"So all we have to do is find Rod Riess and we'll find Eren?" Mikasa asked.
"Yes," Levi said.
"Yeah, find Eren…" Lando said. "After he gets kidnapped again…. Over and over and over and over and over again."
Mikasa was about to say something back but Hange beat her to it.
"Let's go return the prisoner Lando." She said,
Lando and Hange walked down the stairs and grabbed the guy who was out, not dead. They dragged him back into the holding cell where the other MP was and threw him on the bed.
"What did you do to him?!" The MP yelled looking at the man missing his fingers.
"The same thing would've happened to you if you were in that room," Lando said. "Be grateful."
The MP who was in the cell started to cry and was choking out the MP asleep.
"You betrayed the king!" The MP said in tears.
Hange ran in there and threw the man off him.
"What's done is done!" Hange said. "If you were in that room you would've spilled everything too!"
Hange got the man to calm down and while walking out of the cell said.
"This is all your fault, we had a plan and you had to blow it up and almost kill someone."
"We are running on borrowed time with Eren," Lando said. "I got the information in half the time you did."
"You got it but at what cost?" Hange asked.
"No cost is too great for humanity." Lando lied.
Hange walked up the stairs while Lando stayed down there, he slumped his back against the wall and slid down it slowly with a sigh.
"I didn't get the information for humanity or even Eren." Lando thought. "I just wanted to make Dad proud in some weird way, who am I kidding? Someone proud of me for torturing someone? What was I thinking?"
Lando was broken out of his thoughts by a loud crash coming from upstairs.
"Probably just Hange breaking stuff." He thought with a smile.
Lando took out his journal and drew the scene of him sitting alone on the cold floor in a dark dungeon with the sound of the muffled crying of an MP.
"This role of ours…." Lando heard an MP say. "There's an order to it. When the role is done another steps in to start the act again. And thus, the world can never be rid of it. Good luck scouts."
Upstairs.
Hange had just kicked the table over as Levi was walking down the stairs, they had an awkward silence where they stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Sorry…I made a mess." Hange said. "There was a cockroach."
"I see," Levi said. "Just one kick of yours should've blasted it to bits. It's about time you fill them in, where's Lando?"
"Still down there," Hange said.
"I'll go get him," Levi said.
Levi walked down the stairs to the dungeon when he turned the corner and saw Lando sitting there drawing in his journal.
"Lando," Levi asked.
Lando turned his head and nodded at him.
"Let's go, Hange is talking to the others," Levi said.
Lando got up and the two of them walked up the stairs in silence.
"What you did was wrong," Levi said.
"It was for humanity," Lando said.
"Liar," Levi said as he opened the door out of the dungeon.
Lando sighed.
"But I guess it doesn't matter if you are valuable to humanity," Levi said and walked up the other flight of stairs to the main room.
"Good talk…" Lando said in a whisper and followed him.
Lando and Levi walked up the stairs where they saw Hange reading off a piece of paper that Eren gave her.
"Eren will be eaten?" Armin said.
Mikasa was looking visibly distressed.
"Yeah," Hange said. "Eren remembered a conversation that went like this. Berthold and Yimir were talking and Berthold said."
"You probably didn't want to eat a human either."
"Speculating based on that, Yimir was a Titan wandering alone outside of the wall. Berthold Reiner and Annie had a comrade that she ate. When a Titan eats someone they don't change back into a human. But what if a Titan ate one of Reiners's comrades? They're humans who can transform into Titans. In other words, if a Titan eats someone with that power, they revert back into a human. Furthermore, they obtain the power of those they eat. The other day's battle Reiner was throwing Titans at Eren, who had escaped. Eren has the power to control the Titans with his scream. He was trying to snatch that power with those Titans. In that case, Eren is just a vessel bound to be replaced. Basically, if the government has a Titan of their own, they'll be the one to eat Eren." Hange said.
Mikasa started to make her way to the door, Levi put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention.
"Calm down," Levi said. "Even if you go on a rampage they're not going to give Eren back to us. Anyways, let's head for the lands of this Rod Reiss. Get ready to leave at once."
"Yes sir!" Everyone said but Lando.
"I'll go tell Erwin what we learned about the Reiss family. I'm sure he is waiting to hear from us." Hange said.
"Right," Levi said.
