I changed the world.

Page 445

"Huh?!" Pete was slightly taken aback, and the smile on his face disappeared. He already had something on his mind, and when he heard Chadwick say this, he subconsciously thought that Chadwick had discovered something, so he nodded and subconsciously looked around.

“Please don’t look around, listen to me first…” Chadwick said hurriedly. He then pretended to whisper to his friend and put his arm around Pete, saying quickly in his ear, “I’ve discovered that we’re being watched. There are people observing us at ten o’clock, five o’clock, and three o’clock. They’re all locals. They keep changing their positions to watch us and keep an eye on us.”

“I don’t know what their purpose is, but this is not normal. Also, when I was at the bus stop in front of the winery, I asked the tour guide if there was a direct bus from here, and the guide said that the bus service had been cancelled, but I noticed obvious tire tracks on the ground there, which must have been left by a bus not long ago…” He took a deep breath: “Finally, there’s the communication problem. I suspect the signal is being interfered with in some way…”

Pete already had something to hide, and when he heard Chadwick's description, he became extremely nervous. His first instinct was to wonder if the four of them had been exposed and if someone was hunting them down.

However, he couldn't share these secrets with Chadwick, so he pretended to casually look at the scenery, his eyes quickly glancing over the locations Chadwick had mentioned. Sure enough, he saw several men who were clearly locals looking in their direction, intentionally or unintentionally.

This discovery made him even more nervous...

Chadwick was also unable to reveal his supernatural abilities, nor could he directly tell Pete about the mysterious and eerie beings he had seen. In fact, even if he wanted to, he himself didn't know how to explain it...

So, the two men, each with their own thoughts, exchanged a glance. Pete's voice was noticeably lower than before: "Mr. Spencer, do you think there's something wrong with this tour group?"

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 936 Latour Estate

“Yes, I think something’s wrong with this tour group. I think we need to find a way to get out of here.” Chadwick hesitated for a moment before finally speaking his mind. The unease he felt was actually more intense than he could express. After all, he could see strange, indescribable things, and he couldn’t clearly tell Pete what he was seeing. However, he was already extremely anxious.

Upon hearing Chadwick's words, Pete sensed something was amiss. The relaxed smile vanished from his face, and he whispered to Chadwick, "Mr. Spencer, please give me some time. I need to speak with my family about this..."

“Okay, although I don’t know what they want to do, please be quick.” Chadwick nodded.

Pete nodded, then carefully pulled Oliver aside and, in a low voice, described the information he had just received from Chadwick…

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At this time, the tour group continued to visit the village under the guidance of the tour guide. Just as the group came out of the hunter's house, several locals, led by a well-dressed older local, came over. The tour guide went up to them and the two sides chatted for a while.

Then the tour guide returned with a smile and announced to everyone, "I have some good news to share. The local Srivijaya leader, the hospitable and esteemed Lord Latour-Seman, has heard that guests have come from afar and has specially invited everyone to visit his estate. Our bonfire party that evening will now be held directly at Latour Estate."

"Dear distinguished guests, please follow me. It's not far from here to the Wulatu Manor. We'll take a bus there..." As he spoke, the tour guide stretched out his hand and led the tour group in the direction of the bus with a smile.

Upon hearing the news, the atmosphere in the tour group was quite good. Most of the tourists were pleasantly surprised. The tourists who came here were not completely ignorant about the situation on Misula Island. Before coming, they had all read some written or audio-visual introductions, so most of them knew that Latour was the highest authority in the local governance. Such a figure still had a certain sense of mystery in the eyes of these tourists.

Of course, these people were all white, and they didn't have much respect for the leaders of these colonial natives. They were mostly driven by curiosity and found it very novel.

However, this sudden information disrupted the plans of Chadwick and others.

“Mr. Spencer, what should we do now?” Pete whispered nervously in Chadwick’s ear. He had just discussed the matter with Eleanor, Joanna, and Oliver, but they still had to maintain the appearance of being on vacation, and given the suddenness of the situation, they hadn’t yet reacted to what to do. Just then, the tour guide announced a new decision…

“This…” Chadwick glanced around. The people who had just come over must have been the locals sent by Latour. They were now following the tour group. It was clear that these people had a certain influence in the local area, especially the older local. When other locals passed by, they all bowed to him.

In this situation, he had no chance of leaving the team!

“There’s not much we can do right now. I don’t think we can reveal what we’ve discovered. We can only wait for an opportunity…” Chadwick sighed to himself and whispered to Pete beside him.

