Chapter 8 third quarter

If these words really shocked the mayor, she didn't show it at all. It's past one o'clock in the morning, and she really wants to end this negotiation quickly, but she also knows that she must not be in a hurry.The young man had to be taken care of, and she didn't want him to snap his line.Moreover, she didn't want to invalidate him in vain, because he might be able to perform a little function first. She said, "Is that possible? So you're saying that the story that Ekati wrote about the Battle of Kalgan, and how Second Base was destroyed, is all fake? A fabrication? A hoax? A pile of lies?"

Trevize shrugged and replied: "That's not necessarily the case. This has nothing to do with the issue we are discussing now. If we assume that Ikadi's account is all true, she really knows everything and says everything. ;Assuming that everything happened exactly as Icarty described, the Second Foundation's lair was indeed found, and all its members were arrested. But how can we say that every member of theirs was arrested Don’t forget, the object controlled by the Second Foundation is the entire galaxy, not just the history of Terminus, and it is not limited to the First Foundation. They are not only responsible for our capital world, or the entire Federation .There must be some Second Foundation operatives hiding a thousand parsecs away—or beyond, and is it possible for us to catch them all?"

"If we didn't capture them all in one fell swoop, can we claim that we have won a big victory? Can the mule say that? He first took down the terminal star, and all the worlds directly controlled by the base, and the independent trading world at that time Still fighting; and later he broke those trade worlds, but three slipped away: Ablin Meath, Beda Darrell, and her husband. The mule brought two of them under his control However, he did not control Betan at all—and let Beta alone. If we are willing to believe the novel written by Icarty, the mule did this because of emotion. And one person is enough to change everything, according to According to Icarty's account, there is only one person left in the entire galaxy—only Beda can do whatever she wants. And the actions she made really made it impossible for Mule to find the second base, which led to his final failure."

"Only one person retaining free will can make the mule lose everything! All the legends surrounding the Seldon plan emphasize that individuals are not worth mentioning at all, and only the reaction of the group is meaningful, but in this case It turns out that individuals do have a lot of influence.” "When we destroyed Second Foundation, what if it seemed likely that not one but dozens of Second Foundation elements slipped through the net? Wouldn't they reunite , rebuild the second base, recruit troops everywhere, after a period of hard work, and then continue their work, making us their puppets again?"

Burano said in a serious tone: "Do you believe it is possible?" "I'm absolutely sure." "But please tell me, Senator, why are they asking for trouble? Why do the few poor people who are left cling to a plan that no one likes? They are trying to make the galaxy develop towards the Second Empire. Behind this What is the driving force behind it? If they, a small group of people, insist on completing this mission, why should we care? Why can't we just accept the arrangement of this plan and be grateful to them? Because they will do everything possible, without letting our historical footsteps be deflected or lost."

Trevize raised his hand and rubbed his eyes. Although he was much younger, he seemed to be more tired than the other party.Then he glared at the mayor and said, "I can't believe you. Do you really think the Second Foundation is doing this for us? Are they a bunch of idealists? Can't you Political common sense, based on the actual experience of power struggle and politics, clearly sees one fact—they are doing this for themselves?” "We're nothing but death squads on the charge, just the engine and the powerhouse of the whole mechanism. We fight, sweat, blood and tears, and they just control and steer—tune this amp, flip that switch, work It's easy and comfortable, and you don't have to take personal risks. Finally, when everything is done, that is, when we have finally established the Second Galactic Empire after a thousand years of hard work, the people of the Second Foundation will appear swaggeringly, become the real ruling class."

