Chapter 29

chapter twenty-nine We hit the roof of the Mallusk hard. The instant we land, the Mallusk's pincers crash into the ground, and its mighty hull raises, everything tilting as it turns, beginning a speeding getaway from the portal's grasp. Cruise-ship-sized slugs aren't known for their speed, but the Mallusk's pincers pound away like they're tattooing the ground. With one collective moan, we slowly sit up. Johnny Steve, Smud, and other monsters hurry over to greet us. Yursl winks at Quint. we made it. We survived just as I expected. It seems all went exactly according to plan "Skaelka..." June says. "Why didn't you tell us the fortress was ALIVE?"

第二十九章我们重重地撞到了马卢斯克号的屋顶。 我们一着陆，马鲁斯克号的钳子就撞到地面上，它那强大的船体升起来，随着它的转动，一切都倾斜了，开始从传送门的掌控中快速逃离。 游轮大小的蛞蝓并不以速度著称，但Mallusk的钳子就像在地面上刺青一样。 随着一声集体呻吟，我们慢慢坐了起来。 约翰尼·史蒂夫、斯慕德和其他怪物赶紧过来迎接我们。 你对昆特使眼色。我们成功了。 正如我所料，我们活了下来。 一切似乎都在按计划进行“斯卡卡…” 6月说。“你为什么不告诉我们堡垒还活着？”

Skaelka scratches her head. "I really don't think I could have been any clearer." Dirk groans. "I landed on my helmet. Ow." He pulls it from under him and sets it on his head. "Gonna need to keep this on all the time now, huh, Jack?" I swallow. He's right. There are zombies marching toward the Tower. Alfred, Lefty, and Glurm are about to make a lot of new friends. The portal has nearly finished its devastating, destructive devouring of the fortress. The remaining ruins are torn from the earth. "Fortress..." June says. "Broken." In that final cluster of wreckage—I can just barely make out Ghazt, still strapped to the slab. Despite the furious vortex, the slab spins slowly; it's carrying the weight of a god. For a second, it's like all the air is sucked out of the world. White and purple lightning splits the sky. Everything crackles, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. The portal contracts, closing, the final remains of the fortress sucked in. And finally, when it's no bigger than a pebble in the sky— An eruption! A supernova of cosmic terror, exploding outward in a great ring of energy, turning night to day—

Skaelka挠了挠头。 “我真的不认为我已经说得更清楚了。” 德克呻吟。“我摔在了头盔上。 噢。”他把帽子从身下拿出来，戴在头上。 “现在得一直戴着这个了，是吧，杰克？”我吞下。 他是对的。有僵尸在向伦敦塔进发。 阿尔弗雷德、阿左和格伦要交很多新朋友了。 传送门几乎完成了对堡垒的毁灭性吞噬。 剩下的废墟从地球上被撕裂。 “堡垒……”6月说。“坏了。” 在最后一堆残骸中，我只能勉强辨认出Ghazt，他仍然被绑在木板上。 尽管有猛烈的漩涡，平板旋转得很慢；它承载着神的重量。 有那么一瞬间，就好像世界上所有的空气都被吸走了。 白色和紫色的闪电划破天空。 所有东西都噼啪作响，我脖子后面的毛都竖起来了。 传送门收缩，关闭，堡垒的最后残余被吸了进去。 最后，当它还没有天空中的一颗鹅卵石大的时候——爆发了！一颗宇宙恐怖的超新星，在巨大的能量环中向外爆炸，把黑夜变成了白昼

blindingly bright. I see Ghazt one last time. But he looks the same way we saw him back at the ABC theater, when Evie summoned him into this world. Before the summoning went sideways and he found himself in the body of an oversized rat. He looks nothing like that now, here, in his true from...