"We can meet up on Reiss's land," Hange said. "Hear from me at the usual spot."
The Scouts all left the cabin with Hange going toward the city while Levi Squad headed out toward the land of Reiss.
It was the next day and they were stopping for some water when Mikasa came out from the treetops.
"Two MPs heading this way," Mikasa said.
"Armin stay there and pretend to collect water," Levi said. "Mikasa, you continue to scout and make sure there aren't any reinforcements. Lando, you are going to help take out the MP's with me."
Lando and Levi got up in the tree branches overlooking Armin when two MPs came walking in one female and one male, they raised their guns at Armin who put his arms up in surrender.
"You must be a scout." The man said.
Armin turned around and didn't say anything.
"Just like that…." The male said. "Not a word. Now listen to me and do what I-"
Lando and Levi jumped down from the treetops and grabbed them, putting their swords on their necks.
"That's right." Levi said. "Hand over your guns to the one in front."
Armin collected the guns from the MPs, then they tied them up.
"Disguise as the Military Police to get by the guards…" Levi thought "Then figure out where Eren was taken by snooping around. To think we'd have no better option…We just don't got the time…We've got no choice but to do or die."
Jean walked up to Levi and handed him a piece of paper.
"Captain," Jean said, handing it to him.
"Now then," Levi said, reading off the piece of paper. "Stohess District Military Police. Private Marlo Freudenburg. Same assignment, Private Hitch Dreyse. As for how we'll dispose of you…"
The privates flinched.
"Because of you guys, over 100 people from Stohess District were killed!" Hitch said.
"Huh?" Levi said not amused.
"Hey," Marlo said, trying to warn her.
"You people…." Hitch said. "You might think that you're all heroes of justice, but the victims and their families were dropped straight into hell."
"Yeah I know," Levi said.
"You there," Hitch said, looking at Lando. "You're from the Southern Cadet Corps, yeah? Just like Annie Leonheart. Were you friends of hers? No….. I doubt she doubt she had any friends. "Being as gloomy and aloof as she was. It's like she was a kid afraid of other people…I never got the chance to know anything about her. And the reason they still haven't found her…..is because she was pulverized by a Titan into a puddle of jelly!"
"No," Lando said. "The Titan that was hiding was Annie Leonheart herself."
The MPs gasped when they heard that.
"Why would you even want to be friends with Annie? She is creepy," Lando said.
"Goddammit, it makes me sick," Levi said. "Nobody knows a damn thing about this world…Not us or anyone else. Except for all those bastards at the center of it all. We'll release you both as soon as we get out of here."
"Annie…was…" Hitch said.
"Captain Levi! Please let me help you!" Marlo yelled. "I don't think what you guys are doing is wrong! If I can help correct this world's injustice, I'll do whatever it takes."
"That's very noble of you," Lando said with a hint of sarcasm.
"What's with this guy?" Levi asked.
"I beg of you, Captain Levi!" Marlo said.
"Not a chance," Levi said. "I can't tell how prepared you are about making an enemy of the government. Let's go."
Lando, Armin, Mikasa, and Levi walked away from the two.
"Sasha," Levi said. "Tie them up somewhere."
"Yes sir!" Sasha said, running over to them.
Lando heard Jean ask to do it instead of Sasha which was weird but it didn't concern Lando.
About 10 minutes later Jean came back with the two and explained how he tried to kill them and test them and they passed.
"Hey, when you are fighting against a government with a small squad it doesn't hurt to have a few extra bodies." Lando thought.
Hitch and Marlo guided them to where their MP base was, it was located in a small clearing in the middle of the forest.
"That over there is the least manned checkpoint around," Marlo said.
"All right we'll handle it ourselves. Get back to your squad before it's suspicious." Levi said.
"Yes, sir." They both said.
As they were walking away Levi said.
"Marlo, Hitch. We're grateful."
They both did the signature heart salute whispering.
"Yes sir!"
"Let's go!" Levi ordered his squad. "It's our turn to pick a fight!"
The scouts used a wagon that they got and slammed it through the front gates yelling.
Lando was tasked with sniping since he was the best shot there.
"Couldn't get me a scope…" Lando said. "The iron sights aren't that bad. I've used worse."
