Chapter 49 Chapter Forty-Nine

writings.What kind of lies do you believe!People's motivation to do something well must come from the deepest part of their heart.Only people, not commercial institutions or chains of management, are the driving force of great civilizations.Every civilization depends on the quality of the individuals it produces. If you over-institutionalize, over-legalize people, suppress their desire for greatness - they cannot work, and their civilization will eventually collapse. Leto gradually woke up from the tortoise state.The transition is gentle, not sharply separating one state from another, but slowly rising from one level of sobriety to another.

He knows where he is.The strength returned to his body, and he could feel the rotten smell in the oxygen-deficient air in the tent.If he refuses to move.He knew he would remain forever in that infinite web, forever in this eternal present, with everything else.The prospect seduced him.The so-called sense of time and space is just the projection of the universe on his mind.As long as he is willing to break through the temptation of precognitive illusions and make a brave choice, he may be able to change the future in the near future. But what kind of courageous action does this moment call for?

The turtle's breathing state tempted him.Leto felt himself returning from the turtle's breath.Back in the real universe, the only discovery is that the two are exactly the same.He wanted to let it go, to maintain the discovery, but survival required a decision on his part.He longs for life. He stretched out his right hand sharply, groping in the direction where he dropped the electrostatic pressure device.He caught it, rolled over on his stomach, and ripped the tent seal.Sand slid down his arms.In the dark, breathing the dirty air, he worked quickly, digging a steep tunnel upwards.He dug up six times his height before breaking through the darkness into the fresh air.Finally, he broke through a moonlit sand dune and found himself a third of the way from the top of the dune.

Above him is the number two moon.It passed him quickly, disappearing behind the dunes.The stars in the sky lit up and looked like glistening stones beside a path.Leto searched for the constellation of the Wanderers, found it, and followed his gaze with the outstretched arm of the shining constellation—the South Pole. That's the damn universe you're in!he thinks.Seen up close, it is a messy world, like the sand that surrounds him, a world in flux, a world where uniqueness is everywhere.From a distance, only certain regularities can be seen, and it is these regular patterns that tempt people to believe in eternity.

But in eternity, we can lose our way.It reminded him of the warning in a familiar Freeman ditty: "He who loses his way in Tanzeroft loses his life." Law can provide guidance, but it can also lay traps.One has to keep in mind that the laws are changing too. He took a deep breath and started to move.He slid down the dug tunnel, folded the tent, and rearranged the Freeman survival kit. A burgundy streak appeared on the eastern horizon.He strapped on his survival kit, climbed to the top of the dunes, and stood in the frigid pre-sunrise air until the rising sun warmed his right cheek.He still wears visors over his eyes to lessen the harshness of the sun, but he knows he must now make love to the desert, not fight it.So, he removed the visor and put it in the survival kit.He tried to drink water from the water collecting pipe, but only got a few drops of water, but took a big breath of air.

He sat on the sand and started checking the still suit, eventually finding the ankle pump.They cleverly destroyed the pump with a hammer.He took off his distillate suit and repaired it, but the damage had already been done?He has lost at least half of his body's water.If it wasn't for the protection of the distillation tent... He thought about it, wondering why he didn't see it in the vision.This fact told him that the world without illusions was also full of dangers. Leto began to walk on top of the dunes, breaking the solitude of the place.His eyes wandered across the desert, looking for any fluctuations in the ground.On Dune, anything unusual could indicate spice or sandworm activity.But after the sandstorm, everything in the desert is exactly the same.So he took out the drumstick from the survival kit, stuck it in the sand, activated it, and let it call Xia Hulu who was hiding deep underground.Then he hid aside and waited quietly.

After waiting for a long time, a sandworm came over.He heard it before he saw it.He turned to face the east, where there was a rustling sound from the trembling of the earth, shaking the air along with it.He waited for the bloody maw to emerge from the sand. The sandworm drilled out from the ground, carrying a large amount of sand and dust, covering its ribs.The high, winding gray wall passed Leto so quickly that he inserted the spear hook and climbed up the side easily.In the process of climbing up, he controlled the sandworm to make a big turn and headed south. Stimulated by the spearhook, the sandworm picked up speed.The wind ruffled his robes.He felt himself being driven by the wind, the strong air pushing against his waist.

This sandworm belongs to what the Freemen call "snarlings."It frequently plunges its head into the ground while its tail keeps pushing.The movement made a thunderous sound, and part of its body lifted off the sand, forming a hump-like shape.This is a fast sandworm, and the hot wind from its tail blows over his body.The wind is filled with the sour smell of oxidation reaction. Leto's thoughts wandered freely as the sandworms marched southward.He wanted to see the trip as a celebration of his new life, a way to make him forget the price he had to pay in pursuit of the Golden Passage.

