Lock climbed back onto the wall and regrouped with Hange's squad.
In just that short time, Eren and Ymir had already been captured.
"Boom!"
Under another flash of lightning... Eren transformed into a Titan and fell off the wall along with Reiner.
The Colossal Titan swallowed Ymir and a Survey Corps Soldier into its mouth.
Bertholdt grabbed the latter only for the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear on their person.
Lock knew that nothing would change, and he didn't want to waste any more time here.
Lock walked up to Hange, who was observing the Colossal Titan, and said solemnly, "Squad Leader Hange, I'm sorry I couldn't stop those two."
Hange was about to offer a few words of comfort when Lock continued, "The current situation is unfavorable for us. If Eren is still taken away by them and we have no way to get the horses over the wall, we won't even be able to pursue them."
Hange asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"
Lock said seriously, "Please prepare for the worst and allow me to go to the Trost District to call for reinforcements."
Hange thought for a moment and nodded. "Will you be alright going alone?"
Lock smiled. "It's fine. No one would dare stop someone in this uniform."
...After getting Hange's approval, Lock turned and leaped off the high wall from the other side without looking back.
Hanging from his grappling hook, he landed smoothly on the ground. Lock led his horse out from the fence temporarily set up by the Survey Corps.
Mounting the horse, Lock took one last cold look at the Colossal Titan above.
"Bertholdt, next time we meet, I won't be holding back."
"Hyah!" Man and horse charged straight toward the Trost District.
In the original story, after Reiner and Bertholdt took Eren and Ymir away, the Survey Corps was delayed for over five hours before they could begin their pursuit.
This was because the lifts for transporting horses had to be brought over from the Trost District, and the time spent going back and forth was wasted.
If it weren't for the fact that Reiner's Titan couldn't handle long-distance sprints, Eren would have been taken to Marley long ago.
Lock thought that he still needed to save as much time as possible, which was why he had left the battlefield early.
The sky was high, and the clouds were sparse as he rode alone.
Riding alone leads to boredom, boredom leads to overthinking, and memories are the best pastime... Year 849, Training Corps Base.
Today's session was one-on-one combat training, practiced in pairs.
Lock was paired with Franz. Neither of them was very serious during practice; after all, combat training didn't account for many points.
Franz pulled up Lock, who had taken a fake fall, and asked somewhat sheepishly, "Lock, can I ask you a question?"
Lock patted his backside and said casually, "About Hanna?"
The big guy, Franz, nodded with a flush, saying bashfully, "Her birthday is coming up soon. What do you think I should give her?"
With a beautiful shoulder throw, Lock gently tossed Franz to the ground and smiled. "I think given Hanna's personality, she'll be happy with whatever you give her."
Franz lay on the ground, looking troubled. "That's exactly why I'm so conflicted."
"Lock, have you ever given Annie anything? I'd like to use it as a reference."
Lock thought about it carefully and said, "Nothing particularly special. Mostly just some small desserts I brought from home; she's not interested in anything else."
Just as Franz sat up, he heard Lock continue, "Oh, I remember she quite liked the pie my mother made herself."
"But Annie accidentally dropped it when she was taking it back to the dormitory, and she complained to me about it for a long time."
"A homemade pie?" Franz felt moved, realizing it was indeed very meaningful.
He said excitedly, "Thank you, Lock! I know what to give her now!"
Lock smiled. "So, what do you two plan to do after graduation..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Reiner's scream from behind.
Lock turned to look and saw Mikasa walk into the center of the field with an expressionless face, her tone cold. "Hey, Annie, teach me that move too."
Annie stood up, with Reiner and Eren lying at her feet. She walked slowly toward Mikasa and said calmly, "Forget it. These moves are only for humans; I don't think you need to learn them."
Facing Mikasa, Annie took her classic fighting stance. "However, I'm quite curious to see if this works against a beast."
Seeing this rare scene, the surrounding Trainees couldn't help but gather around.
Connie's eyes widened. "Hey~ are those two finally facing off?"
Sasha shouted, "A dream match!"
Daz stood at the back. "Which side is going to win?"
Marco immediately chimed in, "It's definitely Annie!"
Jean immediately retorted, "Are you kidding me?! I'll bet my entire dinner on Mikasa!"
Franz looked at Lock beside him and said, "Lock, you must think Annie will win."
Lock didn't speak. He walked directly into the center and stood in front of Annie. "Stop it. If you make too much noise and Shadis comes, it won't look good for anyone."
Annie glanced at Lock and lowered her arms.
Mikasa stood opposite them and said gloomily, "Lock, get out of the way!"
Lock raised an eyebrow and asked Annie with some surprise, "What's going on? Did you provoke her?"
After Annie calmed down, she was happy to let Lock take the lead. "I just practiced a few moves with Eren, and she got upset."
Lock shook his head helplessly and turned to Mikasa. "Mikasa, there's no need. Eren isn't hurt, and with so many people watching, it wouldn't be good if this reached the instructor."
"Eren, right?"
Eren, sitting on the ground, didn't catch Lock's bias toward Annie and nodded subconsciously. "Yeah, Mikasa, I'm fine."
The onlookers, though disappointed to see Lock intervene, understood that only Lock could stand between those two.
But after a moment of silence, Mikasa still chose to slowly approach Lock, radiating an indescribable sense of pressure.
Standing behind Lock, Annie mocked, "As expected, a beast can't understand human speech."
Lock said crossly, "Keep it down."
He took a step forward and stood in front of Mikasa.
"Lock, get out of the way!" Mikasa warned again.
Lock rolled up his sleeves and smiled slightly. "When children argue, of course, the families from both sides have to step in to resolve the issue."
"Mikasa, if you really want to learn, let me teach you."
Seeing Lock take a stance, the onlookers gasped again.
"Annie swapped for Lock?"
"This guy Lock really will stand up for Annie!"
"Who are you betting on this time?"
"I'm still for Mikasa!"
"Lock is the face of all us guys now; of course, I'm siding with him."
...Looking at Mikasa in front of him, Lock felt an itch all over his body.
He had long wanted to test how strong the Ackerman name really was, and since he might clash with the other two Ackermans in the future, he'd treat today as a warm-up!
Lock took a deep breath, his gaze gradually sharpening.
[Detected Host's adrenaline levels rising, System evaluation in progress]
[Levels reached standard, System starting up]
...[System Assessment beginning, Energy Points collection in progress]
[Host, please fight to your heart's content]
The two beasts collided violently!