Benefits

"Hmph! An Abnormal Titan."

Mo Yan had only collected information before and had never seen Titans in person, but after seeing one Titan instantly crush the main force of her squad, she naturally understood that this was the Abnormal Titan their predecessors had repeatedly warned them to be wary of.

The next moment, she drew the two short blades from her back. Pale green airflow wrapped around them, covering the blades directly, while faint ripples appeared across her body as well.

Before it had even fully covered her body, she charged at the Abnormal Titan with three afterimages from different angles, as though she had split into clones!

The Titan had just reached out and grabbed a melee squad member who was struggling desperately when a flash of green light severed its wrist.

The cut was smooth as a mirror!

Leaping again, the three afterimages merged into one above the Titan. Then, spiraling downward in green, the two short blades in her hands pierced through the Titan’s nape simultaneously!

A sharp current of air shot straight through the Titan’s windpipe from the front, even punching through the ground and leaving behind a thin, deep crack!

As blood sprayed, Mo Yan’s mask was splattered with Titan blood that was already evaporating.

Fast, ruthless, precise.

Her movements flowed in one seamless motion. While her teammates drew the Titan’s attention, she instantly seized the opportunity and completed the kill.

In terms of strength, she far surpassed the other squad members!

Becoming the leader had not been luck.

Xu Yue, who had been leaning against the wall, could not help narrowing his eyes.

"Enhancement that can cover both weapons and the entire body… at this level, is that Armament Haki? Judging by the color, though, even if it is, it must be a weakened version."

In theory, Armament Haki was something with limitless potential. Of course, its actual effectiveness still depended on the user. Although this woman had only just begun to grasp it, and its color was even lighter than the familiar soy-sauce shade, her application of it was already fairly impressive.

The Abnormal Titan was killed instantly.

Among trainee Reincarnators who were only on their third mission, she was absolutely among the very best.

After shaking the blood from her blades and sheathing them cleanly, Mo Yan glanced indifferently at Xu Yue, who had been watching from the sidelines.

"Our mission is complete, but you never attacked. Figure out how to complete your own mission afterward."

Xu Yue merely smiled at the masked woman without taking offense.

"Fine. Another Titan is coming. How about using that one?"

As he spoke, Xu Yue looked toward the end of the street.

A fifteen-meter Titan, its entire body covered in bony armor like a medieval knight in full plate, rounded the corner at the end of the street amid heavy footsteps and entered everyone’s sight.

The sudden development made everyone present turn pale.

"It’s the Armored Titan!"

"Why now?"

"Is this when the Armored Titan appears?"

"The information is way too vague!"

The members of the Yanzi Squad all looked extremely grim as they stared at the Armored Titan at the end of the street.

They all knew that Wall Maria would be breached by the Armored Titan, and they had even watched extracted memory footage, but there had never been an exact timeline!

They had not expected the Armored Titan to appear this early!

Leaving aside its known feat of destroying Wall Maria, its appearance alone made it obvious that the Armored Titan’s abilities were on an entirely different level from the previous Abnormal Titan.

Mo Yan had originally planned to hunt a Titan, complete the mission, build up her reputation, and then withdraw safely. The sudden appearance of the Armored Titan completely shattered that plan.

"Shen Yan isn’t here at a critical moment like this. Otherwise, with his speed, it would have been best to lure it away."

Mo Yan’s expression could not be seen beneath her mask, but her tone made it clear that she found this extremely troublesome.

Before they could react or come up with any further ideas, the Armored Titan at the end of the street assumed a sprinting posture. Several patches of armor loosened, releasing thick white steam.

Then, like a heavy Tank running at full power, it charged toward Wall Maria amid thunderous rumbling.

A few Garrison Regiment members who had not yet fully fled, and who had witnessed the Yanzi Squad kill the Titan while still reeling in shock, hurriedly began lowering the gate after seeing the Armored Titan’s unstoppable charge, preparing to become useless teammates.

A powerful enemy lay ahead, while their escape route was being cut off behind them.

Even though the Yanzi Squad was a true elite squad, their morale wavered. They seemed to be hesitating between taking the chance to enter the wall or making a stand.

They had already gained the reputation and completed the mission. Did they really need to keep risking their lives?

"Don’t forget, Wall Maria was breached by the Armored Titan. It’s useless even if we flee inside! Since that’s the case, we might as well take a gamble. If we can preserve Wall Maria, we’ll gain enormous benefits!"

Mo Yan might have had flaws in the way she handled people, but she was indeed a competent leader who could always seize the most crucial point.

Under her words, everyone’s wavering morale stabilized.

They could not escape anyway, so they might as well make a last stand!

