Two years ago, in the winter of 851.
"Are you joking? How could something like that free the Founder's will?" Zeke was visibly shaken, as if what he had just heard were simply impossible.
He found it unbelievable. The method Gale described, the way to free Ymir, sounded like complete nonsense that only someone lost in a daydream could come up with.
"The Subjects of Ymir, upon inheriting the power of the Titans, can see the memories of previous Titan inheritors," Gale said calmly. "Normally, they're only fragments of memories; even seeing one generation back is rare. But when I inherited the War Hammer Titan, I saw the memories of the Founding Titan."
"That was two thousand years ago. I witnessed her entire life. The Founding Titan had a will of her own, and even now, her soul remains bound by the orders of the First King Fritz. I vaguely sensed that she was searching for an answer to one of my questions, an answer about freedom and love."
"Even so..." Zeke asked in confusion, "How could the Founding Titan possibly find the answer to something like telling me to let everything go and live with my mother?"
"Mr. Zeke, I'm not asking you to believe me," Gale said as he watched the steam rising from his cup of coffee. "I only hope you'll find something that truly makes you happy. Just as you said, I hope you'll act according to your own selfish desires, according to what you truly feel, and that you'll live a good life with your mother."
"But... what does that have to do with the Founding Titan?"
"Do you know why the power of the Titans is passed down from generation to generation?"
"Is there any particular reason for that?"
"Because King Fritz gave an order to his slave, Ymir." Gale stared directly into Zeke's eyes after saying that.
"The bloodline of Ymir must never be allowed to die out. After her daughters died, her grandchildren had to devour their spines, and after her grandchildren died, the next generation had to devour their spines, and so on, generation after generation."
"In my lifetime, I, the Eldian, shall also rule the land with my enormous body."
"Those were the orders King Fritz gave to his descendants before he died."
"The first Titan was Ymir, but after her death, her three daughters, following King Fritz's orders, devoured her spine, dividing the power of the Titans into three."
"After that, Ymir's bloodline continued to spread, and those three Titans split once again, becoming the nine Titans we know today."
"Every Eldian alive today is a descendant of Ymir. The reason our blood reacts to Titan serum, the reason we can transform into Titans under its influence, and the reason Titans have the instinct to devour humans—all of it originates from the words of the first King Fritz."
Zeke paused for a moment before speaking slowly. "The bloodline of Ymir must never be allowed to die out. After her daughter died, her grandchildren devoured her spine, and after her grandchildren died, the next generation devoured it, passing it down from generation to generation..."
Zeke slumped back into his seat. "Is this the source of the Titans' power?"
"That's right..." Gale nodded slightly and said, "Mr. Zeke, you are the successor of the Beast Titan. I hope you'll do me a favor. I hope you'll act according to your own selfish desires just this once. If you can change the Founding Father's mindset, you can change the current power of the Titans. Perhaps one day, in the future, we Eldians will no longer depend on the Founding Father and will become a truly free nation."
"But perhaps that's asking too much. My search for a way to free the Founding Titan, to be honest, comes from a selfish desire: I don't want to die. I don't want to live for only thirteen years. I want to live to be a hundred and make my life as exciting as possible."
Zeke pondered for a long time before finally saying, "I understand. Then let's try it your way, young man."
Inside the Coordinate, Zeke looked at Gale standing beside him.
"Young man, what is your answer?"
The surrounding landscape changed once again, and everyone witnessed a scene straight out of hell.
It was the Rumbling, the activation of a Colossal Titan with only a skeletal frame, leading all the Colossal Titans toward the outside world.
Dark crimson flames consumed the earth, white steam blotted out the sky, and humanity scattered in panic, only to be crushed beneath the Titans' feet.
Humanity was powerless to stop the advance of the Colossal Titans. The Rumbling destroyed everything. Everyone looked up, trembling at the footsteps of the Colossal Titans, shuddering at the mountains of corpses and seas of blood left beneath the Rumbling.
Then the scene rewound, bringing them back to the island.
They saw Historia, who, as a princess, attended countless events and always looked glamorous, yet rarely smiled whenever she was alone.
Then there was Gale, transformed into the War Hammer Titan, working tirelessly day and night in the nuclear industrial zone.
Time continued to rewind and fast-forward, and he was almost always inside factories: shipyards, aircraft factories, glass greenhouse factories, and weapons factories.
It seemed he never stopped working; he never rested. Then time rewound to that peaceful afternoon.
Sunlight bathed the earth, and a boy of about ten sat beneath the shade of a tree, holding a tray with a glass of beer and a sausage sandwich. Leaning against the thick trunk with his eyes closed, he quietly enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze.
The scene continued to change, and everyone saw themselves reflected within it.
Pixie shouted at the Eldians inside the controlled zone.
The night Eren and Mikasa kissed.
Erwin left the Walls for the first time, learned the truth about the world, and gazed at the moonlit sea.
The night before Levi departed for Wall Maria, he poured himself a bottle of liquor and sat alone beside the campfire.
Hange stood with her hands on her hips, laughing at the "armor" in front of her.
Dina and Zeke embraced, warm tears streaming down their faces.
Hannes fired a rocket.
Ymir ate French fries and chicken nuggets.
Armin stood aboard a steam train, gazing across the plains; Mike transformed into the Armored Titan to subdue the War Hammer Titan.
Countless scenes flashed by, yet in every one of them, each person made their own choice.
Finally, everything froze, focusing on the girl holding the bucket of sand.
The girl filled the bucket with sand, building Titans one after another.
She set the bucket aside and watched as Gale extended his hand.
"Ymir, Founding Father, this is my answer to freedom!" Gale said in a simple, calm voice. "You must make your own decision!"
"Whether you choose to keep piling up sand here in the Coordinate or come and take my hand, the choice is yours!"
"You may love King Fritz, but creating Titans under his orders was your own choice!"
"I longed for Historia to become a princess, but she's no longer bound to me!"
"So I made my own choice today!"
"I'm only offering you another option. If you decide to become part of my freedom and finally see a world where everyone looks upon us with respect, come and take my hand!"
"There are so many things in this world you have yet to see, so many joys you have yet to experience. Love isn't everything!"
"I know you've been waiting for two thousand years, waiting for someone to set you free."
"But only you can free yourself. Whether you choose to stay here or let me bring everything to an end, that decision is yours!"
"Besides, if you don't come today, there will be more and more Titan power plants in the future. Think about it carefully!"
"During the ten years I have left, Titan power plants will be built one after another!"
Ymir turned to look at the countless sand Titans standing behind her.
Suddenly, she let go of the bucket of sand and ran toward Gale with a smile.
It was her own decision. She let go of the bucket and, just like Historia, freed herself from her "chains" through her own will.
She took Gale's hand, and in that instant, countless fragments of memories flooded into her mind.
Gale felt her emotions. She had maintained the power of the Titans under King Fritz's orders.
Although she loved him, she hated building Titans and remaining forever within that cold Coordinate.
She had been bound by her love for King Fritz, but now she had found another answer in Gale's Historia, and in many others: to follow her own heart.
She received that answer two thousand years in the future and, through her own free will, made her own decision.
From the moment she brought them all into the Coordinate...