"We're rich! We're rich! Hahaha, Squad Leader Eren did great!!"
Quite a few soldiers were so excited they nearly jumped up, while even more hung their heads in despair. How could Commander Yago lose? A rigged match! It had to be rigged! Drug test him!
"AHH!! Sasha! I'm gonna kill you! I'm bankrupt now!!"
Connie threw his head back and wailed in grief, while beside him Sasha also let out a miserable cry as she handed over the meal tickets she hadn't even warmed up in her hands yet, along with her entire savings.
"That brat's made some progress at least."
Even Captain Levi, strict as ever, rarely praised Eren with a couple of words. Of course, everyone understood that if this had been a real fight, Eren definitely wouldn't have been Yago's opponent. But people always grow, and everyone had witnessed Eren's efforts with their own eyes, so his current achievements deserved praise.
Ever since the Imperial Faction's coup failed and Zeke was captured once again alongside the rebelling Military Police, he had kept a blank expression on his face the whole time. Yet now, his expression finally showed some emotion.
After all, just now, he and Eren had technically worked together as "brothers united."
Jean accepted the meal tickets he won with a sour expression. Back then, for some inexplicable reason, he had also bet on Eren winning. Even though Eren had actually won, Jean still couldn't bring himself to praise him.
Leaning against the railing, Armin happily watched Eren emerge from the nape of the Attack Titan, then turned to Mikasa and said:
"Mikasa, did you see that? Yago surrendered on his own. Eren won!"
As a trainee strategist, Armin was extremely busy. It could even be said that among the 104th cadets, he was the busiest one.
But no matter how busy he was, as Eren's best friend, Armin would always squeeze time out of his already limited breaks to watch Eren and Yago spar. He had also witnessed Eren's progress firsthand.
Beside Armin, Mikasa nodded in agreement. Her face flushed slightly red as she softly said:
"That's true, but Eren's hand-to-hand combat skills are still too poor. He was being suppressed by Yago the whole time just now. Tomorrow, his combat training time needs to double again!"
Armin blinked.
"Again? If it doubles again, won't that mean the whole day will be—"
Armin didn't dare continue, because Mikasa's gaze had suddenly become dangerous.
Because of the pressure Yago gave him, Eren had recently been proactively seeking Mikasa out to learn hand-to-hand combat. As a result, Eren now spent nearly half his time together with Mikasa.
And Mikasa was more than satisfied with that.
So while Eren and Yago were sparring, Mikasa actually had a little selfish desire deep down. She wanted Eren to win, yet not entirely.
Although Eren had luckily won this time, Mikasa could still tell that Eren's combat skills were far inferior to Yago's. Thus, the upright and honorable Mikasa decisively doubled Eren's training time!
This absolutely wasn't because she wanted to spend more time with Eren.
It was purely to prove that her combat skills weren't inferior to Annie's!
Yes!
That was definitely the reason!
Speaking of Annie, Annie herself was currently watching Yago in the distance.
Beside her, Hitch crossed her arms, shaking her head as she clicked her tongue.
"Yago actually lost. Annie, shouldn't you say something to him? I think becoming Commander has made him all full of himself. Hmph, Annie, later you better teach him a good lesson! You can't let him off that easily!"
Annie smiled helplessly and tugged on Hitch's sleeve.
"Alright, Hitch. Isn't it just because Yago transferred Marlo away and separated the two of you? Later, I'll talk to Yago and ask him to transfer Marlo back to your side, okay? Don't be mad anymore."
Hitch's face instantly turned bright red.
"W-Who cares about that blockhead!? I-I just want you to teach Yago a lesson so he doesn't get too smug, that's all!"
Annie spread her hands helplessly, then her beautiful blue eyes once again shifted toward Yago.
Come to think of it, she hadn't trained in quite a while either.
Watching Eren and Yago spar so lively, Annie suddenly felt her hands itching too.
Looks like she really might need to find some time to "teach Yago a lesson," just like Hitch said.
...
Leaving aside the noisy stands for now, attention returned to Yago and Eren.
The enormous Titan bodies gradually turned into steam and dissipated.
Eren tugged at the strands of flesh stuck to the corners of his eyes. The Titan transformation scars beneath his eyes were extremely deep, proving that he had consumed a huge amount of stamina just now.
Meanwhile, the marks on Yago's face were faint and light enough to be almost ignored.
As for why Yago was so enduring?
What a joke. Shouldn't men naturally be this enduring?
(A certain Eren: "Bullshit!")
Just kidding.
The real reason was the Cart Titan power inside Yago.
Although Yago and Eren had agreed not to use any other Titan powers, Yago couldn't exactly turn off the Cart Titan's power. It was a passive ability.
That's right.
The Cart Titan's endurance.
Or rather, stamina surpassing all the other intelligent Titans.
It multiplied Yago's combat stamina several times over, perhaps even dozens of times.
The reason Yago voluntarily admitted defeat just now, aside from being forced to use the Beast Titan's power, was largely because of that endurance.
After all, it was a bit unfair.
Without the Cart Titan's endurance, after fighting this long, Yago's exhaustion definitely wouldn't have been so minimal.
Yago casually hooked an arm around Eren's neck and said in surprise:
"Hey, Eren, not bad! How'd you pull it off? You could actually use Great Ancestor's power too? That's impossible, right? Don't tell me you sold your body or something? Damn, Great Ancestor might look young, but she's over two thousand years old, you—"
Eren's forehead filled with black lines.
If Yago hadn't been carrying the title of Commander, making Eren worry about being charged with assaulting a superior officer, Eren would've already smashed a punch straight into Yago's grinning face.
"What nonsense are you talking about? What kind of weird crap is going through your head!? Move, move, I'm exhausted. I don't wanna talk to you."
Eren said irritably while shoving away the arm around his neck.
But Yago didn't care at all and leaned over again, pretending to look heartbroken.
"Eren, you've changed! I thought we were friends who shared life and death together, yet you won't even tell me this!? Sigh, feelings really do fade in the end. We still can't compare to Mikasa, huh? Cold-hearted and heartless Eren."
Eren finally snapped and threw a punch.
"Get lost!!"
But in his weakened state, Eren's punch was slower than a turtle to Yago. Yago casually dodged it, then put on a shocked expression.
"Wow, you actually assaulted your Commander? Believe it or not, I'll send one transfer order and assign you to Instructor Keith to scrub toilets?"
Eren raised both hands helplessly.
"I surrender, alright?"
Then he pulled a tiny bottle from his pocket and handed it to Yago. Inside it was a faint crimson liquid.
Yago narrowed his eyes as he looked at the small bottle in his hand.
"This is?"
Eren answered:
"Zeke's blood. Or rather, this is the blood of the Eldian royal family."
Yago suddenly understood.
"So that's how it is."
He looked at Eren in surprise before continuing:
"But I still don't quite understand. Eren, just relying on this shouldn't be enough for you to use the Founder's power, right? Why would Zeke willingly cooperate with you?"
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