Wei Yan, who had been sent flying into the ruins earlier and had crawled out due to his defensive talent, had not suffered much damage. On the other hand, the melee captain Wu Yan had nearly lost all combat capability.

This time, however, Mo Yan personally led the charge. Wrapped in Armament Haki and moving with fantastical footwork, she headed straight for the Armored Titan!

As she neared it, she twisted around it like a spirit snake, trailing pale green threads as she struck directly at the Armored Titan’s foot. In the next instant, she appeared behind it!

Her movement was incomparably dreamlike!

Crack~

Large cracks appeared across the surface of the incredibly sturdy foot armor.

But Mo Yan, who had already passed behind the Armored Titan, was filled with shock.

Her attack had barely managed to break through its defense. It had not caused any real damage!

Not good!

Mo Yan had failed to cripple the Armored Titan’s charge. The second line of interception from her team was as fragile as bowling pins struck by a collision.

The Armored Titan did not attack at all. The gust produced by its charge alone sent several people, who had been a step too slow to evade, flying away.

She could not catch up even after turning back. Watching all their efforts go to waste and only able to stare as the Armored Titan broke through the wall, Mo Yan’s thoughts raced as she began planning their retreat.

The Armored Titan is only destroying the wall. It may not pursue us. Before the later Titans arrive, we still have a chance to escape. Its defense is too powerful. It’s not something we can handle…

But before her racing thoughts could finish—

Clang~

—the Armored Titan’s huge body was forcibly brought to a stop.

"What is this?!"

Mo Yan stared in shock at the Armored Titan, which seemed unable to move, and at the strange black-and-white steel wires spread before it like a spiderweb.

Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Those are the newly introduced, still rarely circulated Kabane Heart Membrane enhancement items? They’re all white-grade, yet their toughness has reached such a terrifying level!"

As an elite squad, they naturally made a point of learning about recently introduced items, especially those suited for newcomers.

But she had not expected someone to use them to reinforce steel wires. And after weaving the wires into such a dense net, they had actually managed to stop the impact of such a terrifying Titan!

"Damn it! This was prepared in advance specifically to deal with the Armored Titan!"

In an instant, Mo Yan understood. If it had not been prepared beforehand for this specific purpose, who would have gone out of their way to prepare such things?

Someone else also wanted to collect the Titans’ secrets, and they had gotten ahead of her legion!

At that thought, Mo Yan did not hesitate in the slightest. Her gaze turned even colder as she slashed directly at the lone Reincarnator who had landed on the Titan’s back.

No wonder you were the only one who stayed behind. So that was it!

Wood Clone Two had only just landed on the Armored Titan and had not yet had time to extract its spinal fluid when he sensed a sharp killing intent locking onto him.

For a moment, he found it utterly baffling. He had acted to save them too…

How presumptuous!

Faced with her unexpected attack, Wood Clone Two briefly avoided its edge, only to watch helplessly as she struck down and severed the reinforced wires in a single slash!

The wires had been reinforced with Kabane Heart Membrane and woven into a net capable of stopping the Armored Titan’s charge, but they were ultimately only white-grade items. The toughness of each individual wire was limited, and they could not withstand blades strengthened by Armament Haki!

Freed from its restraints, the Armored Titan did not hesitate or pause. Borrowing the momentum that had not yet fully dissipated, it lowered its head and smashed straight into the descending gate. Though it did not plow open the entire gatehouse as in the original plot, the gate itself was shattered directly…

Xu Yue rolled onto the ground and crouched with one hand braced against the earth. Looking at the broken gate, a heartwarming smile appeared on his face.

"You were living perfectly well. Why insist on seeking death…?"

His eyes turned scarlet, Three Tomoe slowly emerging as he looked toward the Yanzi Squad with an eerie, ominous aura…

PS: Some people still do not understand, so I have to explain again. I’ll explain from an omniscient perspective. First, the protagonist only revealed several reinforced steel wires here and did not display any actual strength. Second, they themselves had a mission to investigate the Titans’ secrets, creating a fundamental conflict of interest. Third, the protagonist came out with them and was treated as a newcomer on his third mission. Would an elite team here really need to consider whether they could beat him? With a conflict of interest, they instinctively attacked directly.

Please fill in the blanks yourselves in situations like this in the future, dear readers. I cannot necessarily explain everything every time. Adding too many explanations into the story affects the reading experience, which is why I put this at the end.

Thanks to readers Wulan Tea, Seeker of the Road, Big Zongzi Is Delicious, Quiet, Xiran, Dragon Eagle’s Ling, and others for their rewards! And thanks to all readers for your votes~