"Terrifying, right?" Gale asked, glancing sideways at Ymir, who stood beside him.
Ymir was standing on the city wall, looking at the blood-covered short man, and a chill ran down her spine.
That guy was only 1.6 meters tall, but he was the ultimate weapon—cold and ruthless when it came to killing Titans.
For Ymir, who understood better than anyone what it meant to be a Titan, it was horrifying. Those eyes looked like they wanted to devour someone alive.
These Scout soldiers were quite capable; they defeated the three Titans in a matter of minutes.
According to Ymir's experience, two of the Titans were about eight meters tall, and the third was twelve meters, which was considered medium to large in size.
What she hadn't expected was for them to be defeated so quickly.
All three were eliminated by that short man, making it hard not to suspect that he had been killing Titans for more than a decade.
While thinking this, Ymir took a bite of the soft and fluffy freshly baked bread with meat and took a sip of chocolate milk.
These recipes came from the Hawthorne merchants' guild—a very diverse breakfast compared to what they were used to inside the walls.
Gale approached her and whispered, "Ymir, what do you think of the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear? If you turned into a Titan, do you think you could face them?"
"As long as that short captain isn't around, I can deal with the rest," Ymir said after thinking for a moment. "But no matter what, it's always better to escape."
"That's good. No Titan can defeat Levi, even if it's intelligent. By the way, how have you been feeling lately? Have you been feeling depressed?" Gale asked naturally.
"I'm fine… so-so," Ymir said while chewing.
"That's good. I was worried you might give in to your instincts and turn into a Titan the moment you stepped outside the wall, starting a massacre and running far away," Gale said jokingly.
"I'm not stupid. If I dared to do that, would I even make it out alive?" Ymir muttered, looking toward the distant forest. "Besides, I don't have anywhere to stay outside the walls."
"Since the deal I offered you isn't bad, you'll stay by my side after we leave. If something unexpected happens and we can't handle it, you'll have to take action. Even if the whole world points at you, I'll protect you like I did with Eren," Gale said with a cold expression.
Of course, he had enemies—members of his family who had escaped the massacre, and Kenny, an expert assassin whose intentions were unknown.
That was why he kept Ymir by his side; she would be his shield.
Ymir shrugged and said, "As you command, Commander Gale."
For this operation, Ymir was a hidden card for Gale. In this unit, only he and Hannes knew that Ymir could transform into a Titan.
Although Ymir inherited the Jaw Titan, her Pure Titan form, which she had maintained for sixty years, had also affected that Titan's shape.
Throughout history, the Jaw Titans were known for their sharp claws and fangs, as well as their exceptional bite force and agility among intelligent Titans.
However, Ymir's Titan form, compared to the Titan she consumed, was simply characterized by having sharper teeth and more pointed nails.
She did not inherit the hardening traits of the Jaw Titan, so her aggressiveness was lower than that of previous Jaw Titans, but her mobility did not seem to be affected.
In her Titan form, she was extremely fast, and in case of any unforeseen situation, she could quickly move important people away from danger.
Although Gale did not believe the expedition would encounter any obstacles, it was always good to be prepared for any eventuality and not be left without an escape route.
"By the way, sir, I heard you invented the recipes for French fries and fried chicken. Is that true?" Ymir licked her lips.
"I wouldn't call it an invention…" Gale replied while looking at the map. "But it was certainly created under my supervision."
"Is that so?" Ymir glanced at Gale's profile and thought that maybe in the future he would invent even more delicious things.
In the name of French fries and fried chicken, she swore to protect her superior.
…
Artur looked at the sky; the spring rain continued to fall without stopping.
Boom!
A yellow flare exploded, signaling that the Titans near the wall had been eliminated.
"Open the city gates!" The Garrison officer ordered dozens of men to pull the mechanism and raise the heavy stone gate.
Crack!
A damp wind brushed against Artur's face, carrying with it a faint smell of earth and blood.
The transport team used oxen to move the Gatling machine guns outside the wall, and a total of twelve Gatling guns were installed, carefully arranged along the outer wall of Trost.
Next, the Scout Regiment would use horses as bait to lure in all nearby Titans and carry out the cleanup operation.
Artur sat at the base and gripped the crank.
Once installed, a Gatling machine gun required two people to operate: a gunner and a loader.
The gunner was responsible for controlling the position and timing of the firing, while the loader was responsible for feeding the ammunition and relaying orders to the gunner.
Artur's assistant was someone he knew; they came from the same village and had known each other since childhood.
Both of them pressed their lips together, staring straight ahead in silence.
Artur's forehead and back were covered in sweat, and from there, he could clearly see the corpse of a Titan lying in the meadow.
Seeing something with your own eyes and merely hearing about it were completely different experiences.
Titans shared similar traits with humans, but what he knew was that they were enormous in size and rumored to eat people…
All of this placed immense pressure on Artur. He couldn't help but imagine what would happen if the Gatling machine gun failed.
Would he be caught by a charging Titan and have his head torn off in a single bite by that terrifying mouth?
He remembered the instructions Commander Hannes had given to all the gunners: if they encountered a smiling blonde female Titan, they were not to shoot at the throat or nape, only at the joints; she was a special Titan and had to be captured alive.
Artur wondered: did they really have the luxury to hold back?
At that moment, the hearts of every gunner and loader pounded violently. They were the first mortals to leave the walls and witness real Titans for the first time.
Only now did they recall a question: "Can we, as amateurs without rigorous training, really kill a Titan?"
Back then, Gale had answered them: "Trust in the power of gunpowder."
Now that they were here, they had no time to hesitate; a red flare was fired from the distance.
"The Titans have arrived!"
"There are four Titans in the southeast direction!"
A group of Scout soldiers was being chased by a Titan, following them on horseback at a distance of over ten meters.
When Titans ran, the ground trembled.
They crushed abandoned wooden carts along the road and the bones of those who failed to escape to Wall Rose.
Their grotesque faces sent chills down one's spine.
Artur waited carefully for the signal to fire. The Titan was already within firing range. The Scout Regiment's horses split off to the side, leaving the Titan completely exposed to the cannons.
"Now!"
"Fire!!!" Artur, the leader of the first platoon, roared.
The cannons roared in unison with him—twelve Gatling machine guns fired simultaneously, unleashing a deafening barrage!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sparks burst from twelve different points as bullets rained down on the Titan's body.
The giant's joints were shattered, and the throat of the smallest Titan was pierced, blood splattering everywhere!
Amid the gunfire, the Titan didn't even realize it had been killed.
"Is it dead?" After a brief moment of silence, a thunderous cheer erupted from the wall.
"We won!"
"Humanity has won!"
Euphoric, Artur thought: "This is the power of gunpowder."