Chapter 2

Chapter 2 BLUE FIRE! GREAT FOR SETTING A SPOOKY SCENE. NOT SO GREAT FOR MAKING S'MORES! Morgan set one blocky foot in front of the other. In Minecraft, his injury didn't bother him at all. It was a relief that he didn't have to worry about it while he was here, inside a hyper-realistic, VR- augmented version of his favorite game. Of course, there were other things to worry about here. Morgan and his friends were on a quest to save the Evoker King, a former enemy turned friend. The Evoker King was an artificial intelligence—a digital life-form—who had been split into pieces. So far, they had retrieved four of the pieces. Each time, a digital butterfly had led them where they needed to go. The butterflies had been an obvious clue, because they didn't exist in a normal

第二章蓝色的火！很适合设置一个恐怖的场景。 不太适合做s 'mores ！摩根把一只粗壮的脚放在另一只脚前面。 在《我的世界》中，他的受伤完全没有影响到他。 这是一种解脱，当他在这里时，他不必担心这一点，在他最喜欢的游戏的超现实，VR增强版本中。 当然，这里还有其他需要担心的事情。 摩根和他的朋友们要去拯救曾经的敌人变成朋友的Evoker国王。 Evoker King是一种人工智能——一种数字生命形式——他已经分裂成碎片。 到目前为止，他们已经找到了其中的四件。 每一次，一只数字蝴蝶都会把他们带到他们需要去的地方。 蝴蝶是一个明显的线索，因为它们不存在于一个正常的

game of Minecraft. And Morgan would know. He prided himself on being an expert on all things Minecraft. Now, a few butterflies flittered around a rectangular four-by-five-block structure of darkest obsidian. It was a portal to another Minecraft dimension. It glowed purple, daring them to step inside. Morgan's friends were ready to accept that dare. But Morgan wasn't so sure.

我的世界的游戏。摩根会知道的。 他为自己是《我的世界》的专家而自豪。 现在，几只蝴蝶在一个4乘5块的长方形黑曜石建筑周围飞舞。 这是通往另一个《我的世界》维度的入口。 它发出紫色的光，吓得他们不敢走进去。 摩根的朋友们准备接受这个挑战。 但摩根并不确定。

"CHECK YOUR INVENTORIES," he said. "Let's make sure we have everything we'll need." "That sounds impossible," said Harper. "How can we know what we'll need before we need it?" "We can handle anything the Nether throws at us," said Po. His avatar was wearing a toga, with a laurel circling his head. "We got this far, right?" "And time is running out," Theo added. "THE FAULT HAS EATEN THE ENTIRE SKY." He pointed to where the Overworld sky had been replaced with a mass of dark, swirling pixels. Every few moments, lightning flashed. "Morgan, what's wrong?" asked Jodi. "Usually you're the first one to leap into danger." "In the Overworld, maybe," said Morgan. "BUT THE NETHER IS DIFFERENT." "We've been there before," said his sister. "Back when we thought the Evoker King was our enemy, remember?" Morgan shook his head. "There was an update. The Nether has changed since then. IT'S MORE DANGEROUS THAN EVER." "Well, lucky us!" said Jodi, and she put her blocky hand on Morgan's shoulder. "We have a Minecraft expert leading the way."

“检查你的库存，”他说。 “让我们确保我们有我们需要的一切。” “听起来不可能。”哈珀说。 “我们怎么能在需要之前就知道我们需要什么？”阿宝说：“我们可以处理任何尼瑟斯扔给我们的东西。” 他的化身穿着一件长袍，头上戴着一枚月桂。 “我们走了这么远，对吧？”“时间不多了，”西奥补充说。 “断层已经吞噬了整个天空。” 他指了指上面世界的天空已经被一团黑暗的、旋转的像素所取代的地方。 每隔几分钟，就有一道闪电闪过。 “摩根，怎么了？”乔迪问。 “通常你是第一个冒危险的人。” “也许在上面世界吧。”摩根说。 “但是地狱是不同的。” “我们以前去过那里，”他妹妹说。 “那时候我们还以为唤起之王是我们的敌人，记得吗？”摩根摇了摇头。 “有一个更新。从那以后，虚空发生了变化。 现在比以往任何时候都危险。” “好吧，我们真幸运！”乔迪说着，把她那只胖乎乎的手放在摩根的肩膀上。 “我们有一位《我的世界》专家在领导我们。”

