Surrender your hearts

Takashi entered the castle through the broken door and saw a three meter tall titan being pressed under the door and unable to move. 

After hesitating for a moment, he didn't kill it and would later take it to Hange Zoe. On second thought, it would be a great gift that she would be very excited about, unless she wanted to fixate on Eren now. 

Takashi went up to the castle, looked at everyone and paid attention to Reiner and Bertholdt, acted with the same fake personality, and calmly said, "I'm calm that nothing happened to them, is everyone okay?" 

"We are fine, but the older ones are..." Thinking of the sacrifice of all those who protected them, Christa's eyes began to dim. 　 

"Nanaba and Gelgar still remain alive, but it is not certain that they will survive." After saying that, Takashi kept silent and looked at Lynne's corpse, he approached and observed the blood. "They don't look like wounds caused by a titan, how did she die?" 

"Lynne and Hanning were killed by a rock that fell from the sky, it must have been because of that weird 16-17 meter tall titan with thick animal-like fur. It stayed in the distance from the direction it flew the rock. At that moment, Connie pointed out that this Titan was very strange, it didn't seem to be abnormal like the other Titans." 

Seventeen-meter titan with animal skin covering its body? That's the titan that climbed the wall and entered Maria territory.

Takashi narrowed his eyes slightly and noticed that the expressions of Reiner and Bertholdt were a bit unnatural and very thoughtful.　 

Ymir who was very vigilant with Reiner since she discovered that he knows an unknown language, noticed the expressions but decided to ignore it.　 

"It must have been very scary, there are strange titans on the walls lately, let's go down and meet up with the others." 　　 

After saying that, Takashi carried Lynne's body in his arms, while Ymir walked near him and the group left the top of the castle. 

As they passed by the titan that was trapped, Bertholdt suddenly asked, "Takashi, don't you want to kill that titan?" 　　

Takashi, who was walking in front, looked at the titan who was trying to move and said, "That's not necessary, anyway, it can't move at the moment, it might be useful." 

For some strange reason, Bertholdt instinctively sensed that something was wrong and began to look at Takashi with watchful eyes.　　 

This sense of danger didn't suddenly arise now, he had sensed something was wrong since Captain Mike had been supervising them all for a few days now. 

He looked at Reiner, who was sometimes serious or depressed and sometimes more smiling, with a gauze tied on his arm, and sighed, Reiner is too sick now, he can't go on like this! 

Reiner thought internally, "Haha, is Christa interested in me?" 

Takashi and Bertholdt didn't know each other very well, they greeted each other when they met, but beyond that they hadn't had very deep conversations. Still, he felt that this person had a good heart and it was hard to imagine that he was one of the intelligent titans. 

On the other hand, he and Reiner knew each other quite well, but not as close as Eren and Reiner. 

A group of people came down from the tower with different expressions. At this time, other members of Hange Zoe's group saw the steam and dust in the air. They were a little late and now there were more than seventy people.　 

Hange Zoe asked Takashi, Reiner and Connie what happened, she paid special attention when the titan covered in animal fur was mentioned and also noticed Christa.

Petra on the other hand busied herself gathering the remains of Mike's gear and then looked at the condition of the only survivors who survived before Takashi arrived. It is now certain that Mike had died, a great soldier who had been for a long time in the Survey Corps. 　　 

It is known that Mike and Nanaba were soldiers of the highest trust the commander had for him, Petra remembered how Nanaba helped him when he joined the Survey Corps. 

Auruo Brossard looked at Hanning and Lynne's pale face, he couldn't stand the anger, "I hope Nanaba and that old alcoholic Gulder can survive..." 

Petra looked at the gloomy Auruo Brossard with her moist eyes and asked, "Are you holding up well?" 

"No... I recognized myself now. This world is getting stranger and stranger to me..." 　　 

Going on expeditions outside the walls before, elites like Nanaba and the others didn't die so easily. 

But recently, the world seems to have changed. Humans like Eren who can turn into titans appeared, then an intelligent titan appeared, and now they were informed that another strange titan had appeared. 

"I don't even know how long I can live!" 

"Aren't you going to be a soldier like the captain? Now you don't seem to mimic his tone of voice anymore." Petra looked at Auruo with a serious expression. 

"Elites like Gunther and Mike are ready to die, but now I'm a little scared, because I found out I'm not as strong as I thought!" Auruo took a deep breath, his tone of voice was low. "Indeed, you were right, I'm not an all powerful soldier like Captain Levi, no matter how I imitate him, I know it's fake!" 

"It was awkward for you to do that before, but it's okay now." Petra gently covered Lynne with a white cloth. 

"Just to remind you, write your farewell note well, so your father won't have to regret anything." Auruo picked up Hanning's body and put it in the carriage. 

"I will." Petra replied, holding Nanaba's cold hand. 

She knows she is  weak but she dare not say it like Auruo, she didn't want to get the idea that she would die and leave her father alone in this world. 

Takashi stood in front of many soldiers and shouted, "Attention!" 

The sudden shout brought everyone out of their thoughts, Takashi looked at everyone and pointed out, "I don't think this custom is in the Survey Corps, but I want to do it for the great soldiers who lost their lives today." 