Shortly after noon, he noticed a bump to the right of the direction he was heading.Gradually, the uplift turned into a small hill. Now, Namri... Sabah, let's see what your people will do with my presence, he thought.It was the most delicate thread before him, and its danger lay more in its lure than in its obvious threat. The landscape of the hills is always changing.For a moment it looked as if it was coming toward him, rather than him moving toward it. The exhausted sandworm always wants to go to the left.Leto slid down the side of its huge body for some distance, and then inserted the spear hook, allowing the sandworm to advance in a straight line.A strong smell of spices hit his nostrils, the signal of a spice bonanza.They passed a patch of bubbling, scaly sand beneath which a spice eruption had just occurred.He steered the sandworm steadily across the vein.A cinnamon-scented breeze followed them for a while, until Leto maneuvered the sandworm into another channel facing the hill.

Suddenly, a flash of color flashed across the horizon in the far south of the desert: in the open land, a man-made object reflected the sun's rays. He pulled out his binoculars, adjusted the focus, and saw the outstretched wings of a Spice scout plane glinting in the sunlight.Below it is a large spice locomotive that looks like a giant chrysalis. Leto lowered the binoculars, and the locomotive shrank to a tiny dot.It told him, too, that the spice hunters would see him too—the little speck between the desert and the sky, which the Fremen took as a sign of human activity.They had evidently seen him, and were on the alert.They are waiting.In the desert, the Fremen are always suspicious of each other until they recognize the newcomer or are sure that the newcomer is not a threat.Even in the light of imperial civilization they remained half-civilized.