Morgan grinned, but his heart sank a little. He had read all about the Nether, of course. And he had visited on several occasions. But between the recent school election, and the bee crisis, and Jodi's pet- walking misadventure, he'd been awfully busy. He hadn't traveled to the Nether in quite some time. And despite how he liked to think of himself as an expert, he had never really mastered all the challenges in the Nether. He realized that might be a problem, but at the moment he didn't think making that particular confession was going to help them. He cleared his throat. "Let's just keep our eyes open," Morgan said. "I have a feeling… THIS QUEST IS ABOUT TO GET A

摩根咧嘴一笑，但他的心稍稍沉了下去。 当然，他读过关于地狱的一切。 他来过几次。 但最近学校选举，蜜蜂危机，乔迪遛宠物的不幸遭遇，他一直忙得不可开交。 他已经有一段时间没有去阴间了。 尽管他喜欢把自己当成专家，但他从来没有真正掌握过地狱的所有挑战。 他意识到这可能是个问题，但此刻他不认为做那个特别的忏悔会对他们有帮助。 他清了清嗓子。“让我们睁大眼睛，”摩根说。 “我有一种感觉……这个任务即将结束。

LOT MORE DANGEROUS." "We can handle it," promised Po. "Together," added Harper. "Probably," said Theo. Morgan nodded, but he was wrestling with his own thoughts. The Fault above them crackled with lightning, and a strange wind seemed to pick up, causing the pixelated grass and leaves to sway. There is no wind in Minecraft, he thought. The Fault—the hole in the game's code that appeared when the Evoker King had been broken—was wreaking havoc, causing Minecraft to change in unexpected ways. Morgan always loved Minecraft. When Doc Culpepper had created a set of VR goggles— goggles that allowed them to travel into the game—his love had only grown. This version of Minecraft was just for them, and it had been a little strange from the start. Morgan didn't know what he would do if they lost it all to the Fault. "ALL RIGHT," he said. "BUT WE STICK TOGETHER IN THERE. And we don't leave anybody behind, no matter what." Morgan held his breath as he stepped through the portal. He was ready for a fight. But everything was peaceful on the other side of the portal. They were in a

危险得多。”“我们能搞定的。”阿宝保证。 “一起。”哈珀补充道。“可能吧，”西奥说。 摩根点点头，但他在与自己的思想作斗争。 他们头顶上的断裂带闪电噼啪作响，一股奇怪的风似乎刮起来了，弄得像素化的草和树叶摇摆不定。 《我的世界》里没有风，他想。 当Evoker King被打破时，游戏代码中出现了一个漏洞，这个漏洞造成了严重破坏，导致《我的世界》以意想不到的方式发生了变化。 Morgan一直很喜欢《我的世界》。 当卡尔佩珀博士发明了一套虚拟现实眼镜——可以让他们在游戏中旅行的眼镜——他的爱只增不增。 这个版本的《我的世界》只适合他们，从一开始就有点奇怪。 摩根不知道如果他们把一切都输给断层，他该怎么办。 “好吧，”他说。“但我们在那里团结在一起。 无论发生什么，我们都不会丢下任何人。” 摩根屏住呼吸，走进了大门。 他已经准备好打架了。但是在传送门的另一边一切都很平静。 他们在一起。

clearing within a strange blue-green forest, with tall trees and a thick covering of vines. Someone had set up a campsite, with a series of treasure chests ringing a campfire. The fire burned an eerie shade of blue, and an iron golem stood motionless nearby. "It looks like a camp," said Jodi. "IS THAT GOLEM HERE TO GUARD IT?" "Let's not loot any treasure chests until we know for sure," said Harper. "Aw," said Po, who had started reaching for the nearest chest.

在一片奇怪的蓝绿色森林里，有高大的树木和厚厚的藤蔓。 有人搭起了一个营地，一堆宝箱围着篝火。 火焰燃烧出一种诡异的蓝色，一个铁傀儡一动不动地站在附近。 “看起来像个营地，”乔迪说。 “那个魔像是来保护它的吗？”“在我们搞清楚之前，先别去洗劫任何宝箱。” “啊，”阿宝说，他已经开始伸手去拿最近的箱子了。