Ground Stars / 地上星 · Ch.03 第3章 光环Moexl·四边形 -2
第3章 光环Moexl·四边形 –2
Chapter 3: Halo Moxel·Quadrangle –2
杨子藏和张扬几人互相对视了眼，内心犹豫。
Yang Zicang and Chang Yang exchanged glances, their hearts filled with hesitation.
从异变突起到此刻，除了小雨，大家的寿命都已经不多了。
From the sudden upheaval to this moment, aside from Xiaoyu, the remaining lifespans of the others had already run thin.
「我们…」
“We…”
谁也说不清楚自己会活多少岁，说不定下一秒就寿终了。
No one could say exactly how many years they had left; perhaps in the next second, their life would end.
「投资就会有回报，若击败这只恶魇，它时序的30%，会按投资比例回报给你们。」 白鸳道。
“Investment yields returns. If you defeat this nightmare terror, 30% of its Chronos will be repaid to you according to your investment ratio,” Bai Yuan said.
几人互相看了几眼。
A few of them exchanged looks.
「我出三十年！」 少女咬著银牙做出了投资。
“I’ll invest thirty years!” the girl bit her silver teeth and made her investment.
她已经恨透了那个地中海老男人了。
She had grown to utterly despise that middle-aged Mediterranean man.
刚才要不是身边这个人，自己恐怕已经死了，直到此刻她才稍微接受了寿命也是一种资本的想法，因此直接用出了大家破开窗户所需要的最低时间。
If it hadn’t been for the person beside her just now, she would likely have been dead. Only at this moment did she reluctantly accept that lifespan, too, was a form of capital, and thus directly invested the minimum time needed for everyone to break through the window.
这样自己也算参与过战斗了。
That way, she could claim to have participated in the battle as well.
「很好，有魄力。」
“Good, that’s courageous.”
沐小雨心灵中出现反馈，寿命减少了三十年。
A feedback emerged in Mu Xiaoyu’s mind—her lifespan had decreased by thirty years.
这是一种很是神奇的能力，就像自然知晓了事件如何发生过了一般。
It was an incredibly wondrous ability, as if she naturally knew how events had transpired.
她的容貌快速变得靓丽、丰满，又逐渐松弛暗黄，以及出现几道鱼尾纹。
Her appearance rapidly grew fresh and full, then gradually withered to a sallow, dark state, with a few crow’s feet appearing at her eyes.
沐小雨寄希望于眼前这个名字奇怪的男人，至少他没有直接动手要了自己的命。
Mu Xiaoyu pinned her hopes on this man with the strange name, at least for now, he hadn’t made a direct move to take her life.
在额外的视角中，少女可以「看到」自己的寿命直接少了三十年，不过具体还剩多少，则不是很清楚，只有一种模糊的感觉，应该还有十几二十年左右。
From an additional perspective, the girl could “see” that her lifespan had been directly reduced by thirty years, though she was unclear about the exact amount remaining. She had only a vague sense that about ten or twenty years were left.
在这个视角下，杨子藏也看到自己的寿命大约还有十来年。
In this same perspective, Yang Zicang also saw that his own lifespan was approximately ten or so years.
「我出五年，抱歉，我已经用了很多寿命了。」 杨子藏道。
“I’ll offer five years. Sorry, but I’ve already used up a lot of my lifespan,” Yang Zicang said.
「我出三年。」
“I’ll offer three years.”
「你们都好厉害，我好像活不了多久了，我就…」
“You guys are impressive. It seems I don’t have much longer to live, so I’ll just…”
刘明正想拒绝，白鸳笑道：「你可以出一个月。」
Liu Ming was about to refuse, but Bai Yuan laughed and said, “You can offer a month.”
「行，那就一个月。」
“Alright, a month it is.”
随著恶魇的黑雾越来越近，男人身上的几何线条忽地不断拉长，延伸进了虚空，通往更远的地方。
As the black mist of the nightmare drew ever closer, the geometric lines on the man’s body suddenly stretched and extended endlessly, reaching into the void, leading to places far beyond.
