36 The Balloon

Chapter 36 The Balloon When the group got back to the warehouse, Peanut got to work. First, she pulled Little Tail from the bandolier and drew a large basket, big enough for the three children to stand in. She then painted a series of huge sausage-like shapes. "You guys need to help me with these," she said, placing her watercolours on the floor. "Use any colours you like." Half an hour, and a lot of paint, later, it was ready. The children stood back and admired their work. "Wow," said a smiling Rockwell, his face spattered with coloured paint flecks. "I can't believe we've made this! I feel super-proud!" "It's going to brighten up the whole sky," said Little-Bit.

第36章 热气球 大伙回到仓库后，花生就开始忙活了。 首先，她从子弹带里掏出小尾巴笔，画了个大篮子，大到能容下三个小朋友站进去。 接着她画了一连串像香肠一样的巨大形状。 “你们得过来帮我一起弄，”她一边说，一边把水彩颜料放到地上。 “想用什么颜色都行。” 忙活了半小时，用掉好多颜料后，东西终于做好了。 小朋友们退后一步，欣赏着自己的作品。 “哇哦，”罗克韦尔笑着说，他脸上溅满了彩色的颜料斑点。 “真不敢相信我们居然做出来了！ 我太骄傲了！” “它会让整片天空都亮起来的，”小点点说。

"Yes. That'll show Mr White that he's got a long way to go before he gets rid of all the colour in Chroma. Great work, team," said Peanut. "Right, Rockwell, first I need a bit of help with the physics, then let's drag it outside and get on our way. "Sure thing, boss. You just need to draw a burner, a couple of propane tanks and a parachute valve, and we're all set." As they drifted over Chroma in their hot-air balloon-animal, Peanut, Rockwell and Little-Bit looked down at the city below. Despite the sun being low in the evening sky, they could easily make out the quirky buildings of Warholia that they'd just seen from ground level, as well as skyscrapers made entirely of scouring pad and cereal boxes, a lipstick power station, and, randomly, a giant shuttlecock in the middle of a field. As they crossed into the skies above Dali Point West, the landscape below them began to change dramatically. The industrial feel of Warholia was replaced by a sandy desert-like landscape. There were several lakes packed with enormous swans and surrounded by tall trees with ladders instead of trunks. Herds of strange-looking elephants wandered between enormous eggs, melting clocks and giant old-fashioned telephones, their legs so long and spindly that it looked like they were walking on stilts.

“没错。 要让怀特先生知道，想把克罗玛的所有颜色都清除掉，他还差得远呢。 干得好，大伙，”花生说。 “好了，罗克韦尔，首先我得你帮我弄一下结构，然后我们把它拖出去出发吧。 “包在我身上，老大。 你只要画好燃烧器、两个丙烷罐还有降落伞阀门，我们就搞定了。” 当他们乘着这只动物形状的热气球飘过克罗玛上空时，花生、罗克韦尔和小点点低头看着下方的城市。 虽然傍晚的太阳已经落得很低，他们还是能清楚认出刚从地面看过的沃霍尔区奇奇怪怪的建筑，还有全由百洁布和麦片盒做成的摩天大楼，口红做的发电站，以及田野中央莫名其妙冒出来的巨型羽毛球。 当他们飞到大理西点上空时，下方的景色开始大变样。 沃霍尔区的工业感不见了，取而代之的是沙漠般的沙地景观。 这里有好几座湖泊，湖里挤满了巨大的天鹅，湖边围着好多大树，这些树的树干居然是梯子。 一群群模样怪异的大象在巨蛋、融化的时钟和巨型老式电话之间闲逛，它们的腿又长又细，看起来就像踩着高跷走路。

