1 Going Underground

Part One in which Peanut attempts a daring rescue

第一部分 皮娜展开一场勇敢的救援行动

1 Going Underground They walked, at pace, down a long, metal-lined corridor. Gary Jones led the way, followed by his daughter Peanut, her younger sister Little-Bit, their older brother Leo, and Peanut's friend, Rockwell Riley. Woodhouse, a talking rat with a strong Glaswegian accent, and 67, a large silver robot who had recently defected from the city's RAZER army, brought up the rear. Rockwell was trying to stay as far away from the rat as possible, but it was proving difficult in the narrow corridor. "Whoa! So many books," said Little-Bit, looking to her left at the packed shelves that ran

1 潜入地下 他们快步走下一条长长的、内壁铺着金属的走廊 加里·琼斯走在最前面，身后跟着女儿皮娜、小女儿小丽特、大儿子利奥，还有皮娜的朋友罗克韦尔·莱利 说话带着浓重格拉斯哥口音的会说话老鼠伍德豪斯，还有刚从城市RAZER军团叛逃出来的巨型银色机器人67，走在队伍最后 罗克韦尔尽量和这只老鼠离得远远的，可走廊太窄，这实在太难了 “哇！” 好多书呀，小丽特一边说，一边看向左手边那一整排摆满东西的架子，架子一直

the entire length of the wall. "What are they all about, Daddy?" "Chroma, mainly," he replied. "Woodhouse and 67 sourced them for me. I thought I should be productive with my time while hidden away and learn as much as I could about the place and its history. I have spent a lot of time here, after all. The books were also a good distraction. I was missing you all so much." He pulled Little-Bit in for a quick hug. A few months ago, Dad had escaped from the Spire, a huge tower in the middle of the Illustrated City which, until very recently, had been serving as a prison for enemies of Chroma's evil mayor, Mr White. Although Dad had been imprisoned for many years, time moved at a much faster rate in Chroma. So, as far as his children were concerned, he had only been missing for a little over twelve months. That was more than long enough, however. A few days after he'd disappeared from home, a postcard had arrived at the Jones's house, supposedly from Dad. It said that he had left the family and gone to live in Mexico. But Peanut hadn't believed a word of it. Not for one second. She knew that her dad would never leave them, and she had been very vocal about the fact. However, Peanut's mother, Tracey Jones, had taken the postcard at face value and was furious with her husband for deserting them all.

沿着墙延伸了一整面墙 “这些都是讲什么的呀，爸爸？” “主要都是讲克罗玛这个地方的，”他回答道 “是伍德豪斯和67帮我找来的 我躲在这里的时候得好好利用时间，多了解这个地方还有它的历史 毕竟我已经在这里待了很长时间了 这些书也能帮我分散注意力 我太想你们几个了。” 他把小丽特拉过来匆匆抱了一下 几个月前，爸爸从尖塔逃了出来，那是画中城中心的一座巨塔，直到不久前，它还是克罗玛邪恶市长怀特先生关押反对派的监狱 虽然爸爸被关了很多年，可克罗玛的时间流速快得多 所以对他的孩子们来说，爸爸才失踪了一年多一点 不过就算只有一年多，也已经足够难熬了 爸爸离家几天后，琼斯家收到了一张明信片，据说落款是爸爸 上面写着他离开了家人，去墨西哥生活了 可皮娜一个字都不信 一秒都没有信过 她知道爸爸永远不会抛下他们，而且她也一直把这个想法说得明明白白 不过皮娜的妈妈特蕾西·琼斯却信了明信片上的话，对丈夫抛下全家怒不可遏

Now that Peanut had been proved right, she couldn't wait to give her mother the good news: that Dad hadn't left them. Instead, he'd been kidnapped and imprisoned inside a tower at the centre of an illustrated city in another dimension by Mr White, who, incidentally, was the alter ego of Mr Stone, her boss at the accountancy firm. Peanut sighed. She realised how far- fetched it sounded. But it was true and Mum needed to know that truth as soon as possible especially as she was currently with Mr Stone in Milan and, Peanut believed, in serious trouble. "Let's pick up the

现在皮娜证明了自己是对的，她迫不及待要把好消息告诉妈妈：爸爸根本没有抛下她们 相反，他是被怀特先生绑架囚禁在了另一个维度的画中城中心的高塔中，说起来，怀特还是妈妈所在会计师事务所老板斯通先生的另一重身份 皮娜叹了口气 她也清楚这一切听上去太离谱了 可这千真万确，妈妈必须尽快知道真相，尤其是现在她正和斯通先生在米兰，皮娜认为她处境十分危险 “咱们加快

pace," Dad said gently but with determination in his voice. "It's important we get to Italy as soon as possible to rescue your mum." Knowing how dangerous Mr Stone was, Peanut was glad that Dad had come up with a plan so quickly. The group finally reached the door at the end of the corridor and Dad turned the large, metal wheel that was attached to it. It made a strange hissing sound as it rotated. Once he had unlocked it, Dad opened the heavy door and ushered everyone into a small, windowless room. He shut the door behind them with a loud clang, locked it via another large wheel, and told 67 to press the button on the wall. The whole room juddered, and then slowly began to move downwards. "Ooh, a lift," said Rockwell. "Where is it taking us?" "Ooh, you'll see, pal," said Woodhouse the rat. "You'll see."

脚步，”爸爸柔声说道，语气里满是坚定 “我们得尽快赶到意大利救你们妈妈，这事刻不容缓。” 皮娜知道斯通先生非常危险，很高兴爸爸这么快就想出了计划 一行人终于走到了走廊尽头的门前，爸爸转动了门上的巨型金属转轮 转轮转动的时候发出了奇怪的嘶嘶声 打开锁后，爸爸推开沉重的门，领着所有人走进了一间没有窗户的小房间 他带上门，门发出哐当一声响，又转了另一个大转轮锁好门，吩咐67按下墙上的按钮 整个房间晃了一下，接着慢慢开始向下移动 “哦，是电梯呀，”罗克韦尔说 “它要带我们去哪儿？” “嘿嘿，你很快就知道啦，伙计，”老鼠伍德豪斯说 “你很快就知道啦。”