I changed the world.

Page 446

"Drowning? What happened?" Chadwick keenly sensed the unspoken meaning in the tour guide's words.

“Uh…” The tour guide seemed hesitant for a moment, then lowered his voice and said to Chadwick, “Everyone in the area knows about this, but please don’t tell anyone…”

Seeing her expression, Chadwick immediately knew that some forces were blocking the spread of information, so he lowered his voice as well and said, "Don't worry, I won't say anything. I'm just curious."

"I heard that young master Lumpinee had an accident and drowned while diving at the beach the day before yesterday. When he was rescued, he was no longer breathing..." the tour guide whispered, looking mysterious.

"Many people saw it. It is said that the person was sent to the hospital but could not be saved. Later, the body was placed in the Château de Latour for a period of time. It is said that preparations for the funeral have already begun..." The tour guide began to vividly describe the scene she had heard about that day.

..........................................

........................

"So, in the end, it was that new wizard who saved Mr. Lomboni?" Chadwick took a deep breath after listening to the guide's explanation.

“Yes, that Ghanaian wizard is a messenger of the sea god, possessing extraordinary abilities… far more powerful than our local Mozlan wizard!” the tour guide said, her eyes filled with deep reverence. Then she looked at Chadwick, a subtle, enigmatic glint in her eyes.

"I see, that's amazing..." Chadwick was shocked, but he put on a nonchalant expression. He chatted with the tour guide for a few more minutes about other topics, then turned and left the tour guide's location.

However, that nonchalant expression was merely a facade; Chadwick was inwardly shocked. From the tour guide, he learned that the Mr. Lumpinee had actually drowned and was later revived by a wizard.

Chadwick had some prior knowledge of local religious beliefs, thanks to his previous experiences that led him to read extensively on various religions, customs, myths, and legends.

He roughly understood that the most prevalent belief in Misula and the surrounding islands was the local polytheistic worship, or rather, it was not a mature belief system at all. It was more like a shamanistic ritual system. From the perspective of Western theology, it was a rather primitive religious system, or even a system at all.

As for wizards, they can be understood as the religious personnel of various tribes, which are different from the wizards in the traditional Western understanding, and are more similar to the Eastern shamans.

Previously, he had only thought that these native shamans were just pretentious charlatans, but now it seems that his previous understanding was obviously wrong!

The native shamans here clearly possess some terrifying supernatural abilities...

However, this also made him reconsider his previous understanding of Lumpinee. Clearly, the Ghanaian wizard mentioned by the tour guide did not actually cure the young master of the Latour family, but used some unknown method to make him "appear" to be cured!

That's just a facade!

So... what exactly does this wizard want to do?

Is his connection to the strange sights he just saw in Lolota Village?

He couldn't help but think of the temple he had seen in Lolota Village, and the locals who had been following them. In any case, he felt that some kind of crisis was quietly approaching.

Is this Semanratu... truly acting out of goodwill in inviting these tourists here?

What exactly does he want to do?!

After the tour group finished viewing the exhibition in the exhibition hall, it was already 16:04 PM local time. Since it was not yet dinner time, the manor prepared temporary rooms for the 23 tourists in the tour group. The tour guide informed everyone that Latour Manor had prepared a huge bonfire party venue, and a grand bonfire party would begin at 17:30 PM.

....................................................................................

It was 16:15 PM local time. In a guest room at Latour Estate, Chadwick sat on a leather sofa, staring intently at a blank sheet of paper placed on the coffee table in front of him. Around him, Pete, Oliver, Eleanor, Joanna, and others watched him with expressions of curiosity or nervousness.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 939 Superpowers

Chadwick stared intently at the blank sheet of paper in front of him, his brow furrowed, completely absorbed, as if trying to see something extraordinary in it…

"Mom, what is he doing?" Joanna whispered to Eleanor beside her.

"Shh..." Eleanor put a finger to her lips, signaling her daughter to be quiet.

Then, the center of the white paper in front of Chadwick suddenly began to turn black, just like focusing sunlight onto the paper with a magnifying glass at noon. Then, it caught fire, the flames grew stronger and stronger, and then the whole paper was burning.

In just a few breaths, the napkin that Pete had casually picked up was burned to ashes, leaving only a small pile of debris on the coffee table.