杨子藏看到，风衣男身上的光芒逐渐浓烈起来，无数细微光点正在汇聚到他胸前的星芒内，这是其它地方的人在「投资」。
Yang Zicang could see the light on the man in the trench coat growing increasingly intense. Countless tiny specks of light were converging into the star emblem on his chest—people from other places were “investing” in him.
不知道那些人在何处，看来这个奇怪的城市还有许多跟自己一样的人。
He wondered where those people were. It seemed this strange city housed many others just like him.
他正想著，男人脚下一踏，身体化为道残影冲向巷道内，二十多米外一间居民房的墙壁被巴士怪物撞开，扭曲的巨口内喷出黑雾。
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the man stepped forward, his body turning into a blur as he charged into the alley. Beyond, over twenty meters away, the wall of a residential building was smashed open by a bus-like monster, with black mist spewing from its twisted, gaping maw.
「哈哈，又来个主动送死的！」
“Haha, another one coming to throw his life away!”
此刻在车内的黄主任已经杀红了眼，人类在他眼中不过是一合之将罢了。
At this moment, Director Huang, inside the vehicle, has gone on a killing spree, and in his eyes, humans are nothing more than opponents he can defeat in one move.
黄主任心潮澎湃的想到：对面那男人见到自己的孩子，居然没有恐惧，这家伙难道不知道，老子现在已经是这片土地上的「神」了吗！
Director Huang’s heart surges with excitement, thinking to himself: That man across the way, seeing his own child, feels no fear at all—doesn’t this bastard realize that I am already the “god” of this land now?
「吃掉他，他肯定命长，哈！」
“Devour him, he must Live a long life, ha!”
白鸳挥动右臂，一拳打出，硕大拳头被银辉色光芒包裹，与车撞在一起，发出震耳欲聋的撞击声，动静惊人。
BOOM!
巴士恶魇瞬间停下前冲的劲头。
Bai Yuan swings his right arm and throws a punch. His massive fist, wrapped in a silver-gleaming light, collides with the vehicle, producing a deafening crash—the commotion is astonishing.
「好恐怖，那男人尽然用拳头就把巴士逼停了！」 杨子藏身旁，老头摸样的张扬气喘吁吁的道。
The bus nightmare comes to an abrupt halt, its forward momentum shattered.
巴士前灯闪烁出诡异的光芒，四周的地面迅速变得半透明起来。
“How terrifying! That man actually stopped the bus with just his fist!” says Old Man Chang Yang, panting heavily beside Yang Zicang.
「呵，居然还拥有这样的能力。」 白鸳看了眼地上，他身影晃动，后退几步。
The bus’s headlights flicker with an eerie glow, and the ground around it quickly turns semi-transparent.
他双手合拢后，猛然一拉，掌间星芒闪动，一道能量力场被拉出，竖立在前方。
“Ha, so you still possess an ability like this.” Bai Yuan glances at the ground, his figure shifting as he steps back a few paces.
延伸的半透明地面被这力场阻隔。
He brings his hands together, then abruptly pulls them apart. A shimmer of starlight flickers between his palms, and an energy force field is drawn out, standing upright in front of him.
「他好像很厉害，还能产生光盾。」
The spreading semi-transparent ground is blocked by this force field.
杨子藏几人继续往前方奔跑而去，留在后方的话，除了送人头，根本帮不上什么忙。
“He seems really powerful, he can even create a shield of light.”
但在视角中，他还是能自然而然知道白鸳所在的场景，通过这种莫名的联系，能在远方看到关于战斗的细节。
Yang Zicang and the others continued to sprint forward; staying behind would only get them killed without being of any real help.
不过白鸳除了刚开始这两下子把对方挡下来，总得来说似乎并没有占据上风。
Yet within his field of perception, he could still naturally sense the scene where Bai Yuan was, and through this inexplicable connection, he could observe the details of the battle from afar.
「虽然动静很大，但白鸳好像比较吃力。」
However, aside from those initial moves where he managed to block the opponent, Bai Yuan didn’t seem to have the upper hand overall.
