"But now, everything has changed…"
"Grisha…"
"Yes! Grisha Yeager."
"You haven't forgotten that name, have you?"
In a moment of desperation, Annie finally remembered Zeke's preferences.
Zeke was different from her.
Annie was filled with gratitude for her adoptive father's upbringing.
Zeke, as the hope of his biological parents, could turn around and send them to their doom.
But to Zeke, he was an excellent older brother who especially doted on Eren.
No one could harm his younger brother, Eren, in front of Zeke.
Even knowing that Eren harbored ulterior motives and was deceiving him, Zeke still wanted to give Eren another chance.
"What did you say?" Zeke's expression changed drastically, and he glared fiercely at Annie.
"Doctor Grisha Yeager, his son, Eren Yeager, is inside the Walls."
"We saw everything."
"Commander Zeke, I think you should know, he is your half-brother."
...
Chapter 28: Bertolt, should we kill Annie?
A single call of 'older brother,' and Marley's efforts were wasted.
"Eren Yeager…"
Zeke's pupils gradually dilated, repeating Eren's name.
Having been instilled with the idea of restoring Eldia's glory by Grisha since childhood, Zeke could only draw one conclusion.
In this cruel world, the very existence of Eldians was a tragedy.
To eliminate the tragedy, he decided that after acquiring the power of the Founding Titan, he would euthanize the Eldians.
As long as Eldians could no longer reproduce, after a few decades, Eldians would be completely free from the world.
"Did Eren ultimately not approve of my idea?"
Zeke said slowly, with a hint of sadness.
"Commander Zeke, you don't need to feel sad."
"That messenger from Celestia once mentioned the existence of a god."
"I think the reason he sought you out was precisely to resolve these problems completely through your contact with Eren."
"Eren also strongly agreed with the messenger's suggestion and wanted to meet his older brother, whom he had never seen."
"Together, with the messenger's help, the two of them would search anew for a way for Eldians and Marleyans to coexist."
Annie forced a smile.
Even if she deceived Zeke, as long as she brought him back, she shouldn't have to worry about that terrifying mysterious messenger anymore.
The other party should forgive their trio for her efforts.
At that time, perhaps she could use the messenger's miraculous ability to meet her father.
"You mean Eren wants to see me?" Zeke's dim pupils instantly filled with light.
"And also to find a way for Eldians and Marleyans to coexist peacefully with me?"
"Yes!" Annie said with a forced smile, "Go see Eren, Commander Zeke."
"This…"
Zeke's face trembled several times with excitement.
Perhaps there really was a god in this world.
Not only did he truly become an older brother.
But in this cruel world, he also gave them, brothers, a chance to work together to create a new light.
Watching Zeke's eyes well up with tears of excitement.
Annie's heart also pounded nervously.
It succeeded, just one more step to success.
Indeed, in Zeke's heart, Eren held too much importance.
"You're lying! Annie!"
Just as everything was progressing according to Annie's plan, a sudden sharp rebuke instantly plunged Annie into an ice cellar.
Annie's face turned dark, and she looked with fear at the source of the voice.
She saw Reiner staring intently at her with a serious and stern expression.
"Rei… Reiner…"
Bertolt, like Annie, looked at Reiner with fear.
Bertolt was stunned.
At such a critical moment, what madness was Reiner up to now?
"After Eren learned everything about the future, he never mentioned Commander Zeke."
"He also had no intention of cooperating with Commander Zeke."
"In Eren's heart, all of us humans across the sea are enemies; he wishes he could eat our flesh and drink our blood."
At the crucial moment.
The loyal soldier Reiner's personality took over.
The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.
Zeke, who had been excited for nothing, immediately became furious: "Annie! You're playing with me using Eren, aren't you?"
"No…"
"Commander, listen to me…"
"Eren… Eren he…"
"No!" Annie shouted, forcing herself to calm down, then pointed at Reiner and said, "Reiner…"
"Over the past few years, Reiner's mental state has had serious problems."
"Sometimes he just talks nonsense…"
"Bertolt, you tell me, isn't it true, Reiner he…"
"Reiner he…"
Annie looked at Bertolt in horror; he too was trembling, already too scared to speak by the tense atmosphere.
And the panicked and helpless Annie was completely less convincing than the calm and composed Reiner.
Zeke might be blinded by the sudden kinship, but he would absolutely not be so confused as to not distinguish who was lying.
"Annie!" Zeke roared.
The disappearance of the beautiful vision of cooperating with his younger brother in his mind was like adding fuel to the fire.
"I will punish you, traitor, according to Marley's military orders."
"Annie!"
Amber: "Oh dear! Annie failed."
Paimon: "At the critical moment, Reiner actually… Hmm… I don't even know how to evaluate him…"
Arataki Itto: "I don't think Reiner did anything wrong. He finally remembered he's a Marleyan soldier again; his actions are upright."
Kuki Shinobu: "Boss, shut up."
Kamisato Ayaka: "Looking at it now, Annie is quite pitiful. She was just one step away from succeeding, but it all fell apart."
Yoimiya: "She just wanted to go home to her dad, it's too hard."
Tartaglia: "Reiner the soldier prioritizes Marley's interests, while Reiner the warrior is a member of the training corps who slays Titans. His personality is indeed very split."
Arlecchino: "He not only betrayed Bertolt, but this time he betrayed Annie again. It's truly unexpected."
Skirk: "I really want to know if Su Bai actually deduced this expedition. Would he have predicted Annie would encounter this disaster? I think Marley's way of dealing with traitors is to kill them."
Lumine: "He definitely could have deduced it, but he also stated that deducing the future is a very boring activity. Who knows if he genuinely doesn't know, or if he deliberately pushed Annie into the abyss."
The soldiers behind Zeke aimed their firearms at Annie.
As a Marleyan soldier, Annie naturally knew the fate of a traitor.