Burano said: "So, do you want to completely wipe out the second base? Now we have completed half of the work of establishing the second empire. You want to try to reject their assistance from now on and be your own master, so as to We'll do the rest on our own, shall we?" "Of course! Of course! Isn't this also your hope? Although you and I can't see this day coming, you have children and grandchildren, and I will have children and grandchildren in the future, and the children and grandchildren will have children and grandchildren again, and the generations will continue. I want them to enjoy the fruits of our hard work. I want them to see us as the source and praise our achievements when they are cautiously chasing the end. I don't want all our hard work to be absorbed by Seldon's conspiracy-he doesn't Not my hero. I'm telling you, he's a bigger threat to us than the Mule - if we ever let his plan go through. Galaxy on earth, I wish the Mule had dismantled the whole plan, and forever Unrecoverable. After he's dead, we're still alive, anyway, he has a limited lifespan, but Second Foundation seems invincible."

"And yet you want to destroy Second Base, don't you?" "If only I knew how to do it!" "But you don't know how to do it. Didn't it occur to you that they might be preemptive?" Trevize showed a look of disdain. "I even suspected that even you might be under their control. Your accurate guess of what the Seldon image will say, and the methods you used to deal with me later, may be the conspiracy of the Second Foundation .You may only be left with an empty shell, which has already been filled by the Second Foundation." "Then why do you keep telling me so much?"

"Because, if you are indeed under the control of the Second Foundation, I will die anyway, and venting like this will at least let me out. And, in fact, I still bet that you are not under their control, it is just It’s just doing these things unintentionally.” Burano added: "Anyway, you obviously won the bet. No one is controlling me but myself. But then again, how can you be sure that I am telling the truth? If I do get the second base Will I admit it? If I am really controlled by them, how can I know?" "Of course, there's no point in discussing these issues. I believe I'm not under control, so you have to buy it. But, if you think about it, if the Second Base existed, their greatest wish must be to hope It is certain that no one in the galaxy knows this fact. Only the pawns of Seldon's plan—that is, us, who have no knowledge of the content of the plan and how they are controlled, can this plan go smoothly. Because The presence of the mule allowed the Foundation to focus on the Second Foundation, and thus the Second Foundation was destroyed—or should I say, almost destroyed—in Icarty's time. Senator, are you right? "

"From this, we can deduce two lemmas. First, we can reasonably assume that the various interventions they have made on the galaxy have been minimized. From this we can also assume that they It is impossible to completely control us. Even if the Second Foundation does exist, its power must have certain limits. If it controls some people and makes others suspicious, the Seldon plan will be distorted. Therefore, we will One conclusion that can be drawn is that their interventions are as subtle, indirect, and diffuse as possible. So I'm not under control, and neither are you." Trevize said: "I can accept the first lemma—maybe, based on wishful optimism. What is the other?"

