Ground Stars / 地上星 · Ch.125 第125章 恶魇电话的惊恐
第125章 恶魇电话的惊恐
Chapter 125: The Terror of a Nightmare Phone Call
莫里坚实有力的指头按向拨号圆盘，2… 0…
Morris’s firm, powerful fingers pressed down on the dial pad, rotating to 2… 0…
一个数位与一个数位滑动。
One digit after another slid into place.
确认无误后，按下井号按钮的瞬间，听筒里发出呜咽呼啸声，仿佛有漫天漫地的洪流奔腾。
The moment he confirmed there was no mistake and pressed the pound key, a wailing howl erupted from the earpiece, as if a torrential flood were thundering across the sky and earth.
一种恍惚的心慌感快速萦绕自心间，莫里感觉自己的思绪不由自主往未知处飘然，似被卷进时间的洪流，又似前往根本没有时间的虚无之地。
A stifling unease swiftly coiled around his heart; Morris felt his thoughts uncontrollably drifting into the unknown, as if swept into the torrent of time, or rushing toward a void where time utterly ceased to exist.
[我的时序被抵消失败，麦蚜女士为我支付了3000N.]
If my Chronos is nullified, Lady Myaphid paid 3000N for me.】
｛未来编码已同频。｝
{Future code successfully synchronized.}
｛嘟嘟嘟，我在模拟占线声，希望熟悉的声音能让你的等待不那么焦急。｝
{Beep-beep-beep, I’m simulating a busy signal, hoping that a familiar sound eases your restless wait.}
随著「哒」的轻响，一切奇异的感觉消失，唯一不同的是听筒内响起了轻微呼吸，似乎已有人在虚无的另一端接通了电话。
With a soft “click,” all strange sensations vanished; the only difference was a faint breath now whispered through the earpiece, as if someone had already answered the call on the other side of the void.
｛计时开始。｝
{The clock starts ticking.}
「Hallo…」
“Hallo…”
｛过去的我，你好。｝
{Past me, hello.}
「你… 呃，我好？」
“You… um, me?”
脑袋一时有点发懵，不知该称呼对方「你好」还是「我好」的莫里听到了这句话，他清了清脑子道，「Hi，Future me，Did you find Julia？」
His mind went momentarily blank; unsure whether the greeting should be “hello” or “me,” Morris heard those words, shook his thoughts clear, and said, “Hi, future me, did you find Julia?”
｛她或许在地球，她或许很安全。｝
{She might be on Earth, and she might be safe.}
听到这话，莫里一下舒心的靠在椅子上。
Hearing this, Morris leaned back in his chair with a wave of relief washing over him.
原来是并没有过来这个世界啊。
So she didn’t come to this world after all.
还好还好，心中一直的牵挂终于放下了，但失去挚爱的思念与痛苦又在下一秒涌现而出，但至少这次痛苦的只有自己一人。
Good, good—the constant worry in his heart finally let go. Yet the longing and pain of losing his beloved surged back in the next second, but at least this time, only he alone had to suffer.
只要她并未进入这该死的世界，那就一切都好。
As long as she never entered this godforsaken world, then everything would be fine.
「还好。 未来的我，那个时候的我们怎么样？ 杨子藏变得更强了吗，我呢，有没有变强点？」
“Good. Future me, how were things for me back then? Did Yang Zicang grow stronger? And me—did I get a little stronger?”
了解最大心愿的莫里再没其他什么特别的问题，为了不浪费时间，他随口找了个话题问到，借此了解下未来也是蛮不错的。
With his deepest wish settled, Morris had no other particular questions. To avoid wasting time, he casually picked a topic, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to learn a bit about the future.
｛杨子藏已经失踪很久了，我也只被新团队当成了可有可无的人，现在我们的队长不是他，但…｝
{Yang ZiCang has been missing for a long time. I’ve been treated as a dispensable spare in the new team. Our captain now isn’t him, but…}
「呃？」莫里一愣后，怅然道：「嗯，他应该是存够万年时序，去往那里了对吧。」
“Huh?” Morris paused stunned, then said with a rueful sigh, “Mm, he must have saved up ten thousand years of Chronos and gone to that place, right.”
