"Do you trust him Erwin?" Levi asks as he, Hange and Erwin are holding a meeting on what to do next.
"He knew our names, he knew what happened inside the walls and he brought us allies from the other side of the ocean. Eren has been having visions from the past Attack titan users, how can we say the Founding titan isn't capable of doing feats beyond that?"
"It's not like we can't keep him under surveillance and acquire as much information as we want while he is on our side. He already knows about our world, our society, he even swore loyalty to queen Historia before we even told him we are a monarchy..." Hange adds.
"We are not in a position where we can kick allies away. For now I will take responsibility but let it be known that Leo is welcomed inside Paradise as a citizen of the kingdom. As for the mid-eastern emissaries..." Erwin wipes his brow. "We'll have to master the art of politics and diplomacy won't we. My job is to protect humanity... no, to protect Eldia against the threat of titans and its enemies from beyond the sea. There can be someone else to take care of public relationships."
"If Leo is considered a member of Eldia... can I? Can I?" Hange boils with enthusiasm.
"Yes, you're free to examine him as long as he consents. I'm sure you'll have much to learn both about titan science as well as continental technology." Hange rushes to meet with Leo as soon as Erwin allows it.
"There goes that titan nut." Levi remarks.
"What's your take on it Levi?"
"I say let Hange jump inside its mouth. I've looked at the giant crystal flag the Warhammer planted in front of our walls. If that titan's skin is as though as that crystal it will be a really hard fight to take it down.
While Erwin and the other captains were deciding what to do with Leo, the latter was placed under supervision a far away from Eren as possible. There was always the possibility of Leo being a spy or an assassin and the scouts couldn't afford to put Eren in danger to be eaten. Mikasa, Sasha, Connie and Jeanne were placed in charge of him with Armin who required permission to ask Leo questions.
"So there really are places like this! Oceans of boiling sand and frozen forest!"
"I've been inside a desert before. Far, far south, two continents away from here. It was boiling hot during the day and freezing cold during the night. At times it felt completely empty but there were these very rare cases when it rained and the whole barren desert got covered in flowers and animals that came out of the ground to drink."
"If it is so barren what do people that live there eat?" Sasha asks curious.
"People don't live in the desert. They live around small lakes surrounded by vegetation which they call oasis. The vegetation evolved to keep the water inside the pond and people learnt how to use the water effectively to grow crops around. Those are rare cases though when an oasis is large enough to sustain a village so people more often than not use oasis to grow animals as nomads. They travel from place to place herding goats or sheep or sometimes these large animals with really long legs and big toes that have two humps on their bodies called camels. They can go up to seven months without drinking water."
"Seven moths? Do months last shorter in the desert?"
"No, they last just as long if not longer there. You see... the earth rotates around..."
"Hey! Zuege! Can I see your titan?" Hange appears half screaming half drooling out of nowhere. "Commander Erwin allowed me to put you up to some tests to I'd like if you could do some things for me."
"It seems we'll have to continue our story later. Sure thing captain!" Hange, Leo and the rest of the scouts charged with looking after him enter the inner walls behind Shinganshina and start testing some of Leo's powers.
"Ha! A titan with the wings of freedom on its back. If isn't that a cruel joke!"
"My body doesn't have the cape naturally. Every time I transform I make sure the first thing that I create is the cape. It is removable too." Leo says showing Hange his body without the cape.
"That arm. Can you materialise without the metallic skin you have?"
"Yes but it would be like birthing a child without skin. It makes me faster but a punch in the face would throw me to the ground easier than a pure titan." Hange then asks Leo to create some things, first starting by recreating the weapons the scouts use.
"Can you create something like out 3DM gear?"
"A fifteen metre titan flying through the air. Wouldn't that be a sight to scar the opponent of Eldia for centuries to come. Unfortunately I cannot. Every time I tried recreating the 3DM gear, even on a smaller scale, the fans, nuts and bolts stuck together. I can create objects as long as it is not required for the pieces to slide on top of one another." To prove his point Lew creates numerous chain links which work like a regular metal chain but once he tried creating a giant nut and bolt the pieces simply didn't turned around.
