Everyone looked with shock at Leiman.
The False News?!
Naturally, all the people here knew about the False News.
It was a Specter that had plagued Crimson City for decades.
It had made problems long before the Crimson Sea had broken out.
Leiman looked around with a nervous expression. "This is a baseless accusation!" he shouted. "I am a citizen of the upper layer! It's impossible for me to get in here if I were a Specter!"
The people couldn't help but nod in agreement.
No one could get past the gate guardian without having their blood tested.
That was also the reason why no one had even really searched for the False News in the upper layer.
Nick just looked at the guy. "We found the trap door within your friend's basement," he said, retrieving some papers and waving them around. "Many… interesting… goods find their way to the upper layer via this way, and it also circumvents the front entrance."
"A trap door?!" someone shouted as she looked at Leiman with shock.
Nick just looked at the woman who had just shouted. "Marianna Herickson, we have already received reports of your close relationship with the False News. You don't need to act innocent. The guards are going to pay you a visit later."
The woman's face turned white.
"I'm not a Specter!" Leiman shouted.
"Fine," Nick answered. "Then, let's put that to the test. If you are not a Specter, you probably don't have any issues with the Governor seeing if you bleed like a human."
Aria was fully focused on Leiman.
The False News.
That was what Nick meant a couple of days ago.
Nick had said that Julian knew things that no human could know.
Naturally, since Julian had had such an insanely tight grip on the city, he also knew about the False News' identity.
Nick had known who the False News was for years.
Originally, he didn't have the power to do anything without giving Anatomy or Kugelblitz another dangerous Fanatic.
But when Julian died and Nick became the Liaison, things became different.
He could apprehend the False News at any time.
But at that point, just apprehending the False News would be a waste of an opportunity.
There was a high likelihood that the False News was using its power to gain allies.
So, Nick had sent the assassins to surveil the False News.
With that, he could take down several more of the corrupt people in the upper layer.
Leiman looked at Aria, who just glared at him.
The next moment, Aria pulled out her long and flat sword.
Silence.
Suddenly, Leiman's entire demeanor changed, and a neutral and emotionless expression appeared on his face.
Then, he looked at Nick. "I see," Leiman said. "It was Julian-"
"Ah ah ah!" Nick interrupted Leiman. "We don't want you to be seen as a dangerous Specter that needs to be eradicated, right?"
Leiman looked at Nick emotionlessly.
"I am willing to come peacefully," he said.
The others were stunned.
Leiman had admitted it!
He was a Specter!
The people fell into a panic and put as much distance between them and Leiman as possible.
Only very few of them had ever seen a Specter in real life, and the Specters they saw were very weak.
But this was the False News!
A Fanatic!
Terror assaulted all the people, and they didn't dare to remain anywhere close to Nick or Leiman.
"Good choice," Aria said coldly as she retrieved powerful Zephyx Suppressors.
She slowly and carefully approached Leiman. "Don't try anything funny."
"I don't intend to die," the False News answered.
This was why Nick had asked Aria to come with him.
The False News was a powerful Fanatic, but Aria was an Early Hero with a lot of combat experience.
A couple seconds later, several chains surrounded the False News' upper body.
Nick slowly walked closer to the False News and looked at it. "Release your influence over the current people. You will get Extractors you can influence in the future."
"I do not have that power," the False News said. "As soon as they believe what I tell them, I can't stop them."
"Fine," Nick said calmly. "The rumors you spread about me are more damaging than your Zephyx is worth. Execution is the only thing we can do now."
"I can't control what they believe," the False News protested.
"Then, there's nothing we can do," Nick said before turning to Aria. "Please, execute him."
Aria glanced at Nick before focusing on the False News.
Then, she pulled her sword back, ready to strike.
"Wait!" the False News shouted.
Aria stopped.
"I lied," it said. "I will release my hold of them. It might take a couple of days for them to change their minds, but they will recover in time."
Nick nodded. "Then, you may live."
