Wall, Trost District~
Since the Maria Wall was breached by the giants, this place has become the southernmost point guarded by humans today.
Compared with the past, this time the wall breach gave humans too much shock.
The living conditions of humans dominated by giants in the education books involuntarily emerged in Lock's mind.
People living in the Rose Wall, especially in the four major cities, were undoubtedly very panicked at this moment, especially when a large number of refugees poured in, bringing many negative emotions, making people's emotions increasingly unstable.
The originally stable and harmonious order of life was broken.
All the way from the Elmiha District to the Trost District, Lock and his companions clearly felt the changes around them.
Originally, due to the population increase, the area hadn't been expanded further, making the living environment inside the wall very crowded, and people's conditions more worrying.
These contradictions hadn't been resolved, but now humans had lost a large territory because of the giants breaking through the wall.
Various hidden social contradictions intensified, harmony vanished, and turmoil began.
As a direct result, the Garrison, which originally only needed to chat and gossip every day, began to become busy, especially the Garrison units in the four major cities of the Rose Wall.
They not only had to maintain order and stability in the city, but also had to keep an eye on the giants' movements outside the wall.
The pressure was huge, and the originally comfortable life was gone forever!
The team that Lock was in was arranged to go directly south from the Trost District to investigate the current situation inside the Maria Wall because their combat power was predicted to be the strongest among all the teams… and to explore and rescue any compatriots who had not been eaten by giants.
There was no doubt this was an extremely dangerous task, because no one knew how many giants remained in Wall Maria now.
But one thing was certain: the number was definitely not small.
And with just the five of them, even if they found survivors, they couldn't save many people.
On the contrary, their arrival might arouse unrealistic hopes among the survivors.
Human nature is selfish.
Once hope is found in despair, no one gives up.
There is no humility.
After all, staying in a dangerous place for even one more second was torture—and death might be next.
At that moment, standing on the Trost District wall and looking down at the giants pulling at the wall below, Lock and his companions all looked very unhappy…
"Rookie, do you think the leader asked us to go out of the wall just to investigate the situation inside Wall Maria?"
Oluo finally couldn't help but ask.
Petra, Elder, and Gunda also focused their eyes on Lock.
Not only because Lock was the highest-ranking person in the team (Deputy Captain), but also because he had proven his strength in previous missions outside the wall.
He deserved the position, giving them security and convincing them.
"Old man, you should call him deputy captain~"
With a faint smile, his eyes fixed on the horizon, Lock said:
"Since the captain gave us the task, as soldiers, all we can do is obey.
Captain Levi should have said this many times."
"But…"
Oluo, about to speak, was stopped by Elder.
Just as Lock said, they were only soldiers and had no right to doubt the decisions and orders of the top leaders.
All they could do was obey, execute, complete, and trust the leader's decision!
Thinking of this, the four stopped talking and their eyes gradually hardened.
Noticing this, Lock nodded slightly.
Having survived until now in the plot, these four were second to none in combat ability, execution, and obedience.
Lock was undoubtedly pleased that he didn't need to waste time explaining or persuading.
What Erwin told him before departure rang in his mind, and a hint of amazement flashed in his eyes:
"As expected of Commander Erwin.
He already started the search plan so quickly… I just don't know if we can really catch Reiner and the others!"
That was right.
This time, Erwin's main goal was to find the Marley warriors who had sneaked into the wall.
Of course, he didn't know Reiner and the others were from Marley, but according to Lock's guess, Erwin was eager to find those intelligent giants and extract the truth from them.
Lock and his team were just a small part of the plan.
There were four walled cities in Wall Rose, and four Survey Corps teams were sent to explore.
In name, they were to investigate the situation inside Wall Maria and search for survivors.
In essence, it was to find the bodies of the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan.
If the enemy hadn't yet successfully infiltrated Wall Rose, facing the Survey Corps' methodical behavior, they would surely reveal themselves and enter the wall.
For those who entered the wall, the Survey Corps would interrogate them thoroughly.
If anything suspicious arose, the Corps would capture them immediately and interrogate them severely.
For mankind's freedom and stability, Erwin would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go.
In the conversation before parting, Lock felt this deeply.
Of course, it wasn't just the exploration outside the wall.
Except for the area inside the Sina Wall that didn't accept refugees, the Rose Wall was quietly registering people and conducting inquiries.
All to find the real bodies of the giants who snuck inside.
Based on Lock's guess alone, he already admired Erwin's courage.
He couldn't help but shout in his heart:
The captain is mighty!
Without wasting time, the Garrison had already prepared the ladder and led away the nearby giants.
It was time for Lock and his five companions to set off.
Soon, under the admiring gazes of the Garrison troops, Lock and his five companions climbed the ladder, stepped outside the wall, and officially entered the area occupied by giants.
They rushed south.
The horses looked north, and the men went south.
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