Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Arthur manifested.As before, every time the space-time transmission manifested, Arthur felt quite painful.He felt that his throat, heart, and limbs were still stuck where they were just now, so he kept struggling to pull them out.He figured he'd never get used to it. He looked around to see where the others were. They are not there. He looked around again to see where the others were. They are still not there. He closes his eyes. He opens. He looked around to see where the others were. They are resolutely in a missing state. He closed his eyes again, ready to do the pointless act again - and it did.As soon as he closed his eyes, his brain had already begun to display the pictures he had seen before.He couldn't help frowning.

So he opened his eyes again and examined it himself.His brow was still furrowed. No matter where it is, it should be regarded as the best of the best, and the best of the best.If it's a party, it's such a bad party that everyone leaves.Arthur felt that such speculation was pointless.Clearly, this isn't a party.It's a cave, or a maze, or a tunnel or something.Not enough light to see clearly.Everything was in darkness, dank darkness with only faint lights.The only sound was the echo of his own breathing, which sounded disturbed.He coughed twice, and then heard the faint echo, drifting through the curved corridor, passing through the invisible room-like a huge maze, and finally returned to the dark corridor where he was, like is saying:

"Ok?" Every little sound he made made such a noise that it frightened him.He tried to hum a happy little tune, but the echo was a dark dirge, and he shut up. In an instant, his mind was filled with the images that Slartibartfast had said.He suddenly felt that a cruel white robot would quietly step out of the darkness and kill him.He held his breath.The robot didn't show up.He stopped thinking about it that way.He didn't know what to face next. Someone (or something), however, seems ready to face him.Because, in the distant darkness, a row of weird green neon lights suddenly lit up.

It quietly flashes the following words: "You were transferred." The line went out again.Arthur didn't like that kind of extinguishing at all.It goes off with a disdainful, garish effect.So, Arthur told himself, it was just a ridiculous hallucination.Neon lights are either on or off, depending on whether electricity is passing through them.He told himself that there was no way the neon sign would have any fancy effect of contempt when it switched between the two states.He wrapped himself tightly in his nightgown, trembling slightly. The neon lights in the sky suddenly lit up again.Strangely, there are only three dots, and a comma.like this:

"...," They are green though. Which is to say—Arthur stared at the monster for a few seconds, and then he thought, there might be more, the sentence wasn't over yet.He thought so with an almost superhuman pedantic air.In other words, inhuman pedantry. The sentence then completes itself with the following two words: "Arthur Dent." He was dizzy.He stood still and looked again with wide eyes.So, another burst of dizziness. The line of words went out again, only Arthur was left blinking his eyes in the dark, his own name, blurred and red, still beating on the retina.

"Welcome" the lamp suddenly wrote. After a while, it added: "It's impossible." A cold sense of fear hovered over Arthur's head, waiting for the right time.Now, it feels the time has come.It swooped down on him.He tried to wrestle with it.He did a defensive crouch that he'd seen on TV before, but the guy on TV must have had a lot more strength in his knees.He stared hard ahead into the darkness. "Um, hello?" he said. He cleared his throat and said it again.This time it was louder and without the "uh".Somewhere down the hallway, suddenly someone seemed to be beating a bass drum.

He listened for a few seconds and realized it was his own heartbeat. He listened for a few more seconds, and felt that it was not his own heartbeat, but someone beating the bass drum below. There were bean-sized beads of sweat on his eyebrows, which grew bigger and bigger, and finally fell off.He put one hand on the ground to maintain his defensive crouch.Unfortunately, not very well maintained.Neon is back, writing: "do not worry." After a pause, it added: "Be very, very frightened, Arthur Dent." It went off again, leaving him in darkness again.His eyeballs were about to pop out.He didn't know why the eyeballs fell out, was it because he wanted to see more clearly, or he just wanted to get out of this damn place quickly?

