Ch 8 – Back to Paradis

Somewhere in Marley, a person was sitting on a bench wearing casual clothes consisting of a white shirt and black pants, his body was a bit muscular but not so that he would look like a bodybuilder and instead looks like an athlete.

Soon, a person wearing a brown coat walks over near him, passing by the civilians walking about them as nobody seems to notice the duo sitting on the same bench in a conspicuous spot.

"Here, I've got the info here," said the man in a coat, passing over a brown envelope to the other man who grabs it, tears open the envelope, and takes a quick glance at the content it holds.

"Much appreciated, here's the payment," said the man, taking out a wad of cash from his pocket and discretely giving it to the other man who nods and hastily grabs it, pocketing it inside his own pocket in his coat.

"You got any more orders that ya want?" said the man.

"No, and don't bother coming here next time, there would be a high chance this would be the last time you would see me," said the other man, as the shady guy nods his head, he stands up and heads out of the crowded street with a malicious grin slowly creeping upon his face.

With a quick turn, he was greeted by a dark alley which he confidently walked toward as he whistled in silence.

'That madman, he really does plan to come along with them to Paradis Island. I don't know how he plans to come along with them but I know he will do it through illegal means, that just means more money for me!' he smirks, glancing at the thousands of dollars he has in hand and how his life would turn around for the better.

But sadly, all good must come to an end when you're not powerful enough.

'As long as I can give this info to someone else, then my dealings with that guy are over.' He thought, taking out a cigar from his pocket along with a lighter, preparing to smoke and enjoy his potential next deal.

But soon, without him even noticing, a person suddenly appears right behind him and with a flash, he felt a box covering his face out of nowhere, with Freidrich looking at the confused dealer with a cold gaze, he loads back the box and without a single sound, he takes off the box to see the head of the person now erased.

Repeating the process once more, he slowly erased his body one by one until not even a drop of blood is in the area.

'So both Zeke and Pieck are really going to go to Paradis to help the warriors sent over there. This was faster than I thought, it seems like my time as a mere man is coming to a close with my transition to a titan shifter nearing closer and closer.' He thought, shaking his head and leaving the area with a cold gaze, a glow shining in his eyes that were resolute to sacrifice the lives of many to reach the peak.

'Next week at 8 pm, they would ride on a plane to be transported to the outer edges of Paradis Island near the forest I lived in for a few years. They would have a high chance to go there and see my base or where the Eldians live, but either way, it would be wise to reach there ahead of time to gather info on the Eldians and see the status of the warriors and the coordinate.' He thought, a glint appearing in his eyes as he slowly walks in a certain direction away from the city he was in right now.

'I need to make a plan where I can kill all titan shifters in Paradis in one fell swoop and Zeke and Pieck would be an easy pick as long as they are divided. So… a trap is needed to kill them, and I already have a foundation to work with.' He thought, preparing to go on a trip that would last more than a day to reach Paradis Island.

A few hours later, a certain person was seen running in the wild with no civilization in sight towards the sandy shores of the open sea.

'If I head northwest, I would reach Paradis island. Okay, let's do this!' he thought, and with a big leap off the edge of the cliff he was running on just on top of the sandy shores below him, he suddenly transforms into a gigantic titan 15 meters tall.

Landing directly on the open sea, a huge splash of water shoots out of the place he landed on, wetting the sandy shores around him dying the yellow sand dark brown due to the water.

With haste, he gets into a swimming position and rushes to Paradis Island while his whole body was underground to not alert the navy troops of Marley.

And with the water pressure crushing his body, he keeps reloading his body to replenish his oxygen and not die due to the water pressure.

But even with all those problems, he managed to reach Paradis Island by the time the sun was rising, bringing the crack of dawn to the residents of the island.

As a gigantic hand grasps the sandy shores, a 15-meter titan shoots out of the sea and lands on the beach, bringing a loud thump to the area around it.

'Finally here. Now I only need to make a trail of titan corpses leading towards the forest to catch their curiosity and once they reach my base in human form, kill them both at the same time.' He thought with a cold gaze, and with a rapid run, he goes towards the forest and onto the place where the residents of this island live.

(A Few Hours Later)

Somewhere inside Wall Rose, the eldians peacefully do their own business without disturbing the peace of the country.

But on the open street, Freidrich was seen walking around with a blank stare while secretly assessing the area around him with a calculating mind.

'Hook shoots all around the area, it means that the gear that I used was indeed from here. Now the warriors should have infiltrated the Eldian troops and are plotting their next step. Now I only need to find them and go from there.' He thought, wandering around the area and gathering info about this place and learning about the scouts.

