第 119 章
同章对照
各栏独立滚动。英文与中译按段对应；国风为同章改编。本章国风版尚未试写；英文原版与中文翻译可继续对照。
英文原版
The Last Save
单独阅读 ↗Next loop would be the one.
Ryan could feel it deep within his bones. Even though the Saturn Armor and its additional harness weighed down on him, a sentiment of profound liberation spread through his muscles.
Alchemo had fashioned the courier a throne of metal and cables within the depths of Mechron’s submarine, linked to six helmets and special chairs for the would-be time-travelers. Everyone was busy preparing for the procedure. Felix bade goodbye to his sisters, all of them crying; Livia memorized everyone’s freshly recorded brain-maps, from Sunshine’s to Narcinia’s; Mr. Wave and his sidekick the Living Sun prepped Shroud for the trip; Len and the other Geniuses oversaw the computations on complex computers, while Bianca complained as her own preparations took longer than usual; Stitch watched everything from afar; and a lone panda felt post-heroic blues.
“This is my first time-travel,” the Panda said, anxiously biting his fingernails in his human form. He had strapped his helmet first among all the would-be travelers, and as usual, immediately believed all of Ryan’s tales. “What if it goes wrong?”
“It won’t,” the courier replied calmly. “Besides, you’re a panda, nothing can harm you.”
“But Sifu, when I come back, I won’t…” the poor manbear narrowed his head in shame. “I won’t learn...“
“You have learned enough, and since you’ve won the cosmic lottery once, you can drink the Elixir again. Only you can make Elixir bigamy work!” Well, technically, anyone could with their cure. Early tests on the captive Meta-Gang had proved the method’s effectiveness.
Though in Secret Agent Frank’s case, Ryan kinda preferred him as a Psycho.
“But what if the Panda gets a crappy superpower this time around?” his pandawan asked. “The Panda… the Panda doesn’t want to be useless.”
“You were never useless,” Ryan replied firmly, causing the poor manbear to look up at him with hope. “Never.”
“N-never?”
“Never,” Ryan confirmed. “And Elixirs grant wishes, though not always well. If you want to learn, there’s no reason why the Blue Elixir won’t listen.”
The courier suddenly wondered what kind of wish Mosquito had made though. It must have been poorly worded.
“I… the Panda wanted to be loved when he drank his Elixir,” the manbear admitted sheepishly. “To have everyone look up to him.”
“And it worked, but not thanks to your power.” Ryan managed to raise an armored hand, putting his index finger on the Panda’s chest. “Thanks to this.”
“The… the heart?”
“You know, what I admire the most about you is that in spite of all the difficulties, you remain as optimistic and determined as the first day.” In a way, Ryan saw himself in his young pandawan. “I mean, your tragic backstory was one of the darkest things I have ever heard. Very few people would have stayed innocent after that, and it takes strength.”
His words seemed to have reached his disciple’s heart, for he stopped biting his nails and nodded to himself. “Thanks, Sifu,” he said with deference.
Ryan raised a thumbs up, while Len and Bianca each took their place around the machine throne.
“It better be fucking worth it,” the latter complained, as Alchemo put a helmet on her face. “I didn’t work years as a living cloud to get a few days of vacation as a human. This ain’t an eight-to-five job.”
“Your case is the most uncertain,” Alchemo warned. “Your unique chemistry makes the transfer a coin toss.”
“It will work,” Len said, closing her eyes while the helmet hung heavily on her head. With two reloads under her belt, she had grown almost comfortable with the procedure. “It must.”
Felix and Shroud followed suit, though the latter’s girlfriend hugged him one last time before he could put on his own helmet. “How do the priests say it?” Ryan mused, as the vigilante’s teammates helped him put on his harness. “Until time does us part?”
“I promised that, whatever happens next time around…” Shroudy Matty cleared his throat. “That I would do it right.”
“Do what right?”
“Date her. No more vigilante work behind her back, no more lies. I will be honest from the start.” Shroud sighed, though Ryan noticed a thin smile at his lips’ edge. “Wherever it leads us.”
“We will come to New Rome as swiftly as possible, if Shroud asks,” Leo informed Ryan after helping his teammate get comfortable with his seat. “But not before a few days.”
“Mr. Wave was busy killing Nazis on May 8th,” Mr. Wave explained rationally. “Undead Nazis. Exorcising the Third Reich takes time, even at lightspeed.”
