Garrison Regiment Commander's Office.
Commander Pixis sat behind his desk. On the leather sofa against the wall sat three people: Gale and Historia together, while Erwin, his face gaunt, stared fixedly at Pixis.
Hange placed an AK-47 on his desk and stepped aside.
"Thank you." Pixis's bald head reflected the candlelight, and his beautiful aide stood behind him.
"Is this the new type of firearm?" Pixis asked, picking up the AK-47 to examine it. "It has a structure I've never seen before."
"It's called an AK-47. It's a firearm that fires in bursts of 30 rounds at a time." Hange pointed to the magazine of the AK and said, "The bullets are stored in this grip. If you run out of ammunition, there are spare magazines nearby, so you can reload immediately."
"This is truly… a bit frightening…" Pixis's ever-present squinting, smiling eyes finally showed a hint of fluctuation. "Although it came from Erwin's mouth, to be honest, I didn't fully believe it before seeing it. However, you have proven your strength. In any case, you used this weapon to cross Wall Sheena and rescue Erwin and the prisoners of the Scout Regiment."
"No… we should thank the Commander for transferring the garrison troops; otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to enter the capital so easily," Hange said with a gentle smile.
"Let's leave the formalities here," Pixis said, picking up the black tea from the table and taking a sip. "I reached this agreement with Erwin with all of humanity in mind."
"Be that as it may, the government's decision to send all the unemployed from Wall Maria into the jaws of the Titans is still too much."
"This phase of cooperation has come to an end. It's time for you to explain in detail the solutions you've proposed to solve the food problem."
"Let me speak." Gale said, jumping up from the sofa.
"Erwin, is this child a relative of yours? I've never heard that you had a son. It's quite late, shouldn't you put the child to bed?" Pixis narrowed his eyes at Ian.
"Commander Pixis, although I am only eleven years old this year, the first draft of the AK-47 on your desk was drawn by me," Gale said without changing his expression.
"Child, are you joking?" Pixis stroked his chin.
"No… Commander, that is true," Hange added and explained, "In fact, the hydraulic wheels that are very popular in the colonization areas were also designed and built by Ian. Please do not treat him as a child, Commander."
"Are you serious, Hange?"
"In a situation this serious, would we try to deceive the Commander with false information?"
Pixis's smile abruptly disappeared, and he clasped his hands together, looking coldly at Ian.
Gale held his gaze expressionlessly, his eyes devoid of joy or sorrow.
"Allow me to begin by telling you about my background, Commander. That way, you may trust me more."
"I am Gale Hawthorne, the legitimate heir of the Hawthorne family. My father was hunted down by the crown due to his research, which surpassed the current era, and through collaboration with the vipers within my family, he was assassinated. I knew I was next, so I wanted to disappear from the inner walls. However, just as I was about to leave, I was attacked by highly trained soldiers."
"I escaped by luck, but all my servants and followers were killed. With luck and the help of those who were still loyal to me, I managed to enter the estate of the Reiss family and worked on the private farm."
Gale began by introducing himself, recounting the story of the King of the Walls and the Titans, and explaining Historia's identity and how he became involved with the Scout Regiment.
"That is, in broad terms, the situation," Gale said, acting as convincingly as possible. Of course, he fabricated some things, but as Napoleon once said, it is acceptable to use such methods to gain strong allies.
"However, I believe the Commander is more concerned about the food problem. The autumn harvest season is approaching, and if there is not enough food, internal conflict will certainly arise. The government has already decided to send part of the population to Wall Maria to be consumed."
"The Commander has taken great risks to help us for the sake of humanity. We also did not want to witness such a tragedy, which is why we decided to overthrow the royal government and implement new policies." Gale looked at Hange, who understood and took the suitcase from the sofa. Inside were stacks of blueprints.
"These are the blueprints for the steel plant and the new method of iron production. They contain new formulas that reduce the cost and labor required for iron production to 20% of the original amount, and the steel produced can compete with high-quality steel," Gale explained, sheet by sheet.
These drawings include both old and new designs.
In addition to blueprints for steel mills and iron plows, there are also fertilizer formulas and production flow diagrams.
On the other hand, it also includes glass greenhouse technology.
"With the steel plant, we can manufacture a large number of steel plows, which will allow us to cultivate more land. Fertilizers can provide nutrients to crops, and they can thrive even in slightly arid soil."
"The most important thing is the technology behind this greenhouse," Gale said, pointing to the design blueprints of the glass greenhouse.
The best option would be plastic greenhouses, but given the industrial level of Paradis Island, they are still far from being able to produce plastics.
Although modern plastics are very cheap, the molecular technology required cannot be developed overnight.
Gale obtained the design blueprints for the glass greenhouse and the glass factory only after consulting Joseph Paxton, an English illustrator, naturalist, landscaper, and gardener, known for his realistic and impressionist style and for being the author of the Crystal Palace.
Recently, the amount of time he spends dreaming has slightly increased, to about 20 minutes, and the intervals between dreams have also shortened, from 28 days to 26 days.
At this rate, in seven or eight years, he might be able to live within the same span of time as reality and learn from his dreams every day.
But that is another story. Gale continued describing the glass greenhouse, speaking loudly enough for Erwin to hear clearly.
"This glass greenhouse can retain the sun's heat inside, achieving the same effect as a traditional greenhouse without the need for fire, allowing crops to be grown even in winter."
After saying that, Gale pointed out, "There are still three months until winter. If we manage to seize power and concentrate the people's efforts, we can quickly build several glass greenhouses to cultivate high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes, thus alleviating the pressure on the food supply."
"If we can get through this winter, we can promote the use of water mills, fertilizers, and metal plows in all towns next year. That way, even if we lose Wall Maria, we will be able to feed all of humanity and even have a surplus."
As Gale spoke, Pixis and Erwin stood up, and everyone, including Pixis's aide, gathered around Ian.
Ian explained to them how the glass greenhouse retains heat.
The principle was very easy to understand, and the three were astonished by the technology.
Although it was a very simple technology, the ingenuity it contained was truly extraordinary.
At that moment, Petra appeared at the door. She lowered her head and announced loudly, "Reporting to the Commander, report to the Regiment Commander! Captain Levi has led the Scout Regiment and the Commander's direct troops to break into the Royal Government, and the path to the Government Hall has been cleared!"
Gale looked out the window. The capital remained silent, but something was about to happen.
That was the current of the moment; everyone in the room could feel it—that invisible yet unstoppable wave was about to sweep everything away.