15 The Eleven Portals

Chapter 15 The Eleven Portals So she's trapped in New York?" said Peanut. "It seems likely," sighed Mrs M, "I just hope she's OK. We hope to find a way to bring her back one day." And what about Mr White? Did he come back?" "Well, that's the curious thing," said Mr M. "Another Resistance operative spotted him less than an hour later back at the Spire." "Less than an hour?" said Rockwell. "How is that even possible?" Well, don't forget that by this time White had Conté's pencil in his possession. And, as you know, the great power of Pencil Number One is that it can draw portals between the worlds."

第15章 十一扇传送门 “这么说她被困在纽约了？”花生说道。 “看起来很有可能，”M夫人叹了口气，“我只希望她平安无事。 我们希望有朝一日能找到办法带她回来。” 那怀特先生呢？ 他回来了吗？” “嗯，怪事就在这儿，”M先生说，“不到一小时前，另一名抵抗组织特工还在尖塔看到他了。” “不到一小时？”罗克韦尔说道。 这怎么可能呢？” 别忘了，这时候怀特已经拿到了孔特的铅笔。 而且你知道，一号铅笔的强大能力，就是能画出连通不同世界的传送门。”

"So we think White drew a new portal that led to the Spire, and he simply walked back through," said Mrs M. "Gosh, Conté really knew what he was doing when he invented that thing!" "What happened next?" asked Rockwell. "Well, we carried on with our surveillance," said Mr M. "We owed it to Frida not to give up. Millicent and I even went on a few of the reconnaissance mission ourselves." "And did you discover anything else?" said Peanut. "Yes." Mrs M nodded. Quite a lot actually. Over the next few months, White and his cronies started to make more trips to the city limits. And this time, he didn't stick to Warholia. He visited pretty much every district. First it was Vincent Fields, then the Grid, then Modernia. In fact, he worked his way around the entire city. Well, almost the entire city." "We should mention that he visited each district twice," chimed in Mr M. "The first trip must have always been a recce, of sorts, because after a few hours combing the city limits, he returned to the Spire alongside the RAZERs and Alan. Then they would all head back out in a much more targeted way a day or two later. And this time, crucially, the RAZERs and Alan would return to the Spire without White. The pattern was always the same. "So he must have discovered more portals!" gasped Little-Bit.

“所以我们认为，怀特画了一扇通往尖塔的新传送门，直接走回来了，”M夫人说，“天呐，孔特发明这东西的时候，绝对清楚它有多厉害！” “之后发生了什么？”罗克韦尔问道。 “嗯，我们继续监视，”M先生说，“为了弗里达，我们不能放弃。 米莉森特和我甚至还亲自执行了好几次侦察任务。” “那你们还有别的发现吗？”花生说道。 “有。” M夫人点了点头。 其实我们发现了不少东西。 接下来的几个月里，怀特和他的党羽开始频繁出入城市边界。 而且这次，他不只是去沃霍尔区了。 几乎每个区他都去过了。 先是文森特原野，接着是网格区，再后来是现代区。 事实上，他绕遍了整座城市。 哦，差不多整座城市。” “我们得补充一句，每个区他都去了两次，”M先生插话说，“第一次肯定就是侦察，差不多就是这样，他在城市边界搜寻几小时后，就会跟着锐齿战队和艾伦一起回尖塔。 一两天后，他们会再度出发，而且目标明确得多。 关键是，这次回去的时候，锐齿战队和艾伦都自己回了尖塔，留下了怀特。 每次的规律都一模一样。 这么说他肯定找到了更多传送门！ 小波喘着气说道。

"That's right, little one," said Mrs M. "But, fortunately, we also discovered them!" added Mr M. You see, Frida isn't our only surveillance expert. As Mr White found each portal and disappeared through them, one of our agents would be watching, and they would follow him a few minutes later when the coast was clear. They were under strict instructions to simply observe their surroundings, try to get a sense of where in the world they were, and come straight back through the portal as quickly as possible. We didn't want any repeats of what happened to Frida." And were your agents able to tell where each portal led?" asked Rockwell. "They were. We've managed to compile a pretty comprehensive list." She handed a piece of paper to Peanut. "Whoa!" said Peanut. "So the portals lead to places all over the world?" Apparently so," said Mrs M.