So they wouldn’t help with the bunker raid. Ryan had expected as much. Though Mr. Wave helped Alchemo attach Felix’s helmet, Sunshine quizzed the courier. “The ace in the hole that could give you an edge over Augustus, and allow you to defeat Geist…” he whispered. “It comes from this Black World, doesn't it?”
“I wield the majority’s power in one hand, and the minority in the other,” Ryan replied.
“I do not understand that joke,” Sunshine replied, his expression serious. “When we fought Mechron for the final time, he opened a portal to the Blue World in a failed attempt to enhance his power… or so he tried. Instead, he contacted a darker place.”
“The Black World?”
“The creature beyond his portal destroyed Mechron. Annihilated him, and nearly did the same with all of Sarajevo. There had been no malice in that entity’s action, only careless curiosity.” Sunshine let out a sigh. “What I’m saying is, if these entities can casually violate causality and destroy our reality by inattention, then your ability could have unforeseen side-effects or consequences. You should use it sparingly.”
“Everything else failed to harm Augustus,” Ryan replied. And if he could trust his girlfriend, everything else would fail. “And you’ve seen what happens if nobody catches the lightning in a bottle.”
“Augustus’ death is not worth destroying our world, however much he may deserve it,” Leo warned, arms crossed. “But I suppose the choice is up to you in that case.”
“I’ll keep it in mind, I promise,” the courier said, joining his hands. “You know, I’m glad you aren’t pushy about this. I thought you would try really hard to make me join your circus and use my power to assist you.”
“I don’t believe in forcing people to join us,” Sunshine replied with a kind gaze. “True dedication only comes when freely given.”
Damn knight in shining armor... looking at him made Ryan teary inside.
“We are ready to begin, meatbags,” Alchemo said, typing on his computer.
Last but not least, Livia took her place right next to her boyfriend’s left. Her hand reached out for his own, and he swore he could sense her fingers’ warmth beneath the Saturn Armor’s steel.
“Anxious?” Livia asked Ryan.
“No,” her boyfriend replied, squeezing her fingers. “I waited seventeen loops for this.”
Time froze as he activated his power, and the procedure began. Violet particles appeared around him alongside many black ones, duplicating at an accelerated rate. Ryan briefly noticed a white rabbit’s ears rise behind Alchemo’s shoulder, before the particles swallowed the cranky Genius too.
Ryan expected an immediate return to the past, but to his surprise, the phenomenon carried on. More and more Violet Flux blinded him to the reality around him, overwhelming even the Black spots among them.
Then the purple veil split in half, a window through time and space. Through this door, Ryan distinguished hints of a pure violet place, and a triangular shadow moving closer to him. The shape became clearer, revealing strange eyes filled with burning stars.
The Illuminati pyramid looked down at the courier with its alien gaze, and all wen—
It was May 8th again, hopefully for the final time.
Ryan immediately drove through the streets of New Rome, aiming straight for Renesco’s bar. By now, he knew the way like the back of his hand.
Though he wouldn’t advise anyone else to do it, the courier kept control of the wheel with one hand and seized his cell phone with the other. He quickly received confirmation text messages from multiple people before he was even halfway through his destination.
Timmy, Mathias, Felix, and Livia.
Len quickly made her presence known by hijacking the Chronoradio the moment Ryan put it on. “Riri, I made it. A bit groggy, but… but I’m here.”
“So did the others,” Ryan said with joy. “Success!”
It had taken centuries, but the courier had finally expanded his time-traveling postal service!
Only Bianca hadn’t sent a message, and considering her current location, she couldn’t do so even if she wanted to. Ryan hoped that the transfer had worked out for her.
“I’ll take care of Ghoul, meet up with the others, and hit the bunker through the front door,” the courier informed his best friend. “Wait near the backdoor, and take the water gun. It’s time to get Psypsy wet again.”
“With pleasure,” she said with a hint of enthusiasm. She hadn’t forgotten the Meta-Gang’s repeated assaults on her orphanage. “Take care, Riri… and good luck.”
“You too, Shortie,” Ryan said before his adoptive sister went silent.
Since multiple people had successfully traveled back in time, it was time to test Livia’s theory. If Ryan saved now, he could safeguard his allies’ memories of the previous loops, even if this one ended prematurely. Though it was usually a big no-no in his book, the courier had already broken all his usual rules so far.
What was one more?
Ryan froze time, letting the universe turn purple. His car froze in the middle of the road, alongside all others.
One second passed, and then another. Ryan held his breath as he counted them, waiting for the final countdown.
