Chapter 7 Chapter VII

It is said that when the Earthlings and the aliens are in a decisive battle, all regiments will be mobilized, with the exception of the Watchers.We've defended the Earth for so long, and we have no part in the battle.We disintegrate after sounding the real alarm, and now it's time for Earth Guardians to show their might.They have been preparing for this war for half an era, what else can they do now?What else can I do?The only thing I can do is to go back to the Palace Hotel and wait for the crisis to be over.There was no hope of finding Afluela.I should have let her go, and I beat myself up for regretting it.She was naked then, with no one to protect her, where would she go among the messy crowd?Who will protect her?A lookout in a hurry, pushing the lookout car, almost ran into me. "Be careful!" I said angrily.He looked up at me, panting and astonished. "Is it real?" he asked. "The alarm?"

"Didn't you hear?" "But could that be true?" I point to his car. "You know how to prove it." "They say the man who sounded the alarm was a drunk, an old bastard who was turned away from the Lookout's Inn yesterday." "Maybe," I admitted. "But if the alarm is true! . . . " I smiled and said, "In that case, we can all rest now. Have a nice day, Watchman." "Your car! Where's your car?" he yelled at me. But I had already walked past him, towards a huge stone column left over from ancient Rome.

The reliefs on the stone pillars record what happened in ancient Rome: the situation of war and victory, the conquerors from foreign countries marching among the conquered crowd on the streets of Rome, and the victorious eagles celebrating the greatness of the empire.I stood in front of this stone pillar very calmly, admiring the exquisite carvings on it.At this moment, a person came running towards me in a panic, and I recognized it as Basil the historian.I greeted him and said, "What a time for you to come! Tell me about these images.They are so charming, I am very curious. " "Are you crazy? Didn't you hear the siren?"

"I sent the alarm, historian." "Then run away! The invaders are coming! We must fight!" "But I don't have to, Basil. Now my mission is done. Tell me about these images. These defeated kings, these defeated emperors. A man of your age need not fight." "Now is the mobilization of the whole people!" "Except for the lookout," I said, "wait a minute, I want to know our past now. Gorman is gone, come and tell me these historical stories. " Basil shook his head like a rattle and circled me a few times, trying to get away.I rushed towards him, trying to grab his skinny arm to prevent him from running away, but he still avoided me and ran away, and then disappeared, leaving only the black shawl in my hand.I shrugged and examined the shawl I had acquired by accident.It is a shawl woven of glowing metallic threads, delicately patterned and brightly dazzling: the threads seem to be invisible at all, but occasionally they pop up in unexpected places, like hereditary dynasties in far-off cities. Same with revival.The workmanship of the shawl is very beautiful.I draped the shawl casually around my shoulders.

I move on. Earlier, my legs were trembling, but now I am walking like flying.Refreshed, I walked through the hustle and bustle of the city and knew where to go without much effort.I will go beyond the river, and find the palace of the Roman prince beyond the Tever.Now the night is getting darker, and because of the mobilization order, many lights have been extinguished, so that there is no fear of any search; occasionally there will be a dull rumbling sound in the sky, which is the explosion of protective shells, illuminating the night sky.There were not many pedestrians on the street, and the alarm was still ringing.On the roofs, the defenses were at the ready; I heard the beeping of the destroyers as they warmed up, and saw the slender, spider-like legs of expanding oil pipes dangling from tower to tower in order to link them together for maximum Fuel delivery.Now I'm absolutely convinced that the invasion really came.My own instruments may be off, but there would be no mobilization like this if the findings of hundreds of other lookouts had not confirmed my first alarm.

Near the palace, two historians ran towards me out of breath, their shawls falling apart.They were yelling something at me.It was the language of their regiment, and I couldn't understand it, but I finally remembered that I was wearing Basil's shawl.I couldn't answer them, they jumped on top of me, still yelling; finally they spoke in plain language: "What's wrong with you? Get back to your seat! We gotta make a note! Gotta make a comment ! We must watch!" "You've got the wrong guy," I said mildly. "I'm just keeping this shawl for your brother Basil. There's no place for me to work at the moment."

"Are you a lookout?!" They yelled in unison, and then they took turns cursing and ran away again.I laughed and entered the palace. The gates of the palace were open.The eunuch who had been guarding the entrance outside was gone, as were the two indexers standing inside the door.The beggars on the open-air plaza scrambled to squeeze in.This angered the beggars who had been staying here with hereditary charters. They tried their best to drive the influx of people out. There are also a lot of weapons for the docile confessor, ranging from small swords to sonic pistols.Avoiding this humiliating scene from a distance, I entered the side hall, looked into the chapel, and saw many pilgrims praying for the blessing of the Holy Will, and desperate messengers praying for divine instructions to know the coming What would be the outcome of the conflict.

Suddenly, there was a sound of horns, followed by a shout: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" A group of strong attendants entered the hall and hurriedly strode towards the prince's bedroom in the apse.A man was held hostage by several attendants, struggling, kicking and kicking, with half-open wings on his back: Afluela!I cried out, but my voice was drowned out in the noisy crowd, and I couldn't get close to her, and was pushed aside violently by the attendant.The attendants disappeared into the prince's chamber.I caught one last glimpse of Afluela, the poor little fly, pale and tiny in the hands of the tall squire, and then she disappeared from my sight again.

