Support Squad

Not long after they returned to the Survey Corps, orders came down from above.

One hundred thousand people were to be selected from among the former residents of Wall Maria to carry out the Maria Retake Plan. The entire Survey Corps and part of the Garrison Regiment would deploy together to lead them, but the civilians would march out to fight the Titans armed with little more than poor-quality spears and large blades.

Fortunately, although Bai Yu had no idea how Erwin had managed it, Carla and the others had not been selected.

Before setting out, Erwin had told Bai Yu something.

"The most important thing in this battle is to document the Titans and observe them."

Yet it had sounded almost as though he were talking to himself. For some reason, he seemed uneasy, and Bai Yu was the only person he had said those words to.

As the Maria Retake Plan began, the Survey Corps cleared a path ahead while the civilians followed shakily behind. All they could see were Titans being cut down one after another up front, and hope began to stir in their hearts. Perhaps... perhaps they could succeed?

But with so many civilians gathered together, countless Titans headed toward them. Before they had even reached the halfway point, Titans were converging on them from every direction.

Casualties immediately began to mount among the Survey Corps and the Garrison Regiment. After all, they were on flat ground. Before long, the Titans broke through their defensive line, leaving those hundred thousand people to face them head-on.

The outcome was exactly what one would expect. A war? Rather than a war, it was a one-sided slaughter.

As the enormous Titans charged toward those hundred thousand people, almost everyone threw down their weapons without a moment's hesitation and scrambled to flee toward Wall Maria behind them.

But they were already a long way from Wall Maria. Despite the Survey Corps constantly cutting down Titans, more and more kept coming. Soldiers were being eaten one after another, and the civilians began fleeing in all directions.

As the Titans around them multiplied and the civilians scattered, Erwin declared the operation a failure and ordered every member of the Survey Corps to retreat.

There were plenty of riderless horses scattered about, but the civilians did not know how to ride. With people fleeing everywhere, the Survey Corps soldiers had no way to protect them. If they did not retreat now, they would not be able to escape either.

The soldiers retreated to town and announced to everyone that the Maria Retake Plan had failed and that one hundred thousand civilians had died heroically. Another wave of panic swept through the walls, but the deaths of those hundred thousand people soon eased the food shortage, leaving people secretly relieved.

During that battle, Bai Yu had charged ahead of the entire formation, killing twenty-five Titans single-handedly and saving several Survey Corps soldiers.

During the retreat, the Survey Soldiers saw Bai Yu covered in Titan blood, his clothes stained completely red. White steam kept rising from his body as the blood evaporated, making him look like an asura who had crawled straight out of hell.

That battle also erased every last prejudice the Survey Soldiers had held against him. They no longer dared to think of him as a ten-year-old child. What ten-year-old could possibly be that fierce?

After returning to headquarters, they even gave him a nickname: the Sleep-Deprived Reaper. No one knew where it had started, and by the time Bai Yu heard about it, it had already spread throughout the entire Survey Corps.

He spent an entire day mortified before he finally recovered.

For subsequent expeditions beyond the walls, they decided to assign Bai Yu a roaming role within the formation, responsible for supporting the Scout Squad at the very front whenever needed.

Now he had the most freedom not only in his daily life, but also within the scouting formation.

There was something else, too.

After a year and a half of learning to use the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, Xiate asked Bai Yu to teach her personally. Having faced Titans before, she said:

"I've already learned everything they taught me about the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear, so I want you to teach me, dear brother."

Well, to be honest, Bai Yu also felt that he might be a better instructor in using the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear than Keith, the former commander of the Survey Corps.

Then Bai Yu shamelessly approached Erwin again and got Xiate released into his care. While he was at it, he got Ming out as well, after a great deal of talking.

Since they were volunteering to join the Survey Corps, permission was granted.

The three of them formed a squad, with Bai Yu as its leader and the one responsible for their special training. This cut into his sleeping time, but his training within the system seemed to have reached a bottleneck anyway. He felt as though he could no longer improve.

Besides, for Xiate's sake, he could put all that aside for now.

For half a year, Xiate and Ming stayed with him, and whenever he had time, he trained them in using the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. He also took them along on the next two expeditions beyond the walls.

On the first expedition, the two of them killed four Titans: two seven-meter Titans, one ten-meter Titan, and one four-meter Titan.

On the second expedition beyond the walls, with Bai Yu assisting them, they killed twelve Titans in total: four four-meter Titans, three roughly six-meter Titans, two ten-meter Titans, one fifteen-meter Titan, and two fifteen-meter Abnormal Titans.

The difference between their first and second expeditions was enormous. Although they had achieved those results by working together, they were already a force to be reckoned with. Bai Yu genuinely felt that both of them were talented, perhaps even more talented than he was. It once again made him wonder why they had never appeared in the story he knew from his previous life. With talent like that, surely they were no worse than Mikasa?

With his wholehearted instruction added to the mix, Bai Yu almost wanted to shout that the heavens were unfair.

But there was one thing: Bai Yu never went easy on either of them during training. Several times, they hovered on the brink of death. While training them, he watched them with a seriousness and composure they never saw in everyday life.

There was none of his usual aversion to hassle, nor the slightest trace of casualness.

Over that half year, their skills grew formidable, but they had one fatal weakness. Unlike Bai Yu, Xiate and Ming lacked stamina because their bodies had not yet fully developed. They could only fight quick, decisive battles.

As a result, their teamwork evolved into Bai Yu serving as the main attacker while the other two supported him.

This also made things considerably easier for Bai Yu. Since they were responsible for providing support, their squad became known as the Support Squad.

Nearly a third of the entire Survey Corps had been saved from the jaws of Titans by them. Some, though rescued, had still been forced to retire because of their disabilities.

So although they rarely spoke with the other Survey Corps soldiers, their squad was still held in very high regard. People would let them cut ahead in queues, give them priority when distributing supplies, and things like that.