"Well, that's something you don't see every day," said Rockwell. "Look!" said Peanut. "Can you see all those platoons of RAZERs? None of them are moving. It's like they've all been deactivated." "You don't think we did that, do you?" said Little-Bit. "What do you mean?" "Well, you know when we were in that room at the top of the Spire, and Rocky pressed all those buttons? They changed from green to red, remember? What if they controlled the RAZERs?" Rockwell turned to look at Little- Bit. He could smell a hero moment. "Er, yes," he said. "She's probably right. I mean, she's always right, isn't she? It must have been me. Basically, I disabled all of the RAZERs and saved us all. Yes. That is definitely what happened. The Jones sisters looked at each other and laughed fondly at Rockwell. Right, we need to start our descent," said Peanut. "Rockwell, do the honours. I can see normal trees and grass over there." He pulled the parachute-valve chord and

“哇，这种景色可不是天天都能见到，”罗克韦尔说。 “看！”花生说。 “你看到那一队队的雷泽了吗？ 它们全都一动不动。 它们好像全都被关停了。” “不会是我们做到的吧？”小点点说。 “你是什么意思？” “你想啊，我们之前在尖塔顶层的房间，罗基按了所有的按钮对不对？ 按钮从绿色变成红色了，还记得吗？ 说不定那些按钮就是控制雷泽的呀？” 罗克韦尔转过头看向小点点。 他嗅到了属于英雄的时刻。 “呃，没错，”他说。 “她说的说不定对。 我是说，她一直都很对，不是吗？ 肯定是我干的。 说白了，我关掉了所有雷泽，救了我们所有人。 没错。 肯定就是这么回事。 琼斯姐妹对视一眼，看着罗克韦尔会心地笑了。 “好了，我们该开始降落了，”花生说。 “罗克韦尔，该你操作啦。 我看到那边有正常的树和草地了。” 他拉动了降落伞阀门的拉绳，

the balloon began to sink in the painted sky, resplendent in the kinds of reds, oranges and pinks that accompany the most beautiful sunsets. The deserts of Dali Point West were soon replaced by the rolling hills of the Green Valleys, and a few minutes later they spotted the winding river that led to the hay wain and the new Bunker. "Peanut," said Little-Bit, looking up at her big sister as they descended. "I'm worried about Mum and Leo. Remember what the Markmakers said about our family being in danger now that Mr White knows about Dad probably being Conté's heir?" "Listen, LB," said Peanut, putting an arm around the little girl, "that was before we got Little Tail back. Mr White is nowhere near Mum right now. He and Alan are still trying to get back to Chroma from New York, and then he'll only be thinking about how he's going to get his hands on the pencil again. So if anyone needs to be worried it's probably us. I'm sure he's not thinking about Mum and Leo at the moment. Anyway, we'll be back home soon, and we'll have Little Tail with us, so we can make sure that they're safe." "OK," said Little-Bit, reassured. She snuggled into her big sister's embrace. Don't worry, guys," said Rockwell as he guided the balloon smoothly downwards towards the red mill building. "You've got me to protect you too, remember. And, as we have just established, I am a bona fide hero."

热气球开始在画出来的天空中下降，天空布满了绝美日落才有的鲜红色、橙色和粉色，绚烂极了。 大理西点的沙漠很快被绿谷连绵的山丘取代，几分钟后他们看到了蜿蜒的河流，这条河通向干草车和新掩体。 “花生，”小点点一边降落一边抬头看着姐姐说。 “我担心妈妈和利奥。 还记得创色师说的吗？现在怀特先生知道爸爸可能是孔戴的继承人，我们家就有危险了。” “听我说，小点点，”花生伸出胳膊搂住小妹妹，“那还是我们找回小尾巴之前的事。 怀特先生现在根本不在妈妈附近。 他和艾伦还在从纽约回克罗玛的路上，而且他满脑子只会想着怎么把小尾巴笔抢回去。 所以说真要担心，也该是我们担心才对。 我肯定他现在根本没功夫想妈妈和利奥。 反正我们很快就到家了，我们还有小尾巴，肯定能保证他们安全的。” “好，”小点点放下心来，说道。 她依偎进姐姐的怀里。 “别担心，伙计们，”罗克韦尔一边说，一边操控热气球稳稳朝着红色磨坊建筑下降， “还有我保护你们呢，别忘了。 而且，我们刚才都说了，我是正儿八经的英雄呀。”