The Troops Advance

"The Fifty-Seventh Expedition Beyond the Walls, commence! Advance!" Commander Erwin roared, raising his battle sword.

The heavy city gates slowly opened with a creaking sound.

Encouraged by Commander Erwin, all the Survey Corps Soldiers raised their swords and charged out of the city gates following their Commander's roar.

The horses galloped, their hooves striking the stone slabs with a sound like thunder.

"Gentlemen of the Survey Corps! Congratulations on your triumphant return!" The Garrison Soldiers on the city wall shouted to the Scout below.

The surrounding crowd cheered on the Survey Corps.

Yago saw the glint of hope in the eyes of the people around him.

More than three hundred Scout filed out of the city gate. Yago squinted as the shadow of the city wall swept past Yago. Passing through the city gate, he came into view a dilapidated street.

The once bustling neighborhood was abandoned by humans after Wall Maria was breached, and then Titan occupied it, leaving behind only ruins and moss-covered walls.

Yago rode his horse at full gallop, the sound of his breath flashing past his ears, while Soldiers draped in the Wings of Freedom cloaks darted and weaved between houses.

"That's the cover squad, responsible for protecting the main force in the main district and killing the Titan in the district. We just need to move forward at full speed!" a Scout revealed the identities of the Wings of Freedom.

Yago calmly observed his surroundings. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Titan approaching the group from the left. Without realizing it, Yago's hand reached for the hilt of his sword.

"Trust the cover squad!" Nile seemed to have seen through Yago's intention and shouted without looking at him. Yago hesitated for a moment, but still released his grip on the knife hilt.

Sure enough, the few Wings of Freedom circling around the Titan soon fell down with their neck flesh flying off, and the covering squad were all elite members of the Survey Corps.

One after another, the Titan that had survived the artillery fire of Garrison Regiment garrison fell to the blades of the covering squad.

Soon, the main force could vaguely see the exit of the block. Beyond the block was an open space, and the cover provided by the cover squad would stop at the exit.

"Forward! Forward!" Even though he was at the back of the column, Yago could still faintly hear Commander Erwin's roar.

Whoosh! Yago spurred his horse straight out of the exit.

"Everyone! Spread out into Long-Distance Scouting Formation!" Commander Erwin calmly ordered.

Immediately, the Survey Corps, rushing out of the exit, quickly spread out in their well-practiced Long-Distance Scouting Formation. Hundreds of soldiers slowly spread out, forming a battle line that stretched for thousands of meters. This sufficiently long battle line was the key to the Survey Corps' ability to react in a timely manner.

Yago glanced worriedly at the troops on the right; Annie was right there.

But now was not the time to think about these things. Yago forced himself to concentrate and stare ahead at the vast plains.

"Bang! Bang!" Soon, plumes of red smoke rose in the distance, signaling the discovery of Titan. The entire Survey Corps then began to maneuver, carefully avoiding the groups of Titan.

"Something's not right. How can there be so many Titan? The Long-Distance Scouting Formation isn't fully deployed yet," Captain Nile muttered to himself.

Upon hearing this, Yago's worries deepened.

On the other side, "Oh no! That's an Abnormal Titan!" Qiluo, the Squad Leader of the right-side Scouting Squad, changed his expression drastically as he saw a Titan running with its legs tucked together, but moving at an extremely fast speed, approaching from a small grove of trees a few hundred meters away.

"I'll take care of it," Annie, standing next to Qiluo, suddenly said calmly.

"What? You New Recruits can leave this to us... Hey! Wait! New Recruits Annie!" Before Squad Leader Qiluo could finish speaking, Annie activated her Omni-Directional Mobility Gear from her horse and leaped into the air, charging towards the Abnormal Titan Titan.

Squad Leader Qiluo gritted his teeth and fired a black Signal Flare, signifying the discovery of the Abnormal Titan.

As Annie flew through the air, a tear suddenly welled up in the corner of her eye, and she wore a Ring on each of her left and right hands, which were gripping her Dual Blades.

"Quickly provide support for New Recruits Annie!" Squad Leader Qiluo hurriedly ordered the Scout around him.

"Squad Leader Qiluo! Look! That Abnormal Titan has been taken care of!" A Survey Corps pointed in the direction of the Abnormal Titan.

Qiluo looked over and, sure enough, the Abnormal Titan Titan, its legs tucked together, was emitting steam and swaying as if about to collapse.

"Well done! But where's New Recruits Annie?"

"Howl!!" Suddenly, a strange howl came from the direction of the Abnormal Titan Titan. Before Qiluo could react, the Scout beside him shouted in terror, "Squad Leader Qiluo! Titan! So many Titan! And several Abnormal Titan Titan!"

"What?" Qiluo was shocked upon hearing this and quickly observed that, sure enough, more than twenty Titan, including three- or four-meter-tall Abnormal Titan Titan in bizarre postures, were approaching frantically.

"Damn it! Send a signal! There's no time to dodge! We need backup! Luohan, go request backup!" At this point, Qiluo didn't have time to support Annie either. He immediately deployed his troops and quickly launched multiple Signal Flare flares as a warning.

"Captain! There's an Abnormal Titan Titan right in front of us!" Nile stared intently at the approaching Abnormal Titan Titan bared.

"Heath! Cooperate with me. I'll distract the Abnormal Titan, and you find an opportunity to cut off the Titan's nape!" Nile commanded, a bead of cold sweat forming on his forehead. There weren't many tall buildings around to make the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear effective.

"Yes, Captain!" Scout Heath replied, but suddenly, a figure darted past the two of them.

"Yago?!"

The grappling hook of the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear pierced deeply into the belly of the Abnormal Titan, and Yago leaped off the horse, closing in on the Abnormal Titan.

Whoosh! The Abnormal Titan Titan was incredibly fast, its massive paw sweeping towards Yago with a fierce gust of wind.

Yago abruptly retracted the right hook, shifting his weight to the left. The Rope on his left pulled Yago to the left at high speed, skillfully avoiding the Abnormal Titan Titan's slap.

Bang! Yago accelerated a second time in mid-air, with a blower behind him spewing Gas, Yago drifted behind the Abnormal Titan Titan.

Aiming at the back of the Titan's neck, the hook and anchor were launched with tremendous force, piercing deep into the nape of the Abnormal Titan Titan's neck.

The powerful pull rapidly shortened the distance between Yago and the Abnormal Titan Titan.

A flash of cold light, Yago drew his Blades with lightning speed, precisely targeting the Abnormal Titan's nape. His twin Dual Blades formed a V-shape, swiftly and accurately slicing into the Titan's nape.

Like a hot knife through butter, Yago's Dual Blades moved without hesitation, cleanly and swiftly slicing off the Titan's nape.

Shaking off the scorching, vaporizing Titan blood from his Dual Blades, Yago nimbly returned to his horse and caught up with Captain Nile's troops.

"Good lad! No wonder you're Levi among the New Recruits, your skills are just as excellent as Captain's!" Nile gave Yago a thumbs up.

Yago muttered helplessly, "I don't want to compare myself to that guy. Are you going to take responsibility if I don't grow taller?"

Captain Nile laughed heartily, when suddenly, Signal Flare rising to their right caught their attention.