"How long does the crystal last? Does it disappear once you turn back into a human?"
"My crystal covered body disappears like any titan once I turn back human but the crystal objects I create, they last until something destroys them. If no one bothered to destroy the giant flag, right now the wings of freedom are still flying over the enemy's capital mocking them for my victory."
"Tell me Leo... for how long can you hold that titan form?"
"If I keep this rate of creating objects from crystal, for about thirty minutes."
"Good, then let's make these thirty minutes last." Hange says drooling again at the prospect of having a half an hour conversation with a titan capable of creating objects out of crystal.
It was half an hour but it felt like thirty days. Hange was very thorough on expecting everything about Leo's titan. Oh, the childish joy Hange felt when Leo created a platform on the top of his head and Hange rode around on top of him as if he was a horse.
"Hm... the nine shifters serve such interesting roles. What we call the attack titan might physically be one of the least impressive titans of them all. Eren needed the power of hardening to even stand a chance against Rainer."
"Well, I would call Eren's titan a generalist. He has stamina, strength, speed and size. My titan is tougher than his but also slower. If I wouldn't be able to create these weapons his hits would be a lot stronger than mine."
"I've seen this... pig looking titan."
"Pig looking. The Cart titan, with a really long mouth right?"
"Yes, it never got close to us and was only used to run away. Is that a speed titan or something, how strong it is? We have reports about the Jaws, the Armoured, the Colossal and the Beast titan but not about the Cart."
"It has a pretty strong bite, it can go through my skin without any problem but its body is really weak. If it doesn't take a scout by surprise then it is relatively easy to take it down. Unfortunately you'll have to take down that titan hundreds of times since it has the most stamina of us all. It can keep that form for two months of hard labour without problems. You can rejoice though, the Cart titan seems to have a grudge against me and most likely will try to bite off my face every time she'll see me. Talking about titans, how did pushed the beast titan away? In my memories it took a suicidal charge to keep it distracted in order for captain Levi to reach it."
"We never had to deal with it beyond a short scrap. Once the Cart and the Beast titan appeared we battled over Eren but they didn't had too much fight in them. Eren managed to make the Armoured titan charge through a blockade created by the beast, we pulled the horses to safety inside the district and from there the Beast couldn't shoot use with rocks any more. It was over quite quickly."
"Then it worked! Thank god it did."
"Something happened?"
"No... just, did you know the beast titan changes animal for every titan user. The previous one was a ram and I think, if I recall correctly I've even seen a snake once!"
"A snake titan? Did it walked on two legs or had a tail like a snake?"
"There is no need for them to know I was fighting Marley on the other side of the sea while the Warriors were here. If I sell them too good a deal they might start to be suspicious, besides, it is better to make myself seem humble my not mentioning it."
Later the same day in the evening, the scouts and the mid-eastern soldiers all gather around. They had to prepare to return to Trost however, the best course of action was different.
"Beyond these walls there lies another wall, smaller than these ones but large enough to keep pure titans away and behind that there is a port which is used for ships to dock. Right now Marley must be either massing troops in that location to plan an attack or it is completely empty and up for us to grab it. When we came from the south with our ships we were unable to cross through Marleyan territory so we couldn't have aimed for it to begin with. What I'm proposing is for all our forces combined to head for that location, capture it and completely secure the island from further outside interference for a while. Titans are drawn towards densely populated areas so most of them would be between the outer and the middle set of walls meaning even our path would be easier. If we have a port, as small as it is at our disposal it would be easier for foreign countries to reach us meaning we can start trading with the outside world again."
"How far would it be from Shinganshina?"
"If we start early in the morning we will reach it by evening the same day, the same is true if we start the march during the night. We me and Eren both go we can take out the enemy ships and troops without even requiring the rest of the scouts here. They can stay behind with the majority of mid-easter soldiers to defend the district. Some should also head back to Trost and tell everyone about what happened here today."
"What if it is a trap. The mid-easter soldiers or how you call them are far better armed than our scouts. If we take Eren to the ocean it could be a trap to capture him." Levi says not trusting Leo's words.