"Hello?" he said again.This time he switched to a domineering, self-declarative tone, "Anyone?" no answer.nothing. This frightened Arthur more than the answer.So, he started to back away, wanting to stay away from this horrible open space.But the more he retreats, the more terrifying he becomes.Before long, he thought, it might be because of all the movies he'd seen, where the heroes stepped back to avoid imaginary horrors in front of them, and those horrors always popped up from behind. He turned his head quickly. nothing. Only darkness. It really scares him.He started backing away again, back to the place where he was just now.

After a while, he suddenly thought, isn't he getting closer to the thing he just moved away from? He couldn't help thinking: This is really stupid.He decided to stop backing and turned around. Turns out, his second thought was the right one.Because behind him, there was an ugly monster that was beyond description.For a moment, Arthur was stunned and lost his mind. "I bet you never thought you'd see me again," said the monster.Arthur found this strange, since he had never seen the creature before.He was sure he hadn't seen it, because he could still sleep at night.Is it... is it... is it...?

Arthur blinked.It stands still.It looks a little familiar. Suddenly, his whole body was cold, and he recognized the hologram of a six-foot-tall fly in front of him. Why, he wondered, would someone show him a six-foot-tall hologram of a fly at this moment?He wondered who was speaking. It's really a pretty realistic hologram. It's gone. "Or, you will remember me like this." The other party said again.The voice was deep, strange, and vicious, like asphalt liquid overflowing from an iron bucket, "a rabbit." With a bang, the dark maze revealed a rabbit, a huge, monster-like, surprisingly soft, cute rabbit—again, a hologram.However, from every strand of soft and lovely rabbit fur, it looks like a soft, lovely and real rabbit.Arthur was amazed to see himself reflected in those large, soft, lovely, motionless brown eyes.

