Chapter 22

-[Liam]-

Walking into the hall where the members of the survey corps were gathered, he was met with an angry Eren who rushed towards him, grabbing him by the shirt.

"You knew?!" He screamed in anger as Liam regarded him with a raised brow.

"What are you on about?" Liam questioned, unfazed by the sudden violence.

"Eren! What are you doing?!" He heard Hange ask.

The recruits as well as a decent number of the survey corps were present in the hall at the moment, some confused on what exactly he was screaming about.

"You know they were traitors and you didn't say anything?!" Eren screamed once again as Liam's eyes narrowed behind the glasses.

"Yes, I knew. What of it?" He answered nonchalantly, his usually casual tone lowering just a bit.

"You bastard!" The boy screamed.

"Eren let him go." Armin said in an attempt to calm his friend down.

"This guy! He knew Reiner was a titan and kept it a secret! How dare you?!" Eren accused, his grip getting tighter.

"And you have just proven why you weren't allowed to know." Liam said as he grabbed the hand that had bunched up his shirt, easily releasing himself from Eren's shaking grip. "If we had told you that Reiner and Bertholdt were titans, what would you have done with that information?"

"Bertholdt's a titan?" Eren asked, a shocked look replacing the angry expression.

The rest of the recruits were no different as their faces were filled with shock. Eren winced in pain as Liam's grip on his hand tightened.

"The two people you considered close friends turned out to be titans and you wonder why you were left out of the loop?" Liam questioned as he released the hand.

"I-impossible. Reiner and Bertholdt…" Jean muttered, still in shock.

"That female titan, who was that?" Armin was the one who asked that question.

Most of the soldiers were already far away when the battle was concluded so they didn't see Annie emerge from the titan.

"Enough!" Hange said, cutting through all the chatter. "For now, we have another matter to deal with. Levi will explain shortly."

"Hey, four eyes. Why can't one of you do that?" The short man questioned with a mild glare.

"Because we have to go and inspect those two. Join us when you're done." Hange said as she and Liam left the hall.

-[Later]-

Though the operation and its results weren't reported to the government, it would only be a matter of time until it was discovered.

They had no idea what the government would do upon learning of what they had uncovered about the outside world so they wisely kept a lid on it.

Until the survey corps backing and public approval was sufficient enough, they couldn't afford to make any risky moves.

Risky moves like they were planning to do right now.

"There is no need to question them. Their knowledge about the outside world is the same as what we learned from Annie." Hange said as Levi sipped from his cup.

"The question we should be asking right now is; who is going to take the titans?" Erwin said.

"That's not the only thing. We don't even know if we can do that yet. Liam, have you figured out a way to turn humans into titans?" Levi asked, turning to the boy.

"You're only asking this now?" Liam retorted with a dry look. "I worked out what I believe should work but I'd need a volunteer to test it out."

He didn't really need a volunteer. With [Alchemy] at level 73, it was almost sad how easy it was to put together a titan serum.

The main thing he needed was the blood or fluids of a titan and they still had that one titan they captured during the battle of Trost. The one they hadn't turned back into a human yet.

"That's not going to be easy to find. How do you plan on convincing people to become titans? And can you fix it if anything goes wrong?" Levi asked, putting forward the problems with his suggestion.

"If we plan on transferring those two titans to someone else then it's a risk we'll have to take." Liam answered.

"How did the soldiers take the news?" Erwin asked.

"They're still trying to come to terms with the fact that titans were once humans. Frankly, I don't blame them." Hange said with a sigh.

"Liam, should your serum work, who do you believe should inherit the titans?" Erwin asked.

"Honestly speaking, I don't know." Liam admitted, surprising them. "What I do know is that irrespective of whoever is inheriting them, you have to be among them."

"Why do you say that?"

"The regenerative ability of the titans is an amazing ability. As the commander, your life is considerably more valuable than a normal soldier's which means that your survival is key. Though, this is only my opinion." He said in a completely casual manner.

"I see."

"You don't want to become a titan?" Hange asked Liam in surprise.

"As interesting as it is to study titans, I'm not one bit interested in becoming one myself." He retorted.

He truthfully didn't care who took the titan as long as it didn't end up back in Marley's hands and he wasn't keen on turning into a titan. 'As nice as the benefits are, I'm not willing to cut my life short. As a gamer, time is my best friend.'

They spent some time discussing the issue before they finally dispersed. With the former headquarters destroyed, he had to stash all his important items in his inventory before they executed the plan. All he needed was a place to work.

He had many ideas that he wanted to try with [Alchemy] but it was currently an impossibility with the present level of technology. He doubted that even Marley had what he was looking for.

'Patience really is a trying virtue.' He thought as he stood in front of the man they had previously turned back into a human.

"What is this? What's going on?" He asked in confusion.

They were currently back at the destroyed headquarters. The question of whether or not the titan serum would work was about to be publicly answered. This unfortunate man was chosen but with them already gaining all the knowledge they could from him, his value had more or less expired.

"Just hold still, would you?" Liam said as one hand held the man in place.

Annie, Levi, Hange and Erwin stood at a considerable distance, weapons ready should this go wrong. Without waiting to listen to the man's complaint, Liam injected the titan serum into his neck before immediately reeling himself away using his ODM gear.

Mere moments after he did so, there was a burst of energy from the man, exploding outwards as his body assumed the form of a 5 meter pure titan.

"Hey, isn't that bigger than he was before?" Levi asked as they all noticed the same thing.

"At least now we know it works. Now we can proceed." Liam said before turning to Bertholdt who was bound and gagged, watching in shock and fear.

He was still heavily dosed and lacking in energy. Annie was here just in case it wasn't enough. He was confident that it wouldn't be necessary but it never hurt to be prepared.

He turned back to the titan which Levi had killed in the short moment that he took his eyes off it. The fact that the man was among the Eldians who called them demons might have played a factor in him being chosen.

"Well he works fast." Liam commented before turning to Erwin. "It's your turn."

Without further adieu, Erwin was standing where the man had been forcefully transformed with a bound Bertholdt a few meters away.

Repeating the same process of injection for Erwin, there was another burst of energy as the survey corps commander was transformed into a pure titan.

With Liam and the rest a considerable distance away, Bertholdt was the closest person in its vicinity. The bound boy's eyes were wide in fear as he attempted to struggle. Alas, the effects of the potion were still in effect, making his struggles look like a mere twitching of his body.

"Please! Please! Stop this! Help!" He screamed helplessly as the blond pure titan picked him up, raising him up to mouth level.

There was a sickening crunch as Erwin bit into the boy, eating him despite his cries which had now turned silent as he was completely eaten.

Everywhere was silent as Erwin's titan suddenly collapsed to the ground, steam emitting from it as its nape opened up, revealing a shirtless Erwin with the telltale titan transformation marks around his eyes.

"It worked." Hange muttered in shock as Erwin pushed himself out of his titan. "It really worked."

"Yes. But this is only the beginning. Soon we won't need to be afraid of those outside the walls." Liam said with determination.

[Acting Mastery has leveled up]