Ultimate Evolution I Became the Master of the World
Chapter 52 Lie Down

The crew thought they were safe in the storage room, but they had no clue a ghost had been tailing them the whole time.

If Michael hadn't spoken up, they would've been toast by now.

None of them would've made it out alive, not even Ethan, the Ghost Handler.

Sure, Ghost Handlers had some spooky powers, but they were not invincible. Using those powers recklessly was just asking for trouble. Right then, Michael spotted Ethan.

The guy looked rough-pale and weak, probably from losing too much blood.

But what really bugged Michael was the ghost inside Ethan. Was Ethan hitting his limit? How long until that ghost inside him woke up? "Are you human?" Ethan asked, eyeing Michael cautiously.

Unlike the others, Ethan didn't freak out. He stopped dead in his tracks after leaving the storage room, staring at Michael with a serious look.

He couldn't tell if the security guard was human or another ghost.

Michael replied, "Yeah, kind of. You said your name's Ethan, right? Are you a Ghost Handler?"

Ethan squinted a bit, "You too?"

"I'm with Interpol," Michael said after a pause. No way he could tell him he was just a student. That'd be too crazy, plus Freya from Interpol wanted to recruit him anyway.

"Interpol?" Ethan gave Michael another once-over. The security uniform made sense, and the satellite watch on his chest sealed the deal.

"I heard Interpol's short on staff, barely covering each city. The last Interpol guy in Astoria was Nikolai. What's your name?" Ethan asked.

"Michael. And Nikolai? He's dead. Gave his life in that high school mess a few days ago," Michael said calmly.

Ethan nodded, "Got it. Thanks for the save earlier. How'd you fend off so many Vengeful Ghosts? Even a Ghost Handler would struggle. I thought the mall's missing people were due to a C-level ghost, but I was way off."

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone for the money." Regret washed over Ethan's face.

"What kind of power do you have to survive that long against Vengeful Ghosts?" Michael asked, keeping his own abilities under wraps.

Ethan didn't hold back. He looked at his bloody hands and said, "They call me Ghost Blood Ethan. My hands are soaked in ghost blood, which can limit other ghosts' powers. I once caught a ghost with some help, but my ghost blood can't stay out too long, or a ghost will pop out of it."

"Wait, you caught a ghost with help?" Michael's eyes widened in surprise. "How'd you pull that off?"

"Simple and crude. I used ghost blood to trap the ghost. If you shove it in a pure gold box and seal it tight, it can't escape," Ethan explained. "It's a universal trick. You should know this as an Interpol officer."

"I'm just an intern, not a full officer yet," Michael admitted.

He remembered a paper he read online by a professor named Rafael. It said ghosts could mess with all materials except gold. The professor tried to replace a scientific way to trap ghosts.

If the paper was right, a gold box could indeed hold a ghost. But it couldn't kill or get rid of them.

"Help!" A terrified scream cut through their conversation.

Michael saw the head-swapped ghosts closing in from all sides, blocking every exit.

Unless they wanted to take a suicidal leap from the fifth floor, they were trapped. And jumping from that height? Yeah, not a great idea.

Mr. Wagner, Lucas, Mr. Rossi, and the rest of the group were in full panic mode, backing away with nowhere to go.

"What's your plan to dodge all these ghost attacks?" Ethan asked, sounding desperate.

Ethan was starting to lose it too. "Even if you're with Interpol, we're all gonna die here. You know using too much vengeful ghost power will kill you, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Michael replied calmly. "You've been using a lot of your ghost power too, haven't you? Even the ghost blood on your hands is going haywire. You're close to your limit."

"I know, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive," Ethan said through gritted teeth.

"True, but you'll get yourself killed quicker if you rely on ghost powers as the first method to deal with ghosts. I prefer using my brain. If that fails, then I'll use ghost power. But now's not the time to chat. I can't let Mr. Wagner die like this." Michael pointed to his head and smiled.

With that, he walked straight toward the group of ghosts.

Ethan's face went pale. Even he wouldn't dare face so many ghosts at once. Did this young Interpol guy really have that much guts?

Seeing the others surrounded by ghosts, Ethan had already given up on saving them, thinking only about how to escape. No way was he risking his life for this.

Suddenly, Ethan saw Michael trip a few people.

With some strange cries, three or four people hit the ground.

Ethan was stunned.

"If you don't want to die, lie down and don't move. The ghosts won't attack you if you stay still. Run around, and you're dead meat," Michael shouted, grabbing Mr. Wagner by the collar. Mr. Wagner was terrified. The ghosts were almost on him.

He had no choice.

He shut his eyes tight, trusted Michael's words, and lay still on the ground.

Lying down meant his back was against the floor, avoiding attacks from all directions.

"Anyone else who doesn't want to die, do the same. Lie down and don't move," Michael repeated.

Some people listened and lay down, but most didn't believe him. Lying down felt like waiting to die, so they kept running in terror, trying to escape.

"Hey, that's the fifth floor. Don't jump, you'll die," Michael shouted at one guy.

A man next to Mr. Rossi, crying and panicking, climbed over the railing and jumped.

Not jumping might have meant survival, but jumping was certain death.

The jumper was doomed, and the runners didn't fare much better.

Soon, the few who ran found their paths blocked.

The ghosts closed in, surrounding them.

Screams echoed as six or seven rotten arms reached out.

The screams stopped abruptly.

Several living heads were forcibly removed.

Some ghosts swapped their heads with the people's, creating new ghosts.

After that, everything went eerily calm. The ghosts stopped moving.

Those who lay on the ground were untouched and survived.

"How is this possible?" Ethan was shocked. He had also lain down.

Michael didn't lie down. He just stood there, leaning against the railing, not turning his back on any ghost.

"See? I wasn't lying," Michael said. "Congrats, you survived. Now, about my fee. Oh, by the way, it's not cheap." Why did he risk his life to save these rich jerks?

Simple. For the money.