I changed the world.

Page 468

Chadwick walked forward through the almost shoulder-to-shoulder corridor, a strange, unpleasant smell lingering in his nostrils—a mixture of disinfectant, blood, sweat, body odor, and vomit. He frowned, pushed past several locals blocking his way, and continued forward until he finally reached the nurses' station at one end of the corridor.

He asked the nurse for the names Eleanor Patrick and Pete Patrick, and after checking, she told him that the patient had already undergone surgery and was now in room 413 on the 4th floor.

After thanking him, Chadwick went up the stairs to the fourth floor.

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The fourth floor is the hospital's inpatient area. Perhaps due to the current special circumstances, the entire inpatient area is overcrowded, with beds even placed in the corridors. At a glance, most of the patients are trauma patients.

Chadwick carefully searched for the ward and soon found ward 413 along the corridor. The door was not closed, so he went in. It was a single ward, but there were two beds placed there, one by the window and one against the wall. Patrick and his mother were both placed here.

Joanna was sitting in the chair between the two hospital beds when she heard Chadwick approaching the room. She turned around and saw that it was Chadwick. She quickly stood up and said, "Mr. Spencer, you've arrived!"

The little girl had tear stains at the corners of her eyes, clearly indicating that she had been crying. It must be said that, perhaps by luck, the little girl herself was not actually injured and was in the best condition among them.

"How is Mrs. Eleanor doing?" Chadwick had come specifically to check on her, having gone through so much together.

Clearly, Joanna seemed to relax a bit after seeing familiar faces, and quickly whispered, "The doctor said Mom's surgery was quite successful, and she should be able to wake up soon."

Then, after thinking for a moment, she added, "By the way, the doctor said that despite her injuries, the bleeding wasn't much, which is practically a miracle..."

Chadwick breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, then nodded and exclaimed, "It truly is a miracle... I must say, that master really saved us..."

"If possible, I think I want to thank him again..." Joanna nodded in agreement. Although she was not very old, she knew exactly who had saved her and her mother.

"What about your brother? How is he?" Chadwick nodded. He knew in his heart that seeing those mysterious figures again would be extremely difficult...

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History: Chapter 996 The Riot!!!

“Pete broke two ribs and also suffered a concussion, but the doctor said it’s nothing serious. He just woke up, but fell asleep again very quickly…” Joanna kept her voice down, clearly afraid of waking her brother.

Chadwick nodded upon hearing this, his expression relaxing considerably: "That's really good news."

“It’s just a pity that Oliver…” Joanna whispered, her face darkening. Oliver and Pete were very good friends, and he was also a childhood friend of hers, no different from her own brother. Especially since they had presented themselves as a family when they told Chadwick.

"May he rest in peace in another world. I believe the Lord will protect his soul..." Chadwick sighed upon hearing this, and drew a crown pattern on his chest to comfort Joanna.

Just as Chadwick was about to say something more, he clearly heard several loud "tap-tap" sounds coming from outside the hospital, accompanied by shouts and yells in the distance.

He was startled for a moment, not paying attention at first, but then the sound rang out in succession, and he immediately realized that it must be gunshots! He was immediately alarmed and quickly walked to the window in front of the hospital bed to look out. From his current perspective, the area inside the wall below was the hospital's internal area, while outside the wall were sidewalks and roads.

At this moment, he clearly saw that in the middle of the road not far away, some people had set up roadblocks. They piled up some tires, wooden frames and some random debris in the middle of the road to form roadblocks, and even burned some of the debris to obstruct traffic.

Meanwhile, some people were exchanging fire with the military and police in the streets, and the gunshots Chadwick had just heard came from there...

"What was that sound?" Joanna also heard the sound and curiously got up and walked towards Chadwick's direction to see what was going on.

He went to the window and looked out. He gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. She now deeply regretted that when her family wanted to come to Misula Island, she not only did not stop them, but also strongly encouraged them to come.

Now it seems that sunshine, beaches, islands, and wonderful vacations...

This island is full of ghostly things!!!

Vicious natives!! Monsters!! A terrible storm!! And now there's even a riot!!!

Damn it, why did I have to come to a place like this?!

Joanna heard Chadwick's quiet warning: "Don't make a sound, let's turn off the lights first..."

As he spoke, he crossed his arms and slowly made a warning gesture to Joanna. Then he tiptoed to the side, turned off the lights in the room, and locked the door. He didn't know what was happening on the street, but in the chaos, he could only reduce the chances of being discovered.

Having lived in a chaotic New World colony, he had some experience dealing with such situations.

He had no idea what was happening on the street, so in the darkness, he took out his phone and tried to connect to the internet, but he soon discovered that the network was still down.

Because the network signal was interrupted in the foggy area, and after being rescued, Chadwick was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment and then questioned for a long time, so he did not try to connect to the network during that time. Therefore, he just thought that there was a problem with the network signal on the island and did not think much of it.

In fact, the network signal on Misula Island had returned to normal after the "Mist Incident" was resolved. However, just half an hour ago, the telecommunications company responsible for network operations received a request from the Misula City Commissioner's Office to forcibly cut off all external communications.

