Chapter 22

chapter twenty-two When I come to, my head aches, and I can't tell how much time has passed. Thick, heavy ropes bind my limbs. I crane my neck, and— What the... There's a giant pirate ship anchor next to me. Oh man—what dimension is this? There's a staticky buzzing sound—the lights overheard flicker, as some last, tiny bit of electricity shudders through them. In the dim light, I see a pirate. The real deal. Eye patch. Wooden leg. The whole thing. Have these Rifters dragged me onto the set of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Oh no, am I inside Davy Jones's locker? I spin my head wildly, before spotting a sign that explains it all—

第二十二章当我醒来时，我的头痛，我不知道时间已经过去了多少。 又粗又重的绳子捆住了我的四肢。 我伸长脖子，然后… 我旁边有一艘巨大的海盗船。 天哪，这是什么维度？ 有一种嘈杂的嗡嗡声——偷听到的灯光闪烁着，最后一点微弱的电流颤抖着穿过它们。 在昏暗的灯光下，我看到一个海盗。 真正的交易。眼罩。木腿。 整件事。这些撕裂者把我拖到加勒比海盗电影的片场去了吗？ 哦不，我在戴维·琼斯的储物柜里吗？ 我疯狂地旋转着我的头，然后发现了一个解释这一切的标志

putfputp on the high seas. Swashbuckling adventure for all ages Okay, so, time to play catch-up, brain. I've been taken prisoner by the Rifters. I'm inside, presumably—their hideout. And their hideout is a mini golf course, because, well, the end of the world is the weirdest. Think. Think. Need to escape. My eyes dart left and right, searching for— KRAK!

把船放在公海上。 适合所有年龄的惊险冒险好了，是时候追赶了，大脑。 我被裂谷人俘虏了。 我在里面，大概是他们的藏身处。 他们的藏身之处是一个迷你高尔夫球场，因为，世界末日是最奇怪的。 思考。思考。需要逃离。 我的眼睛左顾右盼，寻找——咔嚓！

A door flies open. I shut my eyes, pretending to still be knocked out in case they spill the beans on anything worthwhile. "When do we go back for the baby Wretch?" I hear a voice ask. It's the Rifter, Flunk, who struggled with the concept of a tire swing. "You said it was a gift for Thrull." "S'right!" Boss says. "Ya see, Flunk, to prove our loyalty to Thrull, we needs to bring him a gift. A gift of value! Winged Wretches can bend minds; that gives 'em value. And a baby Wretch, that ain't been trained up? One Thrull can raise however he wants? That's even MORE value! And the big grand slam part is... it's got no wings! A Wingless Wretch! That goes and makes it the best gift of all, cuz it can't escape." "Yep! A mighty good gift, Boss! Best gift I ever heard of! I bet no better gift exists, except maybe a coupon for—"

一扇门突然开了。我闭上眼睛，假装还在昏昏沉沉的，以防他们泄露了什么有意义的事情。 “我们什么时候回去接那个小坏蛋？”我听到一个声音问。 这是裂谷人，弗朗克，他一直纠结于轮胎挥杆的概念。 “你说这是给斯拉尔的礼物。” “年代'right !”老板说。“你看，弗朗克，为了证明我们对瑟鲁的忠诚，我们需要给他带一件礼物。 一份有价值的礼物！长着翅膀的可怜虫能使人屈服；这给了他们价值。 一个没有受过训练的小坏蛋？ 一个Thrull想怎么养就怎么养？ 这更有价值！最重要的是…… 它没有翅膀！一个没有翅膀的可怜虫！这使它成为最好的礼物，因为它无法逃脱。” “是的!真是个好礼物，老板！我听过的最好的礼物！我敢打赌没有比这更好的礼物了，除了一张优惠券——”

THE WRETCH IS NO LONGER THE GIFT FLUNK. OH, I hear Boss and Flunk's scrap-metal boots on the floor. "The baby Wretch would be a happy-makin' thing to Thrull," the Boss Rifter says. "But Thrull wields big power now. He's got lots a' happy-makin' things. We must do more. Lucky fer us, I know just wants...." Thrull "A pizza party?" "REVENGE!" Boss barks. "Think of how Thrull will reward our loyalty when we hand

可怜虫不再是礼物不及格。 哦，我听到Boss和Flunk的废金属靴子在地板上的声音。 “小坏蛋对Thrull来说是件快乐的事，”Boss Rifter说。 “但萨鲁尔现在掌握着强大的力量。 他有很多让人快乐的东西。 我们必须做得更多。我们很幸运，我知道只是想....” “披萨派对？”“报仇!”老板叫。 “想想看，当我们交出武器时，Thrull会如何奖励我们的忠诚

over one of his sworn enemies!" He kicks the anchor and my eyes fly open. The Boss looms over me. "How lucky I am that we found each other," he says, with an ugly chuckle. "The one with the Multi- Hand...." Whoa, what? "Back it up there a sec, pal," I say, squinting up at him. "The multi-what?" The Boss Rifter's long, thick fingers tap the Thing-A-Ma-Blasty Gadget Blaster. "Ohhhh, you mean the Thing-A-Ma-Blasty Gadget Blaster!" I say. "I used to call it the Gift. And, wait, you guys call it the Multi- Hand? Okay, we need to all get on the same page here, name-wise. I mean, just for ease of communication. Y'know what—how about we just call it Blasty? Simple, to the point." The Boss Rifter snickers. "Soon, it'll belong to Thrull. Along with you. And then he can call it any name he likes. See, it's all goin' ta belong to him. Until .e...c. arrivens..."

而不是他的死敌！”他踢了一下锚，我睁大了眼睛。 “老板”向我逼近。“我们找到了彼此，我是多么幸运啊，”他说着，丑陋地咯咯笑着。 “多手的那个....” 哇,什么?“等一下，伙计。”我说着，眯起眼睛看着他。 “multi-what ?”Boss裂口者又长又粗的手指轻敲了一下爆炸装置。 “哦，你是说那个东西爆炸装置爆炸装置！”我说。 “我以前叫它‘礼物’。 等等，你们管它叫多手牌？ 好吧，我们得在名字上达成一致。 我是说，只是为了方便交流。 这样吧，我们就叫它爆破吧？ 简单，直截了当。”裂谷老板在窃笑。 “很快，它就属于瑟鲁了。 和你一起。然后他可以叫它任何他喜欢的名字。 瞧，这一切都将属于他。 直到生产…c。arrivens……”

He makes a horrible laughing sound— choking as he cackles. Bits of spittle fly. I'm turning my head to avoid the shower of saliva when I see— Blood. A few tiny drops of magenta and teal on the Boss's boot. It all comes rushing back. The moment before it all went black. Neon. Crying out. Overwhelmed by that savage, sinister swarm of Wretches. And that final, horrible blow. I feel a lump in my throat. But I refuse to let this villain see me cry. I swallow it down, stiffen, and stare up at the Boss. "I'm going to ask you a question," I say. "And please. Just please—give me a real answer."

他发出可怕的笑声——他咯咯地笑得哽咽。 唾沫飞溅。我转过头来，以免看到-血。 在Boss的靴子上滴了几滴洋红色和青色。 一切都回来了。 在一切变黑之前的那一刻。 霓虹灯。哭出来。被那群野蛮险恶的可怜虫压垮了。 最后，可怕的一击。 我感到喉咙哽咽。 但我不想让这个恶棍看到我哭泣。 我咽了下去，挺直了腰板，抬头盯着“老板”。 “我要问你一个问题，”我说。 ”,请。请给我一个真实的答案。”