Chapter 22: The Cruel World
Allen successfully transformed into a Titan, but the beastly roar he let out indicated that he had not regained his sanity.
"What the hell is he trying to do?"
Mikasa pressed a hand to her chest and stood up with difficulty, feeling a slight swelling across half her body.
"I... I don't know."
Armin's body was trembling; he had just brushed shoulders with death.
"Are all members of the Survey Corps this crazy? He really intended to kill us just now. I'm reporting this to the military court after the battle."
Mikasa glared hatefully at Su Xiao, but this wasn't the time to argue. Anyone could see that Allen hadn't regained his senses.
The grappling hook of the 'Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear' shot out, and Su Xiao secured it to the nape of Allen's neck. Gas ejected from his waist unit, quickly propelling him to that spot.
Perhaps sensing something on its neck, Allen's giant hand unhesitatingly slapped toward it.
*Smack!*
A shockwave spread outward, and Allen stumbled forward a few steps from his own strike.
Su Xiao stood on Allen's shoulder. If that palm had hit him, he would have been reduced to a pulp.
A Titan's speed and defense weren't exceptionally high, but its strength was monstrously abnormal.
A precision metal eyeball appeared in Su Xiao's hand, floating beside him. This was a detection device he had bought for 5000 Paradise Coins.
[Origin: Academy City]
[Quality: Green]
[Category: Reconnaissance Equipment]
[Durability: 30/30]
[Equipment Requirement: 8 Intelligence]
[Equipment Effect: Life Detection (Active): Can detect carbon-based lifeforms and obtain their data. Data completeness is determined by the Intelligence attribute comparison between both parties.]
[Note: Life Detection (Active) consumes 30 Mana per use.]
[Note: Life Detection (Active) has a cooldown of 1 hour.]
[Rating: 20]
[Description: No carbon-based lifeform can escape the tracking of the Havanna Eye.]
[Price: 2300 Paradise Coins]
...
The Havanna Eye floated in mid-air, emitting a red light that enveloped Allen, scanning him.
The data was as follows:
[Name: Eren Yeager (Using the Power of the Attack Titan)]
[Health: 76%]
[Mana: 80]
[Strength: 40]
[Agility: 15]
[Endurance: 31 (6) (Parentheses indicate human form)]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Charm: 13]
[Luck: 4 (Child of Fortune temporary +3)]
[Skill 1: Power of the Attack Titan (Active): Can generate the 'Attack Titan'. Can enter a berserk state, permanently losing 2% of max Health each time.]
[Skill 2: Power of the Founding Titan (Inactive): Unique effect. Can command mindless Titans. Mindless Titans will unconditionally obey the Founding Titan's commands. (Maximum command limit: 3700 mindless Titans.)]
[Skill 3: Child of Fortune (Indestructible State): If Eren Yeager unfortunately dies, the power of the two Titans within him will randomly transfer to another 'Eldian'. The recipient will become the next Child of Fortune.]
[Skill 4: Firm Will (Passive): Immune to all mental control effects, such as hypnosis, mental suggestion, etc.]
[Skill 5: Titan's Curse (Passive): After inheriting the Titan power, lifespan is drastically reduced. Remaining lifespan: 7 years and 9 months.]
...
After reviewing Allen's data, Su Xiao's eyelids twitched. Setting aside the terrifying 40-point Strength attribute, Allen's 'Child of Fortune' status was truly ruthless.
Although Allen was the current protagonist of the storyline, once he died, the next protagonist would immediately appear. The world's fortune wasn't focused on Allen himself, but on the two Titan powers within him.
This was perhaps the meaning of 'Heaven is unkind, treating all creatures as straw dogs.' Right now, Allen was that straw dog. A dead protagonist held no value; the Titan world would immediately generate the next protagonist. There would be no such thing as avenging Allen.
Death meant being a loser, having no worth whatsoever.
At this moment, Su Xiao recalled the actions of Blood Rose and Dust. They seemed to have no intention of killing Allen, instead wanting to communicate with him.
This was highly abnormal. Killing a protagonist in a derivative world usually yielded great benefits, but Allen seemed to be a special case.
Kaneki Ken from the previous world was already bizarre enough, but now there was an even stranger one: an 'unkillable' protagonist.
Or rather, Allen wasn't the protagonist at all. The protagonist was the power of the two Titans within him, specifically the power of the Founding Titan.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. He hesitated, wondering whether to kill Allen later and see what would happen.
But for now, Allen couldn't die. He hadn't yet lifted that boulder.
After Su Xiao dodged several of Allen's attacks, the frequency of Allen's strikes noticeably decreased.
Su Xiao had been leaping around Allen's head for less than a minute. In that time, Allen had rained a flurry of wild punches on himself, even blinding one of his own eyes.
The Titan that Allen had transformed into began to stagger. Seizing the opportunity, Su Xiao jumped onto the nape of Allen's neck.
In the original story, Armin awakened Allen by speaking a bunch of touching nonsense on his nape for a long time. Su Xiao didn't have that kind of eloquence, nor did he have that kind of leisure.
Gripping the Dragon-Slaying Flash tightly, a blue light shimmered across its blade—the characteristic glow of a blue-quality weapon.
The long blade sliced through flesh, cutting off a large chunk of skin from Allen's nape.
Su Xiao checked the depth. It was still some distance from Allen's true body, so he struck again.
*Pfft.*
A thick slab of meat fell to the ground and quickly turned into steam. Su Xiao had cut away a third of the muscle on Allen's nape.
Now, Su Xiao could see the back of Allen's true body. He secured the grappling hook of the 'Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear' beside Allen's body, and the recoil dragged him over.
At this moment, Allen's eyes were vacant, most of his body wrapped in muscle.
Su Xiao grabbed Allen's head and tore away the muscle covering it.
"Hey, wake up."
Su Xiao patted Allen's cheek. The Titan Allen had transformed into stood completely still.
On the distant rooftop, Mikasa and Armin were stunned. Allen had been directly pulled out of his Titan form? What the...?
Touched by Su Xiao, Allen's pupils trembled, as if he was struggling to regain consciousness.
Seeing this, Su Xiao felt a surge of hope. This was working, so he punched Allen directly.
"Hmph..."
Allen grunted, blood trickling from his nose. His pupils began to regain their luster.
"Awake?"
"I... I think so."
Allen panted heavily. Seeing Armin in the distance, he breathed a sigh of relief. So it was all an act? He had almost thought it was real.
Actually, it *was* real...
"Continue your mission."
After waking Allen, Su Xiao immediately left the Titan's nape and jumped to a nearby rooftop.
Allen looked at the massive boulder. He felt he could now control the Titan body beneath him.
Taking a deep breath, the Titan's muscle gradually enveloped Allen again, but this time, his pupils were full of light.
Allen first familiarized himself with the feeling, taking two steps in the Titan form and clenching his fists.
The surging power within his body surprised Allen. He had never been this strong before.
Striding over to the boulder, Allen wrapped his arms around it.
"Roar!!"
With a mighty roar, Allen lifted the boulder and hoisted it onto his shoulder.
*Thump! Thump! Thump!*
With every step Allen took, the ground trembled for hundreds of meters around. Sparks flew from the Titan's body, which had turned a dark yellow, as if it could vaporize at any moment. This boulder was pushing Allen beyond his limits.
Su Xiao pulled out a signal gun and fired into the sky. The signal flare exploded, emitting yellow smoke.
The plan was ninety percent complete.