Ultimate Evolution I Became the Master of the World
Chapter 71 Countdown

They thought they had run into some freaky supernatural stuff.

But when they saw it was just a person walking out, everyone felt super uneasy.

"Judging by your faces, I bet you're bummed, huh? Thought it was a ghost, didn't you?" Michael stepped out with a slight grin.

"Who are you?" Howard's face darkened as he shot the question.

He wasn't about to let his guard down just because of Michael. Anyone coming out of that room now was definitely sketchy, especially since they had already checked the place and only found Ethan in the whole rental house. Michael looked around and said, "So, I heard someone outside planning to kidnap my family and use them to extort and rob me? Did I hear that right? I'm talking to you, the tall one."

His eyes locked onto Howard.

"I'm asking you, don't act like you didn't hear it." Howard signaled to his guys.

Two men with mean looks started moving towards Michael, ready to throw down.

But then something weird happened.

The two guys acted like Michael wasn't even there and just walked past him, heading into the room.

"I'm curious, even knowing that there are supernatural events, Vengeful Ghosts, and entities like Ghost Handlers who exist between humans and ghosts, why do some people still dare to provoke us? My friend, would you mind explaining?" Michael casually shut the door.

The two men vanished into the room without a sound, no more movement.

"I think I've seen your picture. You're that Michael, right?" Howard suddenly remembered the info from the file.

The guy in front of him looked just like the new Ghost Handler who had been in touch with Ethan.

Michael said, "You just remembered now? Your memory's not great. But back to my question, why are you doing this?"

Howard replied, "Of course, it's for money." Howard sneered, "Before all this supernatural stuff, people robbed and killed for money. Now, even more so. Do you know how much we make? Not just you Ghost Handlers, even if a real ghost showed up, as long as the money's right, we'd go for it.

A million bucks might be low to buy your life, but ten million to make someone off themselves? Plenty of people would do that. Don't underestimate the power of money."

"You're still in high school, right? Society's cruelty is beyond your imagination. Most normal folks never see the dark side of the world. So don't blame me for being ruthless. Blame Ethan for not protecting such a big benefit. And you don't have the ability either. Coming here today was the dumbest thing you could do."

Michael frowned, looking at Ethan, who was nailed to the ground and covered in blood. Honestly, it made him feel really uncomfortable.

Especially since these guys were planning to come after him too.

"Are you provoking me?" He looked away, and a slit opened on the back of his hand, revealing a crimson eye.

"I'm not provoking you, I'm stating a fact, kid. Today, I must take that box. Otherwise, neither of you is leaving here." Howard pulled out a baton from his waist, flicked it, and it extended.

"Made of gold?" Michael glanced at it.

Howard said, "Specifically to deal with you Ghost Handlers. Only this can hurt you guys."

Michael sneered, "Gold just isn't affected by Vengeful Ghosts' power. Thinking it can completely stop Ghost Handlers is kinda naive, don't you think?" Michael said with a smirk, "Do you really think taking down Ethan means you can take down everyone else? What do you take Ghost Handlers for?

Looks like the one who doesn't get how cruel this world is isn't me, it's you.

Too chicken to deal with supernatural stuff for money, you rely on numbers and use dirty tricks to rob and extort those who've managed to tame Vengeful Ghosts. You guys are even worse than the evil spirits."

Howard sneered, "That's exactly what we do. Talking to us about conscience? Get him!"

He was just buying time.

The guys behind him were getting ready. As soon as he finished talking, almost everyone had these fancy crossbows in their hands.

And almost at the same time, all the crossbows fired special little arrows, each with a gold wire attached to the back.

The gold wire was special too, super tough and had the properties of gold.

As long as it hit, the gold wire could wrap around and even pin down a ghost. This was a combat strategy developed abroad, originally used by some foreign special forces to deal with Vengeful Ghosts. But after it spread, it was found to be particularly effective against Ghost Handlers, though not very effective against ghosts. So this method was picked up by people like them.

The arrows flew and immediately pierced into Michael's body.

The barbed arrows dug into his flesh, causing the gold wires attached to them to instantly tighten.

With six or seven arrows embedded in Michael's body, all pulled tight, Michael instantly fell to the ground.

"You worthless piece of crap, still dare to come here? You're asking for it." Howard walked over with a cold face and struck the back of Michael's head with the baton.

He used a ton of force, not holding back at all.

Michael's head was immediately cracked open, blood continuously oozing out, and his body twitched before going still.

"Dead?" Howard was stunned.

Ethan could endure so much torture, so why did Michael die with just one hit?

"No. This isn't Michael," Howard muttered to himself.

Then his vision blurred, and he saw that the person lying on the ground was actually one of his own guys who had disappeared into the room earlier.

"When did this happen?" he asked in disbelief, shocked.

Michael was now sitting on the sofa, clapping and laughing, "Brilliant, truly brilliant. You pretended to stall for time to let your guys prepare, then immediately took action to subdue. You really are experienced. I've seen how you deal with Ghost Handlers."

"Was it your doing?" Howard's face turned particularly ugly.

This Michael's ghostly abilities seemed quite troublesome.

Was it an illusion? Or could he mess with people's thoughts? Or maybe he could replace a substitute?

He had too little info to guess.

"Now, I don't want to tell you. My time is limited. Three minutes. You have three minutes. I have a few questions for you. Answer well, and you can live. Answer poorly, and sorry, you'll still live, but in hell. Also, don't try to stall. When the time is up, I'll make the choice for you." Michael's face also turned cold. He had seen how ruthless these people were.

In less than ten seconds, they had killed someone.

If it had been him without prior preparation, he would have died too. No wonder Ethan fell into their hands.

His ghost blood had too many flaws. It was great for dealing with Vengeful Ghosts but seemed useless against humans.

However, in this world, people had to deal with both ghosts and humans.

"Now the countdown begins. First question, who are you working for? In other words, whose money are you making from this deal?"

As he spoke, he took out his phone and placed it on the coffee table, showing a three-minute countdown.

This was the countdown Michael had set for these people's lives.