"Annie hasn't come back yet."
Hitch finished washing up, looked at the sky outside, and muttered, "Wouldn't have gone on a date all night, would she? Really... didn't even change her clothes, did she go in her uniform? That would definitely scare the other person. Sigh, why am I even worrying about this..."
She yawned and lay down on her bed.
"When that girl comes back tomorrow, I really need to talk to her properly about what a woman should do."
The Straussman residence.
Dinner. After more than ten days, Elliot and Carly, father and daughter, finally sat down to eat together again.
"So, what are you going to do?"
Elliot asked his daughter while eating steak with a knife and fork. "If you want, I can help you escape, send you to Wall Rose, and arrange your life there."
"Escape? How boring," Carly said casually. "And doing so would be too unfair to Rayan's trust in me. He specifically gave me time to come back and say goodbye to you, instead of just arresting me directly."
"..."
Elliot was silent for a moment, then said, "Carly, you're a genius. A chemical genius, you shouldn't be buried in prison."
"Then should I use it to make drugs?" Carly took out a cigarette, put it in her mouth, and lit it. "But I'm also a bit tired. Resting in prison for a few years would be just right, and besides, I am indeed a criminal."
As she spoke, she remembered something and took out the half-smoked cigarette Rayan had given her from her pocket, placing it on the table. "Rayan asked me to give this to you. I don't know what it means. He also told me to tell you that if he finds evidence of you dealing drugs, he won't show any mercy."
"..."
Elliot looked at the half-smoked cigarette and immediately remembered that he had accidentally left it at Campa's house... and this was the evidence that could prove his "murder."
"Did he say why he gave this to me?"
"He said it was to thank you for the 'cake'," Carly said. "I don't understand what he meant by that either."
"..."
Elliot hesitated for a long time before finally making a decision. "In that case, Carly, you should go and surrender. But don't worry, I'll talk to Rayan. Your sentence will be reduced, and you don't have to worry about being bullied inside."
"Then I should thank you, Dad."
"It's me who should thank you, Carly. Without your talent, this family would have fallen apart on the day Wall Maria fell. It was you who saved this family."
"Using drugs, though."
"...Yes."
...
In the quiet basement, only Rayan's voice echoed softly.
His voice was gentle, without any aggression, and sounded very comfortable. Of course, to Annie, who was bound and unable to move, it was extremely hateful.
"...After being reported, you should also be clear about what happened afterward. The vast majority of the Restorationists were imprisoned in concentration camps, then severely tortured, and sent to the island in batches, where they were injected with spinal fluid and became mindless Titans."
Rayan said, "I was no exception. I was also imprisoned in a concentration camp. But... you should remember what I looked like three years ago, right? Very short, thin. Using this body, I successfully escaped from the concentration camp and sneaked onto a ship to come to the island."
"I ambushed and killed those Marleyan sailors. Then, by chance, I happened to encounter those who were carrying out the 'Wall Maria Reclamation Operation.' 250,000 people were forced to leave Wall Rose. I mingled among them, and thanks to everyone's strength, I was lucky enough to return inside the walls. But most people weren't so lucky. Out of 250,000, less than a hundred survived."
As Rayan spoke, he stood up from the chair, walked in front of Annie, and looked into her eyes.
"Because you destroyed the wall, those 250,000 people were forced by the royal government to carry out suicide operations due to food shortages. But it was precisely because of their suicide operations that I had the opportunity to enter the walls with them. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to cross the plains full of Titans on my own. I would have just starved to death after running out of food... Hey, Annie. Tell me, should I thank you, or hate you?"
"..."
Annie listened to Rayan's words, and her eyes instantly turned red.
"Actually, what can I blame you for?" Rayan said. "You were only twelve or thirteen years old back then, right? Just a few children who were thrown onto the island without knowing anything. Your parents and family were held hostage and monitored by the Marleyan military, used to order you to eliminate the devils here and seize their power."
"Annie, what did you feel when you saw those people? You should have also mingled in with the refugees back then, right? Looking at similar faces and hearing the same language, did you really think they were all devils? Or were you, who caused all this destruction, the devils?"
Annie closed her eyes, but two streams of hot tears flowed from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Rayan gently raised his hand and wiped them away, then turned back and sat down by the chair.
"I know what your purpose is: to seize the power of the Founding Titan. This power will become a huge deterrent for the Marleyan military. With this deterrent, Marley can blackmail all the countries in the world."
"Even though the world's technology is developing rapidly now, there will definitely be no technology that can counter and crush Titans in the short term, right?" Rayan said, "The three walls of Maria, Rose, and Sina are composed of hundreds of thousands of 60-meter-class Titans (the wall is 50 meters high, and there is also a section of the root underground, so tentatively set at 60 meters). As long as there is the 'coordinate' control of the Founding Titan, once the 'Rumbling' is activated, this power is enough to destroy the world."
As Rayan spoke, his expression became more and more serious.
"In the past, Marley became increasingly arrogant and complacent because of the Titans' invincibility. However, after getting bogged down in the quagmire of war in recent years, their higher-ups have also realized that relying solely on a few intelligent Titans and a bunch of indiscriminate, uncontrollable mindless Titans is no longer enough to suppress other countries. That's why they desperately need the power of the Founding Titan."
"Of course, besides the Titans, the rich mineral resources on the island are also coveted by Marley. They need these resources to develop their industry, to support the entire industrial system of the empire."
"And once they obtain these and have this deterrent, then Marley, realizing the powerful strength of technology, will definitely use it to blackmail all technologically advanced countries and plunder their technology. In this way, possessing both the Founding Titan and leading technological capabilities, Marley will truly become the world hegemon."
Rayan became a bit parched as he spoke. He picked up the water bottle on the ground, took a few sips, and cleared his throat.
"At that time, will the people on the island still have the qualifications to be 'human'?" Rayan asked Annie, "The million people on this island will probably all be used as miners or mindless Titans to be cannon fodder in wars. When technology is finally able to completely crush the Titans, the intelligent Titans will also be meaningless. All Eldians will be 'justly exterminated' by Marley, so that the resentment of people around the world towards Marley will dissipate with the extinction of the Eldian race. That is that future, the future after you seize the Founding Titan."
Annie listened, her long eyelashes trembling constantly, but she still kept her eyes closed, the red marks at the corners of her eyes particularly noticeable.
As Rayan spoke at this moment, his tone suddenly changed. "But Annie, in my opinion, there is another future. Would you like to hear about it?"
Annie's heart trembled, and she opened her eyes.
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Need More Chapters
Every 300 Power Stones
2 Bonus chapter
Every 500 Power Stones
4 Bonus chapter.
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Try Other Fics I Have
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