The reason is simple: the military and police are arresting some prominent figures in the Srivijaya community. The serious incidents that have occurred earlier have made it necessary for the colonial government to control the situation as soon as possible in order to avoid a possible colonial riot.

This was, in fact, an emergency plan that the Security Bureau's Colonial Political Department and Commissioner's Office immediately devised after analyzing the limited information available at the time.

Although many details are unclear, the Commissioner's Office believes that the previous incident was undoubtedly evidence that the Srivijaya people were "stirring up big trouble." Therefore, even though they still do not know the exact whereabouts of Srivijaya's Lathu Saiman Vinant Lathu, this matter is too serious and they must take action!

Because of the previous events, the entire Commissioner's Office, especially Commissioner Lord Wayne Anderson, now views the current situation as extremely serious. He believes that this is an unusual movement by the Srivijaya, using a method unknown to the colonial government. What is certain is that many tourists, citizens, and members of the law enforcement agencies have been killed or gone missing. Although the exact number of casualties cannot be estimated at present, it is certainly not a small number.

Because of the previous supernatural events, the colonial government is now somewhat unsure about the extent of the Sriba people's power. Therefore, it does not dare to send troops directly to the traditional Sriba settlements in the southern part of the island to investigate. However, arrests have already begun in several urban areas on Misura Island!

The military and police forcibly broke into the residences of some influential Sriba community officials or leaders and took them away, which undoubtedly provoked a backlash from the Sriba community. This was the situation Chadwick was witnessing at that moment...

To prevent news from spreading on the island and causing a negative reaction, all communication was cut off. Those who felt particularly frightened were tourists like Chadwick, most of whom had no idea what was happening and were just hiding in their hotels, at a loss.

The riots undoubtedly led to looting and rioting, and even some colonial police officers of Sriba identity joined in, which made the situation even more chaotic.

Rumors have even circulated that the colonial authorities wanted to massacre the Srivijaya people...

The key point is that such events are not unprecedented in history...

"boom-----------"

A muffled, loud bang came from outside the window, causing Chadwick and Joanna, who were peering out, to instinctively duck their necks. They watched as flames shot out from the middle of a distant building, followed by thick smoke; they had no idea what had exploded…

"What to do... what to do?" Joanna couldn't help but look back at her mother and brother, who were still lying unconscious on the bed in the dimly lit room, her voice trembling with tears.

"It'll be alright...it'll be alright..." Chadwick swallowed hard, but at this moment, there was nothing he could do. He could only stay with Joanna by the window, watching the smoke billowing in the distance and the cars with their lights flashing avoiding the area like headless flies.

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Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 997 The Aftermath

The two men didn't sleep a wink all night, anxiously watching the situation outside the window. Afterward, they even saw a large number of armored vehicles entering the city, and the roar of aircraft flying low overhead.

Gunfire could be heard from different directions throughout the city all night long. The gunfire gradually subsided by the early morning of the next day. Internet communication was still not restored. Police officers and soldiers in uniform could be seen everywhere on the streets of the city, and armored vehicles were parked on the streets.

While Chadwick ventured out to buy food, he boldly inquired about information from a policeman on the street. Perhaps because of his typical white face and fluent Rune language, the policeman was quite friendly towards him. After a brief interrogation, upon confirming that he was indeed a tourist, the policeman informed him that military troops had entered the city the previous night and had largely stabilized the situation. However, the policeman still warned him not to go out unless necessary, especially not to go to areas inhabited by Indigenous people, to avoid any unforeseen incidents.

In addition, the police told him that all means of transportation to and from the island had been suspended, and the entire island was temporarily inaccessible.

This news brought Chadwick a slight sense of relief. His greatest wish at that moment was to leave immediately. However, this was clearly impossible, not only because transportation was out of service, but also because he had lost almost all his identification documents and belongings and urgently needed to replace them. The intelligence officer, Mr. Roberts, who had questioned him, had promised to reissue the necessary documents, but in his current state, this would obviously take time.

He only had some cash on him at the time, which was kindly given to him by Mr. Roberts for emergency use, since he was in such a sorry state that he didn't even have a decent set of clothes.

Perhaps because of the chaos last night, most shops were closed at this time.

Chadwick didn't dare go far. He wandered around the hospital for a long time before finding a shop that was open. He bought some food and daily necessities at almost three times the usual price before returning to the hospital.

Back in his hospital room, he found two men in formal suits talking to Joanna. He approached them and learned they were staff from the Tourism Authority, who had come to bring them some supplies and to help them reissue their documents.

Chadwick quickly understood the purpose of their visit after exchanging a few words with them. Misula Island is primarily a tourism-oriented island, and the previous incidents had undoubtedly dealt a significant blow to its reputation. These tourism officials were there to handle the aftermath, and there would also be some corresponding compensation mechanisms.

Since Chadwick and Patrick's family entered the country through legitimate channels, and the tour group had purchased appropriate travel insurance for them, the insurance company would provide compensation in the event of an accident. The staff of the tourism bureau would most likely provide additional compensation on top of the original insurance company's compensation.