那这么说，自己应该是按照之前的想法，一直停留在了枢纽镇。所以后面遇到的团队对自己不怎么样吗？
So that meant, following his original plan, he’d been stuck in Hubville all along. The team he met later didn’t treat him well?
那应该是未来那新队伍不需要像杨子藏一样的战斗，都是些小打小闹的时序投资，所以才不在乎自己的能力吧。
That must be because the future new team didn’t need battles like Yang ZiCang’s—just petty ChronosInvest skirmishes. That’s why they didn’t care about his abilities.
但为什么不离开？因为还没找到更合适的团队吗？莫里一下有点失落的想到很多。
But why not leave? Could it be that he hasn’t found a more suitable team yet? Morris’s thoughts drifted, tinged with a hint of disappointment.
然而听筒中却道：
Yet the voice on the other end spoke:
｛不，过去的莫里。我已等了很久才等到这通电话，时间紧迫，请听好我接下来说的内容。｝
{No, Morris of the past. I have waited long for this call; time is pressing, so please listen carefully to what I am about to say.}
「什么？」
“What?”
莫里忽然听到对面有许多英语的交流声。
Morris suddenly heard a flurry of English conversations on the other end.
他心念急转，像是知道了为什么未来的自己，在此刻交流时为何还要用中文了。
His mind raced wildly, as if he suddenly grasped why his future self insisted on using Chinese to communicate at this moment.
听筒中，莫里急切道：
Into the receiver, Morris urged urgently:
｛失频之地有个组织叫时迁，他们的核心曾是具尸体，那具尸体就是最初的时迁。有位拥有特殊能力的外科手术医生，代号为绷带，他将最初死去的时迁肢解后给自己以及很多人嫁接了它的器官与身体部位，从而获得了提取他人Moexl的能力！｝
{In the Shibin Wastes, there exists an organization called Shí Qiān; their core was once a corpse, and that very corpse was the original Shí Qiān. A certain surgeon with a special ability, codenamed Bandaid, dismembered the original dead Shí Qiān and grafted its organs and body parts onto himself and many others, thereby obtaining the ability to extract others’ Moxel!}
他的速度非常快，就像是将这句话重复了很多很多次，以求在这一刻清晰快速的复述出来。
He spoke with astonishing speed, as though he had repeated this sentence over and over, striving in this fleeting moment to deliver it clearly and swiftly.
｛那种能力叫做【时序迁移】。它可以将使用者的时序Moexl完整转移至所嫁接的器官内储存并交易。｝
{That ability is called [Chronos Migration]. It allows the user to completely transfer their Chronos Moxel into the grafted organs for storage and trading.}
「什么意思？」
“What do you mean?”
听到对面突然急切的说起这些自己意料之外的事，莫里突然感觉到一种不可控。
Upon hearing these unexpected revelations suddenly poured out from the other end, an overwhelming sense of unpredictability assailed Morris’s heart.
自己的未来像是霎时变成了滑腻的鱼般，有点握不住开始摆动的它了。
His own future suddenly felt like a slippery fish, beginning to writhe and slip from his grasp, and he could barely hold onto it.
｛他们获得的额外能力若不替换掉「时序迁移Moexl」，最多只在其体内保留七日。而时迁们除了七日试用，还能完全替换Moexl，但那样就会失去时序迁移能力。｝
{If the extra abilities they gained are not used to replace the “Chronos Migration Moxel,” they will only remain within their bodies for up to seven days. As for the Chronos Migrators, besides the seven-day trial, they can also replace their Moxel entirely—but doing so would cost them the ability of Chronos migration.}
莫里一愣。还可以替换Moexl，这简直是神技。
Morris was stunned. The ability to replace the Moxel—it was practically a divine skill.