Joanna exclaimed in surprise, her face filled with disbelief, even a hint of astonishment and admiration: "Mr. Spencer, how did you do that?!"

“It’s unbelievable…” Pete and Oliver exchanged a glance, and then couldn’t help but reach out and pick up the ashes of the paper scraps on the table. If he hadn’t pulled the paper out of the napkin box himself, he wouldn’t have believed what he was seeing.

"Is this magic?" Oliver asked impatiently.

“No…this isn’t magic.” Chadwick’s forehead was beaded with sweat. He reached up and wiped his forehead, letting out a long sigh.

"I just wanted to prove to everyone that what I said wasn't a joke." Chadwick pointed to his forehead, his breathing still slightly rapid.

“For some special reason, I can see things that ordinary people can’t,” Chadwick explained, taking a deep breath.

In fact, this is the only "supernatural ability" he can currently display. Since returning from the Izko Rainforest region of the Toltec Autonomous Territory in the Kingdom of Gasol in the New World, he gained the supernatural ability to see "special beings," but that's all. Apart from that, he cannot use any other supernatural abilities.

This led to an exponential increase in his interest in "mysticism." As a result, he began searching for things in ancient sites and libraries around the world that might grant him extraordinary powers, while also further experimenting with and training his own abilities.

He also tried to find possibilities in some ancient cultivation methods of unknown authenticity. However, it turned out that it was extremely dangerous to obtain extraordinary power through self-study. He tried several breathing methods he found online that were said to originate from the East, but they caused extremely painful spasms and a lingering sweet and fishy taste in his mouth for several days afterward.

This made him dare not try anything recklessly anymore. However, this series of attempts was not entirely fruitless. The only successful attempt was when he discovered that if he concentrated his attention on a single point on the paper, he could make the paper catch fire.

Of course, that's all there is to it; it means he has the ability to become a human lighter...

However, as it turns out, even the most useless skill isn't entirely useless. Today, to increase his persuasiveness, he demonstrated his special ability to the Patrick family in front of him.

"Everyone, listen to me. Although I don't know exactly what they want to do, I can sense that we are in danger and we need to get out of here!"

The reason Chadwick didn't run away alone but instead insisted on persuading the Patrick family was actually quite simple. Firstly, the Patrick family were people Chadwick had met on the tour and seemed to have a relatively close relationship with; in his view, communicating with them would be less costly.

More importantly, Chadwick couldn't drive! In his view, leaving this place on foot, crossing the jungle, would be extremely difficult, while driving would be much better! It was practically the only feasible option!

............................................................

However, convincing the Pete family proved difficult. While Pete and Joanna tended to believe Chadwick, Oliver seemed unconvinced, even suspecting Chadwick might have ulterior motives—though he didn't say it explicitly, Chadwick could sense it. As for Eleanor, she was equally skeptical, feeling there was no need to rush and that they could wait.

Especially when Chadwick described his plans.

“Listen, folks, I think… we need to get a car. We can drive away from here in just half an hour and get to the nearest city…” Chadwick whispered, “The Rune colonial police are there; we won’t be in any danger…”

Chadwick's plan was not complicated; he simply didn't trust the local natives, so he thought he would be safe once he reached the nearest city.

However, this plan raised concerns for Pete and his team. Clearly, they had their own secrets and did not want to have any dealings with the colonial authorities.

“I think… Mr. Spencer, perhaps things aren’t so tense, perhaps nothing will happen tonight, after all, the hosts here seem very hospitable…” Eleanor said hesitantly, “Once tonight is over, we’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning…”

“This is a local estate in Lombard. If we drive off in one of these cars… they’ll probably think we’re car thieves… Or, should we tell the guide we’re leaving early? We can give the driver some money to take us there.” Oliver frowned. He didn’t want to get involved with the police here over the car theft, because that could very well lead to them being deported back to Lombard.

“Listen, if the tour driver is in cahoots with them, then going directly to the driver would be very risky…” Chadwick frowned. To be honest, he didn’t trust the tour driver and guide. After all, he had already suspected the guide was lying at the bus stop in Lolota village. Besides, if there was any real danger later, the guide who had been leading the tour group was also a local and could not be trusted at all!

However, the matter reached a stalemate, with neither side able to convince the other.

………………………………………………………………………

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 940 Temporary Departure from the Group

“Check your phones. We haven’t had a signal yet, which is abnormal…” Chadwick tried his best to convince the people in front of him: “You know, even if this is a colony, it’s still a manor of Latour. How can we not get a network signal at all?!”

