Wall Rose, Inner City.
An apartment building.
Zeyechuan had already had his way with women all over Wall Sina, and his tastes had grown picky. He had searched the civilian district for ages before finding a good-looking woman.
Since leaving Wall Sina, he had noticed that the farther out people lived, the rougher their skin was. They were nothing like the women of the Royal Capital, with their soft, delicate skin. Those really were days worth missing.
Zeyechuan stared greedily at the alluring curves before him.
"What do you want? Don't hurt him." The woman looked at Zeyechuan in terror, not daring to resist.
"Irene, run! Don't worry about me!" The man Zeyechuan had tied up screamed desperately at his wife.
"No! Jack!" Tears spilled from Irene's eyes.
"Ah, what a tragically beautiful love! Damn it, why have I never even dated anyone, while you two get to have such wonderful love?" His face twisted viciously, Zeyechuan kicked Jack.
Jack doubled over from the kick, his face turning red as he coughed violently.
"What the hell do you want?" Irene cried in anguish.
"Your name's Irene, right? Hehehe, let's do something fun." Zeyechuan stroked his uncapped mushroom head and gave her a lewd grin.
"No! Don't even think about it!" Irene said without hesitation.
"Hmm?" Without another word, Zeyechuan kicked Jack again, this time in the jaw.
"Aagh!" Jack screamed, spitting out shattered teeth and mouthful after mouthful of blood.
"No! What do you want?" Irene gave in, her voice full of pain.
Beside them, Jack struggled in agony before finally closing his eyes in despair...
Eight minutes later, Zeyechuan let out a deep breath.
"Wonderful~"
"Damn Chinese bastard. Mikasa and Historia will belong to me sooner or later." Zeyechuan's vicious expression was hideous. The moment he had seen the two characters spelling Chen Si's name, he had realized that Chen Si was probably from China in their previous world.
For the name posted on the city's notice board, Chen Si had specifically requested that its Chinese spelling be added in parentheses. Although the military's publicity staff had been puzzled, his standing as the Top Graduate carried enough weight for them to comply.
To the people within the walls, those two Chinese characters were merely elegant symbols. But in Zeyechuan, they had stirred up his sick, twisted mindset.
"Th-those are Chinese characters! How could there be Chinese characters here?" When Zeyechuan had first seen them, his pupils had trembled with rage.
In Zeyechuan's mind, anime characters created by Japanese people ought to be the property of Japanese people. Chen Si had no right to touch them. Every female character here, even the nameless women in the background, belonged to him.
"This is my paradise." Zeyechuan licked his lips again, catching his drool, then adjusted his trousers.
Before leaving, Zeyechuan slit Jack's throat. He spared Irene, intending to return next time.
After Zeyechuan left, Irene cried out her husband's name in anguish.
Not long afterward, Marcel, who had been missing for a long time, arrived at Jack and Irene's door carrying bread he had bought from a bakery and knocked.
"Irene! Jack! I've come to visit!"
Irene's wails came from inside.
Marcel's expression tightened. He hurriedly pushed the door open and entered, only to see the gruesome state of Jack's corpse. His entire face was covered in blood, and a disheveled Irene clung to him in anguish.
Marcel checked Jack's pulse, then looked grimly at Irene and said:
"Irene, tell me what happened. I'll make sure you get revenge." Marcel was furious.
When he had first arrived at Wall Rose, he had had no idea where to begin. After learning that Reiner and the other two would spend three years in the Training Corps, all he wanted was somewhere to stay.
At first, he had believed all Eldians were devils and had stubbornly refused to ask anyone for help. He had wandered the streets until he passed a bakery, where the kindhearted Irene gave him a piece of bread. That was how he had come to know her family.
During his hardest days, he had stayed at Irene's home for a while. Her husband, Jack, had helped him find work at another bakery. Only then had he gained an income and moved out of their home.
Marcel had thoroughly enjoyed those three years. Though the technology here was backward, he had felt a human warmth he had not experienced in a long time. Knowing he had only a brief time to spend with them, he had cherished it deeply.
So much so that he had never once met up with Reiner and the others over those three years.
"It was a thug... A thug forced me... He killed Jack... Sob..." Irene could not continue. Before long, she passed out from crying.
"Irene! Irene!" Marcel called anxiously. He carried her to the bed, then took care of Jack's body.
He had not even had time to ask Irene what the culprit looked like, though he knew that even if he had, he probably would not have learned any clear identifying features.
Marcel clenched his fists. You Eldian devils. I won't let you get away with this.
Marcel knew Reiner and the others had already begun their operation. Refugees from Trost District had flooded into the Inner City. He glanced at Irene, intending to make sure she was cared for before finding Reiner and joining the operation.
"So Carla didn't die..." Zeyechuan had learned that Eren's mother, Carla, was working as a cook at a barracks inside Wall Rose.
Zeyechuan licked his lips at the thought. A beautiful married woman... If I get Carla under my control, I'll have options no matter what happens. With Carla in my hands, Eren won't be able to unleash the Rumbling, right?
He had originally feared the Rumbling would force him to live on Paradis Island in the future. The more Zeyechuan thought about it, the more excited he became. All he had to do was get Bertolt, Reiner, and the others to wipe out the Survey Corps, then capture Eren and Carla, and everything would be settled.
But the barracks won't be easy to break into. There seem to be some skilled fighters there, too. I'll have to find Marcel first. Zeyechuan kept turning it over in his mind.
The military headquarters in Trost District.
After heavy casualties among their comrades, Jean, Marco, Reiner, and the others successfully made it inside the headquarters building.
Jean looked around, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Only this many made it... I used so many lives to survive. How many people died because I called on them to follow me...?
Jean covered his face, consumed by guilt and terror.
When Jean spotted the supply soldiers hiding beneath a table, all his pent-up anger and resentment erupted. He viciously beat one of the soldiers who had hidden there.
"It's because you bastards left us to die that so many people died for nothing! You deserve to die!" Jean shouted furiously at the supply soldiers.
"The Supply Station was overrun by Titans early on. There was nothing we could do!" a female supply soldier sobbed.
"Isn't dealing with those problems your job?" Jean continued shouting.
Suddenly, a tremendous rush of air came from the distance.
"Get down!" Reiner shouted.
A Titan shoved its head straight through the wall. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the Titan's head jutting inside, utterly terrified.
Silence fell at once.
The eyes on the Titan's intruding head shifted, fixing on them.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
"Help! Somebody help!!!"
"Ah, Mom!! Mom!!"
"Where's Mikasa? Where did Mikasa go?"
"Mikasa's probably fucking dead already! Now it's our turn!!"
At that moment, every human reaction was laid bare. Everyone was terrified beyond measure, stripped of the ability to resist.