yourselves are Titan Warriors. You can't be unaware, can you?"
Levi's voice wasn't loud, but the content was surprisingly shocking: the Titan Power had vanished?
Indeed, after Eren stopped the Rumbling, the 200,000 Colossal Titans halted their advance in the Hera Province of the Middle East, Hardening and coalescing into a wall stretching for hundreds of kilometers. It was from that moment that, under the watchful eyes of Levi and the others, Eren calmly uttered those words, "The Titan Power has vanished."
The disappearance of the Titan Power was classified as an absolute secret by the Paradis High Command. All Titan Warriors were secretly summoned and promised to keep it a secret. For Paradis at this moment, if this secret were to be leaked, Paradis would be in an extremely dangerous situation.
Annie nodded and calmly said, "I know, but I have to do this, Captain. I know this might sound selfish, but I want you to help us, help us take Eren away, for Yago's sake."
Upon hearing Yago's name, Levi's pupils contracted slightly. "What do you mean? Yago? Wasn't he sacrificed?"
Annie didn't speak, but instead raised her hand. Under Levi's gaze, a faint green light suddenly appeared in Annie's palm, and quickly displayed a series of images before Levi's eyes.
A phantom figure seemed to appear out of thin air before Levi's eyes. "Eren?" The tall, Big Eren, looking somewhat haggard, smiled and waved at Levi.
"What is that?"
What did he see? He saw his entire Levi Squad sacrificed in the Giant Log Forest; he saw the Survey Corps almost completely wiped out by the Beast Titan's attack; he saw Erwin close his eyes forever on the dilapidated rooftop.
He saw the thick-skinned Hange burn into a fireball in front of countless Colossal Titans, and he also saw himself, covered in wounds, leaning slumped against a boulder, Dedicate Your Hearts as a final gesture with his crippled hand.
"The Tybur family of Marley has privately requested our help in investigating the whereabouts of the War Hammer Titan, Lara Tybur. What should we do?" In the corridor, an Officer in uniform asked the simply dressed, Bald Elder beside him.
The Bald Elder simply smiled faintly. "There's no need to ask my opinion on such matters, is there? Didn't the Parliament already make a resolution? The secret of the disappearance of the Titan Power must never be exposed. As for the War Hammer Titan, we've never seen one, understand?"
"Yes, Prime Minister Excellency, I understand Lara Tybur. So, should we...?" The subordinate's meaning was clear: since that's the case, why not just go all the way and get rid of Lara Tybur, this unstable factor Lara Tybur is indeed being secretly imprisoned by their Paradis. To be precise, this woman, captured in the Hera Province, is a paranoid woman whose target at the time seemed to be Eren.
But Pyxis shook his head. "No, it's not worth it just for that. Let's appease the Tybur family for now. After all, they've been the family that's controlled Marley for hundreds of years. Ha, how ironic. The ones who control Marley are actually the Eldians, whom they hate the most."
As the two were talking, someone suddenly walked towards them. Pyxis looked him over carefully. "Ah, isn't that Levi? He looks very relaxed. By the way, Erwin should be back soon too. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be taking over as Deputy Prime Minister. Sigh, I wonder when this old body of mine can finally retire and have a proper rest."