Chapter 15

-[Liam]-

In a private room, four people sat at a round table, serious expressions on their faces. Liam looked at the three around him before settling on one of them.

"So, what is so important that we have to meet like this?" Hange asked, voicing the thoughts of the other people in the room.

"It's about those titans we captured. If I'm right, then this could change everything. I believe humanity would be one step closer to unraveling the truth about the titans." Liam said, as somber as he could be.

[Acting Mastery has leveled up]

The narrowing of Erwin's and Levi's eyes along with Hange's told him that he had their attention, not that it was in doubt. At the moment, other than Eren and possibly Levi, he could be said to be one of humanity's greatest assets in the fight against the titans.

He hadn't shown them any progress so that in itself was already shaky. Unlike Eren who had been the one to plug the hole in Trost, their expectations of him were only based on the hope that he could reproduce the healing potion that his father allegedly 'made'.

He was now going to solidify that position.

"Hey, don't just keep us in suspense. Out with it." Levi said impatiently.

Erwin's full attention was on Liam at the moment. "What did you learn?"

"After we captured those titans, I took a blood sample to study their DNA." He was about to continue when Hange stopped him.

"DNA? What's that?" She questioned, reminding Liam that a lot of biological terms weren't known on Paradis.

"Right. DNA is the building block of life. It carries the genetic information for the development and functioning of every living thing." He explained.

Hange had an enlightened look at learning something new. "I haven't heard about this before. Where did you learn something like that?"

"My father taught it to me, along with many other things." Liam simply answered as Erwin gestured for him to continue the original discussion.

"After I took the blood sample, I began studying it with the microscope that Hange and I put together. With the reveal of Eren's titan power, I had pretty much confirmed that the colossal titan and the armored titan are humans just like Eren." The look on their faces said that they also thought of it.

[Acting Mastery has leveled up]

"It also got me thinking, how did they get their powers? Eren had been raised in Shiganshina and there were no signs of those powers until the attack on Trost. I wondered whether it could be something he was born with. On a whim, I compared the titan blood with human blood." He spoke but Hange interrupted again.

"Titan blood evaporates soon after exposure to air. How were you able to study it like that?" She asked.

"I didn't take it out of the syringe. It was difficult to study while still inside but it was the only available option." He lied with a straight face.

"Right, continue. What did you find?"

"There were some similarities between the two. A frightening degree of similarity. This led me to the theory that the very titans that attack us were once humans." He finished.

"What?!" Hange exclaimed.

Levi's eyes slowly widened before narrowing. "Do you have proof? You can't expect us to completely believe that unless you have something to back it up."

Erwin nodded in agreement along with Hange. Liam nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a corked vial of orange liquid, putting it on the table.

"What is that?" Erwin questioned.

"If I'm right, it will be an answer." Liam said firmly. "I want to test my theory. If I'm wrong then we would lose one of the titans we captured, both in the worst case." Their eyes narrowed as Liam continued speaking. "But if I'm right, humanity will take a step…no…a leap in ensuring our survival."

The room was understandably silent. He had just dropped a bomb that they weren't supposed to know until much later when they were slightly more knowledgeable about titans.

He could only hold back his amusement at the notification. After a moment of consideration, Erwin stared straight at him. "What do you need?"

"Not a lot really." Liam said as he pocketed the vial, discreetly putting it in his inventory. "All I need are the people at this table. Nobody else should be there. If not Levi alone, the three of you are more than enough to deal with two titans if anything goes wrong."

"What's the other reason?" Hange asked.

"If this works and word gets out, it will send panic. If word gets out, we're as good as dead." He said as firmly as possible.

"Why do you say that?" Erwin was the one who asked the question. Liam could see a hint of…something in his eyes.

"My dad once told me; someone in the royal government is going to great lengths to keep anything related to the outside world a secret. Anyone who attempts to learn anything suddenly disappears. That is why we must be careful." As he spoke calmly Erwin's eyes widened and Liam realized why Erwin asked the question.

[Acting Mastery has leveled up]

His father had suspicions and theories about the outside world. Due to the poor decisions of a young Erwin, his father was killed because of that knowledge.

"Then we can't waste any more time." Erwin said as he got to his feet. "Hange, have the soldiers there vacate the area and have your squad survey the area while we're in there."

"Yes sir!"

-[Later]-

The four of them were now alone in the tarp covered area where the titans were held. Levi, Hange and Erwin had their blades drawn while Liam held the vial in his hand.

