"Most of the nearby Titans have been drawn away! Thirty seconds until the gate opens!"
Wall Rose — Karanes District.
Today was the 57th expedition beyond the Walls.
Because the gate at Trost District had been sealed with stone, a route planned and prepared for years had to be abandoned. Instead, the Survey Corps would depart from Karanes District and attempt to chart a new, relatively safe path toward Wall Maria's Shiganshina District.
It wasn't easy. Exploration meant the unknown—and the unknown meant danger, accidents, and casualties.
That was why the expedition wouldn't go very far—or at least, that was what Erwin told everyone.
Rumble…
The massive gate slowly rose, revealing the world beyond the Walls. The vast land ahead seemed to beckon to them.
Once again, the Survey Corps advanced toward freedom.
"Move out!!"
---
"Mm…"
Annie slowly opened her eyes.
For a brief second or two, her mind was blank. Then realization struck.
"Mm—mmmh!!"
She struggled violently, but aside from her eyes, not a single part of her body could move.
About a meter in front of her stood a chair. Lillian was sitting on it, looking at her calmly, idly playing with the ring that concealed a metal hook—the very ring that belonged to her.
"Don't waste your strength, Annie," Lillian said. "This restraint device was designed specifically for you."
"..."
At this moment, Annie was fixed to a crude but practical wooden frame, her body spread out in a large "X" shape. It wasn't just a matter of tying down her limbs—every single finger and toe had been bound separately to small branching wooden slats, preventing any contact between them.
Because of that, even trying to scratch her own skin with her fingernails was impossible.
Her head was also firmly secured against a semi-curved wooden board. Both sides extended outward, completely immobilizing her head. Those extensions were connected to extremely tough fiber material, which had been stuffed into her mouth and wound around the back of her head with thin threads. This prevented her from biting her lips or tongue.
Naturally, she couldn't speak either.
The blueprints for this device had been drawn up long ago. After escorting Karen back to the training corps the previous night, Lillian had gone straight to the Underground City and asked Klaus to gather seven or eight craftsmen to build it overnight.
"Mm—mm!"
All Annie could do now was make muffled sounds, but her eyes alone made it clear—she was furious beyond measure.
"I'm sorry," Lillian said. "I didn't want to do this either. But you wouldn't be willing to sit down and talk properly with me, would you… if I told you that you're a Titan?"
Indeed, once an Intelligent Titan's identity was exposed, their instinctive reaction would be to silence the witness—or flee.
When Annie heard the word "Titan," shock and confusion flashed through her eyes. Clearly, she couldn't understand how he had discovered her secret.
"So, Annie. What was your very first reaction just now?" Lillian continued calmly. "Was your first thought, 'If he's the only one who knows, then killing him will keep my identity hidden'?"
Annie couldn't speak. Her emotions could only be conveyed through her eyes. Yet what Lillian saw there was not intense killing intent.
"You must be very curious about how I figured it out. Don't worry—we've got the whole night. I'll tell you everything you want to know."
Lillian's tone was earnest. "After you hear it all, you can decide what to do for yourself. Someone as smart as you must understand that I can't really do much to you. I can only restrain you temporarily."
The conditions for Titan transformation were injury plus a strong, focused intent. Under those circumstances, killing her wasn't impossible.
This was an abandoned basement—months might pass without anyone coming here even once. In theory, he could starve Annie to death, or use poison gas.
But that wasn't safe.
No one knew whether "injury" included internal damage. Long-term starvation could cause damage to the stomach. If that counted as an injury, Annie could still transform.
Besides—
Lillian didn't want to kill her.
If the people inside the Walls were to stand against Marley, the power of the Intelligent Titans was indispensable. Once Annie died, the Female Titan's power would randomly pass to a newborn Eldian baby—and that was absolutely unacceptable.
Of course, spinal fluid injections could allow someone else to seize Annie's power. Lillian did have a syringe hidden in a backpack outside Wall Rose. But then… who would that "someone else" be? Who should receive it?
Lillian himself would never use it. The thirteen-year lifespan curse of the Intelligent Titans had no solution yet, and he had no intention of taking on a power that came with such a fate.
It was completely unrealistic.
And then there was the part that had nothing to do with reason—emotion.
On an emotional level… did he really want to kill Annie?
"Let me start by explaining the despicable method I used to knock you out," Lillian said, pulling a white pill from his pocket.
"This is called 'Lightning.' It's a top-tier hallucinogen that dissolves rapidly in water. In a very short time, it overwhelms the user's senses. Anyone taking it for the first time will fall straight into unconsciousness. But after a few uses, resistance builds quickly—after three or four times, it no longer causes fainting, but instead leads to addiction."
This was something Lillian had acquired through Klaus in the Underground City. A single pill cost roughly three months of Lillian's salary. It was a true high-end drug—something only rich second-generation heirs and nobles could afford.
Compared to this, the "Coderoin" Carly had researched was child's play.
"Don't blame me, Annie," Lillian continued. "Without this, today's 'conversation' wouldn't have been possible. Of course, calling it a conversation isn't quite right—it's really just me talking while you listen. After all… I'm afraid you might bite your tongue or lips."
"But once I'm finished, I'll release these restraints."
He paused for a few seconds, giving Annie time to process, while he himself organized his thoughts.
By now, Annie had calmed down. She understood her situation. The anger in her eyes faded, replaced by cold indifference as she stared at Lillian.
"First, let's talk about why I know your identity," Lillian said. "That should be what you care about most. Honestly, you—no, all of you—hid it very well. You didn't give yourselves away at all. Ironically, I'm the innocent one who ended up being suspected as a Titan. That really hurt."
When he said "all of you," Annie's pupils shrank slightly. She hadn't expected her companions to be exposed as well.
"Reiner and Bertholdt are Titans too, aren't they?" Lillian said outright. Annie had her confirmation.
"To be honest, this has nothing to do with your acting. It's more like in a game of Werewolf, where someone figures out who the wolves are through out-of-game information. I know who you are because I… cheated."
Annie looked utterly confused—her eyes made it clear she didn't understand what he meant.
"Annie, you've heard of the Eldian Restorationists, haven't you?"
The moment Lillian said it, shock exploded in her eyes.
"That's right. I'm a member of that organization. Just like you warriors, I came to this island by ship from Marley."
"The Eldian Restorationists were an underground group formed by Eldians in Marley, fighting to liberate their people. But because of an internal betrayal, they were almost completely wiped out. The organization suffered total destruction—its members were either tortured to death in internment camps or sent to the island and turned into Pure Titans."
"And the one who betrayed them… was your 'Warrior Chief,' Zeke—the holder of the Beast Titan."
As Lillian spoke, the shock in Annie's eyes only deepened. She couldn't believe how much he knew—even about something like the Warrior Chief.
The identities of the Titans were strictly classified to prevent enemy assassinations. Yet Lillian knew all of this in detail.
"Don't look at me like that, Annie," Lillian said calmly. "The Eldian Restorationists were very well hidden. Although most of them were captured, some successfully infiltrated Marley's higher ranks. That's how this information survived."
Of course, Lillian wasn't actually a member of the Eldian Restorationists.
He said all this to give his intelligence a plausible source. Otherwise, there was no way to explain how he knew so many top-level Marleyan military secrets. He couldn't exactly say he'd read a manga—he'd be taken for a madman.
And this story was extremely effective.
From Annie's eyes, he could tell she already believed him—believed that he was a surviving remnant of the Eldian Restorationists.