"Annie still hasn't come back."
Hitch finished washing up, glanced at the sky outside, and muttered to herself, "She didn't go out on a late-night date, did she? Seriously… couldn't she at least change clothes first? Going out in uniform—she'd scare the other person to death. Sigh, why am I even worrying about this…"
She yawned and flopped onto her bed.
"When she comes back tomorrow, I really need to lecture her properly about how a woman should behave."
---
The Stratmann Residence
At dinner, after more than ten days apart, Elliot and Carly finally sat down to eat together again as father and daughter.
"So," Elliot asked as he cut into his steak, "what do you plan to do?"
"If you want, I can help you escape," he continued. "I can send you to Wall Sina and arrange a stable life for you."
"Escape? That sounds boring," Carly replied casually. "And it would be a huge betrayal of Lillian's trust. He even gave me time to come back and say goodbye to you, instead of just arresting me on the spot."
"..."
Elliot was silent for a moment before saying, "Carly, you're a genius. A true genius in chemistry. Someone like you shouldn't rot away in prison."
"So what, I should be making drugs instead?" Carly lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Honestly, I'm tired too. Spending a few quiet years in prison might not be so bad. And besides—I am a criminal."
As she spoke, she remembered something and took out the broken half of a cigarette Lillian had given her, placing it on the table.
"Lillian asked me to give this to you. I don't really know what it means. He also told me to tell you that if he ever finds solid evidence of your drug trafficking, he won't go easy on you."
"..."
Elliot stared at the broken cigarette and immediately remembered it—the one he had accidentally left behind at the Kemper house. Proof of his "murder."
"Did he say why he gave me this?" Elliot asked.
"He said it was to thank you for the 'cake,'" Carly replied. "I don't understand what he meant either."
"..."
After a long hesitation, Elliot finally made up his mind.
"In that case, Carly, turn yourself in," he said. "Don't worry. I'll talk to Lillian. Your sentence will be reduced, and no one will dare mistreat you inside."
"Then I suppose I should thank you, Father."
"No—it's me who should thank you," Elliot said quietly. "Without your talent, this family would've collapsed the day Wall Maria fell. You saved this family."
"By using drugs," Carly said softly.
"...Yes."
---
The underground basement was silent, save for Lillian's calm, steady voice.
His tone was gentle, completely lacking in aggression—almost soothing. Of course, to Annie, who was bound so tightly she couldn't move at all, it sounded infuriating.
"After the betrayal, you already know what happened next," Lillian continued. "Most of the Restorationists were imprisoned in internment camps, tortured, then sent to the island in batches, injected with spinal fluid, and turned into Pure Titans."
"I was no exception. I was imprisoned too," he said. "But… you probably remember what I looked like three years ago. Short. Skinny. I used that body to escape the camp, sneak onto a ship, and make it to the island."
"I ambushed and killed the Marleyan crew. By sheer coincidence, I ran into the group carrying out the 'Operation to Reclaim Wall Maria.' Two hundred and fifty thousand people were forced out beyond Wall Rose. I blended in with them, relying on sheer numbers to survive long enough to make it back inside the Walls."
"But most of them weren't so lucky. Out of 250,000 people… fewer than a hundred survived."
As Lillian spoke, he stood up from his chair and walked over to Annie, looking directly into her eyes.
"Because you destroyed the Walls, those 250,000 people were forced by the royal government into a suicide mission due to food shortages. And yet—because of that very mission, I had the chance to enter the Walls. Otherwise, I would never have crossed a Titan-infested plain on my own. I would've simply starved to death."
"So tell me, Annie," he asked quietly, "should I thank you… or hate you?"
"..."
As Annie listened, her eyes reddened almost instantly.
"But what right do I really have to condemn you?" Lillian went on. "You were only twelve or thirteen back then, weren't you? Just children—thrown onto this island without knowing anything. Your parents and families were held hostage by the Marleyan military, used to force you to wipe out the 'devils' here and seize their power."
"When you saw those people, Annie… what did you feel? You must've blended in with the refugees too. Faces like yours. The same language. Did you truly believe they were devils? Or were you—the ones who caused all this destruction—the real devils?"
Annie closed her eyes.
Tears streamed from the corners, rolling silently down her cheeks. Lillian gently wiped them away, then turned and returned to his chair.
"I know what your objective is," he said. "To seize the power of the Founding Titan. With that power, Marley would gain an overwhelming deterrent—enough to extort every nation in the world."
"Even though technology is advancing rapidly," Lillian continued, his expression growing increasingly serious, "there's nothing that can counter the Colossal Titans in the short term. The three Walls—Maria, Rose, and Sina—are made of tens of thousands of sixty-meter Titans. With the Founding Titan's 'Coordinate,' once the Rumbling is unleashed, that power could destroy the world."
"In the past, Marley grew arrogant because Titans were invincible. But after being dragged into years of war, their leaders realized that a handful of Intelligent Titans and uncontrollable Pure Titans are no longer enough to suppress other nations."
"That's why they're desperate for the Founding Titan."
"Of course, there's also the island's vast mineral resources," he added. "Marley covets those too. They need them to fuel their industrial development—to support the entire empire."
"Once they obtain both the Founding Titan and those resources, and combine that power with advanced technology, Marley will truly become the ruler of the world."
Lillian paused, his throat dry. He picked up the canteen at his feet, took a few sips, and continued.
"When that day comes, do you think the people on this island will still be treated as human?" he asked Annie. "A million people—forced into mines, or turned into Pure Titans to serve as cannon fodder in wars."
"And when technology eventually surpasses Titans entirely, the Intelligent Titans will lose all value. Marley will then 'righteously' exterminate all Eldians, wiping out an entire race to appease the world's hatred."
"That is the future that awaits… if you take the Founding Titan."
Annie's long eyelashes trembled violently. Her eyes remained shut, red marks stark against her pale skin.
Then Lillian's tone shifted.
"But Annie," he said softly, "in my eyes… there is another future."
"Do you want to hear about it?"
Annie's heart jolted.
She opened her eyes.