Then he sensed an opposing force pushing back against his power, and time resumed before the fateful tenth second.
Ryan almost veered off the road in surprise, though skills honed through countless iterations allowed him to quickly regain control of his vehicle.
The courier attempted to save again, but events repeated themselves. His power refused to go past ten seconds, letting time resume before the past could be set in stone. A shiver went down Ryan’s spine, as a horrible realization dawned on him.
He couldn’t save.
Why? Why?! Did his Black power interfere with his Violet one? Did the Alchemist tamper with it before her demise?
Fear overtook Ryan’s heart. If he couldn’t save… if he couldn’t save, would he be trapped in this city, always brought back to the past? Unable to die, unable to move on?
A voice came out of the Chronoradio, but it didn’t belong to Shortie.
It was Livia’s.
"What difference could ten seconds make?" Ryan’s girlfriend asked, an echo of the past timeline.
“Which is surprisingly a lot,” Geist’s voice answered, as bored as a tombstone.
Then came Felix’s mocking words, from a distant loop long gone. “So you don’t know everything.”
Ryan’s fingers tightened around the driver’s wheel. He had already been in a similar situation, when he tried to make first contact with the Violet Ultimate One. Echoes of the past had guided him and Shortie on the path to find the mind-transfer technology.
Though it couldn’t force a reload, Ryan’s Elixir could prevent him from saving, as it did in Monaco. Back then, it had done so to prevent the courier from getting locked in a place with no way out and ruining all future runs.
Was this a similar situation? Had Ryan overlooked a detail that would make saving now dangerous, causing his guardian angel to intervene? Was this Perfect Run ruined from the start?
It was Ryan’s own voice that answered his silent questions. “Some say I should persevere,” his words echoed through the Chronoradio, before twisting into Fortuna’s. “My power will guide us to victory!”
Ryan scoffed. “I hate railroading.”
“Don’t break your back climbing the hill,” Simon’s voice encouraged him, and the Chronoradio fell silent.
Alright.
He had to see this run through, and see what awaited him at the end.
Ryan finally reached his destination, and parked his car near Renesco’s bar. As he waited for his favorite Bone Daddy’s arrival, the courier noticed his phone beeping. Ryan picked up the call, upon identifying the number as Livia’s. “Love?”
“My knight, where are you?”
“I’m on my way to the bar,” Ryan replied. “Is everything alright?”
“No,” she answered with panic, to his astonishment. “Something is wrong.”
The courier immediately worried. Did Psypsy hijack Len’s brain again? Or did one of the transfers go wrong? “What’s happening?”
“I can’t see Geist anymore.”
Ryan blinked behind his mask, while he noticed the hooded Ghoul approaching the bar from a street corner.
“I don’t know, he was fine a few minutes ago and then vanished without a trace. Bacchus has tried to contact him again, to no avail. It’s as if...”
“As if he had passed on,” Ryan finished.
Darkling had warned him. His Black power fed on deleted realities and paradoxes, each use of it strengthening its influence over reality.
Two loops.
Two loops had made Ryan’s Black power so strong that it could act retroactively.
Which meant that if he accidentally slew anyone with it, even Augustus…
“Ryan, what did you do?” Livia asked, half scared and half astonished. “I can’t even see him with my power.”
“I’m not sure, princess,” Ryan admitted. Were the effects permanent, or would they fade out with another loop? Was that why he couldn’t save? Did his Black power interfere with his other ability? Or did it risk permanently damaging the timeline?
Sunshine had been correct, he didn’t understand his own ability enough.
“We must proceed as planned for now,” the courier said. “Each second counts. We’ll see what’s up with Casper afterward.”
“I… yes, you’re right.” Livia cleared out her throat. “I will be rushing to the Junkyard with Fortuna. See you soon.”
“See you soon,” Ryan replied warmly, before ending the call right as Ghoul walked into the bar.
Damn it, this run had barely begun and already he would have to adjust his timing!
Putting his phone back in his pocket and smashing the accelerator, Ryan opened his Perfect Run by ramming his car into Ghoul’s back.
Somehow, that never got old.
The bar’s entrance wall crumbled behind the Plymouth Fury, and Ghoul crashed into the ground head-first. The barman retreated behind the counter, while the clients screamed and ran away.
Ryan calmly stepped out of his car, moved to the trunk, and grabbed the briefcase he had been hired to deliver. Then he waltzed through the bar like a child through a candy store.
