Chapter 9 chapter Five

After a dusk, a whole night, and half a morning, Seldon slowly recovered from the emotion of meeting the emperor; at least, the light and dark changes in the sidewalks, activity corridors, squares, and parks in Trantor’s royal district made One feels that an evening, a whole night, and half the morning of the next day have passed. At the moment, he is sitting on a small plastic chair in a small park, the shape and curve of the chair just fit his body, and he feels very comfortable.Judging by the light, it seemed that it was just halfway through the morning, and the air was moderately cool, just refreshing, but not cold at all.

Has the climate always been like this?He thought of the gloomy weather he encountered when he went to see the emperor.Then he thought of the cloudy days, cold days, hot days, rainy days, and snowy days in his hometown of Helicon... Does anyone miss that kind of weather?If sitting in a park on Trantor, with ideal weather day in and day out, is it possible to feel that the surroundings are too ordinary, and thus nostalgic for the howling wind, biting cold, or suffocating moisture? Maybe, but never on day one, day two, or even day seven.And he only has the last day left today, and he will leave this place tomorrow.He made up his mind to take the opportunity to enjoy it, after all, he might never return to Trantor again.

Yet he still felt uneasy, never forgetting that solitary relationship with a man who could order anyone to be imprisoned or executed at will (or at least deprived of their social status, causing a kind of economic and social death). Had an interview. Before going to bed, Seldon used the computer in the hotel room to look up information about King Cleon I from the electronic encyclopedia.As usual, the content eulogized the emperor, just like all the praises received by the emperor during his lifetime, this has nothing to do with their political achievements.Seldon skipped those, interested in discovering that Kryon had been born in the palace and had never left the Royal Gardens in his life.He had never been to the real Trantor—the world covered with many-sided domes.Perhaps this is based on security considerations.But it does mean that the emperor has been imprisoned, whether he admits it or not.That may be the most luxurious prison in the entire galaxy, but it cannot change the fact of the prison.

Even though the emperor's attitude is quite gentle, unlike many bloodthirsty tyrants in the past, it is not a good thing to attract his attention.Seldon was glad to be back in Helicon tomorrow, even though it was winter (and a bitter one at that, he thought so until recently) back home. He looked up into the diffuse bright light.Although it never rains here, the atmosphere is by no means dry.There was a fountain not far from him; the vegetation was lush green and had probably never tasted drought.The bushes rustled occasionally, as if a small animal or two were hiding in them.Also, he heard the buzzing of bees.

Indeed, although the entire galaxy says that Trantor is an artificial world of metal and pottery, within this small confines it feels idyllic. Some people nearby were also enjoying the park, all wearing lightweight hats, some of them quite small.There was a pretty young woman not far away, but she was bending over a viewfinder and he couldn't make out her face.At this time, a man passed by, glanced at him casually, then sat down on the chair opposite him, and buried his head in a bunch of telegram reports.The man was still crossing his legs, and Seldon noticed he was wearing a pair of pink leggings.

Oddly enough, men's clothing tends to be more fancy here.Most of the women wear white clothes.Due to the cleanliness of the environment, it makes sense to dress in light colors.He lowered his head and looked at his Helicon clothes. The main color was dull brown, which made him feel a little ridiculous.If he was going to stay on Trantor--and if he wasn't--he would have to buy some proper clothing, or he would attract curious looks, or be the object of ridicule or ostracism.For example, the man holding the telegram report looked up at him curiously this time, no doubt attracted by his alien costume.

Seldon was glad the other party didn't smile.He was fine with being the butt of a laughing stock, but, of course, he never liked it. Seldon looked at the man with a rather cautious attitude, because there seemed to be a fierce battle going on in his heart.At first he seemed ready to speak, then he seemed to change his mind, then he seemed to go back to his original decision.Seldon wondered what the final outcome would be. He looked at the man carefully.This man was tall, with broad shoulders, no protruding belly, light black hair with a bunch of blond hair in it, clean shaven, serious expression, and a powerful look, but no curls. Qiu has muscular muscles, and his face looks a bit angular - very pleasing to the eye, but definitely not good-looking.

