The appearance of a Titan in Stohess District, within Wall Sina, was forcibly suppressed by the authorities. All newspapers were prohibited from reporting it. Instead, they claimed that explosives stored in a warehouse had detonated by accident, causing the headquarters building to collapse.
As for the witnesses who had seen the Titan, they were all "invited" for conversations. After that, no one dared to spread rumors anymore.
This was merely to prevent panic among the populace. The existence of the Titan itself could not be denied. Even the nobles were not foolish enough to ignore such a danger. As a result, they ordered the Military Police to uncover the hidden enemy as quickly as possible.
To that end, certain figures within the royal capital dispatched a special group to assist. These individuals did not fall under Nile's command and were free to act independently.
These people were, naturally—
"So you're Lillian?" One of them grinned as he looked at Lillian, who was leaning on a cane while taking a walk along the hospital corridor. Lillian's injuries hadn't been particularly severe to begin with, and thanks to his extraordinary recovery ability, he had already passed the danger phase.
As for the cane—it was nothing more than a prop. Recovering too quickly would have been far too conspicuous.
"That's me."
Lillian looked at the young man before him. He was a member of the so-called "Special Investigation Unit."
"I've heard you're quite famous in this district," the young man said with a hint of provocation. "Didn't expect much—but turns out you're just some Oriental brat."
"I'm not Oriental."
"Huh?" The young man chuckled. "Then what, some mixed-blood Oriental—!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Lillian slapped him to the ground, then stepped squarely on his face.
"Say one more word," Lillian said coldly, "and I'll cripple you."
"Y-you dare?!"
The young man was completely stunned. He never imagined Lillian would actually attack him. After all, he was part of a special investigation unit dispatched from the capital—his authority far exceeded that of local Military Police!
Without hesitation, Lillian raised his cane and thrust it downward. Just as the tip was about to plunge into the man's eye, a hand suddenly appeared and caught the cane.
Lillian turned his head.
A middle-aged man stood there, smiling broadly and flashing a full set of white teeth.
"Hey there, kid. No need to be so hot-headed," the man said cheerfully. "If you cripple my subordinate, I won't really have a choice—I'll just have to cripple you instead."
"..."
"Captain Kenny!" The young man shouted as soon as he saw the man. "He attacked me! He—"
"Alright, alright. Go cry about it back home," the man interrupted as he pulled the youth up. "Don't embarrass yourself here."
"But, Captain—"
The young man hadn't finished speaking when he noticed the change in the man's expression. His words died instantly in his throat. Not daring to say another word, he turned and slunk away.
"Young people really don't know their place," the man said with a smile as he looked at Lillian. "Don't you agree?"
Kenny Ackerman.
One of the last surviving members of the Ackerman family—and Levi's uncle.
Compared to Levi, the so-called "strongest soldier humanity has," Kenny's youth was far more legendary—and far more terrifying, steeped in bloodshed and fear.
In his younger days, his most famous nickname was "Kenny the Ripper." Nearly a hundred Military Police officers had died by his hand. At that time, he truly could be called humanity's strongest—invincible with nothing but a knife.
But later, after learning the true history of the Ackerman clan from his grandfather, his life took a completely different turn.
The Ackermans were a byproduct of Titan experimentation. Enormous power lay dormant in their bodies, but it required a powerful stimulus to awaken. Without it, they were no different from ordinary people.
Mikasa's father, for example, was also an Ackerman—yet he never awakened his power, not even at the moment of death.
The Ackerman clan originally existed as royal guards.
After all, even though the King possessed the power of the Titans, in human form he was no different from a normal person. In fact, if done correctly—like the way Lillian once dealt with Annie—an ordinary human could assassinate the King without spilling a single drop of blood.
That was why the King needed guards. And the Ackermans were perfect for the role.
They were essentially "Titans in human form." With them protecting him, the probability of the King being assassinated dropped to almost zero.
However, that relationship between King and protector came to a complete end during the reign of the 145th King.
The 145th King chose to retreat to the island and erased humanity's memories of the outside world. But the problem was that the Ackermans were immune to memory manipulation.
To protect his secret, the King began persecuting his own guards.
Over time, the Ackerman clan fell into decline, reduced to only a handful of survivors.
When Kenny learned this truth, his temper couldn't take it.
He tracked down the King of that era and went after him with nothing but a knife.
The outcome was obvious.
Had Kenny attempted an assassination, he might have had a chance. But facing the Founding Titan head-on—even an Ackerman stood no chance. And most importantly, Kenny didn't even have an ODM gear.
The result was inevitable.
He was utterly defeated by the King of that era—Uri Reiss.
Yet after defeating him, Uri did not kill Kenny.
Instead, to Kenny's absolute shock, Uri knelt down before him… and asked for forgiveness.
In that instant, Kenny—who had known only violence and slaughter his entire life—experienced a profound spiritual shock for the first time.
He finally understood what true power was.
Just like in Schindler's List, when Oskar Schindler tells the Nazi officer Amon Göth:
"Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't."
Uri showed Kenny the power of mercy, and Kenny was utterly convinced by the dignity of the King within the Walls.
At the same time, a question arose in his heart:
What kind of world did Uri see?
What was hidden inside his heart?
Sadly, Kenny never got the answer.
When Uri reached the end of his life and passed the Founding Titan on, he was devoured by his niece—Frieda Reiss, Krista's sister.
Yet the moment Kenny looked into Frieda's eyes, he knew she had inherited Uri's memories—and had seen the same world Uri once saw.
From that day on, Kenny's life goal became simple:
To see the world as Uri had seen it.
But under the rules governing the Founding Titan—where memories are sealed when inherited by someone without royal blood—Kenny would never achieve that goal.
Unless he somehow kept a royal nearby and maintained constant physical contact…
But without that knowledge, such a solution would never even cross his mind.