盲目地明亮。我最后一次见到Ghazt。 但他看起来和我们在ABC剧院看到的一样，当伊维把他召唤到这个世界上时。 在召唤走到一边之前，他发现自己身在一只超大老鼠的身体里。 他现在看起来一点也不像，在这里，在他真正的……

And then it's gone. All of it. Ghazt. The fortress. The portal. Like it was just a tear in the sky that someone stitched up. Everything is suddenly very quiet. Ghazt the General, Cosmic Terror—our mortal enemy turned unexpected ally—is dead. For real this time. Wracksaw? I'm not sure. The Goon Platoon? I sure hope not. We had a chance to stop Rezzoch from coming— and we failed. In the immortal words of that random dude who gave Indiana Jones his hat—on the same day Indy coincidentally developed a fear of snakes, got his rad chin scar, and first snapped a bullwhip—"You lost today, kid. But that doesn't mean you have to like it." I don't like it. But now... I'm a general? A leader? Or I'm supposed to be? And a leader wouldn't sit idle. So I put on my best camp counselor voice. "Full speed ahead," I bark, starting to stand. "We're gonna need some Carapaces. We gotta head for the Tower. Thrull has the schematics—and a head start. There's no time to rest, no time to delay, no time to—" But June wraps her hand around mine. Her human hand on top of the monstrosity that my Cosmic Hand

然后它就消失了。所有的一切。 Ghazt。堡垒。门户。 就像有人在天上缝了个口子。 一切突然变得非常安静。 加斯特将军，宇宙恐怖-我们的死敌变成了意想不到的盟友-死了。 这次是真的。Wracksaw吗? 我不确定。《打手排》？ 我当然不希望。我们本有机会阻止雷佐克的到来，但我们失败了。 那个给印第安纳琼斯戴上帽子的家伙说了一句不朽的话：“你今天输了，孩子。”就在同一天，印第安纳琼斯碰巧患上了蛇恐惧症，下巴上留下了疤痕，还第一次抽了一根牛鞭。 但这并不意味着你必须喜欢它。” 我不喜欢它。但现在…… 我是将军？一个领导者呢?或者我应该是？ 一个领导者是不会闲坐的。 所以我用了我最好的夏令营顾问的声音。 “全速前进。”我喊道，开始站起来。 “我们需要一些甲壳。 我们得去伦敦塔。 Thrull拥有原理图和领先优势。 没有时间休息，没有时间拖延，没有时间去——”但是琼把她的手握在我的手上。 她的人类之手放在我的宇宙之手的怪物上

has become. A monstrosity that's... also me. "We did enough today," she says, staring out at the star-speckled sky. "Take a breath." "Take five breaths," Dirk says Drooler meeps sharply. "Or six, sure," Dirk adds. "I concur. We must..." Quint starts to say, but before he can finish—his body is slumping against mine, his head flopping on my shoulder, and he's breathing softly. Rover wriggles behind me, a great big pillow. I forgot how warm he is. And how soft his fur is against my skin. And how curling up with him always felt like home. Skaelka collapses against him. He licks her face. She licks him back. The creature-brigade forms a giant snuggle pile around Rover. And soon, they're all snoring.

已经成为。一个怪物…… 还我。“我们今天做得够多了，”她凝视着繁星点点的天空说。 “深呼吸。”“深呼吸五次，”德克说。 “或者六个，当然，”德克补充道。 “我同意。我们必须……”昆特开始说话，但还没说完，他的身体就靠在我的身上，他的头靠在我的肩膀上，他轻轻地呼吸着。 罗孚在我身后蠕动，一个很大的枕头。 我忘了他有多温暖。他的毛在我的皮肤上多么柔软。 和他窝在一起总有家的感觉。 斯卡卡倒在他身上。 他舔她的脸。她回舔他。 这群生物在Rover周围形成了一个巨大的依偎堆。 很快，他们都开始打鼾了。

The Mallusk rocks us gently as it rumbles through the night. The air is fresh, the wind is cool. My Cosmic Hand beats in time to my heart. I hear it clearly. I feel incredibly... alive. A single bubble of slime dribbles out of Drooler's nose as he breathes: big bubble, little bubble. I laugh. I should poke Quint and June so they don't miss it. But it's so peaceful now. I think I'm just gonna shut my eyes for a little bit...

马洛斯克号在夜晚隆隆驶过，轻轻地摇晃着我们。 空气清新，风凉爽。 我的宇宙之手及时地敲打着我的心。 我听得很清楚。我觉得难以置信…… 活着。当流口水呼吸时，一团粘液从他的鼻子里滴了出来：大泡泡，小泡泡。 我笑了起来。我应该戳昆特和琼，免得他们错过。 但现在很平静。我想我还是闭上眼睛一会儿吧……