Armin jerked his head up, tears streaming down both cheeks as he stared at Mikasa with trembling pupils.
Mikasa watched Armin, her pupils narrowing slightly. She seemed to have realized something, but she still waited for him to say it himself.
"Thomas Wagner, Naco Dias, Milius Selmsky, and Eren Yeager of our 34th cadet squad... fulfilled their duty and all died heroically. Top Graduate Si Chen, who came to support us, also fell honorably in battle after killing six Titans in succession..."
Shouting those words seemed to drain Armin of every last ounce of courage. He lowered his head and braced both hands against the ground, unable to bring himself to look at Mikasa again.
In the distance, Annie parted her lips slightly at the news, then closed them again. Chen Si... you broke your promise.
"How could this happen..." Marco said in disbelief.
"Even Chen Si died?" Reiner murmured in shock. Eren Yeager is dead? Good thing I didn't act rashly. Looks like our mission objective has changed.
"What..." Sasha stood dazed, grief overwhelming her as she seemed to recall the days when they had sneaked food from the camp kitchen together.
"The entire 34th squad was wiped out... even Chen Si is dead..." Jean said through gritted teeth.
"Chen Si killed six Titans and still died. If we go... won't we be completely helpless against them?" Connie lost his courage all at once.
"I'm sorry... Mikasa... I was too scared back then... when Chen Si was saving Mina and Naco, I... Eren died saving me, too... I just stood there and did nothing... I'm sorry!" Armin said in anguish, tears covering his face.
The last glimmer of light in Mikasa's eyes vanished completely. Her whole body trembled slightly as she touched the blade Chen Si had given her and slowly crouched down.
"Armin, this isn't the time to grieve. Get up," Mikasa said expressionlessly.
"Marco, as long as we kill every Titan gathered at headquarters, everyone can return to the supply station, refill their gas, and get onto the wall, right?"
An imposing aura radiated from Mikasa, surging forth like that of a valkyrie.
"Ah... yes, that's true, but with so many gathered at headquarters, and even Chen Si getting killed, I'm afraid..." Marco said, breaking into a cold sweat.
"No. Chen Si never needed to die. He only did because he was saving you useless pieces of trash. He's always been like that, putting himself in danger to save people who are no use at all." Mikasa suddenly thought of Chen Si and Historia during their snowy mountain training, then gritted her teeth and shouted.
"I'm strong. Stronger than any of you. I'll clear the way myself. Without dead weight holding me back, I can kill every Titan there on my own. You people aren't just weak and a burden on me and Chen Si. You're spineless cowards, too."
Mikasa drew the blade Chen Si had given her and pointed it at the others.
"Just stay here quietly chewing your fingers, crying, and calling for your mothers. You'd only be dead weight even if you came." Mikasa condemned them mercilessly.
She hated herself for arriving a moment too late. She hated these people for dragging Chen Si into danger and getting him killed, but she still couldn't simply do nothing.
The men all broke into cold sweats as they watched Mikasa vent.
"Mikasa, how can you suddenly say that? You're going too far."
"There are so many Titans. Are you really going alone?"
"That's impossible! Forget one person-even ten of us would just be going to our deaths!"
Everyone argued back.
"In this cruel world, fighting is the only way to survive. Lose, and you die. Win, and you live. But if you don't fight, you have no chance of surviving." Mikasa recalled what Chen Si had once said while fighting the human traffickers and passed those words on to them.
Mikasa squeezed her triggers. Gas burst out, and she flew away without another glance at the others.
Everyone watched her retreating figure, unable to make up their minds.
"Mikasa, you really suck at expressing yourself. Trying to encourage everyone with that? That's not how you goad people into action," Jean muttered sharply.
What Jean didn't know was that Mikasa really had intended to encourage them, but she had been venting her resentment toward them even more.
"Chen Si, this is all your fucking fault!" Jean said through clenched teeth.
"Hey! Are you guys really a bunch of cowards, just like Mikasa said? When were we ever taught to let a comrade fight alone? I'm ashamed to be associated with you!"
Jean shouted a more effective challenge, then he and Connie beside him flew off on two trails of vapor.
"That guy who's so afraid of dying really surprised me," Reiner remarked.
Reiner's trio started moving as well. Seeing them go, Marco sighed and followed.
"Ah! A bunch of cowards! Chickens! Fucking morons!" Sasha cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted at the others who were still hesitating, then pressed her triggers and flew off after her grappling hooks.
"Hey! Chen Si said a fucking moron is even dumber than an idiot! Brothers, do you want to be fucking morons? I sure don't!" another soldier shouted before flying away.
"Goodbye, fucking morons!"
"You're the fucking moron!"
"Aaaah! Charge!"
"Goodbye, Mom."
The soldiers were all fired up now. Some shouted to bolster their courage, while others uttered their last words. In an instant, countless figures were darting across the rooftops.
Mikasa led the charge, wielding the blade Chen Si had given her. She sliced through the Titans' napes with barely a pause, as easily as cutting tofu, racing ahead of everyone and slaying Titan after Titan.
"We don't have much gas left. We have to finish this quickly and reach our destination as fast as possible." Jean flew close behind Mikasa.
"Mikasa's incredible. How do you even get that fast?" Connie said enviously.
No, Mikasa is using her gas too quickly. At this rate, no matter how strong we are, without our mobility, we won't even have a chance against the Titans.
Armin was deeply worried. He knew Mikasa had been blinded by rage.
Sure enough, just as Armin was worrying about her, Mikasa suddenly dropped straight out of the air and landed on a rooftop, the blade flying from her hand.
Holy shit, that fucking hurts.
Chen Si slowly came to.
"Fuck, my hand! My hand!" Chen Si hurriedly looked at his left palm. Seeing that it was still there, he breathed a sigh of relief, then checked the rest of his body. All four limbs were intact. His fifth limb... yep, still there.
Chen Si slowly stood and looked out the window. The air was thick with the smell of blood.
Just as I thought, my electrical energy gives me the same regenerative ability as a Titan. Even severed limbs can grow back. I just need to sleep first. Chen Si understood now.
Chen Si calculated that he should have been unconscious for ten minutes. His electrical energy only took ten minutes to go from zero to nothing. Regrowing his hand might have required extra electrical energy, so he might have slept a few minutes longer.
That meant he should have been unconscious for no more than fifteen minutes.
Luckily, he had cleared out almost all the Titans in this area before passing out. Otherwise, he probably would have woken up inside a Titan's stomach.