"That's a simpler, more inevitable consequence. If the Second Foundation exists, and wishes to keep it a secret, then one thing is absolutely certain - if anyone thinks it still exists, and discusses it with others Maybe, even if they talk about it in public, and the whole galaxy knows about it, they will definitely use some ingenious method to solve, eradicate, and eliminate this person immediately. Don’t you think so? " Trevize said: "That's why you arrested me, Madam Mayor? To protect me from being murdered by the Second Foundation?" "From a certain point of view, it can indeed be said that. The confession carefully recorded by Leonor Cordel is not only to clarify to all the people in Endpoint City and the base, so that everyone will not be confused by your demonic words; Another purpose is to reassure the people at the Second Base. If they really exist, I don't want you to draw their attention." "It's unimaginable," Trevize said in a sarcastic tone. "So it's for my sake? Because I have a pair of lovely brown eyes?" Burano was immediately moved, and then, without any warning, let out a burst of steady laughter.Then she went on: "I'm not that old, Senator, to fail to notice your lovely brown eyes, and that might have been enough of my motive if it had been thirty years ago. But right now, I'm not going to lend a half-millimeter to save those eyes, or the rest of you. The thing is, if Second Foundation exists, and you've got their attention, then, It's not like they're going to let you go. Besides my old life, there are many others far smarter and more valuable than you, and all the plans we have made long ago will all be threatened by them." "Oh? So you do believe in the existence of the Second Foundation, which is why you act so cautiously against their possible reaction?" Burano punched the table in front of him. "Of course I do, you invincible idiot! If I don't believe in the existence of the Second Foundation, if I haven't fought them with all my might, why should I care if you make such a big fuss about it? The Second Base is nothing but nonsense, so it doesn’t matter if you spread the word about their potential threat? In fact, a few months ago, I wanted to try to keep you silent about this issue before you made it public, but for a congressman , but I have no right to forcibly interfere. After the image of Seldon appeared, my reputation was instantly boosted, and my power expanded invisibly—even if it was only temporarily. And at this moment, you really blew up this issue in public, So I took action without hesitation. Now, if you still refuse to do what I say, and try to resist for the slightest, I will execute you immediately. I will not have the slightest qualm, nor will I Seconds of hesitation." "At this moment, I should have fallen asleep peacefully long ago, but I deliberately picked this time to come here and tell you so much, just to make you believe everything I said. I want you to know , The issue of the second base—I have carefully analyzed it for you just now—gives me enough reasons and motives to directly stop your brain waves without giving you any chance of trial.” Trevize heard this, and immediately got ready to get up. "Oh, don't act rashly," Burano said. "I'm just an old woman, you must think so, but before you touch a hair on me, you're dead. My men are watching, silly You silly young man, don't you know that?" Trevize had to sit down again, and said, "It's really unreasonable for you to do this. If you believe that the Second Foundation still exists, you shouldn't say this so brazenly. You said I was exposing myself to danger, you It is impossible to wish to be threatened in the same way." There was only a slight tremor in his voice. "Well, now that you know it yourself, I'm at least a little more cautious than you are. In other words, you believe that the Second Foundation exists, but you talk about it because you're an idiot; and I believe it too. It exists, but now I dare to speak casually-because I have taken perfect precautions. Since you seem to be familiar with the history written by Ikaty, you should remember that she mentioned that her father once invented a A device called a 'spiritual noise device'. It can be used as a spiritual shield, enough to resist the spiritual power of the second base. This device has not been lost, on the contrary, we have improved it to be more effective, of course, in extreme cases. It was carried out in a confidential manner. At this moment, this house is quite safe, and you are not afraid of being spied on by them for any information. Now that you have understood this, I can tell you that the task I will assign to you is what." "What mission?" "Now that you and I have come to an agreement, I want you to prove it for me. You have to prove that Second Foundation still exists, and if the answer is yes, you are responsible for finding out where they are hiding. This is Say, you have to leave Terminus, although I don't know where you're going to find it—even if you find out that the Second Foundation is with us in the end, just like Ikaty's time, you have to go first Go around the galaxy. This means that you must never come back until you have the information we need. If you never find something, then you never have to come back. In this way, at least there will be fewer A fool." "How can I keep a secret while looking for them? They will definitely find a way to kill me, which will do you no good at all." Trevize found himself stuttering. "Then don't go looking for them, innocent boy, you can look for something else. You just go looking for something else with all your heart, and they won't bother to notice you. If in the process of looking, you stumble upon them If there is any trace, then it would be great! You can send us a sealed hyperwave telegram with the code, which is tantamount to atonement, and you can return to the terminal star." "I guess you already know the 'something else' I'm looking for." "Of course I know. Do you know Janov Pelorat?" "Never heard of this name." "You'll see him tomorrow, and he'll tell you what to look for. And he'll go with you, on our most advanced ship. Just the two of you going it alone, because betting your two lives That's enough. If you try to get back here before you get the satisfactory answers we need, you'll be wrecked in space within a parsec of Terminus. That's it, this talk it's over." She stood up, looked at her hands, put the gloves on slowly, and walked towards the door.Immediately, two guards appeared at the door, both armed with guns. After standing still, they quickly stepped aside to make way for her. The mayor stood at the door, turned his head and said, "There are more guards outside, don't disturb them, otherwise you will save us a lot of trouble." "In that case, it's impossible for me to bring back any information for you." Trevize took a lot of effort to say this lightly. "Try it." Burano said with a half smile.