"I was born in darkness," the voice growled, "and I grew up in darkness. One morning, I poked my head out for the first time, just as I was about to welcome a new day of light, when it was smashed open by some prehistoric tool that seemed to be made of flint. flowers. "You made it, Arthur, and you smashed it. It was heavy, I remember. "You made bags of my skin for interesting rocks. I just knew about it because I was turned into a fly in my next life. You slapped me to death. Slapped me to death again. But this This time, you took the picture with a bag made of skin from my previous life. "Arthur Dent, you are a cruel and cold-blooded man. And you are astonishingly stupid." The voice stopped for a moment, and Arthur was dumbfounded. "I know you lost the bag," said the voice, "probably bored, huh?" Arthur shook his head bewilderedly, trying to explain that he actually quite liked the bag, and that he took care of it so well that he carried it everywhere.But wherever he went, that bag somehow turned into other bags.What's even more strange is that at this moment, he noticed that it had turned into an ugly fake leopard-print bag again. God knows what was in it, and it was definitely not his anyway.He still likes the original one.He was sorry, of course, that he had peeled it off so arbitrarily.Oh, it should be its raw material, that is, the rabbit skin - from its former owner, the owner of this voice at this moment. He tried his best, and only squeezed out one word: "Uh." "Meet the newt you trampled," the voice said again. Then, Arthur appeared beside him, a huge salamander covered with grids of green scales.Arthur turned to look, yelled, and jumped back to find himself stepping inside a rabbit.He yelled again, only to find that there was nowhere to jump. "That's me too," said the voice in a low, menacing tone. "You don't seem to understand..." "Understood?" Arthur was startled, "Understood?" "...the interesting thing about reincarnation," said the voice savagely, "is that most people, most souls, don't even know it exists." He paused to see how Arthur would react.Arthur felt that his reaction was strong enough. "I know," said the voice hoarsely. "After all, I know. Slowly, gradually." He—whoever he was—pauses and takes a deep breath. "It's impossible for me not to notice, is it?!" he roared. "The same thing, over and over again, over and over again! Every time I live, I've been killed by Arthur Dent! Any planet, anyone, anytime, I just stay there and Arthur Dent comes and bang! He kills me. "It's impossible not to pay attention. Even if there is only a little memory left, a little hint, a little clue! "'Ridiculous!' I say every time my spirit flies back to the underworld after another meaningless life Dent killed. , the person who ran over looked familiar...' Gradually, I put it all together. Dent, you serial killer!" His echoes oscillated in the hallway.Arthur stood motionless, cold all over, shaking his head desperately, in disbelief. "At this moment, Dent," the voice screamed, full of mad hate, "at this moment, I finally understand!" At this time, what was displayed in front of Arthur was so terrifying that he couldn't describe it, and he couldn't help panting and swallowing saliva in fright.It must be described, however, as to what a horror it was: a huge, damp, trembling cavern in which a wide, soft, rough, whale-like thing rolled, gliding over some great white headstones.At the top of the cave, a promontory-like object lifted up, where two more terrifying cave entrances could be seen, like... Arthur suddenly realized that what he had in front of him was his own mouth.He hadn't noticed it just now.Actually, the point was the live oyster that was falling in hopelessly. He staggered back a few steps, yelled, and turned his head involuntarily.When I looked at the past again, the terrifying image had disappeared.The corridor remained dark and silent, save for himself and the images in his head.Those impressions are indeed distressing and should definitely be watched with a guardian. Then, there was a muffled rolling sound, the sound of a wall slowly opening.Behind it is still endless darkness.Arthur looked over as a mouse looks over a dog-hole. The voice spoke again. "Tell me it's a coincidence, Dent," it said. "Don't you dare tell me it's a coincidence?!" "That's a coincidence," said Arthur hastily. "That's not it!" The other party roared angrily. "Yes..." said Arthur, "it was..." "If that's a coincidence, then my name," growled the other, "isn't Agrajag!" "So it seems..." said Arthur, "you mean it's still your name." "Of course!" Agrajag roared, as if he thought he had just completed an ingenious reasoning. "Well, I'm afraid that's a coincidence," said Arthur. "Come here!" The other party howled, as if he had suffered a sudden stroke. Arthur stepped into it, saying "That's a coincidence"—almost "That's a coincidence" in fact, as the surrounding lights came on before his tongue could roll the last word. It was a cathedral of hatred. It is a product of consciousness—not just a twisted consciousness, but a twisted consciousness. It's empty.It's scary. It has a statue right in the middle. We'll get to that shortly. This inner room is very large, unbelievably wide, as if dug out of a mountain.In fact, that's how it was dug out.Arthur felt that the whole hall was spinning, so he stood there with his mouth open. It's dark in here.There are places that aren't dark, and you'd rather they be dark.Because they are the details that highlight the color deliberately, and those details are very inconvenient to describe.They cover almost all the unpleasant colors on the spectrum, from bloody ultraviolet to blood red, including corpse purple, angry pink, panic yellow, fracture ochre, anxiety green and so on.These indescribable, deliberately colored details are statuettes that would have put Francis Bacon through his lunch. 