In a damp and dark dungeon, a cotton wick soaked in lamp oil burned quietly, its tip charred.
Erwin Smith, the current commander of the Survey Corps, was imprisoned in an individual iron cell.
He had long since removed his Survey Corps uniform, leaving him only in a white shirt. After many days, his face was gaunt and his body extremely thin.
How long had he been imprisoned in the dungeon?
It seemed that nearly a month had passed. In the dungeon, it was difficult to distinguish between day and night, and equally difficult to tell how much time had gone by.
During this period, Erwin had been interrogated using various methods.
Three months ago, after discovering the secret of the wall thanks to Gale, Erwin immediately organized a team to bring it down and saw a skinless Titan toe.
There was no doubt—those were the toes of a Titan, and of a colossal one whose height far exceeded that of a normal Titan.
If the walls were made entirely of Colossal Titans, how many would there be?
Hange made a simple calculation: assuming the distance between each Colossal Titan's head was 16 meters, then there were a total of 430,000 Titans hidden within the three walls—approximately half of the current population.
That day, Erwin was deeply shaken.
He began investigating the walls and Lord Reiss, and more and more secrets were revealed.
Although the government did everything possible to cover them up, what had happened would inevitably leave traces.
It seemed that each generation of Lord Reiss frequently traveled to and from the capital, and many major events were connected to him.
For example, whenever there was a natural disaster or a rebellion, the nobles of the capital would visit Lord Reiss, and then the issue would be resolved.
The King of the Walls—if such a figure truly existed—was someone Erwin had a question he absolutely needed to ask.
Why had the King of the Walls, who clearly possessed the power to control all Titans and had built the three great walls, been unable to resolve the problem of the Titans outside for a hundred years?
Why did the King of the Walls imprison humanity within the walls and hide the truth?
This ignited Erwin's deep curiosity, and as he delved further into the secret, he eventually attracted the attention of the central government—and that was how things had unfolded.
Just like his father back then.
Erwin's father had been murdered by the Military Police, and although Erwin was young, he understood very well why his father had died.
Because his father had broken a "taboo."
His father was a teacher, and during one of his history classes, Erwin had raised his hand and asked a question.
"Teacher, how did you conclude that there are no humans outside the walls?"
His father left the classroom without answering, but when he returned home, he told Erwin what he truly thought.
"The history books published by the Royal Government contain many doubts and contradictions…"
Erwin had been very interested in this, but he was not intelligent enough at the time to understand why his father did not speak of these things in class. He shared what his father had said with the other children in the village.
Then, on the day the Military Police came to investigate the situation, Erwin's father never returned home.
His father suffered an "accident" in a distant place and was killed by the royal government due to his son's betrayal. In that moment, a seed was planted in Erwin's heart.
The seed of a "thirst for truth"—the truth of this world, why the government hid history, and the secrets of the Titans—drove him to join the Survey Corps in pursuit of those answers.
It was a dream he had never told anyone.
In truth, he was a very selfish person who had reached his current position by stepping over the corpses of soldiers.
He had sent Hange to find Gale and bring him to the capital to satisfy his own thirst for knowledge.
Of course, he knew the capital was in danger, but he desperately wanted to see that boy again and hear the truth of the world from Gale's own mouth.
But… he did not know if he would live to see that day…
He had failed in his responsibilities as commander of the Survey Corps, dragging his comrades into this mess.
The chances of victory were extremely slim, and the new "musket" Hange had described in her letter sounded like a fantasy.
Even if it were produced, how useful would it really be?
He had never seen the weapon in person and had no idea how effective it would be in real combat.
"Hange… I'm sorry… I've put all the burden on you…" Erwin leaned against the wall, staring at the burning wick, his voice weak.
At that very moment, hurried footsteps and gunfire echoed from outside the dungeon.
Unlike the sound of muskets Erwin was familiar with, that sound… was much sharper, indescribable.
Boom!
The dungeon door was kicked open, and the shadows of people flickered against the walls in the firelight.
Hange, wearing the Wings of Freedom on her uniform, burst into the dungeon. Her eyes shone with joy. "I finally found you, Erwin!"
"Hange…" Erwin looked at the familiar face in shock. "Why… are you here?"
"Because we launched the coup ahead of schedule." Hange descended the steps, used her AK-47 to break the iron lock, and opened the cell door. "We rescued all the Survey Corps soldiers from the camp, and now we've come to rescue you."
Hange took out the keys she had stolen and tried them one by one on Erwin's shackles.
"Is this… that new weapon?" Erwin stared at the uniquely designed firearm hanging at Hange's waist.
"That's right." Hange said, finding the correct key, unlocking the shackles, and helping Erwin to his feet. "It's called the AK-47, right?"
"Yes. How are you feeling? Can you walk?"
"No problem…" Erwin swallowed with difficulty. "Hange, you said you rescued all the Survey Corps soldiers—how did you do it?"
"You're making that face too, Erwin?" Hange laughed and said, "Come out first—you'll understand when you see it."
Hange helped Erwin out. They climbed the steps, and Erwin saw a jailer crouched in a corner, trembling. There were bullet marks all around him, and Survey Corps soldiers greeted Erwin.
As he stepped out through the narrow exit and felt the refreshing breeze brush against his face, he suddenly understood how Hange had made it this far.
In the darkness, firelight flickered, and scattered sparks floated into the night sky like butterflies born from flames.
The soldiers' hair and clothes fluttered in the wind, and each of them carried the same new weapon as Hange.
The Central Military Police, tasked with guarding the dungeon and directly subordinate to the First Interior Squad, were cowering in a corner of the wall like defeated dogs. From their terrified expressions, it was clear they had completely lost the will to fight.
"Commander Erwin, how have you been?" Gale stood at the front of the group, smiling.
Erwin stared at the boy's face in a daze, feeling as if he were dreaming.