｛从我们现在的情报来看，你所在的那个时期，时迁团队里的人应该还有六七人左右。最终获得杨子藏能力的人叫做楚骏，在未来的现在也被叫做神风魔楚骏，他太强了。｝
{Based on our current intelligence, there should still be about six or seven people in the Chronos Migrator team during your period. The one who ultimately obtained Yang ZiCang’s ability is named Chu Jun. In the now of the future, he is also known as the Divine Wind Knight Chu Jun—he is terrifyingly powerful.}
「等等！你说最终获得杨子藏的能力？」
“Wait! You said—ultimately obtained Yang ZiCang’s ability?”
有人获得杨子藏的能力？！
Someone had obtained Yang ZiCang’s ability?!
莫里感觉自己像是被谁抽了一闷棍似的。
Morris felt as if he had been struck with a blunt blow out of nowhere.
这消息让他有点恍惚，是对杨子藏的遭遇，更是对自己该如何选择的茫然。
This news left him dazed—disturbed by Yang ZiCang’s fate, and even more lost about his own choice ahead.
那个人叫楚骏吗？
That man—his name was Chu Jun?
「时间不多了。」麦蚜道。
“Time is running out,” Mai Ya said.
听筒里快速的讲话声由不得莫里胡思乱想。
The rapid voice over the receiver left no room for Morris’s thoughts to wander.
｛偷走它的不一定是这人。因为目前还没见到他用出比杨子藏多的Moexl能力。反正小心一个叫李尚响的小子，那个形象就是最初时迁的形象，失频之地到处都有他的身影，他们都自称李尚响，只有替换Moexl才会解除外貌。｝
“The one who stole it might not be this person. Because so far, he hasn’t been seen using more Moxel abilities than Yang ZiCang. Anyway, beware of a guy named Lee Shangxiang—that image is the original appearance of Shi Qian, and there are sightings of him all over the Shibin Wastes. They all call themselves Lee Shangxiang, and only by replacing the Moxel can one shed that appearance.”
莫里心情复杂的听着这个消息。
Morris listened to this news with a heavy heart.
｛**时迁获得了杨子藏的信任，然后偷取了杨子藏的所有时序能力。
“Shi Qian gained Yang ZiCang’s trust and then stole all of his Chronos abilities.
记住啊，只要是靠Moexl获得的能力，都属于时序的一部分，因此——列车和他的白影念龙，乃至还能使用一次的邮徽全部都成为别人的了。
Remember, any ability obtained through Moxel is part of Chronos—so that means the train, his Paleshade Wyrm, and even the Emblem that could still be used once have all become another’s.
我已许久未见过子藏先生，他的货队成员与四边形洛宾也没能找到他。杨说不定早已经死了。**｝
I haven’t seen Mr. ZiCang in a long time, and neither the members of his Cargo Crew nor QuadRobin Lo have been able to find him. Yang might already be dead by now.”
椅子上的莫里只觉得一股恶寒涌来。
Sitting in his chair, Morris felt a wave of dread wash over him.
他原本还想问自己有没有在枢纽镇买到铺面，结果却听到了这样恐怖的消息。
He had initially planned to ask if he had managed to buy a shopfront in Hubville, only to receive such horrifying news.
这代表在未来，杨子藏很可能成为一个被困在失频之地的普通人，而那种人基本难以存活。
This meant that in the future, Yang ZiCang would likely become an ordinary person trapped in the Shibin Wastes—and people like that can barely survive.
「还有十三秒。」女士贴心的提示道。
“Thirteen seconds left,” the lady reminded him gently.
｛时间上，如果我没记错，那就是在你打完这通电话后不久，大约是半个月后我就联系不到他了。｝
“As for timing—if I remember correctly—shortly after you finish this call, about half a month later, I won’t be able to get in touch with him anymore.”
「打完电话，未来会被锚定的吧。」
“After the call, the future will be anchored, won’t it…”
半个月？莫里有些后悔，又有些焦急的道。这通电话，到底是打给未来，还是在无数可能中选择了个未来？！
Two weeks? Morris felt a pang of regret and anxiety. This call—was it really to the future, or had he chosen one out of countless possibilities?!
