Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty

A group of five people walked slowly on the barren land.This patch is a drab gray, that patch is a drab brown, and the rest is not at all interesting to look at.The whole land was like a dry swamp, barren and covered with ashes an inch thick.The temperature is very low. Zaphod was clearly dismayed by the sight.He broke away from the team and strode forward alone, and soon disappeared behind a raised mound. The oncoming wind stung Arthur's eyes and ears, and the fetid thin air clenched his throat.However, it was his spirit that was most stimulated. "It's unbelievable..." he said, and the sound came to his ears, and he felt a little awkward.The air is so thin that sound travels poorly.

"Tell me what a bleak cave," said Ford. "Cat shit is a lot more interesting than here." He was full of resentment.Among all the planets in all the galaxies of the entire Milky Way - many wild and strange, seething with the din of life - is there only one place where he can be, and be abandoned at the end of 15 years After life?There's not even a hot dog here!He bent down and turned over a patch of icy dirt, but there was nothing underneath worth looking at from thousands of light-years away. "No," insisted Arthur, "you don't understand. This is, after all, the first time I've stood on the surface of another planet...another world completely strange...although the conditions here are so bad that it's a bit overwhelming. sorry."

Cui Lien tightened her body, trembling, and frowned.She could have sworn she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.But when she looked in that direction, all she could see was the spaceship parked there, about 100 yards away. After a few seconds, she felt a little relieved.For Zaphod stood at the top of the mound beckoning them over. He looked excited, but it was hard to hear what he was shouting because of the thin air and howling wind. As they approached the edge of the plateau, they realized that it was essentially circular—a crater about 150 yards wide.There are some black and red lumps on the outer slope of the crater.They stopped and watched for a while.The lumps are moist and springy.

Suddenly, they realized with horror that it was actually fresh whale meat. At the top of the crater, they meet Zaphod. "Look," he said, pointing to the bottom of the pit. In the center lies the exploded carcass of a sperm whale, which hadn't even learned to mourn its fate.The silence was finally broken by a slight spasm in Trillian's throat. "I don't think there's any point in trying to bury it," murmured Arthur, wishing at once that he hadn't said it. "Come on," said Zaphod, walking down the pit. "What, go down?" Cui Lien said reluctantly.

"Yes," said Zaphod, "come on, I have something to show you." "We've seen it," Trillian said. "Not this," said Zaphod, "something else. Come n bar." But everyone is still hesitant. "Come on," insisted Zaphod, "I've found a way in." "In?" Arthur asked anxiously. "Access to this planet! An underground passage, shaken open by the impact of a whale, we can enter now. We will enter a world that has not been disturbed for 5 million years, into the depths of time itself... " Marvin began to hum sarcastically again.

Zaphod tapped him and he shut up. Trembling with disgust, they all followed Zaphod down to the bottom of the crater, trying not to look at the unfortunate creature. "Life," said Marvin sadly, "to loathe it or to ignore it is impossible to like it anyway." The ground dented where the whale struck, revealing a network of corridors and passages, most of which had been clogged with falling debris and whale guts.Zaphod had to clear a path before he could enter any of these passages.But Marvin was much quicker at this.Cold, damp air blows from the entrance.Zaphod shone his flashlight in, and there was nothing to see in the dusty darkness.

"According to legend," he said, "the Manglas spend most of their time underground." "Why?" Arthur asked, "is the surface of the planet already polluted too much? Overpopulation?" "No, I don't think so," said Zaphod. "I think they just don't like the ground." "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Trillian said, looking uneasily into the darkness ahead. "We've already been attacked once, don't forget that." "Look, baby, I assure you, the total population of this planet right now is zero plus the four of us. Come on, let's go in. Well, hey, Earthlings..."

"I have a name, Arthur," said Arthur. "Oh, yes, you take this robot to guard the exit of the passage here, okay?" "Guard?" Arthur asked. "Guard for what? You said there was no one else here." "Yeah, um, just to be safe, okay?" said Zaphod. "Whose safety? Yours or mine?" "Good man. Come on, let's go." Zaphod slipped into the tunnel, followed by Trillian and Ford. "Well, I wish you all bad luck," grumbled Arthur. "Don't worry," agreed Marvin, "they will." In a few seconds, they disappeared from Arthur's sight.