'Hmm, the scouts, the main force of Eldia who dares venture out of the walls and have the most experience dealing with titans. They would have probably joined that place and slowly destroy it from the inside out. But from the broken areas around me, this should mean that titans have invaded Wall Rose but these marks… they're from titan shifters.' He thought, glancing around the area and looking at the footprints all around the area.

As he walks around the area gathering some useful info, he learns about Eren, the scouts, the ODM gear, and what has recently happened on Paradis Island.

'With Zeke and Pieck planning to arrive here, it means the warriors are planning to gain the coordinate already which is Eren… I have many choices, to kill Zeke and Pieck early, kill Eren right now, or try and assassinate the warriors?' he thought, sitting down on a bench while glancing around the area with a cold gaze.

'If I kill Eren right now, I would bring the eldians living inside the walls into chaos along with the warriors, if I try to kill the warriors, it would be near impossible to do as I am right now… so, kill Zeke and Pieck it is.' He thought, standing up from his seat while his eyes showed a calculating glint behind his blank stare.

Back in the forest, the sun was already setting when he reaches this place and with the plan to kill Zeke and Pieck now set in stone, he drops down onto the ground with a malicious smile creeping on his face for he will now start his plan of attaining the power of all 8 titan shifters in this island.

(A Few Days Later)

High above the open sea, a singular green plane was flying towards the accursed Paradis Island where the Island Devils reside while also infested by human-eating monsters called titans.

As the plane slowly lands on the ground, the door opens with two people getting out. One was a blond-haired man with a tall figure donning a marvelous blond beard on his face that complements his glasses.

The other was a young woman with long black hair that reaches her shoulders wearing a casual dress.

With the both of them now on the ground safe and sound, they nod at the pilot while closing their doors and with the sound of an engine revving up, the plane flies away into the distance leaving the both of them alone and stranded on the island.

"Sigh, Pieck, you know you didn't have to come here with me," Zeke said, letting out an exasperated sigh at how Pieck insisted she has to come.

"Well, I don't want you to be in danger all alone now do we? Besides, if Braun and the others still haven't retrieved the coordinate by now, then it means that the operation was harder than we have expected. I'm just giving extra support you know," Pieck said with a cute smile.

"Okay, well let's go then, sigh," Zeke said, and with Pieck poking a needle at her index finger, lightning zaps under her, and soon, the Cart titan appeared directly on Paradis Island.

With Zeke hopping on top of her, she then ran in a general direction into a forest in the far distance when Zeke suddenly taps her on the shoulder causing her to stop.

"What is it, Zeke?" Pieck asks with a distorted voice.

"Over there, what is that?" Zeke asks, pointing at the smoke in the distance which finally catches Pieck's attention.

With their attention hooked, she rushed over to the smoke to see that a titan was lying dead on the ground which surprises both of them.

"Hmm? What is that mark on its neck?" Pieck asks, nearing her head closer to the cut on the neck as Zeke hops off her to land on the dead titan beside them.

"This… this came from a blade? But how did somebody manage to reach a titan's nape and cut it open?" Zeke asked, confused at this weird scene.

"Zeke, over there! There's more smoke!" Pieck exclaimed, and soon, they both rushed to the area and they were greeted by the sight of a trail of dead titans directly leading to the forest they were going to.

"W-who could have done this? There are cut marks and chopped limbs all around," Zeke muttered, his glasses glowing for a split second as he tries to assess this situation.

"Whatever it is, the being who did this should be in the forest," Pieck said, glancing at the long trail of dead titans that leads towards the forest of overgrown trees in the distance.

"Do we go there, Zeke?" Pieck asks causing Zeke to finally look at the forest in the distance.

"… Wait a minute," Zeke said, hopping off Pieck once more, he inspects the wounds that the titans around them received with a suspicious gaze.

"Sigh, I won't get any answers from this alone. Okay, let's go to the forest," Zeke said, hopping on Pieck's giant hand, and as she lifts her hand to her back, Zeke hops off her hand to land on her back.

"Mmm," Pieck nods, following Zeke's orders, she soon starts running towards the forest with curious eyes.

"But Pieck," Zeke said.

"What is it?" Pieck asks while still continuing to run on all fours.

"Be cautious once we're inside there, it's like something ominous is looming in that forest," Zeke said with Pieck silently nodding in response.

AN: This is 2018 words, you're welcome.

Writing is hard, so give me powerstones.

(May 18, 2022 – 175th day of writing)