Northern Gate of Wall Sina – Morning
"Lock, let us go with you!"
Eren's earnest voice cut sharply through the cold morning air. His fists were clenched, face flushed with determination. Behind him, Armin and Mikasa stood as well—Armin's eyes shining with unmistakable hope, Mikasa quiet but firm.
If anyone among the three carried the purest, deepest yearning for the sea, it was undeniably Armin. His gaze trembled—not with fear, but with a kind of reverence, as though the ocean itself was calling him by name.
Lock exhaled slowly.
"Does Aunt Carla know you're here?" His tone held zero illusion that the answer might be yes. His eyes shifted to Armin. "Uncle Arlert definitely doesn't know either, right?"
At once, both boys faltered—faces stiffening, eyes shifting away. Mikasa simply lowered her gaze, silently confirming everything.
Of course, they hadn't gotten permission.
If they had, they wouldn't be standing here begging.
Lock didn't dislike their desire. On the contrary, he understood it intimately—he had once felt the same suffocating curiosity, the same hunger to push beyond walls. But now, as the commander guiding Paradis's rise, he could not indulge them. Not yet.
Especially not when the expedition ahead was one of the highest-risk operations since the reclaiming of Shiganshina.
They weren't ready.
And Eren, most of all, was in no condition to confront truths he wasn't prepared to shoulder.
Lock opened his mouth to speak again—but the sound of heavy boots and clanking gear drew near.
A squad of soldiers jogged into formation behind the three teenagers.
Lock tilted his chin toward them.
"I think you should worry about staying alive first.~"
The soldiers saluted sharply, then moved to separate the three would-be stowaways.
"HEY! Wait—!"
"Brother Lock!"
"Please—just let us see it once!"
Their protests were firm, but their bodies were no match for trained soldiers. Within moments, they were carried back toward the interior gate—still shouting, still struggling, still burning with the desire to see the sea.
Lock didn't watch them being dragged away.
Duty demanded a harder heart than that.
---
With the situation settled, Lock gave a short nod.
"Begin the march."
A wave of motion rippled down the column. Carts loaded with construction materials, surveying equipment, tents, food, and early steam prototypes creaked forward. Engineers and technicians—handpicked by Hange—rode among them. Nearly five hundred elite Survey Corps soldiers surrounded the convoy.
This expedition was not merely a journey.
It was a declaration of Paradis Island's future.
They would travel from Wall Sina → Wall Rose → Wall Maria → through Titan territory → and finally reach the northern coastline, where Paradis' first deep-water port would be established.
And Lock would personally oversee it.
As the column moved forward, countless civilians lining the gate whispered among themselves.
---
"That's Commander Lock, isn't it? He's even younger than I heard…"
"He's not even twenty, right? The youngest commander the Survey Corps ever had."
"Age doesn't matter! Since he took command, Titans haven't breached a single wall! He even recaptured Shiganshina!"
"And the papers keep mentioning things from outside the island… ships, nations, oceans… Could those actually be real?"
"If he's going out there again with so many people… maybe something big really is happening."
"I feel like… something unbelievable is coming."
Lock listened without turning his head, but the tension in his shoulders eased. The citizens' conversations weren't filled with fear—they were filled with curiosity.
Hope.
Anticipation.
Just months ago, merely suggesting a world beyond the walls was forbidden. The royal government smothered knowledge, arrested questioners, and branded curiosity as blasphemy.
Now, after only half a year, the people were discussing the outside world openly—boldly even.
It wasn't "freedom," not fully.
But it was the beginning of a new consciousness.
Lock knew that true freedom never existed without boundaries—never existed without power to protect it. So although he encouraged openness, he'd ordered Zachary to maintain strict limits:
People may talk freely.
But they may not question the legitimacy of the new government.
Freedom within order.
Order for freedom.
It was a delicate balance—but necessary.
---
As they rode through Wall Rose, Lock's thoughts drifted to a man far from these walls.
Kenny Ackerman.
Before leaving the Volunteers, Yelena had reluctantly admitted that Marley's internal anti-government movements were fragmented, disorganized, and often crushed before they could grow.
To send someone into Marley—
someone strong enough, cunning enough, ruthless enough—
There was only one choice.
Erwin could not go; he bore the power of the Cart Titan and command of two corps. His presence was vital for future coordination. The others—Hange, Pyxis, Levi—were either too essential or too ill-suited.
But Kenny…
Kenny Ackerman was born for chaos.
Born to slice through systems.
Born to exploit cracks in empires.
He had no Titan power, no political role binding him, no ties that could be used to coerce him.
And most importantly—
Kenny hungered for a world beyond these walls far more than he hungered for power.
"Let me see what's out there, kid."
Those were his words when Lock approached him with the plan.
Now, somewhere across the sea, Kenny was infiltrating Marley's underbelly—alone but deadly. A single man sent to rot the foundation of a monstrous empire.
Lock wondered how far he'd gotten.
How much damage he'd already done.
Whether he was still alive.
A faint smile tugged at Lock's mouth.
"If anyone can shake Marley from the inside… It's him."
---
The convoy passed Wall Rose, then Wall Maria. The moment they moved beyond Maria's outer gate, the world widened into vast fields and rolling hills.
No walls.
No stone.
Only the open land of Paradis stretches endlessly toward the northern sea.
From the high vantage of his horse, Lock scanned the distant terrain. Herds of mindless Pure Titans wandered across the plains, but none approached.
They wouldn't dare.
Dina Fritz—transformed, towering, her Founding Titan form radiating a pressure that bent the instincts of all Pure Titans nearby—strode silently along the convoy's flank. Under her faint but present control, the mindless Titans kept their distance.
It wasn't perfect control.
Not yet.
But for this operation, it was enough.
---
Lock glanced back at the massive line of carts and personnel following him.
This expedition will be transformative, he thought.
The birth of a port… the first step toward a navy… the beginning of open trade… and the foundation of global strategy.
The world outside—ships, artillery, aircraft—was far ahead of Paradis. To survive, Paradis had to surge forward with unprecedented speed.
And this port…
This northern harbor…
It would become the island's connection to the world.
Lock tightened his grip on the reins.
"No fear. No hesitation. This is where everything changes."
He urged his horse forward, and the convoy continued its march toward destiny.
---
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