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034 The Titan of Fate
🕑 Added 2025-12-24 02:11:12 +0000 UTCOne hundred years ago, in order to resist the Titans, King Fritz of humanity built three city walls, each as high as fifty meters.
These three walls are, respectively: the outermost, Wall Maria, which protects the agricultural zones; the second, Wall Rose, which protects commercial and residential areas; and the final one, Wall Sheena, which protects the royal family and the nobility.
Behind Wall Sheena lies the place countless trainee soldiers desperately train for and yearn toward, as if living there would mean eternal happiness and safety—but is that really the truth?
...
Inside a dim bunker, Yago squatted with great interest beside a man who looked rather old. The man was fully focused on disassembling a damaged set of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. His extremely careful manner was completely at odds with the large bulging muscles on his body.
Yago's eyes shone as he watched the man seriously assemble the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
"Lynch, here—what is this thing?"
Lynch Seda was the man's name. It was said he had once been a noble's son, but unfortunately had an obsessive passion for Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
And so, the current Lynch had become the kingdom's chief Vertical Maneuvering Equipment researcher.
"This? This is the calibration unit. When you use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, the firing angles between the cables are controlled by this little device." Lynch answered Yago's questions patiently, perhaps seeing a reflection of his younger self in Yago.
Early that morning, Yago and Scott had come to this Vertical Maneuvering Equipment research and manufacturing estate. After completing the handover, Scott proposed taking Yago to visit the Survey Corps' garrison within the royal capital.
But Yago shook his head, then asked if he could stay here and take a look at the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
Scott hesitated. What would Yago gain by staying in such a dull and boring place?
However, just then a Survey Corps soldier happened to find Scott and notify him to attend an internal Survey Corps meeting. With no choice, Scott asked his old acquaintance Lynch to look after Yago, planning to come pick him up in the evening.
This estate was still very tightly guarded. On the surface alone, there were at least two or three squads of Garrison soldiers stationed around it—never mind the hidden defenses.
Lynch could only bring Yago to his own office. Unexpectedly, Yago's enthusiasm for Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was this intense. Questions came one after another: seeing one part, he would ask about it; seeing another thing, he would chime in. The questions he asked also became more and more valuable.
Lynch gradually went from brushing him off to sincerely discussing things with Yago.
Yago was also thoroughly enjoying himself. For some reason, whenever he encountered pure research-oriented people like this, he felt an irresistible urge to converse and learn. Besides, once he learned properly, he still had a broken set at home that he could fix.
Lynch not only had Survey Corps Vertical Maneuvering Equipment here, but also equipment from the Garrison and the Military Police. However, the Military Police barely ever used Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. In Lynch's words,
"Letting those pampered gentlemen use Vertical Maneuvering Equipment is simply a waste of precious resources!"
Though Lynch's hands looked thick and powerful, when they moved, they were like butterflies—nimble as they danced across the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. Under his hands, the equipment quickly turned into piece after piece, leaving Yago dazzled.
Through his conversations with Lynch, Yago quickly figured out all the components of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, and Lynch also told Yago the history of its creation.
About seventy years ago, the Survey Corps was established. At that time, the Survey Corps did not have Vertical Maneuvering Equipment at all. They relied solely on courage and burning passion as they bravely ventured beyond the walls to seek the truth.
They carried only long blades and shields. Unfortunately, in the face of Titans, courage and passion could not harm those immortal beings. Humanity's first expedition beyond the walls ended with the Survey Corps almost completely annihilated. A soldier named Angel Aaltonen, grieving over the tragic deaths of his comrades, came to hate humanity's helplessness before the Titans.
Thus, under his research, the first generation of Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was born. The first generation could only ascend and descend vertically and was still in the testing phase.
But one day, an evil Titan cult appeared within the walls. They actually opened the city gate and let in a ten-meter-class Titan. That incident resulted in nearly over five thousand human casualties.
In the end, a young soldier named Kuklo first used Vertical Maneuvering Equipment to slay that Titan. From that moment on, humanity saw hope of defeating the Titans. (The author adapted this part here. In the original prequel, Kuklo's story is also extremely good—highly recommended.)
(Wasted 25 min of my life to find the name of this guy Kuklo)
After countless rounds of research, the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment of today has already become a very perfect weapon.
Yago marveled at the greatness of those who came before. Relying purely on courage, they dared to use their own flesh to confront Titans. The earlier generations of the Survey Corps were truly incredible.
"By the way, Lynch, you're amazing too. It feels like these malfunctions don't trouble you at all."
Lynch rarely showed a bit of pride.
"Of course. Not to brag, but when it comes to Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, no one understands it better than me. Even the anti-personnel Vertical Maneuvering—eh." Lynch suddenly shut his mouth.
At this moment, Yago was examining the discarded equipment piled to one side and didn't hear clearly.
Seeing this, Lynch didn't say anything more.
From the scrap pile, Yago rummaged out two blade handles that looked relatively intact. He examined them closely, then thoughtfully placed the handles against his calves and made a few measuring motions. Yago's eyes suddenly lit up.
He moved closer to Lynch.
"What? A rotatable mechanism? There is one, but what do you want that kind of thing for?" Lynch was puzzled by Yago's request, but Yago just chuckled without explaining.
A rotating mechanism wasn't difficult. Lynch quickly made one for Yago. It looked like a round disk with a belt attached. Yago also placed it on his calf and tested it a few times.
Lynch saw this and simply thought the kid was strange, asking no further questions.
After obtaining the rotating mechanism, Yago was in an excellent mood. His earlier conversation with Lynch had also given him plenty of gains—at the very least, he now understood exactly where his Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was damaged.
So after saying goodbye to Lynch, Yago walked out of the estate. Outside was a marketplace. It had to be said that inside Wall Sheena was indeed extremely prosperous. Merchants and pedestrians came and went endlessly, and well-dressed nobles were a common sight—a stark contrast to Trost District.
Yago looked around, and just across from the estate, he suddenly spotted a dessert shop. He touched his pocket. Trainee soldiers received a monthly stipend, and Yago rarely spent his, so he had saved up quite a bit of money.
It was said that the dessert shops in Trost District had once been completely looted by starving refugees, and the owners were nearly beaten to death. As a result, to this day, no one dared to open a dessert shop in Trost District.
Thinking of a certain someone, Yago decided to go inside and take a look. If he remembered correctly, during that picnic, all the sweet egg cakes had gone into one person's stomach.