“没错，小家伙，”M夫人说，“不过幸运的是，我们也发现这些传送门了！” M先生补充道：你知道，弗里达可不是我们唯一的侦察专家。 每当怀特找到传送门走进去，我们就有特工在暗处盯梢，等情况安全后，几分钟后就会跟进去。 他们接到了严格命令：只需要观察周围环境，弄清那是世界的哪个地方，就立刻尽快顺着传送门回来。 我们可不想让弗里达的遭遇重演。” 那你们的特工能说出每扇传送门通往哪里吗？”罗克韦尔问道。 “能。 我们整理出了一份相当完整的名单。” 她把一张纸递给了花生。 “哇哦！”花生说道。 “所以这些传送门通往世界各地对吗？” 看起来是的，”M夫人说道。

"Hang on a second." Peanut pulled the map, with her handwritten list of missing artworks on the back, from her dungarees pocket. "MomA, the Forbidden City, the Van Gogh Museum—this tallies almost perfectly with the missing masterpieces. The ones that have been mysteriously disintegrating. Apart from the National Portrait Gallery, these are the exact places they disappeared from!" "I wondered if they might be," said Mrs M. "We were sure that Mr White must be stealing the artworks! Little-Bit worked out that, somehow, he must be making fakes here in Chroma, and replacing the originals. Then he probably brings the originals back here. I bet he's got them all stored somewhere in the Spire." "Quite possibly," said Mrs M, "and we will do our best to recover them." That's outrageous!" said Rockwell. "I wish we could just arrest him or something. "Well, that could be a bit tricky due to the whole army-of-robots. thing," said Mr M. "To be honest," said Mrs M, "I think that the stealing of the artworks is a bit of a red herring. I'd wager that it's just a little distraction to keep him amused while he concentrates on his masterplan." "His masterplan?" said Rockwell, nervousness creeping into his voice.

“等一下。” 花生从工装裤口袋里掏出了那张背面写着失踪艺术品手写清单的地图。 “现代艺术博物馆、故宫、梵高美术馆——这几乎和失踪的名作完全对得上。 就是那些莫名其妙消失的作品。 除了国家肖像馆，这些正好就是原作失踪的地点！” “我之前就猜到会这样了，”M夫人说。 “我们确定怀特肯定就是偷艺术品的人！ 小波想明白了，他应该就是在克罗玛这里做赝品，换掉真迹。 之后他大概率把真迹运回这里了。 我打赌他把所有真迹都藏在尖塔的某个地方。” “很有可能，”M夫人说，“我们会尽全力把它们找回来的。” 这太过分了！”罗克韦尔说道。 “我真希望我们能直接逮捕他之类的。 唔，这事有点难办，毕竟他有一整支机器人军队， 这档子事，”M先生说。“实话说，”M夫人说，“我觉得偷艺术品不过是个转移注意力的幌子。 我敢打赌，这只是他打发时间的小把戏，真正的精力都放在他的大计划上了。” “他的大计划？”罗克韦尔说着，声音里透出一丝紧张。

"Yes. You see, when we sent agents back to the location of each portal a few hours after White went through them, on every single occasion the portal no longer worked. It had been closed. Just like that vent in Warholia," said Mr M. And you think Mr White did that?" asked Peanut. "We do." "So his masterplan is... to close all of the portals?" "Yes. No portals means no creatives. And that would mean the end of the Illustrated City," said Mrs M. "So do you see why we must fight back?" said Mr M. "We have to stop him.

“没错。 你看，怀特走进传送门几小时后，我们派特工回到每个传送门的位置，结果每一次传送门都已经没法用了。 它已经被关上了。 就跟沃霍尔区的那个出口一样，”M先生说。 你们觉得是怀特干的？”花生问道。 “我们确定是他。” “所以他的大计划是……关掉所有传送门？” “没错。 没有传送门就不会有新创作者进来。 那这座插画之城就走到尽头了，”M夫人说。 “所以你明白我们为什么必须反抗了吧？”M先生说，“我们得阻止他。