The Expedition Beyond the Walls Ends

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, red smoke flares shot into the sky one after another on the left.

They signaled that Titans had appeared on the left, but before long, a green smoke flare rose from the Command Squad. Then flares began rising one after another toward the front right.

"Changing direction?"

Bai Yu murmured softly, taking out his flare gun. After loading a green signal flare, he fired it into the sky to his right.

The entire long-range Scouting Formation began changing direction.

This was the first expedition beyond the walls since the fall of Wall Maria.

After the formation changed course, nothing much happened for a while. Whenever a lone Titan appeared, they killed it immediately. What puzzled Bai Yu, however, was why there had been more than a dozen Titans in the town, while their density out on the plains seemed fairly manageable.

Were they drawn there during that chase back then?

Forget it. Speaking of which, that future Eren guy should be able to see me, right? I wonder what he thought after I saved Aunt Carla (Eren's mother). He hasn't even reacted.

What Bai Yu could not quite figure out was whether a future Eren still existed at all. That blond Titan had certainly been heading straight for Aunt Carla back then, but if future Eren did exist, would Eren still become him in the end now that his mother had survived?

Or are they not even from the same world? After all, how could anyone interfere with a past that had already happened?

So whatever happens to this world's Eren won't actually affect his future self?

Hiss... That won't work either. Without the Rumbling, we can't win...

"Hey, brat. What are you thinking about?"

Levi spoke beside him, interrupting Bai Yu's thoughts and bringing him back to his senses.

"Oh, it's just a little boring. I nearly fell asleep. If you're sticking with me, what about your squad?"

Forget it. I'll stop thinking about it. Worst comes to worst, I'll just take Xiate and run.

"You don't need to worry. They'll be fine."

They kept checking the marked locations along the way. As noon approached, they set up supply caches in the giant trees here, to serve as rest stops on future long-distance expeditions. This expedition was mainly about establishing a route.

Even so, nearly ten people had died. Half of them were recruits who had joined the Survey Corps the previous year. After several months, they had set out with their experienced comrades on this relatively undemanding mission.

But in their first battle against real Titans, a single mistake could easily get them eaten.

Thus, they rested around the edge of the woods. Ten squads took turns clearing out the relatively few Titans below, where the huge trees were ideal for using Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. Another three squads handled the supply arrangements, while the scouts at the very front took a break.

Bai Yu sat a short distance away with his eyes half-closed, looking as though he had fallen asleep.

Erwin looked at Levi beside him.

"How was he?"

"Yeah, that brat is strong, and he's only ten. On his own, he was more efficient than the whole squad. He killed all seven Titans we encountered today by himself."

Levi spoke evenly, his words an unmistakable acknowledgment of Bai Yu's strength.

Suddenly, Bai Yu spoke from another branch.

"Commander Erwin, tell me something. Humanity's technology today can't even repair a hole in the walls, so how did people back then build these three fifty-meter-high walls under the threat of the Titans?"

Erwin's eyes lit up at his words.

"Oh? What do you think?"

"I don't know. It just seems a little absurd. Surely there isn't actually a god?"

Bai Yu spread his hands.

Erwin merely looked into the distance and murmured.

"I don't know..."

Some time later.

Bai Yu stood up and stretched hard.

"Aren't we leaving yet? If it gets dark, a future squad member of mine will be waiting a long time."

"A future squad member?"

"Yeah. I spotted a pretty promising guy in the Training Corps and talked him into joining our Survey Corps. Three years from now, you can't transfer him to another squad."

"You can decide that yourself. We'll talk about it in three years."

"Heh, just don't try to steal him from me when the time comes."

"Don't let a little strength go to your head."

Levi gave Bai Yu a hostile look from beside him, as though he wanted to devour him, making Bai Yu let out an awkward laugh.

Erwin raised the blade in his hand as well.

"Assemble! Withdraw!"

As it turned out, casualties on an expedition beyond the walls were not all that severe when nothing unexpected happened. Much of that was thanks to the long-range Scouting Formation, which greatly reduced encounters with Titans.

No wonder Erwin had increased the total number of expeditions beyond the walls from twenty-three to fifty-seven in his five years in command. Those five years saw more expeditions than the preceding century.

Of course, that was still in the future. This was only the twenty-seventh expedition beyond the walls.

Perhaps because they had already cleared the route, there were far fewer Titans on the return journey than there had been that morning, and they changed direction several fewer times as well. Of course, that might also have been because the sky was growing dark.

Besides setting up sites beyond the walls, this expedition had also given them a preliminary understanding of the density of Titans within Wall Maria.

By the time they returned to Wall Rose, it had been dark for quite a while. Without even taking off his Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, Bai Yu ran toward the training grounds for the Training Corps' current class.

A white-haired boy was still sitting at the edge of the mountain slope, gazing at the moon above.

"You really waited? Don't you have to get up early for training tomorrow?"

Ming turned his head to look at him.

"Yeah. You hadn't come yet."

Over the month or so since their first meeting, Bai Yu had spent every evening here drinking with Ming. During the day, he watched Xiate train, took the occasional nap, and even made special trips to the Training Corps' mess hall to mooch meals.

He seemed to be living quite leisurely.

In the evenings, when Bai Yu arrived early, he waited for Ming. When Bai Yu arrived late, Ming waited for him.

Bai Yu handed over the bottle in his hand, and Ming accepted it with some delight.

When Ming drank, he carried a faint scent of alcohol. Though it was very subtle, Bai Yu rather liked it.

To be clear, Bai Yu maintained that he had no strange ideas whatsoever! He simply liked Ming's qualities, especially his personality.

Over the past month, Bai Yu had grown increasingly fond of the boy before him.

Yeah, there's no way I'm letting him get away. Even if I have to tie him up, I'm getting him into my squad.