62 The Top of the Spire

Chapter 62 The Top of the Spire Peanut charged up the stairs, leading the group straight into the pencil-drawn storm cloud. The inside was illuminated by flashing pockets of bright, crackling electricity, but the group managed to dodge the lightning and, to everyone's relief, arrive at the top unscathed. Peanut looked at the door at the end of the staircase. It was just a few steps away now and it was wide open. "Nerys must have gone through already," she said to her ink-covered, wind blown family. "I just hope we're not too late." Peanut started to walk towards the door. "Wait for me," said Dade "I am Conté's heir, so I really

第62章 尖塔顶端 花生冲上楼，领着大伙径直冲进了铅笔绘出的暴风云里。 云里不时有噼啪作响的明闪电照亮四周，大家躲开了闪电，最终毫发无伤抵达顶端，所有人都松了口气。 花生看向楼梯尽头的那扇门。 门只差几步就到了，还大敞着。 "内里斯肯定已经进去了，"她对满身沾着墨水、被风吹乱的家人说。 "只希望我们还不算太晚。" 花生朝着那扇门走了过去。 "等等我，"戴德说 "我是孔代的继承人，所以 我真

should be there with you. It's me who needs to get hold of Little Tail, after all, if the prophecy is to be fulfilled." Peanut grabbed her dad's hand, and then they stepped through the door together. It led to an open-air walkway no more than a metre wide, with a barrier that came up to Peanut's chest. The path completely circled the outside of the Spire a few metres below its tip. Sitting on top of that tip was a thin, white, pylon-like structure, reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower, that reached a further ten metres into the bright Chroma sky.

应该和你一起去那里。 毕竟预言要实现的话，本来就该由我去抓住小尾巴。" 花生攥住爸爸的手，接着俩人一起跨进了门里。 门后是条不足一米宽的露天步道，护栏刚好到花生的胸口高度。 这条路绕着尖塔外侧整圈，在离尖顶往下几米的位置。 尖顶上立着一个细细的白色塔状结构，像埃菲尔铁塔，再往上伸了十米，直插明亮的彩墨天空。

"Is that the mooring mast?" asked Peanut. "I think so," replied Dad. "What is a mooring mast?" said Rockwell, as he came through the door onto the walkway with the others. "It must be where they park the Giant X," said Dad, as he continued to walk around. An airship like that would have to be tied to something when it was refuelled so that it didn't float away. Maybe that's why they added this mast to the Spire.

"那就是系泊桅吗？"花生问道。 "我觉得是。"爸爸回答。 "系泊桅是什么呀？"洛克威尔跟着大家走出门口来到步道上，开口问道。 "肯定就是停巨型X号的地方呀。"爸爸一边往前走一边说。 这种飞艇加油的时候得系在什么东西上，才不会飘走呀。 说不定他们就是为了这个才把桅杆加建在尖塔上的。

Little-Bit stood on her tiptoes and looked down over the edge of the barrier. "LB!" shouted Mum. "Get away from the edge!" "Look!" Little-Bit shouted. "Superheroes! They're everywhere!" Peanut looked over the barrier. Her sister was right! The sky below them was full of cloaked figures, criss-crossing and zig-zagging through the air.

小不点踮起脚尖，从护栏边往下望。 "小不点！"妈妈喊道。 "离边儿远点！" "你们看呀！" 小不点大喊。 "是超级英雄！ 到处都是！" 花生顺着护栏往下看。 妹妹说的没错！ 她们下方的天空全是披着斗篷的身影，在半空里来来回回穿梭。

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "They must have escaped from the lake!" And if they've escaped, then maybe they're helping everybody else to escape too," said Rockwell, excitedly. "Yes! The lake looks like it's emptying of people," said Mum. And that's not all," added Leo. "Look over there. In the snow!" On the white expanse of the North Draw's snowfields, a dark shape was sprawled across the ground. Even from a great height, it looked huge. "It's the Giant X!" shouted Rockwell. And it looks like it's been deflated! Josephine must have brought it down, just like she said she would. I bet she found a way to override 67's protocol! I mean, of course she did! If she can build something that disables RAZERs with the click of a button, she can definitely figure out how to do the same with Giant Xs! Gosh, she's brilliant.

"哇哦！"她惊呼道。 "他们肯定从湖里逃出来了！" "要是他们逃出来了，说不定还在帮其他人一起逃呢。"洛克威尔兴奋地说。 "没错！ 湖里的人差不多都走空啦。"妈妈说道。 还不止这个呢，"里奥补充说。 "看那边。 雪地里！" 北画原白茫茫的雪地上，摊着一个黑乎乎的大影子。 哪怕隔了这么远，它看着也超大个。 "是巨型X号！"洛克威尔大喊。 它看起来已经被放气了！ 约瑟芬肯定说到做到，把它打下来了！ 我打赌她找到办法绕过67号的协议了！ 我是说，她肯定能做到呀！ 要是她能造出按一下按钮就废掉剃刀装置的东西，那她肯定也能搞定巨型X号！ 天呀，她太厉害了。

"Never mind that now, said Dad, urgently. "Let's stay focused. It's Nerys we're after, remember. I've just done a full circuit of the walkway and all I could find was this." He held up the Mona Lisa. "She must have dropped it. But Nerys herself is nowhere to be seen. It's like she's vanished into thin air. I've got a terrible feeling that she's already drawn a portal and left..." "Er, Dad," said Peanut. "She hasn't left. "Where is she, then?" he asked. Peanut pointed to the mast. "She's up there."

"先别说这个了，"爸爸急切地说。 "我们集中精神。 我们要找的是内里斯，别忘了。 我刚绕步道走了一整圈，只找到了这个。" 他举起了《蒙娜丽莎》。 "肯定是她掉在这里的。 可内里斯本人哪儿都找不到。 她就跟凭空消失了一样。 我有种不好的预感，她已经画好传送门走了……" "那个，爸爸，"花生说。 "她还没走。 "那她在哪儿呀？"他问。 花生指向桅杆。 "她就在上面呢。"