Chapter 8

chapter eight I lock eyes with the monster who killed Ghazt. Who tried to kill me and my friends—but failed. Who tried to deliver the Tower Schematics to Thrull—and succeeded. His demanding, bossy whine splits the air. "SEIZE THE BOY WITH THE COSMIC HAND!" I glance around the deck, hoping to find some other kid with a Cosmic Hand. No luck. Wracksaw roars, "He's standing right there, looking confused! Seize him, Debra-Bulb! The one with the hand!" "Hey!" I shout. "We've all got hands!" "Not me," Peaches says, tapping her goo-splattered sword. "Fine," I mutter. Then I shout again, "We've all got hands except for Peaches!" Then... wait... what did he say? Wracksaw has two Dire Nurse minions: Debra and Eye-Bulb. But he just said Debra-Bulb, like they're a single entity. Maybe 'cause Wracksaw's so self- obsessed that he can't be bothered to differentiate between them? Or maybe because—

第八章我看到了杀死Ghazt的怪物。 他想杀了我和我的朋友，但失败了。 他想把塔图交给瑟鲁，而且成功了。 他那苛刻、专横的哀鸣声震耳欲聋。 “用宇宙之手抓住这个男孩！”我扫视了一下甲板，希望能找到其他有宇宙之手的孩子。 没有运气。锯尸鬼吼道：“他就站在那儿，一脸困惑！抓住他，黛布拉-布拉！有手的那个！”“嘿!”我喊。 “我们都有手！”“不是我，”桃子说，轻敲着她那沾满黏液的剑。 “好吧，”我咕哝着。然后我又喊：“我们都有手，除了桃子！”然后…… 等待……他说了什么？Wracksaw有两个可怕的护士随从：Debra和Eye-Bulb。 但他只说了黛布拉灯泡，好像他们是一个整体。 也许因为锯怪太自恋了，他都懒得区分他们？ 或者也许是因为——

I shriek in revulsion as Debra and Eye-Bulb swing into view. At the same time. Atop the same strayfur. Because Debra and Eye-Bulb are now... -DEBRA-BULB! interfused when two become one. Still got that one eye bulb, It's like they've been smushed together—jammed and collided and rearranged. I wonder if their shocking

当黛布拉和“眼球”进入我的视野时，我厌恶地尖叫起来。 同时。在同一只流浪狗身上。 因为黛布拉和眼球现在… -DEBRA-BULB !合二为一的。 还有一个眼球，就像它们被挤在一起了——挤在一起，碰撞，重新排列。 我想知道他们是否令人震惊

synthesis is a side effect of passing through Ghazt's portal? Or is it more of Wracksaw's horrible handiwork? I could definitely see him Frankensteining his subordinates to unleash a little rage. But right now, it doesn't matter how they turned into this. What matters is that they're seconds from steering their strayfur into me and plucking me off the deck. "Seizing the boy, sir!" Eye-Bulb shouts. "That's what I was gonna say!" Debra shoots back. "WRACKSAW, SIR, WE ARE SEIZING THE BOY!" "Don't copy me!" Eye-Bulb snaps. He turns to scowl at Debra, causing the strayfur to suddenly swing to the right. Debra shrieks, the strayfur caws, and a massive needle attack is unleashed. BOOM! A dozen sparking shards pound the Mamooph's hide. It lets out a pained, angry grunt and stampedes faster, putting some distance between us and the bad guys—if only for a moment. With a second to breathe, I grab the Goon Platoon for a quick huddle-up. "Here's the deal," I say, forcing myself to sound at least a tiny bit confident and competent. "These rip-tears opened, and I saw—well, I dunno, exactly. Like, awful beings looming over

合成是通过伽兹特传送门的副作用？ 还是说这是锯怪的杰作？ 我完全可以想象他会用科学怪人的方式让他的下属发泄一点愤怒。 但现在，他们怎么变成这样已经不重要了。 重要的是他们马上就会把他们的流浪狗带到我身上然后把我从甲板上拽下来。 “抓住那孩子，先生！”Eye-Bulb喊道。 “这就是我要说的！”黛布拉反驳道。 “笨蛋，先生，我们要抓住那孩子了！”“别抄我的！”Eye-Bulb快照。 他转身对黛布拉怒目而视，导致这只流浪狗突然转向右边。 黛布拉尖叫着，流浪狗叫了起来，一场大规模的针刺袭击开始了。 繁荣!一打冒着火花的碎片敲打着马穆夫的皮。 它发出一声痛苦、愤怒的咕噜声，加快了脚步，把我们和坏人拉开了一段距离——哪怕只是片刻。 有一秒钟的喘息时间，我抓住了“打手排”，快速地挤在一起。 “事情是这样的，”我说，强迫自己至少表现出一点点自信和能力。 “这些泪珠裂开了，我看到——嗯，我不知道，确切地说。 就像可怕的生物在逼近

