Chapter 94: The Survey Corps (Part 2)

"That's the wall, meaning this side is inside the island, and over there is outside," Daniel Davis murmured, standing on his flying skateboard and surveying the distant landscape through his binoculars.

"It's too far to see clearly what's over there. I might as well head towards the inner part of the island first," he decided. Daniel steered his flying skateboard towards the island's interior. Although the skateboard wasn't as fast as the Iron Man suit, which had its own integrated systems despite the lack of satellites, the suit's capabilities were severely limited without external support. Daniel chose not to use the Iron Man suit because, in combat against Titans, it was less advantageous than his personal abilities.

"This island is huge. Without these Titans, it could be a wonderful place," Daniel thought as he observed the vast landscape. The island, spanning roughly 700,000 to 800,000 square kilometers, consisted mostly of plains and forests with few mountainous areas. Without Titans, it would be an idyllic paradise.

The island also had significant underground resources, making it a coveted prize for external nations. The Marleyans aimed to conquer it not just for the Titans' power but also for its resources. With technological advancements, the limitations of Titans became apparent, and the Marleyan leaders weren't fools.

"Everything revolves around resources," Daniel mused. Even without the Titans, Marley would still aim to take the island. If the inhabitants had comparable strength, Marley might opt for trade, but with a significant power imbalance, conquest was simpler.

It reminded Daniel of the Marvel world's East Slav Republic. While the country had achieved peace and elected its own president, it was clear he was merely a puppet. The regions with discovered oil reserves had already been divided among foreign powers.

East Slav's only benefit was providing cheap labor for the newly established oil factories. Although it was a humiliating situation, the nation was finally at peace, sparing the common folk from the fear of sudden massacres.

"Unresolvable conflicts. It seems like the only end to their struggle is the extinction of one side," Daniel sighed as he sat on a giant tree in a forest, using his Op-Op Fruit ability to cut up a freshly hunted elk and place it in a hotpot.

This elk was one of many animals he encountered on the island. Despite the presence of Titans, wildlife thrived, with wolves, boars, bears, tigers, and even lions roaming freely. Titans only targeted humans, leaving the animal population to flourish.

Without Titans, this place would be a hunter's paradise. Hunting was a pastime for the wealthy, and Tony Stark once enjoyed it—although his quarry was beautiful women, not wild animals.

The island also abounded with plants and herbs. Initially, Daniel could have quickly flown to the walls, but he slowed down to collect valuable resources, realizing the island wasn't as barren as he first thought. He found nearly ten ginseng plants over a hundred years old, some even centuries old, though none a millennium old. This discovery changed his view of the island's usefulness; these herbs alone made it worth considering for his plans.

Oil and natural gas were impractical to take, but herbs were always valuable. Even centuries-old ginseng had its uses for him.

"Before my dimensional travels, the Attack on Titan series hadn't ended. Eren and his group had just wiped out the Titans on the island and were starting to target Marley."

After enjoying his elk hotpot, Daniel began packing up his supplies. He hadn't yet established a mirror dimension in this world, so he relied on Pym particle-based equipment, including a refrigerator. He had modified this with an Arc Reactor to provide long-term power.

Since acquiring the Arc Reactor, Daniel had been gradually upgrading all his portable appliances to be Arc Reactor-powered. Each world's differing conditions meant that Pym Particles remained reliable while Apparition and the Undetectable Extension Charm weren't. These two spells required a mirror dimension to function.

"Interestingly, it seems like if I only practice Apparition and the Undetectable Extension Charm long enough, they might work independently. Is this another way to create a mirror dimension?" Daniel pondered this as he experimented with opening the mirror dimension. He discovered that prolonged practice with these spells could yield unexpected results.

"Is this what they call the world's recognition?" Most world consciousnesses lack intelligence, unlike dimensional spaces like Dormammu's Dark Dimension, which has a singular consciousness. These unintelligent world consciousnesses don't care about outsiders; if you stay long enough, you become part of the world. No one, not even Dormammu, can destroy an entire world; he can only pull planets like Earth into his dimension.

"It seems it's already begun," Daniel thought as he landed on the wall, observing the sparse Titans wandering inside. From the state of the buildings' collapse and the fading bloodstains, he inferred that the wall had been breached for some time.

Daniel had considered rushing to help Eren and potentially save his mother before the wall was breached, but he abandoned the idea. It wasn't because he cared about maintaining the storyline—he wasn't some reincarnator concerned with preserving a plot. He simply wasn't a savior. Marley breaching the walls killed many, but Eren's subsequent attacks on Marley also caused significant civilian casualties.

This conflict was a war between two races, not his own, and he had no interest in intervening.