他顿时有点后悔打出这通电话。
Suddenly, he regretted making this call.
｛未来会被锚定，锚定的未来即是命运，但这只是我们的！莫里，去帮杨子藏度过那场危机。未来的我已经做好了牺牲的准备，这个未来我不喜欢，我想要的，是拥有茱莉亚的未来！｝
{The future will be anchored. An anchored future is destiny—but this applies only to us! Morris, go and help Yang ZiCang weather through that crisis. The future self I have already prepared for sacrifice; I don’t like this future. What I want… is a future with Julia!}
「她不是没有过来…」
“She didn’t come over after all…”
｛她是跟人走了，她不爱我了！我想要改变，她选的人根本不值得托付…｝
{She left with someone else! She doesn’t love me anymore! I want to change it, but the person she chose isn’t worth entrusting with…}
「什么！」
“What!”
莫里的心徒然揪紧。
Morris’s heart suddenly clenched tight.
「你到底在说什么胡话！她到底在哪里！」
“What nonsense are you talking about! Where on earth is she?!”
｛反正，若是你成功…六个月之后就应该能猜到道为什么…关于杨子藏的未来我只能透露这么多，还有改变的机会，我…咳，咳咳…我…真好，你应该是做到了…我解脱了…｝
{Anyway, if you succeed… Six months later, you’ll probably know why. That’s all I can reveal about Yang ZiCang’s future—there’s still a chance to change it. I… *cough, cough* … I… truly… you must have done it… I’m free…}
啪嗒。
Click.
通话似乎结束了，莫里感觉一阵眩晕，自己的灵魂像是被切割了一刀似的。
The call seemed to end. A wave of dizziness hit Morris as if his very soul was gouged and slashed.
那个自己应该死了。
That self of his should be dead.
不是，是彻底消失了…
No—utterly gone…
竟然说解脱…
And yet, they’d spoken of delivery…
新的队伍到底是什么样的…自己在未来居然一心求死吗。
What exactly was this new team… He had actually sought death in the future.
莫里浑浑噩噩。
Morris was in a daze, his mind clouded.
想到那句，「她是跟人走了」的话，莫里感同身受的体会到了未来自己是如何的痛苦与心碎。
Recalling the words, “She left with someone,” Morris could truly feel the agony and heartbreak his future self had endured.
「未来到底是怎么了。」
“What the hell happened to the future?”
他痛苦的闭上眼低着头。
He closed his eyes in anguish, lowering his head.
「看来我又多了位失望的客人，嗯，通话时间恰好，虽然还剩两秒。」
“Looks like I’ve got another disappointed customer. Well, the call timing’s perfect—though there are still two seconds left.”
女士淡淡看了眼电话。
The woman glanced indifferently at the phone.
对方听到了不好的消息，不过这样的人她见挺多，大多数人对自己的未来都不怎么喜欢。
The person on the other end had heard bad news, but she had seen enough of this type. Most people didn’t have much fondness for their own futures.
还剩两秒却断线了，这意味着未来的接听者已不存在。
It cut off with two seconds remaining—meaning the future receiver no longer existed.
这意味着眼前之人已不存在未来。
This meant the person before her no longer had a future.
这位了知未来的先生恐怕选择了改变，但这样做就意味着，他应该会在时空的干扰中莫名其妙的死去，这就是改变锚定未来的代价。
This man who knew the future had likely chosen to change it. But doing so meant he would probably die mysteriously amid the interference of time and space—that was the price of altering an Anchor Future.
「不好意思哦，先生。」涂着鲜艳口红的麦蚜笑道。
“Sorry about that, sir,” the lady with the vividly painted lips chuckled.
虽然这算是自己伴生恶魇的攻击方式，却不是自己所能控制的。
Though this was an attack from her parasitic Nightmare, it wasn’t something she could control.