Of course, this is not without its costs; the cost is that they must remain silent on certain topics...

After exchanging a few words with the other party, Chadwick immediately understood their purpose. In fact, Joanna was unaware of their intentions at this point, and simply assumed that they had come to deliver some daily necessities out of gratitude.

After realizing the other party's intentions, Chadwick appeared "still shaken" and launched into a tirade of protests, making sure to establish a proper stance from the start...

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承和三十七年 西历2016年4月14日09:09 京师蟠龙北路

While Chadwick was arguing with the Misura Island Tourism Bureau, in the distant capital of the Zhao Empire, the wide Panlong North Road was as congested as ever. Panlong North Road, located near the Forbidden City in the heart of the capital, had undergone several expansions, but as the empire's capital, it remained jammed with vehicles during peak traffic hours, with all traffic moving at a snail's pace.

Amidst the traffic, a black "Danfeng" sedan was slowly making its way through the flow of cars. This luxury sedan boasted a spacious interior, and sitting in the back seat was a well-dressed middle-aged man—Wang Shuqing, the third brother of the current Empress. He was watching the traffic outside the window while listening to the car radio, a hint of impatience on his face.

"The Songjiang Stock Exchange opened lower and continued to decline today, with the main index falling 2.24% at the open. It is still falling further, and the decline is widening. Currently, almost 80% of stocks are experiencing varying degrees of decline in the morning session, and the magnitude of the drop is quite worrying… This shows that the market is not buying into the interpretation of the three market-rescue policies announced by the government last night. Today, we have invited Professor Yu Shinan from the Beijing Normal University School of Finance and Economics to provide his analysis. Professor Yu is a familiar face on our program. Professor Yu, hello, what is your assessment of the current market trend?"

"Hello, host, hello listeners. As I mentioned before, this decline is structural. The various pieces of information that have been released in the past few days have poured cold water on the deep space exploration concept that the market had been hyping up. I've said before that only when the tide goes out can you see who's been swimming naked. The previous deep space exploration craze lasted too long, accumulating too much of a bubble. Many small companies simply put forward a concept and went to the market to raise funds, then went to the stock market to rake in money without offering anything substantial. Even for those large companies, many things were just concepts, and both companies and investors were keen to keep hyping these concepts, making the bubble grow bigger and bigger, which is very likely to cause problems..."

"I once read a book that said technological development is not a linear process, but more likely a wave-like curve with peaks and troughs, and even the possibility of reversals... Some media figures and investors were overly optimistic about the development of our technology, and many industry experts were also wholeheartedly echoing this view. Obviously, now that the tide is receding, many of our investors will have to pay the price for their misconceptions..."

"So, Professor Yu believes the market hasn't bottomed out yet?" the host interjected.

"Personally, I don't think the decline will be a short-term phenomenon, so I've always discouraged people from rushing to buy at the bottom. To buy at the bottom, you need to know where the bottom is... and right now we don't know where the bottom is!"

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 998 The Empress's Relatives

"Recently, some experts both domestically and internationally have been calling on governments to provide more liquidity to the market to offset negative news and rebuild market confidence. Lu En*** issued a statement before the market opened this morning, saying that they are studying relevant policies to support market liquidity. I just read some market analyses, and some experts believe this will be a strong boost. What is your opinion on this?"

"Rebuilding market confidence by releasing massive amounts of liquidity is certainly an effective technical strategy. However, frankly, I don't think countries will introduce such policies at this juncture. Because, currently, the market hasn't fully digested the negative news from the previous period, especially considering that everyone has noticed a constant stream of bad news breaking every day these past few days..."

"Yes, Professor Yu, we have indeed seen a lot of bad news these past few days... For example, last night, an employee of Horizon Robotics revealed that the company's technical data was falsified. Later, there were reports that this employee was making the accusation because the company planned to lay off employees and the project team was disbanded, and he was resentful and thus made the accusation..."

"Yes, I've also noticed this news. In fact, we need to understand that this is a typical phenomenon in a falling market. During a downtrend, due to the collective panic, any negative news is easily amplified, leading to a stampede, or in other words, any news is easily perceived as negative news."

"So you think it's not appropriate to introduce policies to release liquidity now?" the host asked hastily.

"Yes, because in the current market, any positive news will only be seen as an opportunity to escape the market, and may even cause a larger stampede..."

Listening to the conversation on the radio, the middle-aged man sitting in the back of the car took a deep breath, a faint hint of mockery on his face.

In recent days, everyone has been talking about the economy. Since that "Truth Report" website exposed a series of sensational news, the capital market has presented a catastrophic decline to all investors. Every day, we can hear news of investment institutions going bankrupt or collapsing, and there are endless calls for "market rescue" in the news.

However, in Wang Shuqing's view, all of this was irrelevant to him. He had already liquidated all his stocks and capital investments before the news was disclosed, and even bought some put options. Therefore, he made a fortune in this market downturn. This was not due to any genius investment skills he possessed, but rather because his sister, the current Empress Wang Shujie, had given him some information in advance.