In fact, even now, he still doesn't know if his guess is correct, nor does he know what he will encounter. However, he knows that if he tries to escape now, he will definitely not be able to get out of this remote area. After all, the surrounding area is inhabited by local natives. If these natives come out, they will definitely be able to capture them and take them back, and then he will lose the chance to escape again...

Chadwick, Pete, Oliver, and others discussed the matter in hushed tones and decided to wait and see.

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The tour group quickly boarded the bus again, and then, led by an off-road vehicle, drove out of the village and along the forest road.

About fifteen minutes later, the vehicle entered a side road, and the surrounding trees were clearly well-maintained, not the kind of wild jungle that grows in a mess.

At this moment, the sunlight gradually faded, gray clouds obscured the sky, and the originally light fog became thicker, with vehicles shrouded in it.

Even those who know nothing about gardening can see the neat and orderly beauty of this place, which has been artificially groomed. As a rune with some knowledge of gardening, Chadwick can see that the gardening style here has a distinct rune pictorial gardening style, which is a manor garden style that was popular among rune nobles after the Renaissance.

The vehicle continued along the road for a while and then came to see the entrance to the manor in the distance.

It was a double wrought iron gate, which was open at the moment, and servants, clearly locals, were standing at the entrance directing the way.

After the vehicle passed through the gate, inside was a spacious estate. The estate was so large that Chadwick could not see the boundaries with the naked eye when he looked out the car window. This reminded him of the huge forest parks he had seen before.

At the same time, it can be seen that the entire manor is extremely clean. After the vehicle enters the manor, it can be seen that both the road and the surrounding plants are well-maintained. Along the way, some servants and gardeners can be seen sweeping the road and pruning the surrounding plants.

“Mr. Spencer, do you think we might be overreacting?” Pete whispered, sitting next to Chadwick. He was also looking out the window at the scenery, which looked like the manor of a great nobleman in the Western Continent. He found it hard to imagine what such a person would want to do to them, the tourists.

Should he be kidnapped? But what good would that do him?

Or... could it really be to capture the four of us? But if that were the case, there would be no need for such a fuss. In fact, if it were just for me, Oliver, Eleanor, and Joanna, they could have done it earlier. After all, there are only two men and two women here, and they can't put up much resistance.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 937 Dead or Alive?!

Besides, if it really comes to taking action, it shouldn't be these indigenous people who do it...

So...maybe those people who were following us just now were really just onlookers?

Chadwick hesitated. Everything he had just discovered had happened in the village of Lolota, but now that they were far from the village, did that mean they were safe?

He genuinely didn't know that, so he simply whispered, "Let's observe further. Hopefully, we're just overthinking it..."

"Distinguished guests, please look around you. This is the manor of the local Saimanratu. As you know, Saimanratu is also a vassal of the Rune royal family and plays an important role in the governance of this region..."

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The vehicle eventually stopped in front of a cluster of runic-style buildings. In front of the vehicle was a huge swimming pool with crystal-clear water and blue tiles all around, giving it an extremely luxurious feel.

After the group of tourists got off the bus, a middle-aged man dressed in a respectable suit walked over. Judging from his skin color and appearance, he was obviously a local native, but his behavior was quite Westernized.

The tour guide appeared somewhat reserved, extending his hands forward and bowing deeply to the middle-aged man in a formal local greeting before addressing the tourists behind him: "Distinguished guests, Mr. Salmo will now lead us on a tour of the private exhibition hall at Château Latour..."

The group followed the middle-aged man into a huge multi-story building. Pushing open the door, they discovered that it was indeed a large exhibition hall.

The exhibition hall displays many specimens of wild animals, ranging from squirrels to elephants, totaling more than twenty different species.

In particular, in the very center, there is a three-meter-high rectangular glass case containing a specimen of a misura tiger, an animal that is said to be extinct.

"Look everyone, our Misura Island used to have tigers, but they went extinct due to overhunting. Now, even specimens are hard to find. This Misura tiger specimen has been here for nearly a hundred years. It's a specimen of an adult male tiger, a catch from a previous Latour hunt." The man named Salmo, presumably a steward of the manor, was speaking to the tourists with a rather proud air in his slightly accented Rune.

The exhibition hall is very large. In addition to the animal specimens from Misura Island, there are also many wild animals from all over the world, which are said to be the hunted animals of the Latours throughout history. It can be seen that the Latours throughout history have been quite fond of hunting.

As visitors continue walking through Salmo, they find exhibits not only of animal specimens but also numerous weapons characteristic of the local Srivijaya people, such as uniquely styled curved swords, rattan shields painted with colorful patterns, soft bows, short spears, and other items.