“I’m calling the Private Security!” Renesco complained behind the bar counter.
“It’s okay, it’s the postal service!” Ryan replied, before smashing Ghoul’s skull with the briefcase while he was still dizzy. “I’ve come to deliver the mail!”
“Get the fuck out of my ba—” Renesco didn’t finish his sentence, as Ryan all but tossed the briefcase and a colossal Euro bribe on the counter.
“Quicksave always delivers, no matter how many tries,” Ryan said, as Renesco quickly counted the money and barely paid attention to the briefcase. “We offer top-notch insurance services against property damage.”
“It’s enough to pay for the repairs,” Renesco said, before peeking over the counter to look at the dizzied Ghoul. “What about him?”
“Don’t worry about this bag of bones,” the courier said, as he glanced at his favorite undead. Ghoul struggled to rise back up, trying to use a chair as a foothold to do so. Ryan kindly kicked it out of his reach. “He’s what we call a freebie.”
“Who are you?” Ghoul rasped, as he managed to get halfway back on his feet on his own.
It was perhaps the last run where the courier could mess with his favorite undead chew toy, and now was the perfect moment to blow off steam. Since his girlfriend had forbidden him his usual joyride suicide runs, the courier decided to have some fun while he could.
He would release all the accumulated tension, before starting his Perfect Run rested, calm, and well-adjusted.
“You know, Ghoul, this might be the last time we can have a heart-to-heart conversation, so I thought I should tell you how I feel.”
The courier took a long, deep breath.
“You were almost like a Luigi to me.”
Ryan grabbed the undead’s skull by surprise.
“That’s why I’m going to send you to space!” The courier announced with a maddened light in his eyes. “You’re going to board a rocket, Ghoul! I’ll put you into a rocket, and we’ll call it Jeff! You’re going to space, Ghoul, space! The final frontier for bones and men!”
“What the hell are you—” Ryan kicked his skeletal chew toy in the leg and released his hold over the head, making him collapse.
