"Today, here, I also have a very unfortunate piece of news to announce." Willy's tone turned serious.
The audience below all looked at Willy, waiting to see what else he was going to say.
At this moment, Zofia's parents stood up and invited the families of the other Warrior candidates to come over for a gathering at their home. Because of the children, the relationships between these families were already quite good, so naturally no one refused.
The Marleyan soldiers guarding the venue showed no intention of stopping these Eldians, and just like that, Zofia and the others' families left the venue.
Meanwhile, Willy on stage had already composed his words and spoke in a steady voice,
"As everyone knows, the power of the Titans of the Eldians is a cursed force full of threat to humanity. However, within our Marley, there are madmen attempting to seize control of this cursed power, even creating new Titan Warriors."
Willy's words were like a massive boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up countless waves.
The representatives of various nations immediately grew serious. In fact, when new Titan Warriors appeared during the war between Marley and the Middle Easterners, it had already drawn the attention of every nation.
Those new Titan Warriors were also one of the reasons why the nations did not dare to make a move against Marley now. But the origin of these Titan Warriors had always been a mystery. After all, for a hundred years, only the six great Titan Warriors and the War Hammer Titan hidden within the Tybur family had been active on the battlefield.
Now, Willy was revealing this secret—there were actually Marleyans attempting to control the power of Titans, and they had even already created new Titan Warriors?
A common thought emerged in the minds of all the representatives: the person who created these Titan Warriors must die!
Even though current technology was sufficient to deal with ordinary Titan hordes, when it came to those Titan Warriors who could transform at any time and appear unpredictably, every nation was filled with fear.
Ebson, who had been quietly sitting in the stands, tilted his head slightly and casually scratched his ear with his little finger.
"Tsk tsk tsk, seems like this is aimed at me."
Beside him, Bill threw down the half-smoked cigarette in his hand, crushed it underfoot, and asked in a deep voice,
"Sir, should we move to protect you?"
Ebson shook his head and said with a faint smile,
"No rush. Let me see what else the Tybur has to say, and what reason he has to act against me. After all, everything I've done—doesn't it all seem to be for Marley?"
At this moment, Willy also turned his gaze toward Ebson and said righteously,
"Attempting to control the power of Titans is a betrayal against humanity. Even if it is for the sake of Marley, we cannot betray all of humanity for the selfish desires of a single nation. Therefore, today, I will represent Marley and put an end to this! Marley will not allow any research into Titan power!
Ebson, regrettably, you will be arrested on charges of treason!"
Swish! One after another, shocked gazes turned toward Ebson in the Marleyan nobles' section. None of the nobles around him had expected that the person Willy was referring to would be Ebson. This man had always kept a low profile, rarely interacting within the Marleyan noble circles. Aside from his arms company drawing attention, there was nothing about him that would make people associate him with the creation of Titan Warriors.
A series of hurried footsteps rang out as a fully armed squad of Marleyan soldiers rushed toward the nobles' section with guns on their backs, looking fierce and aggressive.
This display frightened the other nobles in the section, who hurriedly moved away from Ebson. In an instant, a large empty space formed around him.
Yet Ebson and Bill remained seated calmly, unmoving.
The representatives of various nations watched with a spectator's attitude. To them, this was Marley destroying its own strength. Who knew whether more Titan Warriors might appear in Marley in the future? Many were delighted, and at the same time, some representatives began to scheme—if such a person who could create Titan Warriors were to fall into their hands…
In the Marleyan military officers' section, General Calvi, wearing a red sash, frowned. Arrest Ebson? Tybur hadn't discussed this with him at all.
Calvi was a pragmatist who only considered Marley's interests. In his view, if Ebson could create new Titan Warriors, it would be an enormous advantage for Marley's development. As for the so-called fate of humanity, what did that have to do with Marley?
At this moment, Calvi felt extremely dissatisfied with Willy's unilateral decision. The murmurs of opposition from the high-ranking officers around him also showed that many Marleyan officers were against it.
Clap clap clap, Ebson raised his hands and lightly applauded.
"What a grand and righteous excuse. It really lets me see just how ignorant you people are. Truly a pitiful bunch—using Eldians as a shield to cover up the filthy little schemes in your own hearts."
But no matter what Ebson said, the Marleyan soldiers continued advancing toward him with their rifles.
Ebson's expression finally turned completely cold.
...
In the darkness—
"You bastard, stay away from me! Touch me again and I'll chop off your hand!" Litt gritted his teeth and shouted.
Bazel awkwardly released his grip on Litt's arm.
"I—I can't help it, it's too dark here. I'm just nervous, don't get the wrong idea."
Litt: "Get lost! Stay the hell away from me!"
Bazel: "Fine, I'll go!"
Bazel silently crouched in the corner. After a while—
"Hey, hey, Litt, something's not right. There's no one outside anymore."
Litt ignored him completely and didn't respond.
"Hey! Litt, do you smell that? There's a strange smell!"
"Hey! Litt, there are a lot of big barrels outside!"
"Hey!…"
Unable to endure it any longer, Litt rushed over and slapped him hard across the face, roaring,
"You bastard! Can you shut up for once?!"
Outside the dark room, a fuse had almost burned to its end.
"Aim at the target! Load the shells! Prepare to fire!" a Marleyan officer shouted loudly. The soldiers under him immediately sprang into action, swiftly adjusting the cannons and loading the shells.
The direction the cannons were aimed at was an ordinary house not far away.
Inside the house, Ivanor was happily fiddling with a piece of white paper she had found.
Very quickly, a paper rose appeared in her hands. She excitedly handed it to Airi.
"Airi-chan! Look! A flower!"
Annoyed and restless, Airi glanced at it, took the paper flower, and tossed it onto the ground.
"What kind of trash is this?"
"!!! Airi-chan! How could you!" Ivanor widened her eyes, looking utterly hurt.
...
Just as the atmosphere in the venue had reached a tense, explosive point—
Boom!!! A massive explosion rang through the sky. In the darkness of night, a huge orange fireball rose into the distance, strikingly visible.
Before anyone could react, another round of booming artillery fire followed.
"What's going on!? What happened?" Panic immediately spread among the representatives and reporters in the venue.
"Roar!!! Hiss!!!" Though faint, the distinct roar of a Titan reached everyone's ears.
Ebson raised his head as if he had expected this all along. A massive figure was rapidly approaching the venue through the night.