Later generations called this the "Engagement Incident." Although Chen Si had not forcibly suppressed it, cracks began to form between the Church of Thunder and the Cabinet from that moment onward. Some members of the Church of Thunder became estranged from the Cabinet. Blake had merely wanted to satisfy his own selfish desire to repay Mikasa, and Chen Si had never imagined that his romantic affairs would sow the seeds of such serious trouble.
One week later, at the Survey Corps' temporary harbor on Paradis Island.
Chen Si sat cross-legged atop a cliff, waves of force bursting from his body as hundreds of lightning silhouettes radiated behind him. He abruptly opened his eyes, and blue light shot from them.
Boom! A thick bolt of yellow lightning struck, and the Attack Titan suddenly appeared in the distance. With a Reconnaissance Ship hoisted on his shoulder, Eren slowly carried it ashore. Hange and Levi immediately disarmed the crew aboard it.
"Your name is Niccolo, right? Wahahaha, relax, Niccolo! I'm sure we'll become good friends!" Hange reassured the trembling newly captured soldiers, singling out Niccolo, who looked the most frightened.
Niccolo glanced at the cold-faced Levi beside him and shuddered again despite himself.
Niccolo was a blond young man and an experienced chef. Chen Si remembered him well.
This was already the seventh Reconnaissance Ship that week, but there was still no sign of Yelena.
"Yelena... once you arrive, the war will be about to begin." Chen Si gazed at the distant horizon where sea met sky, his voice level.
Late at night, one kilometer off the coast of Paradis Island, amid the reefs.
Several Reconnaissance Ships were slowly advancing.
"Captain! It's been two hours since the advance team went ashore, and we've completely lost contact with them," a scout reported to