"You can tie a thunder-spear to my body if you fear my betrayal. Even if I crystallise it could still kill me from inside the crystal if it explodes."
"There will be no need. Humanity...no, Eldia won't be able to advance without the courage to face the future head on. Call the mid-eastern allies, have some of them join us so that they may warn their ships to come to the port. A small group of scouts will follow us while the rest will remain in Shinganshina to defend it. Have someone bring the news to Trost immediately, we need the garrison to start securing the district as fast as possible. We will deal with the titans inside the walls once we will be able to, for now on we have a new goal to look forwards to!"
At dawn the scouts would leave immediately. As much as the cover of the night offers them protection against titans it does not against possible Marleyan forces. The benefit of resting and leaving in the morning far outweighs the benefit of going under the cover of the night, doubly so with the presence of two titan shifters. Erwin and his unit alongside Levi, Hange and the others who fought inside the walls against the Armoured and Colossal titan prepare and leave.
"It's so hot and the road is so boring!" Sasha and Connie complain one leaning forward and one leaning backwards on their horses.
"Think about it this way. You don't have to build roads in the heat of the sun yet or railroads."
"What are railroads?"
"It's complicated. On the continent we have things called trains, machines that move on their own through the power of steam. They require these special roads to move on. They are like a clock only, instead of twisting a key you power it with a coal furnace."
"Look alive, there's something in front of us!" After hours of walking they finally reached a twenty metres wall locked up between two rocky hills.
"Commander, quickly, we have no cover here to hide behind. Do we burst through or do we approach slowly risking to be seen?"
"Have Eren and Leo transform into titans and some scouts use their bodies as ramparts to see over the wall. If there are enemies smash through the walls otherwise we will take our time." As ordered the two transform and two scouts climb up their bodies then jump over the walls to see what's behind them.
"Enemies!" The first scouts shout as bullets start flying towards them. Leo quickly creates a shield to protect the scouts and ramparts for the ground forces to climb up the wall and attack it. He hands Eren a shield as well in case there are anti titan guns beyond the wall and charges forth. Leo creates something akin to a ladder in front of the wall for him to jump and grab onto the top ledge. Eren follows suit and hardens his fingers to climb over the wall.
"Enemies of Paradise! Put down your weapons and surrender or face the wrath of Eldians!" Erwin shouts before the battle begins hopping he could start diplomatic relationships with Marley. He gets nearly shot by a rifle if not for a crystal that sprung out of the ground to defend him. After the first shot was fire the scouts behind Erwin jump out from behind the wall and head into the small group of soldiers still stationed on Paradise while the mid-easter soldiers offer them fire support with their rifles trying to keep casualties to a minimum. A ship in the distance fires its cannons and as retaliation Leo shots it with his bow until it sinks. Eren jumps into the nearby water and picks up a ship before pulling it above its head and using it as a club to destroy all but one ship present in the port.
Once the battle was over and the small Marleyan group has been cornered Erwin offers them the chance to surrender once more. The Marleyan soldiers didn't took the opportunity. The commander ordered his men to kill one another rather than give up important informations about Marley and soon everyone had a bullet in their skulls.
"Why would they do such a thing? We offered them a chance to surrender!" Jeanne shouts angrily.
"Jeanne... don't you understand. They've just validated Leo's stories." Armin says with a grim look on his face realising the scope of what lies beyond the sea. "We are fighting an enemy that fears and hates us so much they are willing to kill every last one of their own soldiers just to blame us for it. They committed suicide so that we may be the culprits!"
"Pity them but do not be angry. They do not know what they are doing. Those who really hate us are few, those who fear us are many and the latte follow the word of the former to the letter."
"This is a good day! This is Eldia's first step into the future. We faced our enemy over the sea and won this first battle. We've captured a port and have a ship to contact other nations. Rush into the water and gaze at it's beauty for today we see with our eyes what our ancestors wrote in books we considered legends!" Erwin shouts giving free hand to the present scouts to go into the water and look at this new incredible sight.