Chapter 3

Chapter 3 DO YOU DARE ENTER THE CELLAR OF SECRETS? NOT WITHOUT A HALL PASS, YOU DON'T! Jodi was certainly curious about the mysteries of Minecraft. But she had a mystery to solve in the real world, too. She got to school early the next morning. She wore her best spy gear: dark sunglasses, quiet sneakers, and a wide-brimmed hat. Despite the clothes, Harper still recognized her immediately. "Hey, Jodi," she said. She was sitting on the school's front steps, reading a graphic novel with a dragon on the cover. "Where's Morgan? Don't you usually walk together?"

第三章你敢进入秘密的地窖吗？ 没有通行证就不行，你不能！Jodi当然对《我的世界》的奥秘很好奇。 但她在现实世界中也有一个谜要解开。 第二天早上她很早就到了学校。 她穿着她最好的间谍装备：黑色太阳镜，安静的运动鞋，和一顶宽边帽。 尽管她穿着衣服，哈珀还是立刻认出了她。 “嘿，乔迪，”她说。她正坐在学校门前的台阶上，读着一本封面上有一条龙的图画小说。 “摩根在哪里?你们不是经常一起走吗？”

"He was taking too long to eat breakfast," Jodi answered. "I had to leave him. I didn't want to, but it was for the greater good!" Harper grinned. "On a mission, are you?" Jodi looked around the schoolyard, making sure no one was listening. She lowered her voice just to be safe. "Doc has been acting strange all week. I'm going to get to the bottom of it." Doc Culpepper was their science teacher. She was also the inventor of the VR goggles they used to enter the game world. (Though she seemed to

“他吃早饭的时间太长了，”乔迪回答。 “我不得不离开他。我本来不想这么做，但这是为了大局着想！”哈珀咧嘴一笑。 “你在执行任务，是吗？”乔迪环顾了一下校园，确保没有人在听。 为了安全起见，她放低了声音。 “医生整个星期都很奇怪。 我要查个水落石出。” 卡尔佩珀博士是他们的科学老师。 她也是他们用来进入游戏世界的VR眼镜的发明者。 (虽然她似乎是

have no idea what that particular invention was really capable of doing.) For Doc, "acting strange" was actually quite normal. Jodi and Harper were both fascinated by their teacher. But they were fascinated in different ways. Harper thought of Doc as a creative and inventive role model who was dedicated to science. Jodi thought of Doc as a puzzle to be solved—mysterious, secretive, and quite possibly descended from an ancient race of mer-people dedicated to taking over the surface world. "Does your investigation have room for an

我不知道那个发明到底能做什么。)对博士来说，“行为怪异”其实很正常。 乔迪和哈珀都被他们的老师迷住了。 但他们以不同的方式被迷住了。 哈珀认为博士是一个致力于科学的富有创造力和发明创造的榜样。 乔迪认为博士是一个有待解决的谜题——神秘、神秘，很可能是一个古老的人鱼种族的后裔，他们致力于接管地表世界。 “你的调查还有余地吗？

apprentice?" Harper asked. "Maybe I could help out." Jodi gave Harper a grateful smile. She also gave Harper her hat. "Glad to have you on board," Jodi said, "because that hat is way too big for me!" Jodi led Harper to a staircase. The stairs descended into a dark basement. "Why are we going down here?" Harper asked. "Doc's lab is on the ground floor." "That's what made me suspicious," Jodi said. "I've seen Doc go down here three times this week. Each time, she was carrying buckets full of water." "That is strange," Harper said. She held the handrail, careful not to lose her footing in the low light. "Do you think it's for a science experiment?" "No," said Jodi. "I think she's building a basement swimming pool. Or an ice-skating rink!" She frowned. "Although I have to admit,

学徒?”哈珀问道。 “也许我能帮上忙。”乔迪感激地对哈珀笑了笑。 她还把自己的帽子给了哈珀。 “很高兴有你在船上，”乔迪说，“因为那顶帽子对我来说太大了！”乔迪把哈珀领到楼梯前。 楼梯下到一个黑暗的地下室。 “我们为什么要下去？”哈珀问道。 “博士的实验室在一楼。” “这让我起了疑心，”乔迪说。 “这个星期我看到医生到这里来了三次。 每次，她都提着装满水的桶。” “真奇怪，”哈珀说。 她抓着扶手，小心翼翼地在昏暗的灯光下站稳。 “你觉得这是用来做科学实验的吗？”“不，”乔迪说。 “我想她在建一个地下室游泳池。 或者去溜冰场！”她皱起了眉头。 “尽管我不得不承认，

your idea does sound more likely." They reached the bottom of the stairs. There was a large furnace on one side of the room. Against the back wall was a large closet with a chain-link door. In the closet, cleaning supplies were neatly stacked upon the floor-to-ceiling metal shelves. "Do you smell that?" Harper asked. Jodi sniffed the air. "It smells like…the beach?" "It's salt water," Harper said. "Of course!" Jodi said. "Harper, what if Doc is from Atlantis? That would explain why her science is so advanced!" Harper gave Jodi a funny look. "She went to college and got two doctorate degrees," said Harper. "That explains why her science is so advanced." "Maybe she went to college…in Atlantis?" Jodi suggested. "Maybe," Harper said. She pointed at a series of small puddles leading down a side hallway. "The trail leads that way."

你的想法听起来确实更有可能。” 他们走到楼梯底下。 房间的一边有一个大火炉。 靠后墙是一个大壁橱，门上有链环。 在壁橱里，清洁用品整齐地堆放在从地板到天花板的金属架子上。 “你闻到了吗？”哈珀问道。 乔迪嗅了嗅空气。“闻起来像……海滩的味道？”“这是盐水，”哈珀说。 “当然!”乔迪说。“哈珀，万一博士来自亚特兰蒂斯呢？” 这就解释了为什么她的科学如此先进！”哈珀奇怪地看了乔迪一眼。 “她上了大学，拿到了两个博士学位，”哈珀说。 “这就解释了为什么她的科学如此先进。” “也许她上过大学……在亚特兰蒂斯？”乔迪•建议。 “也许吧，”哈珀说。她指着通往侧走廊的一系列小水坑。 “这条路通向那边。”

They walked to the end of the short hallway. A door was ajar. Jodi peered inside. "What do you see?" Harper whispered. "It looks like a classroom," Jodi whispered. "But there are big tanks of water. And I think I hear something. An animal, scuttling and squeaking." Jodi strained her ears. Just then, a shrill noise sounded out. It was so loud and unexpected that Jodi nearly screamed. "We must have tripped an alarm!" she hissed over the noise. "Sharkmen are probably already on their way to detain us! We have to get out of here!"

他们走到短走廊的尽头。 一扇门半开着。乔迪往里面看了看。 “你看到了什么？”哈珀低声说。 “看起来像一间教室。”乔迪低声说。 “但是有大水箱。 我想我听到了什么。 一只动物，蹦蹦跳跳，吱吱叫着。” 乔迪竖起耳朵。就在这时，一声刺耳的声音响起。 这声音太大，太出人意料了，乔迪差点尖叫起来。 “我们一定是触发了警报！”她压低声音说。 “鲨鱼人可能已经在来抓我们的路上了！”我们必须离开这里！”