「或许他只是在试探吧。」
“Even though it’s quite a commotion, Bai Yuan seems to be struggling.”
心灵感知的画面中，原本狭窄的巷道犹如被炸弹爆破过，墙壁坍塌进地面之下的凹坑。
“Maybe he’s just testing the waters.”
白鸳的魁梧身影凭借著手上的力场，步步为营的推进与巴士怪物相隔的距离，到跟前后再扬起手用能量尖锥撞击对方。
In the mental perception’s vision, the originally narrow alley looked as if a bomb had detonated, with walls collapsing into a crater sunk into the ground.
他的力场可以抵消怪物的秘能。
Bai Yuan’s imposing figure, relying on his force field, steadily advanced, closing the distance with the bus monster step by step, until upon reaching it, he raised his hand to strike with an energy spike.
黄旭的身影在车内大吼著，他胸口也爆发出猩红的线条，怪物巴士出现不断闪耀的能量虚影与白鸳对撞。
His force field could neutralize the monster’s arcane energy.
车内之人的皮肤与车外撞击之人的皮肤，都肉眼可见的成熟起来。
Inside the bus, Huang Hsu’s figure roared, while scarlet lines erupted from his chest as the monster bus emitted constantly flashing energy phantoms that collided with Bai Yuan.
杨子藏看到，白鸳胸口那一点光芒内蕴含的细密光点正在飞速减少，宛如泄洪一般。
The skin of those inside the vehicle and the skin of the one striking from outside visibly matured before their eyes.
「太可怕了，他们这是消耗了多少寿命？」
Yang Zicang saw that the tiny, dense points of light within Bai Yuan’s chest were rapidly dwindling, like a dam bursting.
「这该死的世界，妈蛋，我该不会是在做噩梦还没醒。 他竟然拿手就撞停了车！」
“How terrifying, how much of their lifespan did they consume?”
「我也希望只是恶梦。」 少女紧张的睁大双眼望向后方。
“This damned world, damn it, am I still trapped in a nightmare? He actually stopped the car with his bare hands!”
她有些担心白鸳会输掉，要是那样，自己几人恐怕也活不了了。
“I hope it’s just a nightmare too.” The girl opened her eyes wide in tension, staring behind her.
她不由自主想，要是之前在车里提醒大家的那人能出现帮忙就好了，只是不知道会收多少寿命，毕竟他光是告知下车方法就想收走五十年。
She worried that Bai Yuan might lose; if that happened, she and the others probably wouldn’t survive either.
「他身上那些几何图形好厉害。」
She couldn’t help thinking, if only that person who had warned everyone earlier in the car would show up to help, but who knew how many years of life he’d demand—since he’d asked for fifty years just for telling them how to get off the bus.
亲眼见到了大楼的衰败过程，杨子藏猜测，他大概是吸纳了建筑内的那些白色能量，从而拥有了可以绽放开包裹住自己的几何体。
“Those geometric patterns on him are amazing.”
虽然只有百分之五十可能是这样，但至少已经不是毫无头绪了。
Having witnessed the building’s decay with his own eyes, Yang Zicang guessed that the man must have absorbed the white energy inside the structure, granting him geometric forms that could bloom and wrap around himself.
另外一半的可能性，则是他早已拥有那种能力，吸纳建筑蕴含的某种能量，只是将它加强而已。
Though this was only fifty percent likely, it was at least no longer a complete dead end.
毕竟大楼并未如同巴士那样变成怪物。
The other half of the possibility was that he already possessed that ability, using the energy concealed in the building merely to strengthen it.
「那边有地铁口。」
After all, the building hadn’t turned into a monster like the bus had.
虽然地铁入口对于怪物的体型来说，进入其中绰绰有余，但地铁口毕竟可以通过地下前往其它地方的出口，因此四人快速进入，向著远方跑去。
“There’s a subway entrance over there.”
呼呜——
Although the entrance to the subway was more than spacious enough to accommodate the monster’s size, the subway station was ultimately an underground passage leading elsewhere, so the four quickly entered and dashed off into the distance.
