Chris quietly slipped around Levi and Petra and came over to Chen Si.
"Chen Si, why aren't you spending time with your Mikasa? What are you standing here in a daze for?" Chris asked, glancing at Mikasa, who stood nearby staring blankly at the waves around her toes.
"It's coming," Chen Si murmured, his eyes fixed on Eren.
Hearing this, Chris looked toward Eren as well.
"See? I told you, Eren! There's a saltwater lake so huge that all the merchants in the world couldn't exhaust it in their entire lifetimes! I was right, wasn't I?" Armin called excitedly to Eren.
"Yeah. It really is vast," Eren said in a low voice.
"Eren, look at this! On this side of the walls, there's..." Holding a conch shell, Armin started toward Eren in delight, only for Eren to interrupt him.
"The sea."
"Beyond the sea, there's freedom. I always believed that. But I was wrong. What lies across the sea is our enemies," Eren said with his back to everyone, his voice filled with despair and grim resolve.
Mikasa watched Eren's back and listened. Mina listened quietly as well.
"All of this is just like what I saw in my father's memories." Eren turned back, his expression troubled and sorrowful.
"Chris, why does it feel like nothing has changed? Where did things go wrong?" Chen Si asked, his gaze wavering slightly after hearing Eren's words.
"Maybe this is fate." Chris narrowed her eyes and gazed into the distance. She, too, had noticed that Eren was still saying exactly the same things as before.
"Fate..." Chen Si murmured.
Images of Mikasa and Historia being attacked kept surfacing in Chen Si's mind.
"Tell me, if we kill every enemy on the other side, will we finally be free?"
"Tell me, if we kill