Lando remembered when he was tasked with assassinating a business competitor in the Underground with Kenny and Kenny gave him a sniper the problem was the iron sight was so big that you couldn't see the guy so Lando had to shoot the man without aiming in and let's say he barely hit the guy if the bullet was a few inches to the right he would've missed.
As the scouts rolled on in, Lando was sniping all the MPs without killing them Levi ordered. And by the end of it, Levi and everyone brought the officer of the MP's up the hill where Lando was.
Lando didn't know this so he whipped the gun around with the barrel aimed toward Levi's head.
"It's me," Levi said.
"Captain he's…" Armin said.
"With the interior police," Levi said. "I've got a few questions for him. Let's move."
Levi Squad trekked through the forest until they thought that they were far enough away from the MP camp.
Levi asked Lando to help him with getting the officer to talk.
"We are doing this my way though," Levi told him
Lando nodded his head and followed.
They both took turns hitting the man until Levi finally asked.
"Where are Eren and Christa?" Levi asked.
"Oh, you're so brave." The officer said sarcastically. "That checkpoint back there was just recruits who could barely wipe their own ass. You think you're some sort of hero, beating them down?"
"What an atrocious thing we've done," Levi said before kicking the man in the mouth and letting his boot stay there. "But what's more atrocious is this mouth of yours. I recommend you start talking while you're still able to use it. Where are Eren and Christa?"
"It's no use!" The officer said. "All that's left for you now is to run and hide inside these walls, covered in mud and shit! If you don't turn yourself in, every last Scout we captured will get the noose! Starting with the one most guilty of all, Erwin Smith!"
Lando had enough he grabbed the officer and threw him up against the tree, he put the man's arm behind his back and dislocated his shoulder.
"Shut up," Lando said.
"That was for not answering my question," Levi said to the man. "Some Scouts' lives are more valuable than others. Only those dumb enough to acknowledge that join us. Tell me where Eren and Christa are."
The officer had tears in his eyes at this point.
"I-I don't know!" The man said. "I'm not allowed to know! Kenny Ackermann is a very dangerous man!"
Lando stood still, it was like the world stood still at that moment for him, he looked at Levi and there was no reaction. Levi knew Kenny was behind this and didn't tell his Squad.
"Kenny is behind this?" Lando thought. "Of course he is. It's Kenny, he just does things. Whatever he feels like doing he does it. This is probably some family reunion to him."
"Ackermann?" Levi said. "I know Kenny…is that his last name?"
Lando remembered Kenny said that name to him when they first met but never said it again.
"It is, but…." The officer said.
"True, there's a lot of things he doesn't divulge… Especially the important stuff. But you must have a rough idea. You best try to remember."
Levi grabbed the man again.
"Stop it!" the man said.
"You still have plenty of bones left to break," Levi said, grabbing the man's other shoulder.
"You… You're insane!" The officer said.
"Maybe I am," Levi said.
"Someone's coming this way!" Sasha said.
Levi threw himself and the man to the ground while everyone got ready.
Lando drew his swords and hid behind a tree for cover.
"More than one!" Sasha said.
"Told you so, captain." The man said. "It's no use. One way or another the Scouts will soon come to an end!"
The people coming closer took off their hoods and it was Hange and her squad.
Hange handed Levi a newspaper and everyone gathered around to see what was written.
"And there you have it," Hange said. "A coup d'etat was successful. Premier Zachary has full control of the capital and administration district. For the time being the nobility hasn't rebelled."
"What about the Boss Reeves incident?" Armin asked.
"We got a confession to prove that the charges were unfounded," Hange said. "His son Flegel really pulled through for us big time."
"Just like it's written there, it shows that the charges were bogus, they abused their power, and that King Fritz was a total fake. All our actions were justified in self-defense."
Everyone except Levi and Lando who were still reading the paper started celebrating, even Mikasa.
"Looks like the big gamble paid off," Lando said.
"Yeah," Hange said. "It wasn't just Erwin though. The lone choices of many managed to change the world."
"And I managed to kill the three people you loaned to me," Levi said to Hange. "I'm sorry."
Hange nodded.
"The thing is, part of the Interior Police, their leader, Eren, and Historia are somewhere else," Levi said. "If we don't find them soon…."
"I may have a clue about that," Hange said, giving Levi a book. "Let's get there and put an end to this battle."
End of chapter 37.