---
The night was silent except for the rhythmic crunch of boots on gravel. Erwin led the scouts through the ruins of an abandoned district outside Shiganshina. The air smelled of dust, ash, and old fear. They were searching for something—or someone—left behind after the last battle with Marley's infiltration force.
"Levi," Erwin said quietly, "the tracks end here."
Levi crouched, brushing his fingers across a faint boot print. "Fresh. A day old at most." He looked up, eyes narrowing. "Human. Not Titan."
Behind them, Hange adjusted her glasses. "If it's who I think it is, they're trying to disappear."
Erwin nodded. "Then we'll make sure they don't."
They fanned out through the remains of the town. Broken windows reflected moonlight like shards of silver. A sign hung loosely from a doorframe—Yeager Family Storage, faded and cracked.
Levi pushed it open. The hinges screeched. Inside, the smell of oil and paper filled the air. Hange ran her hands along the shelves stacked with yellowed notebooks and strange metal parts.
"This was Grisha's," she whispered. "His old lab."
Erwin's expression darkened. "Then Eren knew about it."
Levi's voice was flat. "And didn't tell us."
At the back of the room, they found a hidden compartment under the floorboards. Inside was a single ledger, sealed with wax and labeled 'Project Restoration.'
Hange's fingers trembled as she broke the seal. "These are Marleyan records. Names, test data… coordinates. This is a Titan research site. East of Liberio."
Erwin took a long breath. "So the cycle continues. Marley is building again."
Levi closed the compartment and stood up. "Then we tear it all down before it starts."
Hange hesitated. "There's something else." She flipped a page. "It lists subjects by number. The last one—Subject 73—isn't human."
Erwin's gaze sharpened. "Explain."
"It says Hybrid-Type. Created from partial spinal fluid injection. Capable of transformation without full Titan inheritance."
Levi frowned. "So they're making half-Titans now?"
"Not half," Hange said quietly. "Something new."
Outside, the wind howled.
---
Far from the ruins, on the edge of a burned forest, a young soldier stumbled through the dark. His cloak was torn, his left arm bandaged. He carried no insignia. His eyes burned gold in the moonlight.
He reached a small stream and knelt, washing the blood from his hands. For a moment, the water reflected something monstrous—a flicker of Titan veins under his skin, then gone.
He clenched his fists. "Not yet."
From behind him, a voice came. "Subject 73."
He spun around. A figure stepped from the shadows. A woman with short black hair and a Marleyan rifle slung across her back.
"I was told you'd survived," she said. "You shouldn't have."
He didn't answer.
She raised the rifle. "You're a liability. They'll hunt you."
He smiled faintly. "They already do."
A gunshot split the silence. Birds scattered into the sky.
When the echo faded, the stream ran red.
---
By dawn, Levi and his squad arrived at the outskirts of the same forest. Steam still hung over the trees.
"Over here," Connie called, kneeling beside a fresh corpse. "Marleyan soldier. Shot in the chest."
Hange examined the wound. "Clean shot. From close range."
Levi scanned the ground. "Someone else was here."
They followed the blood trail deeper until it ended at a burned tree. On the trunk, etched with a knife, was a single word: "Freedom."
Levi stared at it for a long time. "He's one of Eren's."
Erwin's eyes hardened. "Then he's the key."
Hange turned to them. "If Subject 73 exists, he could shift the balance. A Titan who keeps human reason… Imagine what that means in war."
Erwin replied, "It means someone will try to use him."
Levi looked back at the forest. "Or kill him first."
---
That night, in their camp, Hange pored over Grisha's ledger again. Her candlelight flickered over a rough sketch labeled 'Subject 73: Hybrid Titan Prototype – Success.' The drawing showed a human figure mid-transformation—muscle sinew half-formed, veins glowing, but with eyes still human.
Hange muttered to herself, "If he's real, he's proof Titans can evolve. Eren's last legacy."
Levi approached quietly. "You look like you haven't slept in days."
She smiled faintly. "Neither have you."
He folded his arms. "You think chasing ghosts helps?"
Hange looked up. "We're not chasing ghosts. We're chasing the next war."
Levi said nothing.
Outside, the forest was alive with distant thunder. Not from storms—but artillery.
Erwin emerged from his tent, scanning the horizon. "Marley's moving. Recon picked up ships near the eastern shore."
Levi tightened his gear straps. "Then Subject 73 isn't the only one they're testing."
Erwin nodded. "We ride at dawn. If this hybrid exists, we find him before they do."
---
In the ruins of a small village near the border, the golden-eyed soldier woke from a nightmare. He could still hear the gunshot, still see the woman's face as she fell.
He touched the scar on his neck where the injection had gone in. His father's voice echoed faintly in memory.
> "You'll inherit what humanity becomes next."
He looked at the rising sun. "Then I'll make sure it becomes free."
The steam began to rise again from his skin.
And somewhere far behind, the sound of ODM gear sliced through the wind.
The hunt had begun.
---