"Erwin, you look exhausted. Still busy dealing with the Imperial Faction?" Hange walked into Erwin's office and casually pulled over a chair, sitting down across from him.
Seeing Hange arrive, Erwin set down the documents in his hand and rubbed his temples, looking weary.
"Hange, you're here. How did the task I asked you to handle turn out?"
Noticing how drained he looked, Hange lost the urge to tease him. She handed over the stack of documents she had been gripping.
Erwin took the papers and began reading them carefully. Meanwhile, Hange continued speaking beside him.
"This Imperial Faction has been something else lately. Soldiers from the Garrison, the Military Police, and even our Survey Corps have been drawn into it. To get this information, Nifa and Kira went undercover for an entire month."
The Imperial Faction—no one had expected this once insignificant organization to grow to such a scale. What began as a force developed from the Eldian Restorationists across the sea had now reached a size that even the upper ranks of Paradis Island were taking seriously.
By promoting the former glory of the Eldian Empire and emphasizing how hostile the world was toward Eldians, they quickly won the support of a large number of hot-blooded patriotic soldiers. Once this ideology spread among civilians, it received tremendous response there as well. Their slogan of rebuilding the Eldian Empire circulated widely, and so people began calling them the Imperial Faction.
Erwin nodded, studying the files in his hands. Several individuals were listed in detail. He pointed at the first name.
Hange glanced at it and explained, "Lance Uriel, a squad captain in the Garrison. He's the one leading the Imperial Faction's expansion within the Garrison and is now one of its key leaders. With the faction's growing influence, he's about to be promoted to branch commander of the Garrison."
Erwin circled Lance's name with his pen and moved to the next.
"Arno Zott," Hange continued. "You should remember him. The soldier Commander Nile thought highly of. No one expected him to join the Imperial Faction. We always thought he was steady and composed. Commander Nile was extremely shocked. Quite a few Military Police soldiers have also been influenced."
Erwin drew another circle and asked, "Do we have people like them in the Survey Corps as well?"
Hange hesitated for a moment, her expression darkening slightly as she nodded.
"Yes. But according to the intelligence Kira and the others gathered, the Imperial Faction originally tried to recruit Floch. He apparently refused. Even so, nearly half of our soldiers have been drawn to them."
"Floch?" Erwin immediately recalled the soldier. Perhaps because of Floch's extreme hatred toward Titans, Erwin had a deep impression of him. Logically speaking, someone as radical as Floch should have been the easiest to attract. His refusal surprised Erwin.
Through careful investigation over these past days, Erwin had already grasped the Imperial Faction's basic structure and intelligence. He felt no enthusiasm for their ideology of restoring the Eldian Empire. Looking beyond the surface, he saw far more than just a so-called restoration—there were deeper forces at work behind it.
Combined with the intelligence Hange had obtained, Erwin was nearly certain that someone was pushing the Imperial Faction from behind the scenes. He didn't know their objective, but he was certain of one thing: if the Imperial Faction continued to grow unchecked, it would not bode well for Paradis Island.
They sought to restore the Eldian Empire. Yet from their statements—and from the intelligence Erwin had received through Hizuru and the Marleyan Volunteer Army—it was clear that nearly the entire world despised Eldians. Perhaps this stemmed from the oppression the Eldian Empire had imposed on the world a century ago. If the Empire were to be restored, the nations of the world would never sit idly by. One wrong move, and Paradis Island could find itself at war with the entire world.
Although Paradis Island had developed rapidly with assistance from Hizuru and the Marleyan Volunteer Army, it still lagged far behind the outside nations. If war truly broke out, the only trump card Erwin could think of was what Yago had once mentioned—the "Rumbling."
Erwin had once yearned to uncover the truth of the world beyond the walls. But when that truth finally stood before him, all he felt was its cruelty. Compared to Titans, other humans were the far more terrifying enemy.
At that moment, Hange delivered another troubling piece of news.
"The Imperial Faction's recent targets are the Wall Church and Eren. What's worse, Commander-in-Chief Zackly met with one of their representatives a few days ago. Lately, his attitude toward them has become noticeably ambiguous. The situation isn't looking good, Erwin."
Equally perceptive, Hange could foresee the danger hidden beneath the Imperial Faction's surface.
After a moment of silence, Erwin opened a drawer and handed Hange a sealed confidential letter, gesturing for her to read it.
Curious, Hange opened it and exclaimed in surprise,
"Wow, it's a letter from little Yago. Mm… the war between Marley and the Middle Easterners… What? New Titan warriors? Huh… Revival Army? …Revival Army!? Wait!"
She suddenly looked up at Erwin, realization dawning in her eyes.
"Erwin, you… you're planning to let the ideology of this Eldian Revival Army spread?"
Erwin nodded in acknowledgment.
The reality was that even though they recognized the dangers of the Imperial Faction's radical ideology, the upper ranks of Paradis Island could not move against them. Their influence was simply too vast, permeating every military branch and civilian sphere. Eradicating them was no longer possible. Compared to the radical Imperial Faction, supporting a more moderate ideology like the Eldian Revival Army seemed the better choice.
Moreover, according to the intelligence Yago had sent, this Eldian Revival Army he had established was also built upon the foundation of the former Eldian Restorationists. In other words, the Revival Army and the Imperial Faction shared nearly the same roots.
And the Revival Army's slogan—uniting the Eldian people to restore the Eldian nation—was undeniably far more reasonable than the Imperial Faction's.
The most effective way to counter one ideology is with another, more advanced one.
But then Erwin reconsidered. The Imperial Faction's ideology had spread across Paradis Island largely because Yago had rescued a group of Eldian Restorationists in Marley. And now, to curb the Imperial Faction, the ideology they intended to promote—the Eldian Revival Army—was also something Yago had created.
Thinking of this, Erwin felt a headache coming on. He deeply regretted letting that kid run wild in the outside world back then. It truly was exasperating.
But who could have predicted this?
Perhaps even Yago himself hadn't imagined it. Though he was no longer on Paradis Island, he had indirectly stirred the entire island into turmoil.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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