Arthur stomped in circles in exasperation, only to discover later that the whale's graveyard was not a good place to stomp. Marvin stared at him bitterly for a moment, then turned away. Zaphod was darting along the corridor, but he was nervous too, but he concealed it by striding boldly.He shone around with the flashlight in his hand.The surrounding walls were covered with dark tiles, cold to the touch, and the air was filled with a strong, putrid smell. "Look here, what am I telling you?" he said. "This is a planet that was once inhabited. Magrath," he said, walking across the tiled floor that was strewn with debris and ruins.

Trillian inevitably thought of the London Underground, although it was far less squalid. At regular intervals, the tiles on the wall give way to large mosaics - pale colors that form a simple angular pattern.Cui Lien stopped to study one of them, but couldn't see anything.So she called Zaphod. "Hey, do you know what these weird symbols mean?" "I think they're just some kind of weird symbol," said Zaphod, without even looking back. Cui Lien shrugged and quickly followed him. From time to time, doors to small rooms appeared on the left and right sides of the passage, and Ford found that they were full of abandoned computer equipment.He dragged Zaphod into one of them to take a closer look.Cui Lien followed behind.

"You see," said Ford, "you surmise that this is Mangrass..." "Yeah," said Zaphod, "didn't we all hear that recording?" "Yes, that's why I accepted that inference--only at the time. But you almost never say how you found it in the vast galaxy. Not just relying on interstellar maps, that's for sure." "Research, government files, spying, and a little random guesswork. It's really easy." "Then you stole the Heart of Gold and came looking for it?" "I stole it in search of many things." "A lot of things?" said Ford, startled. "Like what?" "I do not know either." "what?" "I don't even know what I'm looking for." "Why don't you know?" "Because...because...I thought, if I knew it, I wouldn't have to look for it." "What, are you crazy?" "That's really a possibility I haven't ruled out," said Zaphod quietly. "I know only what my own mind is actually doing in the present situation, I think it is. Not too good." No one spoke for a long time, and Ford stared at Zaphod, suddenly filled with apprehension. "Listen, old friend, if you want to..." Finally Ford broke the silence. "No, wait a minute... I have to tell you something," said Zaphod, "I've always been spontaneous. I suddenly thought of something and, hey, why not? I Just went for it. I thought I was going to be the president of the galaxy, and then this happened, it was very simple. I decided to steal the ship, I decided to go find Magrath, and then these things happened. Yes, I figured out how best to do the job, and it worked. It's like you have a galactic credit card that you always get to use. But every time I stop and think -- why I want to do it, how I figured out how to do it—then I will have a strong desire to stop thinking about it. Like now. It takes a long time to actually say the situation Great energy." Zaphod paused, and there was another silence.Then he continued, frowning, "Last night, I was worrying about this again, worrying that this part of my brain didn't seem to be working properly. Then it occurred to me that it seemed to be happening because Somebody else is using my brain to come up with some good ideas without saying hello. I put those two thoughts together and decided: there is a good chance that someone locked my mind for such a purpose so I can't use this part myself. I started wondering if there was some way I could check this. "I went to the medical bay of the spacecraft and attached myself to the brain imaging screen. I attached all the main inspection items to both heads-that is, before my appointment as the president of the galaxy is officially approved to take effect, Everything that government medical officials have done to me. It turns out nothing wrong, at least nothing unexpected. The photos show me to be smart, imaginative, irresponsible, untrustworthy, extroverted, nothing. You don't expect it, and there is nothing abnormal. So I started to check further, completely random. No problems. I then superimposed the results of one head on the other. Still no problems ...finally I was completely hopeless, and it seemed my biggest problem was nothing more than paranoia. The last thing I did before I put the equipment away was to look at the superimposed photographic images through a green filter. You Remember, I was always superstitious about the color green when I was a kid? I always wanted to be a trade scout pilot?" Ford nodded. "Finally I found it," said Zaphod, "as clear as it was in broad daylight. In the middle of each of the two brains, the part that was connected only to the other brain and nothing else, there was a dog The motherly cauterization burned away all the synapses there and caused electrical damage in those two areas." Ford stared at him, stunned.Cui Lien turned pale. "Someone did this to you?" Ford murmured. "yes." "But do you know who it is? Or, why?" "Why? I can only guess. But I do know who the son of a bitch is." "You know? How do you know?" "Because he branded his initials on those synapses. He left them there for me to see." Ford watched him in horror, feeling something move on his skin. "Initials? Burned into your brain?" "yes." "But who is he, for God's sake?" Zaphod looked at him in silence for a moment, then looked away. "ZB (Zan Bi)." He said calmly. Just then, a metal shutter behind them suddenly slammed shut, and a puff of smoke began to fill the room. "I'll tell you about it later." Zaphod said chokingly, and the three hurried out of the room.