"What would happen if I destroyed these walls and released the Titans inside? It's strange that the walls were built with fifty-meter Titans, yet such large Titans are rare now."

Each of the three walls spanned roughly a hundred kilometers apart, meaning an enormous number of colossal Titans were needed. Yet, the current Titans, including the Colossal Titans, rarely exceeded fifteen meters. The fifty-meter Titans seemed absent.

"Were they artificially created? No wonder Eldia was so powerful. In a pre-gunpowder era without superpowers, how could humans possibly fight such monsters?"

The idea of dismantling the walls to release the Titans was merely a passing thought. Daniel had no intention of causing such chaos.

"This guy must have been greedy for treasure. Humans truly die for wealth," Daniel observed a large stash of gold and jewels scattered in a blood-stained area through his binoculars. It appeared someone had tried to escape with their riches but fell victim to the Titans.

"I wonder what the current timeline is. Have Eren and his friends graduated yet? It's like a trio—Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Harry's world, and Eren, Armin, and Mikasa here."

"Tonight's dinner is tiger meat. If I did this in the Marvel world, animal rights activists would have my head," Daniel chuckled. He had used his Op-Op Fruit powers to neatly dispatch a tiger, preserving its pelt.

For dealing with animals, Daniel often used his Op-Op Fruit, avoiding its use on humans unless necessary. This approach yielded a pristine tiger pelt and other valuable parts.

In a dense forest within Wall Maria, Daniel pondered his next move. He hadn't yet decided how to breach the second wall's defenses, so he took his time exploring.

"Commander Erwin, we can't hold them back any longer," a soldier in a green cloak, bearing the shield emblem of the Survey Corps, cried out. The group was surrounded by Titans. 

The island's three military branches—Garrison, Military Police, and Survey Corps—highlighted humanity's enduring desire for freedom. Despite the royal family's brainwashing, many people refused to accept their fate. Though some were content with their lives, others were determined to challenge the status quo, no matter the cost.

The Survey Corps was initially opposed by the island's royal family, who feared revealing the truth about the world outside. Despite the Founding Titan's power to alter memories, the King couldn't suppress the growing desire for exploration. When enough people demanded to know what lay beyond the walls, the Survey Corps was formed.

At first, the royal family tried to capture and kill those wishing to explore, but as their numbers grew, they could no longer be contained. The royal family eventually had to install a gate in the wall, as completely sealing it off would have led people to forcefully create their own exit, exposing the Titans within the walls.

The King allowed the formation of the Survey Corps, confident that ordinary humans couldn't defeat the Titans. He believed that heavy losses would eventually make people realize the walls were their only protection.

Initially, the King's plan worked. The early Survey Corps, armed only with old rifles and lacking knowledge of Titans' weaknesses, suffered tremendous casualties.

However, the King underestimated human resolve. Despite the losses, the Survey Corps persisted, gradually uncovering the Titans' vulnerabilities.

Scientists within the walls also began developing better weapons and tactics against the Titans, leading to the creation of the vertical maneuvering equipment. By the time the royal family tried to halt this progress, it was too late. The gear had revolutionized Titan combat.

To reverse this progress, the King would have to gather everyone for another memory wipe—a feat nearly impossible with the current population far surpassing the initial settlers.

Commander Erwin Smith surveyed the battlefield, his hands clenching so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood. The Survey Corps had learned much about the Titans, but their expeditions yielded little else. With Wall Maria overrun, they couldn't even reach the territories beyond the wall, now teeming with Titans.

"Erwin, we're losing too many men. We need to retreat," urged Levi Ackerman, the compact but fierce squad leader, covered in blood and panting heavily as he rode up.

"Retreat," Erwin ordered, despite his reluctance. They had barely left the safety of the walls before needing to fall back. However, continuing the fight would only lead to more deaths. After a moment of hesitation, he gave the command.

With the retreat order, the rear guard moved to lure the Titans away, sacrificing themselves to allow the others to escape. Each retreat involved such

 a sacrifice, and those who stayed behind rarely returned.

"Retreat!" shouted Erwin, his voice carrying over the battlefield as signal flares lit up the sky to direct the retreat.

"What's that?" one of the Survey Corps members on the left flank, responsible for scouting, pointed towards a plume of black smoke rising from the nearby forest.

"Smoke? How is that possible?" her comrade exclaimed, equally shocked. After a moment of hesitation, he fired a signal flare into the sky.

"A red flare at this time? What's going on?" Levi and Erwin quickly noticed the signal from their position in the center of the formation. Due to the long-range scouting formation, they couldn't see the smoke from their vantage point.

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