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The group of tourists browsed the exhibition hall for a while before leaving under Salmo's guidance. As they walked out of the exhibition hall, they were greeted by a tall and strong young indigenous man. The young man had a smile on his face, was wearing a white suit, and looked very sunny.

Upon seeing the young man, Salmo and the tour guide bowed respectfully. The young man nodded to them, then turned to the tourists behind them, opened his arms, and spoke in perfect Rune dialect: "Welcome everyone! I hope you have a wonderful time at the manor. We have a grand performance planned for you tonight..."

At this moment, Salmo seized the opportunity to introduce the young man to the group of tourists: "This is Lumpinee! He is the eldest son of Latour."

The tourists here were mostly white people from Rune and Lombard. Unlike the native inhabitants, they didn't feel any sense of inferiority towards a native nobleman. However, most of them still showed friendly smiles, since he was very generous in inviting the tour group to visit.

As the tourists smiled at the young man, Chadwick, standing in the crowd, was also observing him. The young man, who looked quite sunny and strong, was tall and handsome, unlike the generally short local natives. He was quite likable.

However, Chadwick was taken aback the moment he saw the young man.

Because in his eyes, this young man presented a completely different image from how others saw him. It was a pale and twisted human body, or rather... it wasn't a normal human body, but a corpse!

Chadwick had seen the appearance of the dead more than once, especially after gaining superhuman vision, he saw many bizarre shapes of the dead.

He could tell at a glance that the person in front of him was definitely not a normal, living person!

The pale corpse, stained with water, looked like a frozen zombie in a funeral home, its body twisted unnaturally, as if it had been forcibly supported by something to make it stand up.

The corpse's exterior was like a nested doll covered by an illusory skin, like shimmering water or some kind of dreamlike bubble—a false outer layer.

He could even see that the corpses bound within this outer shell seemed to be showing signs of pain, as if they were twisting and struggling, trying to break free of this false shell.

He could even see the pain, fear, and twisted expression on the corpse's pale face.

The young man who was smiling kindly at the tourists was actually just a facade.

The illusory smile and the real distortion, superimposed together, sent chills down Chadwick's spine!

He had never seen anything like it before!

What on earth is going on?! Is this Mr. Lumpinee in front of us dead or alive?!

He also noticed that at this moment, no one could see that he was acting abnormally, which made him quickly realize that the situation before him was something only he could see!

This is most likely related to his amazing abilities!

At that moment, Mr. Lumpinee seemed to notice something and looked in Chadwick's direction. Chadwick immediately turned his head, pretending to observe the exhibits around him. He felt that the gaze seemed to linger on him for a moment before moving away...

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 938 A False Outer Skin

He glanced cautiously at the young man named Lumpinee again, sensing a hidden malice behind his sunny smile.

A sense of unease resurfaced in the mind that had been somewhat relieved. At that moment, Mr. Lumpinee greeted everyone and then turned and left the exhibition hall, while the other visitors continued to explore the exhibits.

Chadwick scanned the exhibition hall and found the guide standing in a corner, so he went over to her.

“Miss Larin, I am a folklorist and I am quite interested in the Latu system on Misula Island. Could you tell me about this Saiman Latu?” He found an excuse and asked the tour guide.

“Of course,” the tour guide, a young local woman, looked at Chadwick but didn’t suspect him of having any ulterior motives. After all, it’s normal for tourists to be curious about local culture.

So she began to explain: "You should know that our Misura Island is now under the rule of His Majesty the King, and the Latu system is our local traditional management system. The title of Latu is an honorific title we use to address traditional tribal leaders. It is usually held by the most influential family in the area, conferred by the King of Rune, and can be passed down through generations, just like the noble titles in the Western Continent."

"The Seman family has always inherited the title of Latour from our Srivijaya people. The current Latour is Mr. Seman Vinant Latour, a generous elder..." The tour guide began to introduce some of the deeds of this Latour in a long and enthusiastic manner, and one could hear a lot of praise in his words.

As Chadwick asked questions, he carefully guided the conversation, from the Latour system itself to some of the deeds of Seman Latour, feigning curiosity, and gradually leading the conversation to some of the deeds of the Latour family, such as... that Mr. Lumpinee from earlier.

"…Young Master Lumpinee, he's very popular with the local girls. I heard that after graduating from the university in Rune, many people say he'll be a good Latour in the future. So, when he was drowning before… um…" The tour guide seemed to have said something he shouldn't have, so he stopped talking.