Chapter 77

Thank you to reader Zacx for becoming the Admiral of this book.

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"How... how could this be? Why would the Armored Titan...?"

Watching the massive figure descend from the sky, Sanes' face was a picture of indescribable horror. The inland, always considered the safest, was now under attack by a Titan, even though the Wall Rose had not been breached. This was something he had never even dreamed of seeing.

Moreover, the Titan had landed right in front of the capital. If it were to break through, then...

At this thought, Sanes felt a dizzying vertigo, and his weapon almost slipped from his hands. The surrounding military police were even worse off. Perhaps they were skilled in dealing with their own kind, but facing a Titan, and especially the legendary Armored Titan, even from a distance, made their bodies tremble uncontrollably.

At this moment, Tang Cheng moved, his figure vanishing from the spot. A flash of cold light sliced across a military policeman's neck, and the blood that spurted out instantly froze into ice mist. Then it was the second policeman's neck... With his current mastery of the Six Powers, the speed of his Shave on the ground was more than twice as fast as in the air. At this speed, even if ordinary people were prepared, they would find it hard to resist, and these military police, whose attention was already on the Armored Titan, were even easier to kill, like slaughtering pigs or dogs.

By the time Sanes regained his senses, the dozen or so military police he had brought were already lying on the ground.

"You... you dare to!" His shocked expression had not yet subsided when his hands were already firmly held.

"Why be so angry?" Tang Cheng narrowed his eyes and smiled at him. "Didn't I say the war has already begun? Killing is only natural, and after all, it was you who prepared to act first. So it's not my fault, but yours."

"What do you... intend to do?" Noticing Tang Cheng's thumb pressing on his wrist, Sanes suddenly felt an intense unease and asked, trembling.

"From what I can see, you are willing to abandon your humanity to protect the false king's interests, and you are someone who knows how to make sacrifices. Although our paths differ, I can still grant you the right to speak to me on equal terms, so I will use the most suitable method for your status..." As he spoke, Tang Cheng smiled warmly and explained, "Don't worry, I always got full marks in my anatomy classes at university, so I know better than anyone how to use the simplest method to make someone die in the most painful way. As the first to experience my tendon-cutting, you will feel honored."

As he finished speaking, with Sanes' eyes full of fear, Tang Cheng's sharp nails instantly cut into his wrist, then swiftly pulled out his tendons and tied his hands together.

"Aaaaaah..." Sanes immediately screamed in agony, the intense pain making tears stream down his face. Instinctively, he crawled towards the corner, trying to use the wall to grind off his painful tendons, but they did not break. The slightest friction brought another surge of pain, and in the end, he could only tremble and roll on the ground, screaming in agony.

Seeing his pitiful state, even Eren couldn't help but frown. "Just kill him, why torture him like this?"

"Oh, I didn't expect you to feel sympathy for him." Tang Cheng gave him a strange look. "I thought you would want him to suffer even more, considering his methods of torture are a hundred times more varied than mine. Besides, don't you think this sound is more stimulating on such an evening?"

"You are a true madman." Eren gave Tang Cheng a highly satisfactory evaluation and then said, "Perhaps it's my illusion, but you don't seem to view this coup as a reform for humanity, but just as a game, right?"

"You finally see it." Tang Cheng grinned. "You're right, it is just a game to me, but I will play it seriously. That's my professional integrity."

As he spoke, Tang Cheng walked to the carriage and reached for the cargo box.

Eren shifted his gaze from Sanes to the rampaging Armored Titan in the distance and sighed, "I don't think you will give up halfway, nor did I expect you to take the royal power without bloodshed, but I still hope your methods can be as gentle as possible. However... the current situation is a hundred times more brutal than I imagined. After this battle, whether we succeed or fail, humanity will be severely weakened."

"It's just eliminating some pests that the new era doesn't need. Do you plan to keep them around after this?" Tang Cheng shrugged. "Eren, you are the most ruthless person I've seen in this world, willing to sacrifice humanity and life for human progress, but your capacity is still too small... Without thoroughly cleaning up the world's garbage, humanity will never truly have hope."

"Perhaps... you're right." Eren remained noncommittal.

Meanwhile, Tang Cheng had already opened the cargo box, but inside was not the crystallized Annie, but Historia.

"The Military Police only thought about killing us and didn't even check the cargo box, saving me a lot of trouble, hahaha." Tang Cheng laughed. Historia, upon seeing the situation, turned pale.

Before the three could take further action, Levi had already arrived with most of the Survey Corps' elite, along with the three other challengers except the literary youth.

"Is everything done?" Tang Cheng asked the group.

"The guards on the wall have all been taken care of. Although the situation here will spread, no one will interfere with us. Ian will follow the plan and temporarily hold the Garrison in check, but some private armies of the nobles and merchants might not sit idly by," the ordinary youth replied.

"Of course, our people are guarding the walls, and they shouldn't be able to break through in the short term."

"Oh, who is in charge of guarding the gates?"

"Mikasa Ackerman."

Hearing Levi's answer, Tang Cheng nodded with a smile. "If it's her, I'm reassured. She won't hesitate, knowing the world's cruelty. So..." As he spoke, Tang Cheng patted Historia's shoulder, bringing the girl out of her shock. "Come with me to see the true cruelty of the world, future queen."

Without waiting for her reaction, Tang Cheng already held her and quickly flew forward.

The others also dispersed according to the original plan, beginning their necessary preparations.

Under normal circumstances, the Military Police would definitely intervene in such a large-scale action by the Survey Corps, but now, with the Armored Titan causing chaos in front of the capital, the Military Police had no time to deal with anything else.

As for the ordinary people living in the inland... these people, long accustomed to a comfortable life, had already gotten used to living without the threat of Titans. The threat of Titans had always been far from them, and they had never considered what would happen if Titans attacked the inland.

Now, with the appearance of the Armored Titan, the civilians near the capital were in complete chaos. Even though the Titan had not yet reached them, they were already overwhelmed by fear, thinking that the Titans had finally breached the inland. They began to flee in all directions, competing to run, and then... the ugly side of human nature erupted.

Elders were pushed to the ground with no one to help, children were abandoned with no one to care. To quickly escape the Titans and find a safe place, they shouted and pushed each other. Those at the back tore at those in front, and those in front were trampled to death by countless feet.

More and more people began to die, but not a single one of them died by the Titans' hands.

"This... this is too terrible..." Watching this scene from above, Historia felt her heart wrench. Although she had already returned to the empty personality of Krista, and under Tang Cheng's influence, her values were beginning to align with his, she could never become like him. Her inherently kind nature could not bear this, and she said to Tang Cheng, "Do we... really have to do this? Even if we want to seize power, this has nothing to do with them, right? Why..."

"You want to say they are innocent and shouldn't die, right?" Hearing this, Tang Cheng stopped on a rooftop, his eyes fixed on the girl, and said sternly, "Historia... no, Krista, let me tell you, there are no people who should or should not die in this world, only those who will die and those who won't. Without the power to protect yourself, weakness is the original sin of death. But not having power is not scary; what is scary is being powerless and not striving to change. Such people will always be the first to die when war breaks out!"

"I've already told you, this coup will result in many deaths, whether directly by our hands or indirectly. They will die because of us, and no matter how you try to avoid it, this is an undeniable fact."

"You now feel compassion and love for these people. Hmph, let me tell you, these are all nonsense. A dynasty can never be built on compassion and love. In any world, in any era, the throne can only be built on countless blood and corpses!"

"And the reason I brought you is to tell you that I will be the executioner who builds the throne, but the sin on that throne must be borne by you... You have no way back, understand?"