When the man failed (or won) the inner battle and turned his body towards Seldon, Seldon decided that he had a crush on him. The man said, "Excuse me, have you ever attended the Decade Conference? The Mathematics Decade Conference?" "Yes, I participated," Seldon replied cheerfully. "Ah, I think I saw you at the meeting. I just sat here because—sorry, I recognized you just now. If I violated your privacy..." "Not at all. I'm enjoying a moment of leisure." "Let me see how much I remember, you are Professor Xie Dong." "Seldon, Hari Seldon, pretty close. What about you?"

"Chet Hummin," the man seemed a little embarrassed, "I'm afraid it's a fairly common name." "I've never met anyone named Chet," said Seldon, "or Hummin, so I should think you're pretty special. Maybe it's better to say that than with countless Harrys, or Much better to have countless Seldons entangled." Seldon moved his chair closer to Hummin, and it rattled against the slightly springy terracotta. "Speaking of normal," he said, "how about my alien costume? I never thought I'd get a Trantor outfit." "You can buy some," Hummin said, eyeing Seldon disapprovingly.

"I'm leaving here tomorrow, and I can't afford it. Mathematicians work on big numbers sometimes, but it's never their income—I guess you're a mathematician too, Hummin." "No, I have no talent in this area." "Oh," Seldon felt a little disappointed, "you just said you met me at the ten-year meeting." "I was just a bystander there, and my profession is a journalist." He waved the telegraph report, as if he realized that he was still holding it all the time, and immediately stuffed it into his coat pocket. "I provide news for Quanxun News." Then, he said in a meaningful tone, "Actually, I am quite bored."

"Your job?" Hummin nodded: "Collecting all kinds of meaningless news from various worlds, this kind of errand makes me sick. I hate the deteriorating world." He glanced thoughtfully at Seldon. "Sometimes, though, funny things happen. I heard you were seen walking towards the palace gates with a Janissary. You should Could it be that he was summoned by the emperor, right?" The smile on Seldon's face disappeared immediately, and he said slowly, "Even if there is, it's not something I can announce to the press." "No, no, not for publication. If you don't know about this kind of thing, Seldon, let me tell you—the first rule of the game in running news is news about the emperor or the emperor's cronies. Except for the official release Nothing else can be reported. Of course, this is not right, because rumors are far worse than the truth, but the rules are like this.” "If it can't be reported, my friend, why do you ask?" "Private curiosity. Believe me, people in my business know a lot more than the world can tell—let me guess, I didn't get your paper, but I speculate that you It’s talking about the possibility of predicting the future.” Seldon shook his head and murmured, "That was a mistake." "What did you say?" "nothing." "Well, predictions—correct predictions, would interest the Emperor, or any government official. So I guess Cleon I asked you about this matter, and whether you'd like to make some predictions for him." Seldon said stiffly, "I don't want to talk about it." Hummin shrugged slightly. "Itu Demerzel is here too, I suppose." "Who?" "Have you never heard of Itur Demmerzel?" "there has never been." "Kryon's Alternate Self, Kryon's Brain, Kryon's Evil Spirit—that's what people called him, not counting the insulting nicknames. He must have been there." Seldon looked puzzled, and Hummin continued, "Well, you may not have seen him, but he was definitely there. If he thinks you can predict the future..." "I cannot predict the future," said Seldon, shaking his head vigorously. "If you've heard my published papers, I'm talking about theoretical possibilities." "That's no different. If he thinks you can predict the future, he won't let you go." "Of course he will, I'm not here now." "It's meaningless. He knows where you are and will continue to know your whereabouts in the future. When he wants you, he can find you, no matter where you are. If he thinks you are useful, he will Wring your usefulness out; if he thinks you're in danger, he'll wring your life out." Seldon stared at the other party: "You want to scare me?" "I was trying to warn you." "I don't believe what you're saying." "Don't believe me? Just now you mentioned that something was a mistake. Do you think it was a mistake to publish that paper, because it caused you a kind of trouble to avoid?" Seldon bit his lower lip uneasily, this guess fit the truth so well.At the same time, Seldon suddenly noticed an outsider approaching. Due to the excessive softness and dispersion of the light, the person who came did not cast any shadows.It's just that the corner of his eye caught a movement, and the movement stopped instantly.