"You've achieved your goal," Nile Dok growled, barely containing his anger. "Can you let my family go now?!"
Standing beside him, Commander Dot Pixis remained composed — almost too composed. His calmness only deepened Nile's frustration.
Lock smiled faintly.
"We didn't arrest your family."
"Don't lie to me!" Nile snapped, stepping forward and grabbing at Lock's collar—
But he never reached it.
Lock caught Nile's wrist, pivoted, and with a swift movement threw him over his shoulder. The former Military Police commander struck the floor hard, breath knocked out of him.
Lock looked down at him, voice steady.
"Watch your behavior."
He didn't hate Nile Dok — but he didn't like him either. Nile had been loyal to the false king to the bitter end, blind to reality until the Titans tore down the illusion. Lock wasn't going to punish him for that. But the time for blind, rigid obedience had passed.
"Damn… you…" Nile grunted, forcing himself up, rage clouding his eyes. But before he could lunge again, a hand pressed firmly on his shoulder.
Erwin Smith.
"If you or your family remain within the Walls," Erwin said quietly, "we can always… invite you for tea. So I recommend you avoid doing anything reckless."
Nile stared at him as if seeing a stranger.
"Erwin… have you become this unscrupulous, too?!"
Levi snorted.
"Unbelievable. This is the commander of the Military Police? Acting like a child."
Erwin didn't react to Nile's accusation. His eyes remained calm.
"Everything we're doing is for Eldia's future. For freedom."
Nile's lip curled. "Stop dressing treason up as righteousness."
"Facts will prove it," Erwin replied. "You no longer have the right to decide the course of this island. Spend the rest of your life quietly."
He motioned with his hand. Two guards stepped forward, and Nile Dok and Pixis were escorted out of the room.
Pixis did not utter a single word.
But he looked at Lock as he left — a long, deep, unreadable look.
It made Lock's jaw tighten.
Seeing it, Erwin quickly spoke.
"I'll monitor them closely. They won't interfere with what we're building. Besides… there are a few men we can still trust. Nile and Pixis are capable. One day, we may need them again."
Lock crossed his arms, thinking.
"Fine. But from now on, we control the military branches. And… It's time we start preparing the people inside the Walls. Controlled information. Step by step. No shocks. Can they accept it?"
The topic made everyone sober instantly.
Zackly — the most politically experienced of them — answered after a long pause.
"Not all at once. Not too quickly. The people have lived under lies for over a century. Tear it away too suddenly, and chaos will follow. But… for now, we've achieved a staged victory."
Erwin added quietly, "I only pray Marley gives us time."
"Marley…" Levi muttered, eyes darkening with fury.
Ever since he understood the truth — that Titans outside the Walls were Eldians weaponized by Marley — Levi's hatred for the nation had turned cold and lethal.
Lock spoke next.
"Right now, neither we nor Marley understands the other. That's good for us. But it won't last. We must reorganize the military immediately — and begin preparing expeditions outside the Walls."
Erwin nodded.
"That is essential. We can't remain on the defensive forever. We must gather intel — every landing point, every potential outpost outside our shores. Anything Marley might use."
His gaze drifted toward the upper floors, toward where Dina Fritz rested.
"And… do you believe she can truly use the Founding Titan's power? To control the Titans outside?"
Even Levi, who rarely cared about such things, looked expectant.
Zackly leaned forward, expression serious.
"If she can control Titans, then exploration outside the Walls becomes ten times safer. Resources, farmland, minerals — we could use everything beyond these borders. Titans could even be tools, not threats."
The room quieted.
Everyone understood the stakes.
If Paradis remained weak, Marley would crush it someday.
If Paradis grew strong enough, it could shape its own destiny.
Lock exhaled slowly.
"The Founding Titan is powerful, yes. But Dina will need time. We can't rely solely on her power — or on any Titan power. Our true strength must come from ourselves."
That made even Levi nod.
"That's the truth," Erwin said. "Foundations built on borrowed strength collapse eventually."
A New Beginning
What followed was a long, intense discussion. Logistics, reorganizations, plans to merge intelligence units, centralize command, and ensure the Survey Corps, Military Police, and Garrison could coordinate rather than compete.
By midday, the new order of Paradis Island was set into motion.
While ordinary citizens swept rubble from their homes, rebuilt walls, reopened shops, and enjoyed their first peaceful morning in days…
The entire power structure of the Walls shifted.
Neutrals and conservatives lost their influence overnight.
Reformers — Lock's faction — gained dominant control of every branch of the military.
The remaining nobles kept their titles but lost their teeth.
The puppet king remained a symbol, nothing more.
Because Rod Reiss's identity had been hidden for decades, no one among the common people noticed his fall. There was no uproar. No rumors. Just silence.
Exactly as Lock intended.
Beneath the surface, however, undercurrents surged.
Lock, Erwin, Levi, Zackly — and their allies — now controlled nearly all military power on the island.
The Order of the Walls, long used as political and religious control, was abolished quietly.
In its place, a new public education office was established — meant to slowly correct false history and teach people real knowledge, carefully and gradually.
The printing mills were restructured.
All newspapers were moved under central management to prevent misinformation or panic.
Private rumor-spreaders and profiteers were removed from circulation.
Not propaganda — just stability.
Paradis was too fragile to allow chaos.
The technological artifacts stored in military warehouses — old blueprints, abandoned research, untested weapons — were reactivated. Under Hange Zoë's leadership, a new Science Corps began evaluating every piece of forgotten tech.
Some of it had been suppressed for decades.
Some of it was useless.
Some… could change the island's future.
As these reforms began to spread, the Walls slowly transformed.
The air felt different.
The people walked with a little more hope, a little less fear.
Shops reopened.
Streets filled with chatter again.
Even the birds seemed louder.
Paradis Island, once sunken in gloom, now pulsed with the early signs of renewal — like new buds pushing through the soil after a long winter storm.
Lock stepped outside onto the balcony of the top floor, looking over the district as sunlight shimmered across rooftops.
This was only the beginning.
The real trials — Marley, the outside world, the true war — were still ahead.
But for the first time…
Paradis Island had taken its first step toward standing on its own feet.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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