The titans were pinned and tied in place so there was a lowered risk of injury as long as he avoided the face but that also raised some questions in his mind.

"We're ready." Hange said, firmly gripping her blades. Liam only nodded as he popped it open.

'Is there a wrong way of injecting it?' He wondered as he stared at the pure titan's open mouth.

Putting that out of his mind, he got closer to the titan. He currently had 90 points in Dex so he was comfortable in his ability to escape any attempt to eat him.

Taking careful aim, he tossed the vial into its open mouth, the content spilling onto its tongue and further inside its mouth.

They waited for a moment, tensed in caution. Just when they thought nothing would happen, the titan's body began to release steam into the air.

"Hey kid, you killed it." Levi said from the side but their eyes never left the titan.

The steam continued rising as the titan body slowly dissipated. Unlike the normal death of a titan, this one took a bit longer to dissipate. A minute passed as something odd occurred.

"Hey, is that-?!"

Gasps of shock could be heard as Liam's eyes widened, his lips stretching into a grin. "I did it." He muttered lowly as within the dissipating mass of the titan, a figure could be seen inside.

•••

[Mission Completed]

[Mission Objective: Create a titan cure](Complete)

[Bonus Objective: Turn a pure titan back to human.](Complete)

[Reward: 20 stat points, Legendary Gacha Token]

[Bonus Reward: EXP, Power Orb]

[Rewards have been sent to inventory]

•••

[You have leveled up]

He was very sure that if not for [Gamer Mind], he'd be laughing maniacally at the moment. The body of the titan had fully dissipated as a man with short brown hair in tattered clothes was revealed.

They were in stunned silence, each for different reasons. Liam was surprised that it actually worked while the others were surprised in general that his 'theory' was right.

"I can't believe it." Hange muttered, still in shock.

"You're telling me…I've spent all this time and energy running around killing people…" Levi muttered darkly.

From the corner of his eyes, Liam saw a creepy smile make its way to Erwin's face. Ignoring that, Liam walked up to the unconscious man, placing a finger on his wrist.

"He's alive." He muttered loud enough for them to hear and snap out of their shock.

"This is.." Hange muttered, causing Liam to sigh internally.

'It's going to take them a while to get over this shock.'

-[Later]-

After they recovered from their shock, they had Hange's squad take the man away to a different location.

He was unconscious and it was unknown when he would wake up. The reveal had brought up a lot of questions that Liam expected.

Where did the man come from?

If titans were really humans then where did the ones outside the walls come from?

Those were questions that would wait until the man woke up and could be questioned. Until then, they had to be patient.

While the other three were pondering on the meaning and implications of the revelation, Liam had his attention on other things. He pulled up the notification from earlier.

•••

[Mission Completed]

[Mission Objective: Create a titan cure](Complete)

[Bonus Objective: Turn a pure titan back to human.](Complete)

[Reward: 20 stat points, Legendary Gacha Token]

[Bonus Reward: EXP, Power Orb]

•••

He impatiently took out the golden Legendary gacha token from his inventory.

•••

[Roll?]

[Yes] [No]

•••

He didn't hesitate to confirm it as the next set of notifications popped up.

•••

[Gacha Rolled]

[Skill Added]

[Apparition](Lvl 1/70)

Apparition is a form of magical transportation, in which the user travels instantly from one location to another, without traversing the space in-between.

Range: ((INT+WIS)x skill level)km

•••

'…' He was short of both words and thought. He recognized the skill from the Harry Potter series and he only had one way to describe it…useful as fuck!

In a world such as this, it was too overpowered as a means for transportation and escape. Pushing down the eagerness to test it out, he took out his other reward.

It was like it was described, an orb. It was the size of his fist and shining with colors that were constantly changing.

•••

[Power Orb]

Grants the user a random ability.

•••

The description was simple enough. He wasted no time in using it as a screen popped up.

•••

[Skill Added]

[Emotion Manipulation](Lvl 1/100)

The user can sense and manipulate the emotions, including feelings, moods and their effects, of themselves, people, animals and other creatures.

•••

At this point, he couldn't help the almost villainous grin that emerged on his face as he thought of all the uses for this skill.

He was in a compound filled with numerous adults and teenagers, he already had unsuspecting guinea pigs to work on.

'Things are going to be a bit more interesting.' He thought, the grin not leaving his face.