Ultimate Evolution I Became the Master of the World
Chapter 44 The Rotten Head

With the corpse missing, Michael's face got more serious by the second.

The ghost lurking in the mall had probably already shown up.

But where was it now?

The place was dim, not pitch black, but you could only make out people's outlines, not their faces.

Right then, Mr. Wagner, Lucas, and Mr. Rossi didn't even question why the lights went out. After seeing the corpse vanish, they all started to panic, instinctively knowing something was off.

The two candles they lit earlier to ward off evil spirits were still burning, their orange flames flickering in the dim light.

But the mall was huge, and two candles were nowhere near enough to light up the whole place. They barely lit up the area around them, and with people blocking the light, shadows danced around, making everything even creepier. "Quick, get out of here! The exorcism failed, the ghost is pissed, and if we don't leave now, something terrible will happen," Mr. Rossi shouted.

Faced with such a bizarre situation, it seemed they really had run into a ghost. He didn't dare stay any longer.

As soon as he said this, a female employee screamed and bolted.

They all started scattering in different directions.

Quickly, they realized a serious problem.

The mall was completely locked, both the main entrance and the emergency exits.

Mr. Rossi had ordered it earlier.

"Where are the keys? Security, open the door!" Mr. Wagner tried to open the main door, but replaceing it locked, he shouted in panic.

"I told you not to lock the doors! If you want to trap the ghost inside, did you forget you're inside, too?" Michael shone his flashlight at them. "Where are the keys? Hurry, open the door!" Mr. Wagner said anxiously.

Michael shook his head and said, "I don't have the keys. I'm new here, today is my second day. Leila has the keys. I can lock the doors but can't unlock them. And Mr. Wagner, isn't Mr. Rossi here supposed to be able to exorcise ghosts? Why not have him catch the ghost so we can be safe?"

He then looked at the sweating Mr. Rossi.

"How dare you say that! It's your fault for disrupting my exorcism ritual earlier. Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened. Now the ghost is pissed and it's not easy to deal with," Mr. Rossi angrily pointed at Michael.

"You're an adult. Is it really responsible to blame me? Don't you know if you have the skills to catch a ghost? Look at how scared you are and you still dare to talk like that? If the ghost really comes, you'll definitely die," Michael said mockingly. Mr. Rossi retorted, "Don't talk nonsense. Although I can't handle this ghost, as long as I'm here, it can't harm anyone."

"Mr. Wagner, don't worry. I guarantee you'll leave safely," Mr. Rossi assured confidently.

Mr. Wagner believed him and said, "I'll leave everything to you."

"No problem," Mr. Rossi said confidently, showing his conman skills.

Michael shook his head. Mr. Rossi was indeed skillful enough to deceive Mr. Wagner to this point.

Suddenly, Michael seemed to hear something rolling. He moved his flashlight to the ground.

In the light, a head rolled towards them.

The hair was neatly combed and it looked like a female employee, probably the cashier Emily who had screamed earlier when the corpse disappeared.

Mr. Rossi was so scared that his legs gave out and he collapsed against the wall, wetting his pants.

Mr. Wagner and Lucas were also filled with fear.

Earlier, the disappearance of the corpse wasn't that terrifying, but seeing an employee's head roll towards them was horrifying.

Everyone realized this was not just a simple haunting.

"Is the ghost starting to kill people?" Michael frowned deeply. He hadn't used his ghostly powers yet, he wouldn't resort to them unless absolutely necessary, especially without any benefit.

Out of curiosity, he walked over and shone his flashlight on Emily's head.

"There's no blood on her neck," he said to himself.

He squatted down and fiddled with the head. With a light squeeze, a piece of flesh tore off, releasing a nauseating stench of decay.

"And it doesn't look like it just died; it seems to have been dead for several days. But why is the head so well-preserved after all this time?"

"This is impossible. She was alive just a moment ago. How could she start decaying so quickly? The ghost didn't use a Ghost Realm, it shouldn't be able to make the corpse rot this fast." Michael fell silent. What exactly was this ghost in the mall?

Michael didn't have enough info; he hadn't even seen the ghost.

He couldn't figure out the ghost's abilities or its patterns of action.

Plus, without a hefty payment, he didn't want to waste his own abilities.

He stood up and turned around, saying, "Something serious has indeed happened. There's really a ghost in the mall. I suggest you all get out of here."

"The doors are all locked. How do we leave? What about Leila? Doesn't she have the keys? Can you help us replace her to open the door?" Lucas asked.

Michael looked at him and said, "This mall is huge. Who knows where Leila ran off to in fear? I'm not going to look for her. If you want to, go ahead. But out of kindness, I'll give you a tip: the first floor is locked, but the emergency exit on the fifth floor isn't. You can go to the fifth-floor platform and then replace another way down to leave."

"Right! Why didn't I think of that? Thank you for the reminder!" Lucas said joyfully and immediately started running.

"What about you guys? Aren't you leaving?" Michael asked Mr. Rossi, Mr. Wagner, and the others.

Prompted by this, the others quickly reacted.

Several employees, scared, followed Lucas up the stairs.

"Thank you so much," Mr. Wagner said, grabbing Michael's hand excitedly.

"Nothing, I just gave you a heads-up. Whether you can leave safely is still a question. Hurry up, don't waste time," Michael said calmly. He wanted to see if these people could lure the ghost out while escaping. Moreover, he really needed to use the restroom.

"You're not coming with us?" Mr. Wagner asked.

"No, I want to use the restroom first. You guys go ahead," Michael replied.

Mr. Wagner was stunned. At a time like this, he still wanted to use the restroom?

When Ethan reached the fifth floor, he saw a figure by the railing.

He was stunned. It wasn't a person but a plastic mannequin, shaped exactly like a human, standing in the dim light, indistinguishable from a distance.

But this mannequin was just like the decaying corpse he had found earlier.

It had no head.

"The ghost isn't on the fifth floor." Ethan suddenly realized something and looked down.

At this moment, the entire mall lost power. In the dimness, only two candles were lit. Then, a woman's scream came from downstairs, followed by panicked people scattering instinctively. "A trap?" he was shocked.

But could a ghost be this smart?

Anyway, he decided to head to the first floor immediately.

However, at that moment, Ethan's peripheral vision caught something that made him break out in a cold sweat.

The headless plastic mannequin by the railing had disappeared.

He looked around but couldn't replace the mannequin anywhere. It seemed to have vanished into thin air. Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps behind him.

'Something's wrong,' Ethan thought, turning around abruptly.

The headless plastic mannequin was now standing behind him, its arms raised as if reaching out to him.

"You bastard," Ethan shouted and grabbed the mannequin's outstretched arms.

His hands turned crimson, emitting a strong smell of blood. Blood oozed from his fingers, dripping onto the floor.

The mannequin's arms, stained with the blood, suddenly collapsed to the ground, its limbs and body falling apart. The surroundings returned to silence.

"Is this the ghost?" Ethan examined the scattered mannequin pieces with a serious expression.

There was nothing unusual.

Even stained with his blood, there was no change. It was just an ordinary mannequin.

"This ghost here is not easy to deal with," Ethan muttered, frowning deeply.

The blood on the ground began to move slowly, as if alive, crawling back into his body through his hand.