After saying that, Takashi drew his sword and shouted, "Have a safe journey, Captain Mike Zacharius, one of the strongest men mankind has ever had the honor to have!" 

"For all the soldiers who have died, we pledge here and now that their deaths are not in vain, and we will make sure to continue this fight until we see humanity triumph!" 

"We are the Survey Corps, we seek freedom and all those who are no longer among us will fly free from this world, for their duty here is done!" 

Those words echoed in the ears of all the soldiers, they looked at Takashi who had a cold expression on his face and shouted, "Your deaths have not been in vain!" 

"We will defeat the titans and emerge victorious!" Everyone had tears in their eyes, today a very powerful and beloved soldier in the Survey Corps had died. 

"Surrender your hearts, soldiers!" Takashi shouted, unnoticed by anyone, low morale flared up again, as long as everyone keeps fighting, humanity will never lose 

"Yes!" 

A rather abnormal titan appeared here a moment ago and now it wasn't safe. Hange Zoe asked everyone to go up the Rose wall through an elevator, and everyone kept calm after Takashi's speech. 

Hange Zoe had to admit that Takashi's words had the feeling and motivation that only a commander could achieve. 

Reiner did not notice the abnormality for a while and was carried away by the pride-filled atmosphere, but Bertholdt was very composed and instinctively became alert. 

Few knew that Takashi had declared war on the moles that still claimed to be allies, soon enough they would all regret it.

They all took the elevator one after another and climbed up the fifty-plus meter high wall. Takashi, who went up first, looked at Christa.　　 

"Hey, are you okay? You seem to have changed a lot in the last few months, why aren't you smiling like you used to?" Ymir asked with a serious expression. 

"War changes people, doesn't it?" Takashi approached Ymir and whispered, "Take care of Christa, she's more important than you imagine..." 　 

Ymir, who had just stepped off the elevator, furrowed his eyebrows and became alert. He looked at Christa and flashed a smile, "It's okay, Christa helped brave Reiner bandage his wound." 

"I know, for that reason we all must take care of Christa, go with the others..." Takashi understood the hidden message. 

Hearing that Reiner had saved Connie and was injured because of that, everyone was puzzled. What is going on? 

If they were right, Reiner and Bertholdt are most likely the titans who destroyed the Maria wall. Why are they trying so hard to save the others?

Contradictory, completely opposite to their behavior, intelligent titans with the crimes of killing many innocent people. Is the acting skill too high or the drama too deep? 

"Takashi, what's wrong, don't you feel well?" Christa asked worriedly, looking at Takashi seriously. 

With a smile, Takashi said, "I'm fine, I'm just thinking about everything that happened..." 

"Hmph, why would you think about life if it's hell itself? It's not like we live in a paradise." Ymir snorted coldly, lightening the mood. 

"I thought you had become friendlier, better keep quiet, you'll look friendlier that way!" replied Takashi with a grimace.　　 

Takashi looked at Ymir and she walked away together with Christa. At first, he hid the news that Ymir had the same ability as Eren for a simple reason, he needed to learn more about her and her origin.　 

He knew that with her he could find out things he didn't know and he wasn't wrong, he learned about Marley and Ymir's history, the humans outside the walls. 

Unlike Reiner and the others, Ymir didn't seem to have hidden intentions, she was honest and expressed herself normally about what she wanted and what she didn't want. When he told her about Annie, she was nervous to know that there were many more like her in this place. 

Now their relationship could be close and Takashi was no longer on alert when he was together with Ymir, there were more important enemies to deal with. 

At that moment, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Reiner and Bertholdt also came up.　　 

Reiner's right hand was still wrapped in the bandage Christa had made from her skirt. 

Reiner covered his forehead with his left hand, "Twice, I've narrowly escaped death twice, I feel like I can't take it anymore..." 

Eren, who went to help Reiner up the wall, comforted him, "It's not that bad, we still didn't close the wall Maria, we've both been away from our hometown for a long time." 

Eren's words were like a trigger. Hearing the words referring to his hometown, Reiner's face changed, and Bertholdt's face became anxious: "Yes, Reiner, we have to go back to our hometown!" 

He spread his arms wide and hinted frantically, "We can go back now, it's just a matter of making a decision." 

"That's right." Reiner suddenly realized that he finally remembered that he was a Marley warrior. 

"We're only one step away from victory."  Berthold looked at Eren with an inexplicable expression, and even glanced at Takashi, who had his back to them. 

Takashi narrowed his eyes and at that moment, Hannes flew in with his three-dimensional maneuvering equipment, interrupting the conversation.

He said that there is no hole between the Trost district, that is, the entire southwestern part of the Rose Wall has not been damaged by the titans. 

Hange Zoe reflected for a moment and the situation was better than expected, but how the titan appeared remained a mystery. She pretended to be nonchalant and led the people forward, but kept her eyes on the people behind. 

"Hey Mikasa, what's your specialty?" Takashi asked with a cold smile on his face. 

Mikasa looked at Takashi, those seconds were enough to get ready.