In a clearing outside the forest.
"Mike, you're alive!" Hange hugged Mike, overjoyed.
"Yeah. I got lucky." Mike gazed at the bodies strewn across the ground, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"A third of the Survey Corps died this time. That's already far fewer casualties than we expected. At least the mission succeeded," Hange said sadly, despite being accustomed to loss and separation.
"The mission succeeded? How's Chen Si?" Mike asked, lifting his head.
"I didn't think you'd actually show concern for someone," Hange said in surprise.
"He saved us..." Mike lowered his eyes.
"He's okay, just badly injured. Miracles happen around him all the time. He should pull through." Even Hange sounded uncertain.
Erwin slowly walked over and said,
"Mike, I hope you won't blame me."
"The moment I became your subordinate, I was prepared to die. I only hope everything we've done is worthy of the hearts the dead gave for us," Mike said slowly, looking at the bodies covering the ground.
"Thank you, Mike." A faint smile touched Erwin's lips.
One by one, the horribly mangled bodies were carried onto the wagons.
There were no tears or wails among the Survey Corps, only an endless, crushing weight. Every soldier in the Survey Corps knew that death would be their ultimate destination.
"Rest easy, Gelgar. There's no liquor here, only water. You'll have to make do." Gelgar opened a bottle of water and poured it beside Gelgar's body.
Levi, normally the most fastidious of them all, kept collecting the bloodstained Wings of Freedom patches from the bodies and putting them away.
"Everyone in Levi Squad made it through, and you're still this gloomy." Zhang Surou leaned against a nearby wagon, sounding a little weak.
"I'm the captain. The soldiers outside Levi Squad are my soldiers, too." Levi looked