Those are the ones who will save us, Leto thought, the savages. The Spice reconnaissance plane in the distance banked to the right, then to the left.This is a signal to the ground.Leto could imagine the pilot checking the desert behind him to see if he was the only sandworm rider here. Leto controlled the sandworm to turn left until it turned around completely.He slid down the worm's ribs and took a big leap out of the worm's range.The sandworm, no longer under the grip of the spearhook, sucked a few breaths on the ground angrily, then plunged the front third of its body into the sand and lay there recuperating.Apparently it's been ridden for too long. He turned away from the sandworm, which would stay here to rest. The reconnaissance plane flew slowly around the spice locomotive, constantly sending out signals with its wings.They must have been rebels sponsored by smugglers, deliberately avoiding electronic means of communication.Their target was clearly the spice district he had just passed - the appearance of the spice locomotive proved it. The reconnaissance plane circled again, then sank its nose, stopped circling, and flew directly at him.He recognized it as a light orthopter his father had introduced to Arrakis.It also circled over his head, searched along the dune where he stood, and landed against the breeze.It stopped ten meters away from him, stirring up a cloud of dust.The hatch on his side opened, and a man stepped out wearing thick Freeman robes with a spear mark on the right breast. The Freeman walked towards him slowly, giving both parties plenty of time to study each other.The man was tall, with indigo spice eyes.The stillsuit mask concealed the lower half of his face, and he had a hood over his forehead.The way the robe fluttered revealed a hand holding a shotgun underneath. The man stopped two steps away from Leto and looked down at him with a puzzled look. "Wish us luck," Leto said. The man looked around, inspecting the open ground, then returned his attention to Leto. "What are you doing here, kid?" he asked, his voice muffled by the stillsuit mask. "Do you want to be a cork in a sandworm hole?" Leto once again used the traditional Freeman expression: "The desert is my home." "Which way did you go?" the man asked. "I came south from Jakrutu." The man burst into a fit of manic laughter. "Well, Batai! You're the strangest person I've ever met in Tanzaofort." "I'm not your little one," Leto responded to his "Batai".The word has a dire connotation, a small melon on the edge of the desert that provides moisture to anyone who finds it. "We won't drink you, Batai," said the man. "My name is Muritz. I am the caliph of the tafs here." He pointed to the spice locomotive in the distance. Leto noticed that this one referred to himself as their gang's judge, and referred to the others as daifu, meaning a gang or a company.They are not "Yi Chi Wan" - not a tribe related by blood.Definitely a rebel who accepts sponsorship.Here are the threads he wants to choose from. Leto remained silent, and Muritz asked, "What's your name?" "Just call me Batai." Muritz laughed again. "You haven't told me, what are you doing here?" "I'm looking for sandworm tracks," Leto says, a religious response that suggests he's on an epiphany journey. "A man so young?" Muritz asked.He shook his head, "I don't know what to do with you, you saw us." "What did I see?" Leto asked. "I mentioned Jakrutu, and you didn't answer anything." "Want to play aggressively?" Muritz said. "Okay, what's that over there?" He raised his head toward the distant sand dunes. Relying on what he saw in the vision, Leto replied, "It's just Suluzi." Muritz straightened up, and Leto felt his pulse quicken. A long silence followed.Leto could see the man pondering his answer. Suluqi!During the story time after the Cave Dinner, the story of the Suluqi caravan is always repeated.People who listen to the story always assume that Suluqi is a myth, a place where interesting things happen, a place that exists only for the myth.Leto remembered one of the many stories: a waif was found on the edge of the desert and brought back to the burrow.At first the waif refused to answer any questions from his saviour; but slowly he began to speak in a language that no one understood.Time passed and he still didn't respond to any questions, while refusing to get dressed or cooperate of any kind.Whenever he was alone, he would make all sorts of strange movements with his hands: all the specialists in the cave were called to study the waif, but to no avail—afterwards a very old woman passed by He was at the door, saw his gesture, and smiled: "He was imitating his father twisting spice fibers into rope," she explained, "It's a technique that still exists in Suluqi. He just wanted to use it Alleviate your loneliness." The moral of the story is that Suluqi's ancient behavior has a sense of belonging from the golden channel of life, which can bring people peace. Muritz remained silent, and Leto continued: "I'm a waif from Suruchi, and I only know how to make gestures with my hands." The man nodded quickly, and Leto knew he had heard the story. In a low, menacing voice, Muritz responded slowly, "Are you human?" "People like you," Leto said. "What you said was too strange for a child. I remind you that I am the judge here and I have the authority to rule on Takwa." Yes, Leto thought, uttering the word takwa from a judge's mouth meant a threat that could materialize at any moment.Takwa refers to the fears of the devil, which older generations of Fremen still believe in.The caliphs knew how to kill the devil, and people always chose them against the devil because they "have great wisdom, are ruthless without cruelty, and know that kindness to the enemy is the greatest threat to one's own people." But Leto must hold on to the thread."I can take the Mushead test," he said. "I'm the judge of any mental test," Muritz said. "Do you accept it?" "Bilal Kefa," Leto said, meaning to accept. A sly look appeared on Muritz's face.He said: "I don't know why I should agree to this. It would be better to kill you now, but you are a child and I have a son who just died. Come on, let's go to Suruchi and I will call A ruling will decide your fate." Leto discovered that the man's small movements betrayed his desire to kill him."I know Suluqi is not just a myth, it really exists in the real world," he said. "What does a child know about the real world?" Muritz asked rhetorically, motioning for Leto to walk ahead of him, toward the orthopter. Leto obeyed his orders, but he listened carefully for the footsteps of the Fremen following him. "The most effective way to keep secrets is to make people think they already know the answer," Leto said. "After that, people will not ask. You are very smart, you who were expelled from Jakrutu. Who would believe myths?" The Suluchi in the