The sun rose, painting the sky with a new dawn. Half a month ago, Lucien Graves had begun pouring Beast Titan spinal fluid into various wine merchants' brewing bases. Over the past weeks, he had watched in secret as the wines gradually entered circulation, flowing through Wall Rose and Wall Sina.
Like a silent infection, the Beast Titan's power now coursed through countless unsuspecting individuals. All Lucien needed to do was transform into the Beast Titan and roar from a height. Those who had drunk the contaminated wine would immediately turn into Mindless Titans.
At the same time, the reward Dice for the seventh natural month appeared on the light screen. Everything was proceeding perfectly. Lucien only needed to wait a little longer before taking decisive action.
The Dice spun and bounced. The model airplane crossed six spaces, vanishing in dazzling light. When it cleared, an item appeared:
A mechanical keyboard.
Description: Comfortable, tactile, durable…
Lucien frowned. A keyboard? Perhaps the system wanted him to become a keyboard warrior. Lying back on the hotel's large, comfortable bed, he closed the light screen casually. Luck was rare; the odds of drawing useful items from monthly Dice were only one in a thousand. He was not disappointed—he never expected anything worthwhile.
"Hm?"
Lucien's frown deepened as he noticed the usual morning bustle outside fading into silence. He had lived here for ten days and knew the streets were always noisy at dawn.
Cautiously, he tiptoed to the window. Just as he pulled back the curtain, rushing air cut through the room.
"Not good."
"Boom… rumble…"
A grenade exploded, engulfing the room in flames. Massive artillery sounds erupted from all directions, reducing the hotel to ruins in moments.
Outside, Survey Corps, Military Police Brigade, and Garrison Regiment members watched from rooftops and streets, eyes wide, faces tense with fear and determination.
"Commander, could we be mistaken?"
On a rooftop, Connie, Jean, Eren, Armin, and others, equipped with Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, looked at Erwin, whose gaze remained unshakable.
"Better to be mistaken than fail," Erwin said, his voice calm but ruthless.
"During the Female Titan operation, I personally saw Lucien being thrown by the Female Titan. If he survived, why has he remained silent for months? How did he cross the distance from the Giant Tree Forest to Maria Wall?"
Eren's expression remained steady, eyes reflecting the blazing inferno below.
"If he's not dead, he must be a Darkness," Zhou Wei added coldly.
"Clatter… whoosh…"
Amid the burning hotel, a figure rose from the flames, hovering in mid-air, surveying the scene.
"How is that possible? How is he flying?"
The soldiers around him gripped their blades in horror.
Lucien, smoke curling from his body, stood tall. His white T-shirt and green beach shorts regenerated from nothing, restored in moments. His gaze sharpened as he focused on Erwin and the others.
Landing gracefully on a nearby rooftop, he ignored the sweating Garrison Regiment soldiers just five meters away, his attention fixed entirely on Erwin and his companions.
"Yesterday, Sasha and I saw you on the street," Jean said grimly, gripping his blade. "At first, I thought I was mistaken, but it really was you."
Lucien spread his hands.
"Did you kill Mikasa and Corporal Levi?" Eren demanded, fists trembling.
"Armin and the others were there," Lucien replied casually. "I said my target was the Armored Titan, but those two insisted on dying. I simply granted their wish."
Eren's fury was tempered with shock.
"So it was you…"
Eren's calm surprised even Lucien. If it had been before, Eren would have erupted by now.
"Lucien, was it you who took Annie's Titan powers, then killed Ymir, Reiner, and Bertholdt? Were you the Armored Titan that fought the Beast Titan at Maria Wall? And now… the Beast Titan is dead too?" Armin's voice carried certainty.
"What is your ultimate goal? Is it Eren too?"
"Yes," Lucien said, producing a cigarette and lighter from thin air. Lighting it, he took a slow drag, exhaling smoke deliberately.
"Since you killed Reiner, you are no longer allied with him. Why target Eren?"
"Because he possesses the Attack Titan and Founding Titan," Lucien replied, blowing out smoke.
Zhou Wei observed the display of power—Lucien's restored clothes, the cigarette and lighter, the casual control over his environment—and finally confirmed his identity.
"You're from the same place as I am, Planet Earth, judging by your name," Zhou Wei said dryly. "I suspected you were a Reincarnator from the first time I saw you."
Lucien flicked ash from his cigarette. "We are indeed from the same place."
Zhou Wei remained expressionless. "Then why not sit, have tea, and chat? Meeting someone from home in this Different World is a one-in-ten-thousand chance."
Lucien smiled faintly. "I wouldn't dare chat. You want to kill me too, don't you, Or aren't I the one you know as 'Darkness'?"
Zhou Wei's lips curved in sarcasm.
"But what does Darkness mean?"
Lucien's expression shifted, sensing the need to understand this term.
"You specialize in hunting Sons of Destiny, Transmigrators, and Reincarnators. You are a virus left over from the Myriad Worlds. That is what a Darkness is."
Zhou Wei did not hide it. The God Space had only prohibited revealing its existence to the native world or exposing the plot. Communicating with a Darkness was unrestricted.
In Zhou Wei's eyes, Lucien was destined to die today.
Lucien cursed silently. This golden finger had revealed him. Others knew of his existence. He was no longer hunting unseen—he was being hunted.
Transmigrators were individual threats. Reincarnators, however, were organized, their missions issued by the God. He did not know if others like him, other Darknesses, existed. If he was alone, he was doomed.
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