In the afternoon, several horses galloped across the countryside.
At the lead was Levi, accompanied by elite Survey Corps soldiers such as Petra, Eld, and Gunther.
Eren and Tang An were among them as well.
During those ten days in the Training Corps, Tang An hadn't only learned how to use the vertical maneuvering equipment; he had also learned how to ride horses.
After riding for about an hour, the group arrived at the new base.
It was an overgrown, ivy-choked castle. Parts of it had sustained damage and turned into ruins, but the majority of it was still intact.
"It looks abandoned."
"It's completely overgrown with weeds!"
"There must be heaps of dust inside."
As everyone looked at the castle before them, their expectations instantly plummeted.
"Cleaning it up is up to you all."
Zhou Wei's appearance had placed a significant amount of pressure on Tang An, so now he would train whenever he had free time.
"Where are you going?"
Everyone watched Tang An. This guy was somewhat unssociable and irritating, possessing a whole laundry list of flaws. No matter how they looked at him, they found him grating.
"My daily training isn't finished yet."
Tang An waved a hand and walked off, leaving the rest of the group extremely displeased.
Erwin had given them explicit orders not only to keep a close eye on Eren, but also to pay attention to Tang An.
"Levi."
They all looked toward Levi.
"Leave him be."
Levi frowned slightly, then walked into the castle.
Following that, the group began their cleaning duties.
Tang An went by himself to a small hill on the right side of the castle and began his daily routine.
At present, his push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and over a dozen other exercises were all maintained at 2,000 repetitions each. Recently, Tang An intended to break through to 3,000.
Furthermore, the range of his Shave was five meters; he had to expand this range to six meters, seven meters, and beyond. His Moonwalk also needed practice.
As dusk approached, everyone had finished cleaning the inside and outside of the castle.
As one of the only two female members in the Survey Corps Special Operations Squad (the Levi Squad), Petra was a beautiful woman with light-yellow shoulder-length hair, formidable strength, and a gentle personality.
Compared to Hange, the somewhat eccentric scientific maniac, she had always been the object that everyone unconsciously protected.
Originally quiet and gentle by nature, she found herself growing curious about Tang An while cleaning a room on the right side of the castle today.
Through the window, she happened to be able to see Tang An training on the hillside.
She had even intentionally kept track and discovered that Tang An could rattle off 300 push-ups in just seven or eight minutes.
What kind of speed was that?
Then came the sit-ups, one-armed push-ups, handstand training, and so on--none of these were feats a normal person could achieve.
She had heard that he had fought Levi, though she didn't know the specific outcome.
Because of that, she felt a measure of curiosity.
"Who's going to call that guy for dinner?"
Eld's tone was filled with dissatisfaction.
"I'll go!"
Petra, who was closest to the door, stood up intending to summon Tang An. However, before she even stepped outside, someone else walked in.
Exuding a heavy smell of sweat all over his body, Tang An was carrying an adult wild deer over his shoulder, which he dumped onto the ground under everyone's astonished gazes.
"I happened to see this guy wandering around in the nearby forest. Maybe it felt an affinity with me at first sight, so I conveniently brought it back. Is anyone here good at cooking?"
While training, Tang An had observed that there was a forest not far from the castle, though it wasn't the Giant Tree Forest, just an ordinary woods.
Perhaps because this area was rarely set foot in, the game in the forest was quite plentiful.
With his ultra-high-intensity training, food like sweet potato dumplings alone wasn't enough to make up for his consumption. Meat was the food that replenished energy the most effectively.
Perhaps having been through the One Piece world, combined with his massive training consumption, Tang An's appetite was extraordinarily ravenous.
This wild deer, nearly three meters long, was something he could finish off entirely by himself.
Looking at the wild deer on the floor and then instinctively glancing down at the sweet potato dumplings in their bowls, everyone stood up in unison.
"I'll go gather firewood."
"I'll get the seasonings."
"Oruo, come with me to finish cleaning."
"I think roasting it is best."
"Making soup is good too."
"Then... then I..."
Eren was at a loss. Weren't they all complaining about Tang An just earlier while cleaning the house? Why were they all acting like nothing happened now?
Eren couldn't figure it out.
"Then I'll leave it to you all."
Tang An turned around and walked away.
"Where are you going now?"
"I'm going to the river to wash up. I'm covered in sweat."
Tang An's voice drifted back from a distance.
Over thirty minutes later, looking at the whole roasted deer on the table--releasing an enticing aroma, steaming hot, and making everyone salivate with ferocious glares in their eyes--
"Can we dig in?!"
Hange swallowed hard, picked up a knife and fork directly, carved off a deer leg, and began devouring it frantically.
No one stood on ceremony either. At a visible speed, the entire roasted deer was reduced to a pile of shattered bones. The bones in front of Tang An were the most numerous, making up nearly half of the total.
"I never expected you to eat this much."
The others instinctively glanced at Tang An's stomach. They had watched with their own eyes as Tang An consumed half of the deer meat.
"Four tenths full. Looks like one wasn't enough."
Tang An picked his teeth. His stomach showed no visible change and still felt faintly hungry.
"Are you really not a Titan?"
Eld couldn't help asking, because this appetite was simply too hard to accept.
The only possible explanation was a Titan.
"If you say I am, then I am. Isn't it just having a bigger appetite? I didn't eat rice from your house, and Eren is a Titan too--how come he's nothing like you guys?"
Tang An stood up and stretched. His words made the atmosphere somewhat oppressive.
"I'll go find some more food. Who hasn't had enough?"
Tang An walked to the doorway and looked back at the group.
"Me."
Hange raised a hand high, completely oblivious to the slightly weird atmosphere.
"OK!"
Accompanied by the sound of receding footsteps, Eld's face flushed red as he slammed a hand onto the table.
"If you have any objections, you can challenge him tomorrow."
Levi spoke up, a rare occurrence.
"A wonderful idea."
Hange loved nothing more than chaos.
"By the way, Eren, why did you eat so little?"
Everyone turned their attention to Eren.
"How would I know?!"
Eren was dumbfounded. Since when was eating a little a crime?
"I think this question is worth studying carefully. Titans supposedly can go without eating or drinking, and coincidentally we captured two live ones this time."
Hange's eyes were full of excitement.
The morning sun rose, and the entire world began to wake up.
Last night, Tang An went out and caught another wild deer, eventually leaving one leg for Hange. It seemed Hange and Eren had somehow spent the whole night discussing things together.
It was entirely research related to Titans.
"Yo! Morning!"
Tang An stretched at the doorway and happened to see Petra walking out.
"Morning!"
Petra looked at Tang An with a somewhat strange expression, because she had discovered that this man trained through the night as well, only going to sleep around two o'clock.
And yet he woke up at seven.
He was simply a training maniac.
"Eren, Hange, Captain Levi."
The others filed out of the castle one after another, though Eren's spirits looked extremely decadent, with dark circles under his eyes as if he were wearing sunglasses.
"Captain, are there any missions today?"
Gunther looked toward Levi.
"No."
Levi replied coldly.
"New members should be arriving today, right?"
Petra tucked a lock of hair from her forehead behind her ear.
"Are Mikasa, Armin, and Reiner coming?"
Hearing this news, Eren's exhausted spirits improved noticeably.
"I think you should go get some sleep first!"
Oruo looked at the dark circles under Eren's eyes.
"You guys chat slowly, I'm heading out to train."
Tang An waved his hand and prepared to leave.
"Wait, I want to duel you."
Eld stepped forward with a serious expression, clearly having taken Levi's remark from the night before to heart.