"Central Military Police Brigade? Could it be something your father arranged?"
"How could that be? They are the guard directly under the King. My father doesn't have that much power."
..."Where are you going?"
"To report to the Central Military Police Brigade. I have no choice; they've already pressed me twice."
"It seems you're about to become one of those big shots, too."
"I've always been a big shot; it's just that you've never taken me seriously."
...Annie looked at Lock, thinking back to their conversation from not long ago, remaining silent.
"Are you surprised, Annie?"
Lock wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said calmly, "Are you so shocked to see me that you can't even speak?"
Annie bit her lip and asked, "Why are you here?"
Lock sat on the ground, propping himself up with his hands behind him, his expression full of leisure.
"To see you, of course. After all, today is the last chance."
Annie frowned. "What do you mean?"
Lock smiled. "You didn't think you hid yourself well today, did you?"
He stared at Annie and continued, "The Survey Corps already suspects you. They're planning to capture you in Stohess in a few days."
These words revealed that Lock had known her identity for a long time.
Annie asked coldly, "Since when did you know?"
Lock said casually, "From the very beginning."
"Impossible!"
Annie stared wide-eyed. "How could you possibly..."
Ignoring Annie's protest, Lock said directly, "My memories weren't erased by King Fritz."
"What?"
Lock looked at Annie's incredulous face and continued, "I know where you come from, and I know what you're trying to do."
"Annie, it couldn't have been easy, leaving your hometown at such a young age and crossing the sea to come here."
Annie clenched her fists; she still found it hard to believe Lock's words.
"Then why did you approach me back in the Training Corps?"
Lock said calmly, "For today, of course."
He then asked in return, "And what about you? Annie, why did you approach me?"
Hearing Lock's answer, Annie gave a miserable smile. "To use you to get close to the King inside the Walls."
Lock's face showed a hint of melancholy. "Yeah, we were using each other from the very beginning."
The bright moon hung in the sky as a breeze brushed past their similar blonde hair.
Under the same moonlight, Annie seemed to think of something and asked, "Back then in the Trost District, that night... was it you?"
Lock nodded directly and admitted, "It was me. It seems my acting was quite poor if I've kept you suspicious until now."
"At that time, why... were you there?"
Lock supported his body and stood up from the ground with difficulty.
Annie took a few steps back.
Lock acted as if he didn't see it and answered, "Because I wanted to vent some anger for the people you killed."
"Like... Marco."
That name hit Annie's chest like a giant hammer; she felt as if it were getting difficult to breathe.
Lock slowly approached Annie, while Annie stared at him and slowly backed away.
"Do you know what you've done, Annie?"
"Thomas, Mina, Mylius, Hanna, Franz... Marco."
"You know them all, don't you, Annie?"
"Why do you think they died that day?"
Lock stopped and shouted at Annie, who had her head lowered, "Answer me! Annie!"
After a long while, Lock heard Annie whisper, "Because... to force the King inside the Walls to appear, we chose to destroy the Trost District."
"Yeah, it's still for that."
A flash of mockery appeared in Lock's eyes as he said, "Didn't I tell you back then that as long as you graduated, you'd have a chance to see the King? Why did you still do it?"
Annie looked at Lock with a complicated expression. "They said...You weren't to be trusted..."
"So that's how it was. It must have been that guy Bertholdt."
Lock spread his hands helplessly. "My acting wasn't good enough back then; you guys saw through me."
"Acting?"
"Yeah, Annie. You didn't really believe I would marry you, did you?"
Annie lowered her head in silence.
Not wanting to dwell on that matter, Annie turned to stare at Lock and asked, "Why are you okay?"
Lock was actually able to stand up after being hit head-on by her Power of the Titans, which left Annie bewildered.
Lock gave a mysterious smile. "Why don't you guess?"
Annie remembered that night in Trost when she had clearly cut his palm with a blade and stabbed through his abdomen, yet the next day Lock appeared before her without a single scar.
She looked at Lock again in disbelief. "You... also have the Power of the Titans within you?"
Lock didn't give a direct answer. "Eldia has a total of Nine Titans. You Marleyans hold seven."
"Naturally, there are two left."
Annie murmured, "Is the Coordinate within you?"
Lock still didn't answer. He raised the gun in his hand and smiled. "Annie, how's your stamina recovery? I'm getting impatient with waiting."
Realizing her attempt to stall for time had been discovered, Annie simply raised her hands. "I surrender. I can share intelligence with you."
"A wise choice."
"However... I don't need it."
Lock put down the gun and unbuckled the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear from his body.
Annie watched his movements and asked hesitantly, "Then what do you want?"
Lock took a step forward and smiled. "I want you."
Hearing these slightly ambiguous words, Annie wouldn't dream of thinking Lock was flirting with her.
She said solemnly, "So you want my Power of the Titans."
Lock took another step forward and spread his arms wide, saying heroically, "Come, Annie! Let's have one last fight!"
"If you win, I'll let you go."
"If you lose, you'll be obediently eaten by me."
Lock looked into Annie's eyes. "Fair enough, right?"
Annie knew she had no choice. She unbuckled her Omni-Directional Mobility Gear and her hooded cloak.
She also took a step forward and struck her signature fighting stance.
Lock did some simple stretches and asked casually, "Who taught you your fighting techniques?"
"My father."
Lock said sympathetically, "You must have suffered a lot learning this, Annie."
"Can you hurry up? Stop with the nonsense."
Lock, however, was relentless. "That useless father of yours sent his own daughter to enemy territory to carry out such a dangerous mission just so he could live a good life."
He shook his head, his expression full of contempt. "Is he really your biological father?"
Annie's gaze gradually turned cold. All previous confusion, hesitation, and pain disappeared... leaving only rage.
For the first time in three years, she was the one to attack Lock first.
"That's it, Annie."
Lock stood his ground, watching Annie rush toward him with a look of reassurance in his eyes.
Annie instantly reached Lock, who appeared completely defenseless.
Lock raised his left hand, easily blocking Annie's high roundhouse kick, and instantly grabbed her ankle with his backhand, forcefully swinging her entire body and slamming her into the ground behind him.
The strength gap between the two was too large, not to mention that Annie was exceptionally weak at this moment.
Lock turned and pinned Annie, who was still trying to get up, holding both her wrists above her head with one hand.
He leaned down, staring at Annie's angry face, and smiled.
"Didn't your father ever teach you not to be easily provoked by your opponent?"
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