Chapter 24

chapter twenty-four I throw myself across the floor, reaching out with the Cosmic Hand. Searching, grabbing! I feel power—undefined, unknown—coursing through it. And with that hand and what I find with it, I'm able to reach every monster on board—all the way to the parking garage and its exit... Hey, citizens of Mollusk City, It's Jack. Earlier, I said a real leader won't lie to you. So here's the truth. Today has not been the best. Don't know if I'll be seeing you again. If I don't, please remember this fight. If you work together, you can fight back and you can win. That's the truth, too.

第二十四章我纵身跃过地板，伸出宇宙之手。 搜索,抓!我感到一种力量——未定义的、未知的——贯穿其中。 用那只手和我找到的东西，我可以够到船上的每一个怪物——一直到停车场和出口…… 软体动物城的市民们，我是杰克。 之前我说过，真正的领袖不会对你撒谎。 这就是真相。今天不是最好的一天。 不知道还能不能再见到你。 如果我没有，请记住这场战斗。 如果你们齐心协力，就能反击，就能赢。 这也是事实。

I open my hand, and the PA microphone clangs to the broken floor. That's all I got. Ghazt whimpers: a squeak so soft I barely hear it. "Shhh..." Thrull says cruelly, tightening the bone-whip until Ghazt goes silent. Then— FA-SHINK! Ghazt falls as Thrull's bone-whip snaps straight, a long blade pressed to my throat. Thrull's voice is a ragged snarl. "You didn't even try to reach your weapon. For someone who caused me so much trouble, I expected more. Did you expect more, too? I think you did. Fear not—there is more to come. You see, Jack..." I will end you now. You, the boy will fall, but your skeleton will rise by my hand. And then I will use you to destroy your friends down to the last.

我张开手，扩音麦克风在破碎的地板上叮当作响。 我就知道这么多。Ghazt呜咽声：一种如此轻柔的吱吱声，我几乎听不见。 “嘘……”瑟鲁残酷地说，收紧了骨鞭，直到加兹特沉默。 然后——FA-SHINK !格兹特倒下了，瑟鲁的骨鞭直冲直撞，一把长长的刀刃压在我的喉咙上。 瑟鲁的声音是刺耳的咆哮。 “你甚至没有试着去拿你的武器。 对于一个给我制造了这么多麻烦的人，我期望更多。 你也期待更多吗？我认为你做到了。 不要害怕，还有更多的事情要发生。 你看，杰克……”我现在就结束你。 你，这孩子会倒下，但你的骨架会在我的手下升起。 然后我会利用你摧毁你的朋友，直到最后一个。

I swallow. And then I hear a voice. "Stop where you are, Thrull." Huh? Who just said that? I look up—and my mouth falls open and my eyes go wide. It's Johnny Steve. And he's not alone. At every level of the mall, monsters are stepping toward the railings. I'm confused. Scared. They should be gone. They were supposed to have escaped! If we didn't buy them time, didn't save them, then this has all been for nothing. But then I see that their arms are full. They're holding loot, all of them: water pistols, Wiffle balls, buckets.

我吞下。然后我听到一个声音。 “别动，瑟鲁。” 嗯?谁说的？我抬起头，嘴巴张得大大的，眼睛睁得大大的。 我是约翰尼·史蒂夫。他并不孤单。 在商场的每一层，怪物都朝着栏杆走去。 我困惑。害怕。他们应该走了。 他们应该已经逃走了！如果我们不为他们争取时间，不救他们，那这一切就都白费了。 但后来我看到他们的手臂都满了。 他们拿着战利品，所有人：水枪，威夫球，水桶。

All of it dripping with Ultra-Slime, and all of it aimed at Thrull. "This is us working together," one monster says. "This is us fighting back," says another. Thrull looks up. His left leg buckles, then goes stiff again. It's a quick thing, and if he hadn't corrected it so quickly, I wouldn't have noticed. But it's clear: he's hurt, too. Drops of Ultra-Slime drip down his arm and pool at his feet. And whatever Thrull wants from Ghazt, I'm guessing he needs Ghazt alive. That means Ghazt is a (just barely) living ticking clock. Without the monsters' return, Thrull would have ended me. And probably June. But now... Thrull's eyes scan the monsters above.

都滴着超级黏液，都是冲着斯拉来的。 “这是我们共同努力，”一个怪物说。 “这是我们的反击，”另一个人说。 Thrull抬起头。他的左腿弯曲，然后又僵硬了。 这是一件很快的事情，如果他没有这么快就改过来，我也不会注意到。 但很明显，他也受伤了。 超级黏液滴下他的手臂，在他的脚上聚集。 不管瑟鲁想从加斯特那里得到什么，我猜他需要加斯特活着。 这意味着Ghazt是一个（勉强）活的滴答时钟。 如果没有怪物回来，斯拉尔就会结束我。 也可能是六月。但现在…… Thrull的眼睛扫视着上面的怪物。

I will see you all again. And when I do serving, kneeling, that will not be an option for you. There will be only death.

我会再见到你们的。当我跪着服侍你的时候，你可别想这么做。 只有死亡。

His eyes turn to me—staring hard. It's not just a promise that he'll see me again—that's kind of a given. This is more than that... Thanks to the Cosmic Hand, I am tied forever to the future of this fight. I can never bow out, can never just quit. Even if I wanted to. And I have a feeling Thrull is thinking something similar—like our fates are now intertwined. Cosmic Hand or not, Thrull will never let up. He won't quit until he has destroyed me, Jack Sullivan, the dopey kid who can never quite get it over on him, can never quite defeat him, but remains a post-apocalyptic thorn in his side nonetheless... Nope. Thrull's not gonna be satisfied until I'm dead. With a snapping crack, he yanks Ghazt upward— hoisting the massive rat body over his shoulder. Thrull turns. A raspy, pained yelp falls from Ghazt's lips as Thrull stomps out. And then, with one final swing of the bone-whip, Thrull smashes the pillar holding up Evie and Ghazt's Food Court headquarters. It collapses in a heap of rubble. And when the smoke and dust clear, Thrull is gone... and Ghazt is gone with him.

他的眼睛转向我——目不转睛地盯着。 这不仅仅是他会再见我的承诺——这是一种既定的承诺。 这不仅仅是……感谢宇宙之手，我与这场战斗的未来永远联系在一起。 我永远不会退出，永远不会放弃。 即使我想这么做。我有一种感觉，Thrull也在想类似的事情——就像我们的命运现在交织在一起了。 不管是不是宇宙之手，瑟鲁都不会罢休。 他不会放弃，直到他摧毁了我，杰克·沙利文，一个永远无法完全战胜他的笨孩子，永远无法完全击败他，但仍然是他的后世界末日的刺…… 不。我不死斯拉尔是不会满意的。 啪的一声，他把Ghazt拉了起来——把这只巨大的老鼠的身体扛在肩上。 Thrull。一声刺耳的、痛苦的尖叫从Ghazt的嘴里发出，Thrull跺着脚走了出去。 然后，最后一挥骨鞭，Thrull打碎了支撑着Evie And Ghazt美食广场总部的柱子。 它坍塌成一堆瓦砾。 当烟尘散去，瑟鲁尔也不见了…… 迦色也随他去了。