刚进入售票厅，就听到下方传来地铁的蜂鸣。
Hooom—
不知道这些车能不能进入，如果能进的话，直接可以跑出老远。
No sooner had they stepped into the ticket hall than they heard the subway’s buzzing roar from below.
几人从人群的幻影中穿过，下到乘车台后，失望地看著带著透明色泽的幻影。
They had no idea if these trains could be boarded, but if they could, they might escape far away in no time.
「太好了，至少，这些列车，不会变成怪物。」 身旁老头打气地说道。
The group passed through the spectral crowd and descended to the platform, only to stare in disappointment at the translucent apparitions before them.
之前的奔跑让他的肺满负荷运转，此刻说话也颇费力气。
“What a relief… at least these cars won’t turn into monsters,” the old man beside them said, trying to sound encouraging.
「白鸳有些力不从心了。」 少女心中有些发苦，万一白鸳战败了该怎么办。
The earlier sprint had pushed his lungs to their limit, and it took considerable effort just to speak.
自己可是用掉了三十年的寿命，虽然跟旁边这几位来说，自己这点付出是最少的，可女孩子最美貌的青春岁月就这样消耗掉了。
“Bai Yuan is losing his stamina.” Bitterness knotted in the girl’s heart—what if Bai Yuan were to fall in battle?
杨子藏露出凝重神色。
She had sacrificed thirty years of her own lifespan to get this far; although that was the least of the price among those present, the fairest blooming years of a girl’s youth had still been wasted away.
「不对，你们没发现吗，地面那些能被穿过的车和行人，都不会发出声音。」
Yang Zicang’s face turned grim.
说完，地下通道内又是一声「呼呜—」的劲风声传来。
“No, haven’t you noticed? All those cars and pedestrians we walked through on the ground—they make no sound.”
伴随著轰鸣，一道赤黄色列车身影轰然撞过停在轨道上的地铁幻影，与之重叠著停下。
As he finished speaking, another booming “Hooom—” gust roared through the underground passage.
这车是真实的！
Accompanied by a roar, a train of reddish-yellow slammed through the phantom subway carriage stopped on the tracks before overlapping and coming to a halt.
四人齐齐退了几步，警惕的看著诡异列车。
This train was real!
哐当声，车门打开，里面弥漫出令人窒息的气氛。
The four of them stepped back in unison, staring warily at the bizarre train.
一具摇晃的男人身躯走到门前，他沙哑地道：「你们… 已… 不值钱了。 大于十七年… 才能，上车。」
With a clang, the doors opened, and a suffocating atmosphere spilled out from within.
说完，门砰地声关闭。
A swaying figure of a man moved to the doorway, his voice hoarse as he spoke, “You… are… worthless now. Only those with… more than seventeen years… can board.”
几人透过车窗看到，那具男人躯体呆滞地走回座位坐下。 车厢内安静地坐著几十人，就像一个个失魂落魄的蜡像。
With that, the doors slammed shut.
列车呜地再次宾士起来。
Through the windows, they could see the sluggish man walking back to his seat and sitting down. Inside the carriage sat dozens of people, silent like lost, hollow wax figures.
当它离开，杨子藏才感觉空气中的窒息感退却。
The train roared again and sped off.
「这里，已经不是地球了啊…」
Only when it had departed did Yang Zicang feel the suffocating pressure recede from the air.
他们都看见，列车上隐约有细腻的鳞甲，如同生物。
“This… is no longer Earth…”
女孩愣愣的回想著对方的话，自己活不了十七年了吗。
They had all seen the train, faint scales as of a living creature appearing dimly along its side.
「白鸳也往外逃了，那个巴士怪物居然还能长出触手。」
The girl stood stunned, replaying his words in her mind—was she reaching the end with so little time left, unable to survive the next seventeen years?
感知中，身著白色风衣的男人在黄主任和怪物的联手攻击之下，节节败退。
“Bai Yuan escaped too, and that bus monster has even managed to grow tentacles.”
