Ultimate Evolution I Became the Master of the World
Chapter 40 The Operating Elevator

After hanging around for two hours, Michael was pretty sure the Ghost Baby wasn't coming back. The whole mess with Declan's family was sorted out for now, but there was still some lingering danger. He glanced at Sophia with a mix of pity and understanding.

Becoming a Ghost Handler wasn't something he could avoid; he would've been toast in that bathroom if he hadn't. But Sophia? She could've been evacuated with everyone else if the Ghost Baby hadn't zeroed in on her at the last second.

"I've got work to get back to. Took some time off to handle this. Now that it's done, I'm heading out. If anything else comes up, give me a call. But if it's supernatural, I'll have to charge you," Michael said, standing up and ready to grab a cab. Declan quickly chimed in, "Thanks a ton for today. I can't thank you enough. How about I treat you to a meal sometime?"

"No need for that," Michael replied. "Besides, nothing good happens when you're around me."

Out of nowhere, Sophia asked, "Can I come with you?"

"Sophia, what are you talking about?" Seraphina grabbed her hand, worried her daughter might actually run off with Michael.

She knew Michael wasn't just some regular guy. Tagging along with him would definitely mean more danger.

Michael smiled and said, "You should stay with your parents. They've had a rough day because of you. And you need to understand your situation. Even if the Ghost Baby hadn't targeted you, you don't have much time left."

"I know, but I just want to be with you," Sophia said, totally calm and straightforward, like it was no big deal.

"No, you should stay with your parents. That's it, I'm out." Michael shut her down right away.

No way he was letting Sophia tag along. She'd just be a liability.

With his Ghost Realm, he could bail if things got hairy. Having someone else to worry about would just complicate things.

The money was already transferred, so he quickly called a cab and took off.

He headed back to the mall to keep grinding for cash.

"That young man is something else," Declan couldn't help but say as he watched Michael leave.

Michael had some serious talent and a good head on his shoulders. Sure, he lacked some social skills, but that was just because he was young. Given time, he'd definitely become someone special.

'If my daughter could date him, it wouldn't be a bad thing,' Declan thought.

But Michael didn't seem interested in Sophia, even though she was really pretty.

Could Michael be gay?

If Michael knew what Declan was thinking, he'd probably chew him out. He was too busy trying to stay alive to think about love.

Michael got back to the mall.

Except for the security room, the whole place was pitch dark.

When he returned, another security guard, Nico, was killing time playing games on his phone.

"Where the heck were you? How long were you gone? You just got here and already took off? Lucky for you, I told Leila you went to the bathroom, or you'd be in hot water," Nico said. "Sorry about that. A friend had an emergency, so I got held up. Won't happen again," Michael apologized.

"But you came back just in time. It's almost midnight, time for the final patrol. If nothing happens, we can shut off the lights and crash. We gotta be up at 8:30 tomorrow," Nico said, putting down his phone. Michael admired Nico's guts. Patrolling a huge mall alone took some serious courage.

He wouldn't have had the nerve to do it before.

"The dorm's upstairs. We'll start from the underground parking lot. Turn off the lights on the way back to the dorm so we don't have to make another trip," Nico said, "Don't forget your flashlight." "Thanks," Michael nodded, grabbed his flashlight, and went on patrol with Nico.

Even though he only planned to stick around for three days, he still wanted to do his job right.

With business being slow, there were only a few cars in the underground parking lot.

"Whose cars are those?" Michael asked, pointing to a row of luxury cars. "Are they from the missing people?"

"Nope, those belong to the boss. He drives a different one every day. Who knows how many more he has at home? Anyway, nothing weird in the parking lot. Let's check the next floor," Nico said. Michael took another look around. The underground parking lot was empty and quiet. If something was off, it would be obvious.

They moved on to patrol the first floor.

After a sweep with their flashlights, everything seemed normal, just dark.

They took the elevator to the second floor.

Just as they finished their round, they heard a faint rumbling from the upper floors.

"What was that?" Michael shone his flashlight upwards but saw nothing.

The sound seemed to come from the elevator between the fourth and fifth floors.

"It's the elevator. Maybe Leila and the others forgot to turn it off. Each elevator has its own switch. It's normal to forget. We always help them out," Nico said.

"Really? Let's go check," Michael suggested.

Nico shrugged, "What's the rush? Let's finish patrolling the third floor first. There are cameras here. If we're caught slacking, we'll get our pay docked. Especially you, being new, you could get fired." Michael found Nico a bit stubborn.

Fine, took it slow. The mall was empty anyway. Any issue wouldn't be his problem.

They leisurely finished patrolling the third floor and moved to the fourth, finally reaching the elevator.

The mall's elevators weren't the usual kind.

"See, I told you it's nothing. The elevator power was left on. Let's go," Nico said, walking over to turn off the elevator power.

Michael didn't argue, hoping he was just being paranoid.

They took the elevator to the fifth floor.

This time, it wasn't his imagination. The faint smell of decay was back, hanging in the air.

They hadn't smelled it on the third floor.

"The fifth floor feels off," Michael said, holding his flashlight as he followed Nico around.

Except for closed shops and some shelves, it was empty.

Everything seemed peaceful.

But when Michael passed a clothing store, he shone his flashlight inside.

There were several plastic mannequins, all broken, just like during the day, unchanged. "Everything's normal. Let's go to sleep," Nico said, yawning.

"Alright," Michael replied.

He turned off his flashlight and followed Nico through the employee passage back to the dorm.

On the way, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, the fourth-floor elevator should have been running if it wasn't turned off. Why wasn't it moving when we checked?" "It's a sensor elevator. It only moves when someone is near. Otherwise, it stays still," Nico explained.

"So, if it's a sensor elevator, it means it started moving because someone was using it? But besides us, there's no one else in the mall. Who was using the elevator?" Michael asked.

"Maybe it malfunctioned. If someone were there, we would have seen them during our patrol," Nico said.

Michael frowned, wanting to investigate further, but decided it wasn't necessary. He'd wait for the boss to check it out tomorrow.

As Michael and Nico went to sleep in the dorm, the mall echoed with faint rumbling sounds again.

The escalator started moving.

The elevator from the fifth to the fourth floor lit up and began to operate slowly.

After about a minute, it stopped.

Then the elevator from the fourth to the third floor started moving.

After a moment, it stopped again.

Then the elevator from the third to the second floor started moving.

Finally, when the elevator to the first floor moved for a moment, everything in the mall returned to silence.