自己未打算攻击任何人，攻击他们的正是他们自己。
She never intended to attack anyone; it was they themselves who struck each other.
突然，还未放下的电话听筒里重新响起了声音。
Suddenly, the phone receiver that had yet to be set down crackled back to life.
｛你好，莫里先生。｝
{Hello, Mr. Morris.}
桌对面的女士诧异了下。
The woman across the table arched an eyebrow in surprise.
在她的感知中，这通电话真的已经结束了，但刚刚停下的时间又重新开始了倒计时。
In her perception, the call had truly ended, but the time that had just stopped began its countdown anew.
「还有两秒。」
“Two seconds left.”
无论如何，服务继续，女士胸口红色Moexl浮动了下的提醒道。虽然说完这句话后，已经只剩一秒。
Regardless, the service continued, the red Moxel glowing on the woman’s chest as it reminded her. Though after speaking those words, only one second remained.
「你好，你…」
“Hello, you—”
｛我是洪灏承，我在一万年后与你通话。告诉杨子藏，不要对新进的我下死手。｝
{I am Hong Haocheng, speaking to you from ten thousand years in the future. Tell Yang ZiCang not to go for the kill against the fledgling me.}
麦蚜女士凝重看向听筒。
Madam Wheat Aphid stared solemnly at the receiver.
｛以后我们会是同生共死的兄弟，还有你，我的伙伴，让我们一起前往那个可能性的终结吧，把波波利也叫上。｝
{We will become brothers in arms, fighting side by side through life and death. And you, my partner, let us journey together to the end of that possibility—summon Boboli as well.}
莫里愕然。
Morris was stunned.
同样愕然的还有他对面的女人，恶魇电话对未来的通讯时间变长了，不对，不是变长，而是这一秒的消耗过后，又重新出现，仿佛这一秒在不断复活、重复。
Equally stunned was the woman across from him. The nightmare call’s connection to the future had lengthened—no, not lengthened; rather, after this second’s consumption, it reemerged, as if this very second kept resurrecting and repeating itself.
声音如同快进似的，几乎一秒就说完了一长串的话，却让自己清晰的听清了每个字音。
The voice sped up, as if fast-forwarding, delivering a long string of words almost within a second, yet still allowing her to distinctly hear every single syllable.
｛我们必须从一开始就要设计好结局…你好，我可能是在一万零三百年后…为你通话，告诉杨子藏，大转移计划中止…我在一万一千…铅塔计划也失败了…我们的…｝
{We must craft the ending from the very beginning… Hello, I may be speaking to you from ten thousand and three hundred years later… Tell Yang ZiCang to abort the Great Transfer Plan… I’m at eleven thousand… the Lead Tower Project also failed… Our…}
莫里还未理解完第一句话，第二句、第三句乃至第四句便已经重叠着传来。
Before Morris could even process the first sentence, the second, third, and fourth came overlapping, crashing into his ears.
｛你好，遥远过去的莫里先生，跟你通话可真难啊，听好，可能有效的未来是…DNA。｝
{Hello, Mr. Morris from the distant past. It’s truly difficult to reach you. Listen closely—the only future that might work is… DNA.}
无数重叠的通话声传来。
Countless overlapping voices of the call surged in.
｛你好，莫里先生…｝
{Hello, Mr. Morris…}
嗡！一道繁复的圆形三重魔纹突然浮现在莫里眼前。
Vroom! An intricate, triple-layered circular magic array suddenly appeared before Morris’s eyes.
[我的精神在震颤。]
[My spirit trembles.]
[我看到了不该看的东西，我闭不上眼，我在直视…]
[I see what I shouldn’t; I cannot close my eyes; I am staring directly into it…]
[我闻到了它的气味，]
[I smell its scent,]
[我听到了它的声音，]
[I hear its voice,]
[我见到了它的形态。]
[I behold its form.]
啪！
Crack!
只有不到一微秒，电话突然呻吟了下，这通连接瞬间断裂。
In less than a microsecond, the phone let out a strained groan, and the connection snapped instantly.