【① Francis Bacon: According to the context, the author should not be talking about the Renaissance thinker Bacon, but the famous British artist Francis Bacon in the 20th century.The artist's paintings are often dominated by grotesque, distorted portraits. ——Translator's Note] The statuettes all face the center, with their backs against walls, pillars, buttresses, altars, etc.They're all facing the statue in the middle, which we'll talk about shortly. If those figurines could take Francis Bacon out of his lunch, the faces of the figurines seemed to say that the one in the middle would take them out of their lunch.If they can live.Of course, they didn't live, and no one gave them lunch, so they couldn't eat. On the surrounding memorial walls, there are many stone tablets engraved with the names of the dead who were killed by Arthur. Some names have underscores and asterisks.For example, the name of a cow that Arthur ate as a tenderloin steak had nothing added below it; and the name of a fish that Arthur caught first, but then he didn't want it and threw it aside, had two words below the name. An underline, three asterisks, and a dagger dripping blood for emphasis. The most disturbing thing—apart from the statue, which we'll talk about—is that the characters, the animals, are apparently the same person over and over again. It was also clear that the man was terribly angry, terribly annoyed—albeit a little unfairly. In fact, it is fair to say that he is indeed experiencing unprecedented anger in the universe, which is an epic anger, a scorching anger, and this anger contains infinite discomfort, which can cover the entire time and space. He has poured this anger into the creation of the statue in the middle.That, is the statue of Arthur Dent--but it doesn't mean to beautify him at all.Not an inch of a statue fifty feet high is filled with insults to its subject.Fifty feet of insult is enough to make any carved person unhappy.From the pimple on the side of his nose to the ragged edge of his nightgown, every detail of Arthur Dent was the object of the sculptor's flogging. Arthur is portrayed as a Gorgon, a demon, imperious, greedy, and bloodthirsty, who slaughters a world of innocents. His thirty arms condensed the most painstaking efforts and feelings of the sculptor.Hands were breaking a rabbit's head off, swat flies, pulled wishbones, caught fleas in hair, and Arthur couldn't read himself. 【① Francis Bacon: According to the context, the author should not be talking about the Renaissance thinker Bacon, but the famous British artist Francis Bacon in the 20th century.The artist's paintings are often dominated by grotesque, distorted portraits. ——Translator's Note] [② Gorgon: Gorgon is the three sisters of the Gorgon in Greek mythology.Legend has it that people turn to stone just by looking at them. ——Translator's Note] 【③ Wishing bone: According to Western legends, anyone who eats the trident bone on the chest of a bird can hold a section of the bone and make a wish, and then break it together.Whoever gets the longer piece will have his wish come true, and this bone that allows people to make a wish is called the "wish bone". ——Translator's Note] His feet are mostly ants. Arthur covered his eyes with his hands, bowed his head, and shook his head slowly, deeply saddened and terrified. When he opened his eyes again, there was a person standing in front of him, or an animal, or something, and it was the guy he had been killing. "Hmph!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Agrajag roared. He, or it, or something, looked like a fat crazy bat.He walked tremblingly around Arthur, touching Arthur with his crooked paw. "Look..." Arthur wanted to defend himself. "Huh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Agrajag persisted.Arthur had to give up the argument, for the sake of the fellow's grotesque, shabby appearance. Agrajag's whole body was dark, bloated, rough, and wrinkled. His bat wings might have been strong and powerful, but now they were pitifully broken, trembling, and even more terrifying.And the scariest thing is his persistence in surviving until now despite all difficulties and dangers. He has the most horrible teeth. It looks like those teeth come from different animals.They were gathered in this mouth at a strange angle, and it seemed impossible to chew anything.Because as long as he chewed it, he might tear his own face, and maybe even his eyes would pop out. His three eyes are small, sharp, and his eyes are as crazy as a fish thrown in the bushes. "I went to a cricket match!" he roared. Arthur thought the expression on his face was ridiculous when he said it, so he didn't know what to say. "Not this body!" screamed the creature, "not this body! This is my last body, my last life. This is my revenge body. The body used to kill Arthur Dent, my last Opportunity. I also worked hard to get it." "But……" "I'm going to see," growled Agrajag, "a cricket match! I've got a bad heart, but at cricket - I said to my wife - what can happen? I'm watching time! What