不知道他花掉了多少时序，反正沐小雨已经绝望了，人生中的第一笔投资貌似要血亏。
Through his perception, the man in the white trench coat was retreating step by step under the combined assault of Director Huang and the monster.
而且一亏就亏掉了三十年，自己马上要五十了。
Who knows how many Chronos he’d spent—Mu Xiaoyu already felt completely hopeless. It seemed his first-ever investment was about to end in catastrophic losses.
「快跑吧，从另一边出去，看能不能甩掉那东西。」 两名跟著杨子藏一路奔跑的人此刻下定决心再次分散，唯有这样才可能有更多的活命机会。
And at one stroke, he’d lost thirty years. He would be turning fifty soon.
「大哥哥，你…」
“Run. Get out through the other side. See if we can shake that thing off.” The two who had been sprinting alongside Yang Zicang made up their minds to split up again—only this way could there be any real chance of survival.
「走吧。」
“Big brother, you…”
看著转身往楼梯跑去的两人离开，杨子藏也跟了上去，但走了两步后，他顿下了脚步。
“Go.”
抬头打量了眼地铁站，这是个换乘线路，好几号地铁列车在这里交汇，因此网站也比较大。
Watching the two turn and dash toward the stairs, Yang Zicang followed suit. But after taking two steps, he abruptly stopped.
头上一只灯泡一闪闪的，随时可能坏掉。
Lifting his head, he surveyed the metro station—a transfer hub where several subway lines converged, making the station quite spacious.
转头，柱子上的海报也像是许久没有换过，出现陈旧的色彩。
A lightbulb overhead flickered unevenly, on the verge of burning out at any moment.
似乎有一种看不见的能量，如薄雾般散落在身上。
Turning his head, he noticed that posters on the pillars looked like they hadn’t been replaced in ages—their colors faded and stale.
「大哥哥，你要是不来，我就先走咯？」
There seemed to be an invisible force, like a thin mist silently settling over his body.
「好。」 杨子藏随意回应著她，此刻他的心被一种奇异的情绪笼罩，仿佛这座地铁站在挽留自己。
“Hey, big brother. If you’re not coming, I’m going on ahead, okay?”
他的目光四处打量著，最后落在那些运转的电梯上。
“Sure.” Yang Zicang casually replied to her, but his heart was caught in a strange emotion—as if this very station were urging him to stay.
自己一行人没有从电梯摔下去，说明它是真实存在的。
His eyes kept drifting, eventually landing on those moving escalators.
「地铁站…」杨子藏喃喃自语。
They hadn’t fallen in, so they must be real.
因为一直与白鸳有著联系，所以还能感知到心间那道微弱白光的存在。
“Subway station…” Yang Zicang murmured to himself.
此刻，他感觉那道白光正在有若有无的吸取著周围的某种能量，当沐小雨也离去后，这种感觉就更强了。
Because he had been connected to Bai Yuan all along, he could still feel the faint white light lingering in his heart.
｛抱歉了，四位，这怪物恶魇是别人的伴生恶魇，我一个人对付不了它。 等明天，我队友回来，肯定能将它拿下，你们不要担心。｝
At that moment, he sensed that white light faintly absorbing some kind of energy from its surroundings—and this sensation grew stronger after Mu Xiaoyu left.
说完，那一直如第三视角看著白鸳的画面骤然消失。
{Sorry, all four of you. This nightmare creature is someone else’s bonded nightmare—I can’t take it on alone. Wait until tomorrow when my teammate returns; he’ll definitely be able to subdue it. Don’t worry.}
那家伙跑掉了！
With that, the image that had been watching Bai Yuan like a third-person perspective vanished abruptly.
也就在此时，杨子藏所在的这处换层线路的地铁站内。
That bastard had run off!
四处的墙壁上忽然涌现无数的白色蛛网，它们如同一股股能量流转，周围的建筑快速变得陈旧起来。
Just then, inside the subway station on the transfer line where Yang Zicang was standing—
Countless white spiderwebs suddenly surged from the walls around him, streaming like currents of energy, while the nearby structures rapidly aged and fell into decay.