I grabbed an eunuch who was talking incoherently and was not knowing what to do with his attendants. "That flying man! How did you get here?" "Ha - he - they -" "Say it!" "The prince—her woman—in the chariot...he—he—they—the invaders—" I pushed the useless guy away and ran towards the apse.A brass wall ten times as tall as me blocked my way.I banged on the wall. "Afluela!" I yelled. "A-F-L-Ella-!" No one came to push me, no one came to let me in.No one paid me any attention.The bustle of the west gate of the palace now spread to the nave and corridors.Ragged beggars swarmed in, and I turned a hasty corner and passed through a side door.

I hesitated, and now I was in the courtyard leading to the Palace Hotel.Suddenly there was a strange lightning in the sky, I thought it was from a Roman defense device, a kind of electric wave to prevent the city from being attacked.But it didn't take long for me to realize that this was a sign that the intruders were really coming. The starship shines brightly in the sky. When I spotted them from the lookout, they were dark against the night sky, but now they shone with the light of the sun.The hard and bright spaceships are like jewels, making the night sky extraordinarily beautiful.They are next to each other, stretching from the east to the west, densely covering the sky.When they came together suddenly, I seemed to hear the symphony of an invisible orchestra announcing the arrival of the conquerors of Earth.

I don't know how many ships there are, how high they are from me, or even what they look like.All I know is that in an instant, they came like kings, and if I were a guardian of the earth, I would have retreated immediately when I saw this scene. Colorful lights cross the night sky, and the battle begins.I don't know what kind of tactics our guards use, let alone the tactics of the aliens.They're here to take over our historic, but declining planet.I was deeply ashamed because not only did I not feel like I was in the fight, but I was so detached that it didn't seem to concern me.How I wish Afluela was by my side, but unfortunately she is hidden somewhere deep in the palace.I would feel better with Gorman beside me, Gorman the Ugly, Gorman the Spy, our traitorous monster Gorman. There was another loud voice to open the way: "Prince Roman is here! Get out of the way! To defend the homeland, Prince Roman leads the Guardians of the Earth to fight!" A shining chariot came out of the palace, shaped like teardrops, with a transparent baffle on the bright roof, so that the common people would be full of confidence when they saw their leader.The driver is the proud Roman prince, sitting upright, with a grim expression on his cold and young face; next to him, is the thin flying man Afluela, dressed like a queen, looking dazed. The prince's chariot flew into the air and disappeared into the darkness.I seem to see another chariot appearing immediately, and then the prince appeared again. The two chariots kept going around in circles, and it seemed that they were fighting.Blue sparks were seen flying, but the chariot was not to be seen, and soon the chariot rushed high and far, and disappeared behind the hills of Rome in the distance. Are such battles everywhere on the planet now?Is Paris also in a hurry?And the holy city of Jerusalem, or even the sleepy islands of the Old World?Are starships circling Earth?I have no idea.I only know what's happening here over Rome, and even here I don't know how it all works.Sometimes there was a flash of light in the sky, and I saw armies of flying men flying across the night sky, and then darkness came down, like a velvet shroud descending over the city.I saw our great defensive weapon explode and burst into flames, falling from the top of the tower; while the alien ship remained motionless and undamaged.The yard where I was was deserted, but I heard a distant sound, full of fear and ominousness, which, judging from the high-pitched tone, might have been the screaming of a bird.Occasionally there was another bang, shaking the ground and mountains.A line of wizards was being driven past me; a troop of clowns in the large open-air square in front of the palace opened a kind of gleaming military net; suddenly a flash of lightning flashed across the night sky, and I saw three historians sitting on a flying saucer, Busily recording everything that is happening.It seemed to me again that the prince's chariot was back again, flying across the night sky, followed by his retinue. "Afluela," I whispered, as the two beams disappeared again.Are alien warships sending troops out?Are these big menacing creatures hovering in glowing orbits about to land on Earth?Why did the prince take Afluela away?Where is Gorman?What are our guardians of the earth doing?Why don't these alien warships explode in the air and fall down?It was a long night, and I stood on the ancient cobblestones in the courtyard, watching this space war, my mind full of questions. It was dawn.The faint morning light forms a round halo on the top of the tower.I rubbed my eyes, realized that I might have fallen asleep standing up, and wondered, maybe I could apply to join the Guild of Wizards.I reached out to touch the shawl on my shoulders, wondering how it got into my hands, and I remembered. I look up to the sky. The alien spaceship was gone, leaving only the usual gray sky with bursts of pink.I suddenly remembered something, searched around for my lookout car, and immediately came back to my senses, I don't need to lookout anymore.In this situation, I feel especially empty. Is the battle over?Has the enemy been repulsed?Had the invader's spaceship exploded in mid-air, incinerated, and crashed outside Rome?The surrounding area was quiet, and the diplomatic symphony of that day could no longer be heard.Amidst this eerie silence came another sound, the rumble of carts rolling through the streets of Rome. The unseen musician strikes the last note, heavy and slow, with a trembling aftertaste, as if every string snapped in an instant. Calm words came from the loudspeaker. "Rome has fallen. Rome has fallen."