happened? "Two people, so viciously appearing in front of me out of thin air. The last scene I saw before my heart collapsed from excessive fright was Arthur Dent with a rabbit bone in his beard! Coincidence?!" "Yes," said Arthur. "Coincidence?!" the creature screamed, shaking his ragged wings in pain, his face gashed by those disgusting teeth.Looking closer - Arthur didn't really want to - he noticed that Agrajag's face was covered with crooked black tape. Arthur stepped back nervously.He wiped his beard hastily, and was shocked to find that he still had a rabbit bone hanging on him.He quickly tore it off and threw it away. "You see..." he said, "it's just a cruel game of fate, with you, with me, with us. It's really a complete coincidence." "What do you have against me, Dent?" Howled the creature, with a look of bitterness and hatred on its face, pressing Arthur step by step. "No." Arthur argued vigorously, "really, no." Agrajag glared at him, his eyes burning. "It's really a strange relationship and a strange way of socializing to kill a person who has no hatred or hatred repeatedly! I can say that! I can also say that it is a lie! "But, look," said Arthur, "I'm sorry. It was a serious misunderstanding. I have to go, do you have a clock? I'm going to help save the universe." He took another few steps back. Agrajag approached a few more steps. "Once upon a time," he said hoarsely, "Once upon a time, I decided to give up. Yes, I decided not to live, I wanted to stay in the underworld, but then?" Arthur just kept shaking his head, indicating that he really didn't know, and didn't want to know.He found himself retreating to the edge of a cold black stone.Somehow divine, carved this stone into such an ironic slipper.Glancing upward, he saw a hideous towel carved above it.There is a hand, he has not seen what it is doing until now. "Inadvertently, I was pulled back to the real world," Agrajag continued, "and became a bush of morning glory, living in a flower pot. This short and happy life, in the flower pot Here, it began. Alone, three hundred miles above an icy planet. Indeed, a very unusual position for a pot of morning glory. That life was soon over Well, ended under three hundred miles. Ended—I must say—on a mangled whale. He was a good brother of mine." He glanced at Arthur, and said with deeper hatred: "While falling," he growled, "I couldn't help but look back and see a tacky white spaceship with that smug Arthur Dent looking out of one of its portholes. Coincidence?!" "Yes!" cried Arthur.He glanced up again, only to realize that the hand that didn't know what it was doing was actually summoning a pot of unlucky morning glory in a domineering gesture.It's really hard to see at a glance. "I must go," said Arthur again. "You can go," Agrajag said, "after I kill you!" "No, that's not good..." Arthur explained, starting to climb up the pair of stone slippers, "I have to save the universe, understand. I have to find the silver crossbar, which is very important. ridiculous." "Save the universe!" Agrajag spat contemptuously, "Why didn't you think about it before you had a feud with me! Another time, when you were on star β Staromura, someone..." "I've never been there," said Arthur. "...to assassinate you, you dodge. Who do you think that bullet hit!? How do you explain it?" "I haven't been there," repeated Arthur. "What are you talking about? I have to go." Agrajag stopped in his tracks. "You must have been. You were responsible for my death there. Like any other death. Me, an innocent passer-by!" He trembled. "I've never heard of that place," insisted Arthur, "and I'm sure no one wants to assassinate me. Except you. Maybe I'll go sometime. What do you think?" Agrajag blinked blankly. "You haven't...been to Stalomura Beta?" he said softly. "No," said Arthur, "I don't know anything about it. I'm sure I haven't been. And I'm not going." "Oh, then you go." Agrajag murmured desperately, "Then you go! Oh awesome!" He stumbled, looking at the huge church of hatred like a madman, "I let You came here too early!" Suddenly he stopped again and stared at Arthur fiercely. "Anyway, I'm going to kill you!" he said angrily. "Even if it's logically impossible, I'd still like to try it! I'm going to blow up the whole mountain!" He screamed, "I See how you get out, Dent!" He staggered away and ran towards what looked like a black priest altar.He howled wildly, and cut his face many times.Arthur jumps from his stronghold - the statue of his own feet - to stop the mad three-quarters. Arthur lunged at him, knocked off a strange piece of the altar, and it fell. Agrajag screamed again, trembling all over, and turned to Arthur angrily. "Do you know what you did?" He gurgled in pain. "You killed me again. I wonder what you want from me? Blood?" He twitched violently again, trembling, and finally collapsed to the ground.Before dying, use your last strength to hit the big red button on the altar. Arthur was horrified, first by what he had done, then by hearing sirens suddenly echoing in the hall, which meant an emergency.He looked around quickly. The way he came in seemed to be the only way out.He rushed out, throwing away the ugly fake leopard skin bag at the same time. He was like a headless chicken, rushing around in this complicated maze.He felt that there were countless sirens, ghost calls, and searchlights chasing behind him. Suddenly, a light appeared around the corner ahead. That's not light, that's sunlight.