William gestured to one of the soldiers, signaling him to close the meeting room door.

No one was coming or going at the moment, but he wanted to keep it that way.

The soldier hesitated at first. He didn’t obey until Zanyi gave the order.

"Do what he says. The three of them now have partial command of this army until the situation improves."

This time the soldier complied—though somewhat reluctantly. He didn’t know William or the others. He only answered to Zanyi. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"As I mentioned," William began, "I have mind control capabilities. I can read thoughts and extract the truth from anyone. So let’s start by checking if the traitor is in this room."

He scanned the faces of every soldier present. Before even using his ability, he wanted to spot someone visibly nervous—someone apprehensive about the situation unfolding.

None of them seemed bothered.

"Either there’s no traitor here, or they’re damn good liars," William thought.

Zanyi helped organize everything. "There’s a room right next door. We can use it for interrogations. One by one, go in with William."

William entered first, setting up a table and two chairs in the center.

It wasn’t exactly an interrogation room—more like a weapons storage depot. But it would serve its purpose.

Outside, Zanyi organized the soldiers into a line, keeping everything orderly.

He also pulled Lucas and Thompson aside.

"Leave this part to us. Use this time to scout the forest." Zanyi lowered his voice. "But don’t breathe a word about what happened in this room to anyone. If someone asks, we’ll just say there’s a suspect being questioned."

He didn’t want the people trying to infiltrate the city to discover their abilities—especially William’s.

That’s why Zanyi entered the room alone for a quick word before the interrogations began.

"Can you make them unable to talk about your abilities?" Zanyi asked, his finger tapping the wooden table rhythmically.

"Yes. I can." William nodded. "If there’s no traitor here, at least we’ll make sure information about this ability doesn’t leave this room."

Zanyi chuckled. "You’re sharper than I thought. Anyway, I’ll send them in. Get ready."

He left the room and went to the line he’d formed, sending the first person in for interrogation.

The funny part? The first one being interrogated was the same soldier who’d refused William’s order to close the door earlier.

The soldier entered, shut the door, and stood there—staring at William from across the room.

"Please, sit down." William gestured to the chair.

Again, the soldier didn’t listen. He stood like a statue, just looking at him.

William sighed.

He hadn’t done anything to the guy. But apparently there was some kind of problem between them.

William shot up from his chair. His speed was blinding—in seconds, he was right in front of the soldier.

He was done playing nice.

"You know I could kill you easily, right? Or better yet—tell everyone you’re a traitor and let them torture you for information?" He leaned in close. "I could even plant that thought in your mind. Make you look completely guilty."

The only sound was the soldier’s ragged breathing.

The man who’d seemed so brave moments ago was now struggling not to tremble with fear.

"I’ll tell you one more time. Sit your ass in that chair, stay quiet, and do everything I ask. Or we’re going to have a problem. Understood?"

This time, the soldier obeyed. He walked to the chair and sat. William followed, taking the seat across from him.

Face to face, William began the procedure.

No point relying on intimidation alone. That was an outdated method—it worked, sure, but it took too long. They didn’t have all the time in the world.

William gripped the soldier’s forearm, explaining what was happening.

"I’m channeling a special energy into you. Through it, I’ll take control of your mind—temporarily. You won’t be able to lie to me. The sooner you accept it, the better." His voice was calm. "Don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid to you."

The soldier—even if he tried to resist the mind control—wouldn’t have much success. The power gap between them was too wide.

But that would waste time. And William didn’t want that.

Luckily, the soldier seemed to understand how things worked now. He accepted everything without a single complaint.

"Looks like the threat actually worked," William thought.

As more of his demonic energy flowed into the soldier’s body, his control strengthened. Finally, the soldier’s eyes turned completely black—like a dark mist.

Now, whatever William asked, the soldier would answer with absolute truth.

He’d start with questions first before trying to scan the man’s mind for deeper information.

"Do you know the people trying to invade the city?" William asked.

"No."

"Do you know anyone who knows them?"

William expected another "no" like the first answer.

To his surprise—the opposite.

"Yes."

"Yes? What do you mean, yes? You know someone involved with them, but you don’t know them?"

"The person I know has had contact with that group. I can’t say if it was friendly or not. He’s one of the soldiers patrolling the region. Name’s Derick."

William asked a few more questions but couldn’t extract anything else. Still—it was something.

He dove into the soldier’s mind, searching for Derick’s face.

"Now I know who this guy is..."

After that soldier left, others came in one by one. William didn’t find anything interesting in most of them.

Some drama here and there—internal fights, affairs with married women. A whole mess he wanted no part of, so he kept his mouth shut.

But about the mysterious group trying to invade? Nothing.

When it ended—and it didn’t take that long—everyone was released. Only William and Zanyi remained.

"A guy named Derick seems to know this group we’re investigating," William said. "You know him?"

"No idea." Zanyi rubbed his chin, trying to remember the name. "What does he do?"

"Supposedly a soldier on patrol duty. Must be one of the many you mentioned."

"Oh? Let’s go check then. Lucas and Thompson probably ran into some patrollers while scouting the forest."

And with that, the two left the tower to meet Lucas and Thompson in the forest nearby.