The next moment, Nick told Aria to take the False News to a Containment Unit and that she should send about 20 guards up to the upper layer with an investigation warrant.
Aria just left without a word, which meant that she understood.
Aria led the False News out of the upper layer while Nick remained.
BANG!
The next moment, Nick charged in a seemingly random direction.
He reached a shed in barely two seconds and burst through the door.
There, he saw four people in various stages of trying to hide things while replacing the trap door with a metal plate.
This was one of the reasons why he had publicized the trap door.
He wanted to give them a chance to hide their evidence and then catch them.
"Nobody moves," Nick said.
Silence.
Suddenly, Nick vanished.
SHING!
A head flew through the air, and Nick appeared in front of the body, which was shooting blood out of its neck like a fountain.
The others froze in terror.
"I said nobody moves," Nick repeated. "That includes hiding things in your pockets or anywhere else."
"Y-you kill-"
SHING!
Nick's blade appeared in front of the person, touching the bridge of their nose.
"You want to be next?" Nick asked.
Silence.
The man froze.
And then…
His pants became wet.
However, Nick was the only one who took note of the guy's wet pants.
The others were too terrified to pay attention to something so trivial.
Nobody dared to move.
"You guys should know how terrifying an Expert's senses are," Nick said as he approached the trapdoor. "If I hear any movement, anyone that moved will lose their head. I've also burned the image that I'm currently seeing in my mind. If it is different after I get back, you will all lose your heads."
"If you give me a reason to execute you, I will gladly use it," Nick said coldly.
No one dared to move.
After some seconds, Nick jumped into the trap door.
He found himself in an empty space between two massive metal plates.
This was the space between the middle and the upper layers.
The light of the Sun shone through the metal the upper layer was constructed with, illuminating everything.
The next moment, Nick popped his head out of the hole again to see if anyone moved.
Nobody moved.
Nick pulled his head back, and as soon as his ability reactivated, he turned into mist and rushed through the area.
He did that so that nobody would hear his footsteps.
As long as they didn't hear his footsteps, they would believe that he was still near the entrance.
Bang.
Nick heard the sound of distant banging with his powerful perception.
He quickly moved to the source and saw a metal plate shaking slightly.
Next, Nick saw nails being hammered into the metal plate near the side.
'The exit,' Nick thought.
BANG!
Nick kicked the metal plate, and it burst off the walls.
CRRK!
The metal plate hit another wall, and Nick could hear the sound of bones breaking.
Whoever had been hammering on the metal plate was dead now.
Nick didn't care.
The next moment, someone burst into the room.
It was a small child.
"Daddy?" she asked nervously as she looked at Nick. "Where are you?"
"What's your name?" Nick asked.
The little girl was frozen in fear.
"Helma Wilkon," she said nervously.
"Do you live here?" Nick asked.
"Y-yes. Where's my daddy?" she asked.
"Answer my questions first," Nick said coldly.
Tears started appearing in the young girl's eyes.
"Were there strange people coming in and out of this room regularly?" he asked.
"I-I don't know," she said, on the verge of tears.
"Did you know that there is a door here?" Nick asked.
"Y-yes. Daddy's friends come visit us," she said.
'That means his wife also knows about this. I'm not about to prosecute a child, but her mother is not without fault.'
'I should invest in orphanages.'
"Where's your mother?" Nick asked.
"Ou-outside, visiting Aunty Leila," she said.
Nick nodded. "I'm going to leave now. Some guards will come by later."
Then, Nick ran back through the hole he made and came out of the trapdoor.
No one had dared to move.
"Good," Nick said as he looked at them.
"You will follow me. We are going to interrogate all of you separately, and if anything you say differs from what everyone else says, you will all be executed. Predetermined stories are great and all, but if a single person of you makes a mistake, it's gonna cost all of you."
"Additionally, if even one of you decides to tell the truth, no manner of lying is going to save the remainder."
"The truth is the only thing that's reliable."
None of the people present dared to move.