movie exist in the real world? This place is a perfect hideout for smugglers or anyone who wants to sneak into the dunes." Muritz stopped in his tracks.Leto turned around, leaning his back against the orthopter, the wing to his left. Muritz stood half a step away, drew his shotgun and pointed it at Leto. "You are not a child," said Muritz, "you are a cursed dwarf sent to watch over us! Your words are too clever for a child, and you talk too much and too fast. " "Not enough," Leto said, "I am Leto, son of Paul Muad'di. If you kill me, you and your people will go to hell. If you spare me, I will guide you to great." "Don't play games with me, dwarf," Muritz sneered, "while you're talking, the real Leto is still in Jakrutu..." But he didn't finish his sentence, but He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, and lowered the muzzle of the gun slightly. Leto anticipated his hesitation.He let all the muscles in his body show signs of avoiding to the left, but his body only moved less than a millimeter to the left, causing the Freeman's gun to swing a large distance to the left quickly, viciously hit the edge of the wing.The shotgun flew out of his hand, and before he could react, Leto had already rushed to his side, drew out his howling blade, and pressed it against his back. "The tip of the knife is poisoned," Leto said. "Tell your friends in the orthopter to stay in there and not make any moves. Or I'll be forced to kill you." Muritz breathed on his injured hand, shook his head at the people in the orthopter, and said, "My companion Bejales has heard what you said, and he will be as still as a stone." Leto knew he had only so much time before the two of them found a countermeasure or their friends came to the rescue.He said quickly, "You need me, Muritz. Without me, the sandworms and spices will disappear from the dunes." He could feel the Freemen stiffen. "How do you know Suruqi?" Muritz said, "I know they didn't tell you anything in Jakrutu." "So you admit that I am Leto Atreides?" "Who else could it be? But how do you know..." "Because you are here," Leto said, "Suruzi exists here. The rest is very simple. You are exiles from the destruction of Jakrutu. I saw you use your wings to launch signal that you do not want to use electronic communication devices that can be intercepted. You collect spices, which means you are in trade. You can only trade with smugglers. You are both smugglers and Fremen. So, you It must be someone from Suluqi." "Why did you tempt me to kill you on the spot?" "Because you will kill me after we return to Suluqi." Muritz's body couldn't help becoming stiff again. "Be careful, Muritz," Leto warned, "I know what you're up to. You used to rob unsuspecting travelers of their water. You've done a lot of that. You can find something else to make those Is there any other way to keep the intruders silent? Is there any other way to keep your secret? You tempt me with gentle words. But why should I waste water in this sand? If I and Everyone else is just as deluded by you—then Tanzaofort will kill me." Muritz made a "sandworm horn" gesture with his right hand to shield the devil from Leto's words. Leto knew that old-school Fremen didn't believe in Mentat or any other form of logic, and he smiled. "If Namri had mentioned us to you in Jakorutu," Muritz said, "I would have taken his water..." "If you go on like this, you'll get nothing but sand," Leto said. "What will you do when everything in the dunes is covered with green grass and open water?" "This can't happen!" "It happened right under your nose." Leto heard Muritz's teeth gnashing in rage and despair.He finally asked, "How can you stop it from happening?" "I know the whole plan of the ecological transition," Leto said. "I know every strength and every hole in it. Without me, Xia Hulu will be gone forever." The sly tone returned to Muritz's words as he asked: "Well, why are we arguing here? We're at a standoff. You have a knife in your hand, you can kill me, but Bejales Will shoot you." "I've got enough time to get your shotgun back before he shoots me," Leto said. "After that, your orthopters are mine. Yes, I can fly them." A scowl was visible on Muritz's forehead under the hood. "What if you're not who you say you are?" "Doesn't my father recognize me?" "Aha," Muritz said, "So you know everything here through him? But..." He retracted the second half of the sentence, shaking his head, "My own son is his guide. He Said you two have never...how could..." "It seems you don't believe Muad'di can see the future," Leto said. "Of course we believe it! But he said it himself..." Muritz retracted the second half of the sentence again. "Do you think he doesn't know about your suspicions?" Leto said. "I have chosen this certain time and this certain place to meet you, Muritz. I know everything about you, because I... have seen through you...and your son. I know you think you are hiding, how you mock Muad'di, and the little plots you use to save your little desert. But, no Me, your little desert is doomed to die too, Muritz. You will lose it forever. The ecological transition in the dunes has gone too far. My father is close to losing his vision, you can only rely on me. " "That blind man..." Muritz stopped and swallowed. "He'll be back from Araken soon," Leto said, "and then we'll see how blind he is. How far have you strayed from Freemen tradition, Muritz?" "what?" "He is blind, but lives here. Your people found him wandering alone in the desert, and brought him back to Suruchi. He is your most precious find! Precious than a spice mine. He and You live together. He is your 'Wade Kunyas.' His waters are mixed with those of your tribe. He is part of your spiritual river." Leto pressed the knife tightly against Muritz's robe, "Be careful, Muritz." He raised his left hand, unfastened Muritz's mask, and dropped it. Muritz knew what Leto was thinking. He said, "Where would you go if you killed both of us?" "Return to Jiakerutu." Leto stuck his thumb in Muritz's mouth. "Bite and drink my blood. Otherwise choose death." Muritz hesitated, then bit Leto's flesh viciously. Leto looked down the man's throat, saw the swallowing motion, and withdrew the knife, returning it to him. "Vad Kunyas," Leto said, "unless I betray the Horde, you cannot take my water." Muritz nodded. "There's your shotgun." Leto motioned with his chin. "You trust me now?" Muritz asked. "Are there other ways to live with deported people?" Leto once again saw a trace of cunning in Muritz's eyes, but it could be seen that this time he was weighing and calculating his own interests. The man turned around suddenly, indicating that he had made up his mind.He retrieved his shotgun and made his way back to the gangway next to the wing. "Come on," said he, "we've lingered too long in the worm's nest."

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