“I’m going to send you to Mars, or maybe Pluto because I don’t care what others say, it’s still a planet!” Ryan continued his rant, and fear started to overtake the Psycho’s heart. This only encouraged the courier to further feed on his victim’s misery. “It’s round and orbits around the sun, and there’s an alien base on it! They pay you with seashells, and they drive their UFOs like drunk lemmings! They’re daltonians, Ghoul, daltonians!”
Ghoul attempted to escape by crawling away, but Ryan grabbed him by the leg and pulled him in his direction. Then he moved on all four and invaded the undead’s personal space.
“You’re going to be the first corpse in space, Ghoul! The first undead astronaut in the entire universe!” By now, Ryan was shouting so loud that he made his Luigi substitute wince with every word. “But first you will train for the mission with Henriette! She’s going to chew you, and baptize your skull as her litter box! But it will make you strong, strong like a Russian cosmonaut! And Len will like it because it means we’ll be exporting communism beyond our solar system!”
Ghoul cowered, as he realized the nightmare had only begun.
“You will bone the martians, Ghoul!”
中文翻译
最后一次存档
单独阅读 ↗下一轮，一定能成。
瑞恩从骨子里就有这种预感。尽管萨图恩装甲和额外加装的固定架沉沉压在身上，一种彻底解脱的感觉却传遍了他的每一寸肌肉。
阿尔凯莫在梅克隆潜艇的深处，用金属和线缆为信使造了一张王座，连着六顶头盔和六把特制座椅，供即将穿越时间的人使用。所有人都在忙着做准备。菲利克斯向姐妹们告别，三个人哭成一团；莉维娅正在记忆众人刚刚录制好的脑图谱，从阳光的到纳尔西妮娅的，一个不落；波动先生和他的助手活体太阳在帮裹尸布做穿越准备；蕾恩和其他天才则在复杂的计算机前监督运算，而比安卡因为自己的准备时间比平时长，还在一旁抱怨；斯蒂奇在远处观察着一切；至于一只孤零零的熊猫，则陷入了当完英雄后的低潮。
“这是我第一次穿越时间。”熊猫保持着人形，焦虑地咬着指甲。他是所有准备穿越的人里第一个戴好头盔的，而且和往常一样，瑞恩讲的故事，他立刻就全信了。“要是出了岔子怎么办？”
“不会的。”信使平静地答道，“再说，你可是熊猫，什么都伤不了你。”
“可师父，回去以后，我就不能……”可怜的熊人羞愧地低下头，“我就不能学习了……”
“你已经学得够多了。既然你中过一次宇宙彩票，再喝一遍灵药也没问题。只有你能跟灵药搞重婚，还能过得好好的！”好吧，严格来说，有了他们的疗法，谁都能做到。对关押中的超能帮成员进行的初步试验，已经证实了这套方法有效。
不过，特工弗兰克是个例外，瑞恩还是更喜欢他当疯魔的时候。
“可要是熊猫这次得到的超能力很烂呢？”他的熊猫学徒问道，“熊猫……熊猫不想当个废物。”
“你从来都不是废物。”瑞恩坚定地回答。可怜的熊人抬起头，满怀希望地望着他。“从来都不是。”
“从、从来都不是？”
“从来都不是。”瑞恩再次确认，“而且灵药会实现人的愿望，只是有时实现得不怎么样。你要是想学习，蓝色灵药没道理不听。”
信使忽然很好奇，蚊子当初许的究竟是什么愿。措辞肯定有问题。
“我……熊猫喝灵药的时候，是想有人爱他。”熊人不好意思地承认，“想让所有人都敬仰他。”
“愿望实现了，但不是靠你的能力。”瑞恩费力地抬起一只覆着装甲的手，用食指点了点熊猫的胸口。“是靠这个。”
“这……这颗心？”
“你知道吗，我最佩服你的一点，就是不管遇上多少困难，你依然像第一天那样乐观、坚定。”某种意义上，瑞恩在这位年轻的熊猫学徒身上看到了自己。“我是说，你那段悲惨的背景故事，是我听过最黑暗的经历之一。经历了那种事，还能保持纯真的人少之又少。那需要力量。”
这番话似乎说进了徒弟的心里。他不再咬指甲，而是自己点了点头。“谢谢师父。”他恭敬地说。
瑞恩竖起大拇指。与此同时，蕾恩和比安卡也各自在机械王座周围落座。
“最好他妈的别白折腾。”阿尔凯莫给比安卡戴上头盔时，她抱怨道，“我当了那么多年活云彩，可不是为了换几天做人的假期。这可不是什么朝八晚五的差事。”
“你的情况最不确定。”阿尔凯莫警告她，“你独特的化学构成，让这次传输成败各占一半。”
