The hall erupted in chaos; even President Zachary couldn't calm the crowd.
Zeke stared at Levi for several seconds, then coughed up blood and spat out two broken teeth.
Levi: "…"
He hadn't expected the so-called Titan shifter to be this fragile.
You can turn into a monster but can't handle one kick? Pathetic.
Zeke groaned. I don't have many teeth left…
"Have you ever wondered," Zeke rasped, "why you possess such extraordinary strength? Why others struggle to kill a single Titan, yet you cut them down like cabbages? Why your injuries heal faster than anyone else's? It's because you're an Ackerman… the most successful result of human experimentation."
"Impossible! I'm human! I've always been human!" Levi snapped. "I've never turned into a Titan, never taken part in any experiment!"
Zeke's calm reply stopped him cold. "Are you sure?"
Levi: "?"
"Think about it. Was there ever a moment—just one—when your powerless, ordinary body suddenly changed? When the heavy things you couldn't lift became light as feathers? When your clumsy movements turned swift and precise, and no one could catch you? Even your weapons suddenly felt made for your hands.
Tell me, Levi… were you born a genius, or did you become one at that moment?"
Each question hit like a hammer.
Looking back on his miserable life, Levi couldn't deny it—it matched what Zeke described.
Still, he forced himself to argue. "I haven't lost any memories! I've never been experimented on!"
"Did I ever say the Ackerman was human?" Zeke asked smoothly.
Levi: "??!"
"'Ackerman'—that's your surname, isn't it?" Zeke smiled coldly. "The Ackerman I'm talking about is a bloodline, a family, not just you."
Levi froze.
"Wow…" murmured someone in the gallery.
"The Ackerman Titans are actually a family? Not only are Titans hiding among humans, they have families too! Who knows how many groups like this exist!"
The crowd fell into panic again.
Hange's eyes went wide. "Wait a second!"
She flipped frantically through an old report that higher-ups had once dismissed as useless—the medical examinations for the two Ackermans
On both, scrawled in red ink, was a single note:
[Why do individuals with the surname Ackerman exhibit extraordinary combat ability???]
"Should I hand this in?" Hange muttered.
Erwin caught her wrist and whispered, "Don't. Not now."
"Fine, fine. I'll cover for Levi," she murmured, but quietly closed the reports on both Levi and Mikasa.
Zachary asked, "Zeke, you said the Ackerman family participated in Titanization experiments. Do you have any proof?"
"Evidence?" Zeke tilted his head, thinking. "It should be in the royal family's secret archives. If not, it's already been destroyed. After all, the Ackermans were nearly exterminated—no surprise if the records vanished too."
Gasps rippled through the room.
Zachary's expression hardened. "You mean the royal family was involved in these experiments?"
Erwin frowned; though his face betrayed little, inwardly he thought, Just as I suspected.
Zachary turned to the throne. "Your Majesty, is this true?"
The King's face remained unreadable. "No comment."
"It's come to this, and you still have secrets?" Zachary demanded.
"Yes! How can you keep such things hidden?" shouted the people.
The Left Minister hurried to smooth things over. "He said they were secret records! The royal archives contain countless ancient secrets. It's normal His Majesty doesn't recall them all. His Majesty is burdened with affairs of state—how could he know every detail? Besides… Zeke said the records were destroyed!"
The King sat, aloof and silent.
Zachary frowned. "Zeke said if they were destroyed. How can you be so sure they were?"
"I—I only repeated what Zeke said!" the Left Minister stammered.
Zachary's voice sharpened. "You can even twist words that easily?"
"I…"
While the minister floundered, Zeke spoke again. "The experiment files and Ackerman lineage records may be gone—but the hunt records should still exist."
Levi's face went white. He'd hated every word out of Zeke's mouth since the accusation began, yet this time curiosity overtook anger. "What hunt?"
Zeke smiled faintly. "Didn't I tell you? Your family was hunted down. Haven't you ever wondered why you were born in the underground city? Why your mother ended up a prostitute?"
Levi's eyes widened in shock. "How do you know about my mother and me?!"