“You mean…” Oliver looked at his phone and frowned.

“Someone cut off communications, or something interfered with them. Satellites… ground base stations, all of them are no longer working. Maybe they don’t want anyone here to be able to contact the outside world.” Chadwick shrugged.

“That’s really strange. Mr. Spencer’s watch and cell phone can connect to satellite signals, but they can’t receive any signals now. In fact, that’s what happened just now in Lolota Village.” Pete chimed in from the side.

............................................................

....................................

After another round of debate, Oliver and the others ultimately did not agree to the plan of stealing a car and leaving. After all, Chadwick's description was too unbelievable, just like the scenes in those fantasy movies, making them subconsciously hesitant to believe it all.

However, after Chadwick's repeated persuasion, they eventually became uneasy and chose Oliver's proposed solution: to find the tour guide and driver, find a reason to temporarily leave the tour group, give the driver some money, and have him take them back to their hotel.

As they stepped out of their guest room and rounded a corner, a servant who appeared to have been standing there the whole time approached them: "Guests, is there anything you need?"

The seemingly solicitous inquiry made Chadwick subconsciously feel like he was being closely watched, making him even more vigilant. However, he didn't show it on his face, and simply smiled and said, "Oh, we have something we want to discuss with our guide, Larin."

But the local servant nodded and said, "Please come with me, I'll take you there..."

The people in the room exchanged glances, and then followed the scarred servant towards the front. They hadn't gone far when the servant led them to a guest room at the top of the stairs and knocked on the door.

The door was quickly opened, and it was Ms. Larin, the tour guide, who opened it.

"Miss tour guide, these gentlemen and ladies are looking for you." After a brief introduction by the servant at the door, he stepped aside. As the tour guide, Larin recognized the group as members of her tour group and led them into the room.

..................................................................

"So you mean... you want to leave the tour at the last minute?" Tour guide Ms. Larin listened to Chadwick's explanation with a frown.

“Excuse me, tour guide, we have some urgent business that requires us to use the internet. It’s for work-related collaborations. We’re really sorry to trouble you…” Eleanor interjected from the side.

“Yes, there’s still some data that needs to be processed using the laptops at the Angela Beach Resort Hotel…” Pete added from the side. The tour group was originally scheduled to return tomorrow, so the rooms at the resort hotel hadn’t actually been cancelled, and the tour members’ large items were still in their respective rooms.

“You know, these days, time is money…” Chadwick said, adopting a businessman’s tone. “Speaking of which, we have to thank the tour group for helping us reach a good cooperation agreement.”

Upon hearing this, tour guide Larin frowned noticeably. She sized up the five people in front of her again and said, "However... we have a grand bonfire party tonight. Saimanlatu has prepared some special surprises for the guests, which is quite rare. Why don't you stay a while? Our group is heading back early tomorrow morning anyway..."

"Excuse me, tour guide, but we really have something very important to do and can't afford to be delayed at all..." Chadwick said, feigning urgency.

“Yes, Miss Tour Guide…it’s really important. We’re also very sorry that we can’t attend the bonfire party tonight, but leaving the group is unavoidable…” Eleanor chimed in, and the others chimed in.

The tour guide frowned throughout, clearly unwilling to agree to the arrangement. However, Chadwick and the others argued their case and insisted on leaving immediately to return to the hotel.

“Sir, even if I agree to let you leave the group, we don’t have any suitable transportation right now. You can’t just walk away, can you?” The tour guide kept trying to persuade them: “You know, there are no taxis here, only rainforest.”

The tour guide even exaggeratedly gestured: "You might even encounter poisonous snakes or leeches, or other dangers... The rainforest here is not as safe as you imagine."

"Even if you walk along the road, you won't find a water source; there are no supply points here..."

“This is what I was thinking, Miss Tour Guide, could you perhaps have the driver take us there…” Chadwick said after gesturing as if he was thinking for a moment.

“Sir, I’m sorry, this isn’t included in our service. As you know, it would incur additional expenses.” The tour guide immediately shook her head. Then she emphasized, “Besides, the driver himself wouldn’t agree to it; it’s extra work…”

“We can pay extra,” Chadwick said immediately. “We can offer 300 runes.”