something even more awful. But whatever I saw—I think it holds the key to how to defeat .e...c.. And my buddy Globlet told me—" They all gasp. "Globlet the Infamous?" Peaches asks. "Globlet the Charming Rogue?" Cannonhead Johnson asks. "Globlet the Late-Night Queen?" Dave asks. "What? No. Different Globlet. Globlet the, uh, sassy, maybe. Doesn't matter, she's still in my dimension. But she told me there's a monster here who knows, like, everything—and can hopefully decipher what I saw. A monster named Shuggoth—" At the word Shuggoth, the Goon Platoon gets weird. Even though it's quick, I catch it: Peaches shooting Dave a glare, like a warning. But Dave ignores it. "Shuggoth knows just about everything, that's true," Dave says. "But to speak with her, you'll need to—" Peaches slams the dull side of her blade against his mouth, silencing him. "No. It is risky." "The kid stepped through a dimensional wormhole and straight into a battle with Wracksaw," Dave protests, pushing the blade away. "That is risky." "Risky for him alone," Peaches says. "A consultation with Shuggoth would endanger many."

更可怕的事情。 但无论我看到了什么，我认为它掌握着如何打败…… 我的朋友Globlet告诉我：“他们都会喘气。 “臭名昭著的环球球？”桃子问道。 “迷人的流氓环球球？”大炮头约翰逊问道。 “Globlet，深夜女王？”戴夫问道。 “什么?否。Globlet不同。 Globlet，呃，时髦的，也许。 没关系，她还在我的次元里。 但她告诉我这里有个怪物什么都知道，希望能破译我看到的东西。 一个叫Shuggoth的怪物——“听到Shuggoth这个词，打手排变得很奇怪。 尽管动作很快，我还是抓住了：桃子朝戴夫瞪了一眼，就像警告一样。 但戴夫没有理会。“Shuggoth几乎什么都知道，这是真的，”Dave说。 “但是要和她说话，你需要——”桃子把她钝钝的刀刃狠狠地砸在他的嘴上，让他闭嘴。 “没有。这很危险。”“这孩子穿过了一个次元虫洞，直接进入了与断臂锯的战斗中。”戴夫抗议道，推开了刀刃。 “这很冒险。”“对他一个人来说很冒险，”皮什说。 “与Shuggoth协商会危及很多人。”

Peaches and Dave stare at each other a long moment. A stalemate. It's Cannonhead Johnson—the last of the trio I'd expect to help me—who breaks the silence. "The little dude will die just trying to reach Shuggoth. And the little dude kinda bugs me, so I don't really care. I'll tell him. Shuggoth's at the Hidden City." "Wait, I bug you? Why do I bug you? Is there one specific thing or—" I start, then pause, realizing Cannonhead just gave me Shuggoth's location! "The Hidden City! Got it, good, finally making some progress. Geez—it's like pulling teeth with you guys." "Ooh, pulling teeth!" Peaches exclaims. "That is my preferred rainy-day activity! Forget Shuggoth. Stay here with us, and we will play pulling-teeth games. First game begins now!"

桃子和戴夫对视了很长时间。 一个僵局。打破沉默的是加农海德·约翰逊——我希望能帮助我的三人组中最后一个。 “这个小家伙会死在到达Shuggoth的路上。 那个小家伙有点烦我，所以我也不在乎。 我会告诉他的。舒哥特在隐秘之城。” “等等，我打扰你了？”我为什么要打扰你？ 我开始说，然后停了一下，意识到Cannonhead刚刚给了我Shuggoth的位置！“隐秘之城！”知道了，很好，终于有进展了。 天啊——跟你们在一起就像拔牙一样。” “哦，拔牙！”桃子惊呼道。 “这是我最喜欢的雨天活动！”忘记Shuggoth。 和我们呆在一起，我们玩拔牙游戏。 第一场比赛现在开始！”

No thank you I'm about to ask the Goon Platoon a few more questions: Can they hook me up with a ride to the Hidden City? What makes talking with Shuggoth so risky? Should I bring Shuggoth a gift or something, like a loaf of banana bread? But I don't get the chance. The sky is draped over by a huge shadow. I look up. It's not storm clouds, not a solar eclipse, not a misplaced patio umbrella.

不了，谢谢，我正准备再问“打手排”几个问题：他们能帮我搭个便车去隐秘之城吗？ 是什么让和Shuggoth谈话如此危险？ 我应该给Shuggoth带个礼物什么的吗，比如一条香蕉面包？ 但我没有机会。 天空被一个巨大的阴影笼罩着。 我抬起头。不是乌云，不是日食，也不是放错地方的伞。