“会成功的。”蕾恩说着闭上眼睛，头盔沉沉压在她头上。已经经历过两次读档，她对这套流程几乎已经习惯了。“一定会。”
菲利克斯和裹尸布也跟着入座，不过后者还没来得及戴上头盔，就被女友最后抱了一次。这位义警的队友帮他穿戴固定装置时，瑞恩若有所思地开口：“神父怎么说来着？直到时间将我们分开？”
“我向她保证了，下一轮不管发生什么……”裹裹马蒂清了清嗓子，“我都会把这事做好。”
“把什么事做好？”
“跟她谈恋爱。不再背着她当义警，不再撒谎。从一开始就坦诚相待。”裹尸布叹了口气，不过瑞恩注意到，他唇边带着一丝淡淡的笑意。“不管最后会走到哪一步。”
帮队友在椅子上坐舒服后，利奥对瑞恩说：“只要裹尸布开口，我们就会尽快赶到新罗马。不过最快也得几天以后。”
“五月八号那天，波动先生正忙着杀纳粹。”波动先生合情合理地解释道，“亡灵纳粹。给第三帝国驱魔，就算有光速也得花时间。”
也就是说，他们帮不上突袭地堡的忙了。瑞恩早就料到了。波动先生帮阿尔凯莫给菲利克斯装好头盔时，阳光向信使发问了。“那张能让你占据对奥古斯都的优势、击败幽魂的底牌……”他低声说，“来自那个黑色世界，对吗？”
“我一手掌握多数派的力量，另一手掌握少数派的力量。”瑞恩回答。
“我听不懂这个笑话。”阳光神情严肃地说，“我们最后一次与梅克隆交手时，他打开了一道通往蓝色世界的传送门，想以此增强自己的力量……至少他是这么打算的。可他失败了，联系上的反而是一个更黑暗的地方。”
“黑色世界？”
“传送门另一边的生物毁灭了梅克隆。把他彻底抹掉了，还差点对整个萨拉热窝做出同样的事。那个存在的举动毫无恶意，只有漫不经心的好奇。”阳光叹了口气，“我的意思是，如果这些存在能随意违背因果律，稍不留神就摧毁我们的现实，那你的能力也可能有无法预料的副作用或后果。你应该慎用。”
“其他办法都伤不了奥古斯都。”瑞恩答道。而且，如果女友的话可信，其他办法今后也都会失败。“没人把那道闪电关进瓶子里，会有什么后果，你也见过了。”
“无论奥古斯都多么该死，都不值得为了杀他毁掉整个世界。”利奥抱着双臂，告诫道，“不过，我想这种情况下，选择权在你。”
“我会记住的，我保证。”信使合起双手，“说真的，你没逼我，我挺高兴。我还以为你会拼命拉我加入你们的马戏团，让我用能力给你们帮忙呢。”
“我不赞成强迫别人加入我们。”阳光目光温和地回答，“真正的奉献，只能出于自愿。”
该死的光辉骑士……光是看着他，瑞恩心里就感动得想哭。
“可以开始了，肉袋们。”阿尔凯莫一边在电脑上敲打，一边说道。
最后一位，却也同样重要的莉维娅，在男友左手边紧挨着他坐下。她伸出手，握住他的手。瑞恩发誓，隔着萨图恩装甲的钢铁，他依然能感觉到她指间的暖意。
“紧张吗？”莉维娅问瑞恩。
“不。”男友握紧她的手指，“为了这一刻，我等了十七轮。”
他发动能力，时间随之冻结，程序开始运行。紫色粒子与大量黑色粒子一同浮现在他周围，以越来越快的速度复制增殖。瑞恩瞥见一对白兔耳朵从阿尔凯莫肩后竖起，紧接着，粒子也吞没了这个脾气暴躁的天才。
瑞恩本以为自己会立刻回到过去，可出乎意料的是，这个现象仍在持续。越来越多的紫色通量遮蔽了周围的现实，甚至淹没了夹杂其中的黑色斑点。
随后，那层紫色帷幕一分为二，化作一扇贯通时空的窗口。透过这道门，瑞恩隐约看见一个纯紫色的所在，一道三角形的影子正向他靠近。那轮廓逐渐清晰，露出奇异的眼睛，其中满是燃烧的星辰。
光明会金字塔以异质的目光俯视着信使，随后一切都——
又是五月八日了，但愿这是最后一次。
瑞恩立刻驾车穿过新罗马的街道，直奔雷内斯科的酒吧。到了现在，这条路他已经熟得不能再熟了。
虽然不建议别人效仿，信使还是一手握着方向盘，另一手拿起了手机。路还没走到一半，他就陆续收到了好几个人发来的确认短信。
蒂米、马蒂亚斯、菲利克斯和莉维娅。
瑞恩刚打开时空收音机，蕾恩就劫持了频道，报上平安。“瑞瑞，我成功了。有点晕，不过……不过我回来了。”
“其他人也回来了。”瑞恩欣喜地说，“成功！”
花了几个世纪，信使终于拓展了自己的时空邮政业务！
只有比安卡还没发来消息，不过考虑到她现在的位置，就算她想发，也办不到。瑞恩希望她的传输同样顺利。
“我先收拾食尸鬼，再跟其他人会合，从正门打进地堡。”信使把计划告诉最好的朋友，“你在后门附近等着，带上水枪。是时候再给心心来一回湿身了。”
“乐意之至。”她的语气里透着一丝兴奋。超能帮对孤儿院发动的一次次袭击，她可没忘。“小心，瑞瑞……祝你好运。”
“你也是，小矮个。”瑞恩说完，义妹那边便安静下来。
既然已有多人成功回到过去，就该检验莉维娅的理论了。如果瑞恩现在存档，就算这一轮提前结束，也能保住盟友们对先前循环的记忆。这在他平常的规矩里属于大忌，不过走到现在，他早已把自己的惯例全破了。
再多破一条又何妨？
瑞恩冻结时间，任由宇宙化为紫色。他的车停滞在路中央，其他车辆也一样。
一秒过去，又是一秒。瑞恩屏住呼吸，默数秒数，等待倒计时结束。
随后，他感觉到一股反向的力量在抵抗他的能力。决定性的第十秒尚未到来，时间便恢复了流动。
瑞恩惊得差点冲出道路，好在无数轮循环磨练出的车技，让他迅速重新控制住了车辆。
信使再次尝试存档，结果却一模一样。他的能力死活不肯越过十秒，在过去被固定下来之前，时间就恢复了流动。一个可怕的念头涌入脑海，令瑞恩脊背发寒。
他无法存档了。
为什么？为什么？！是他的黑色能力干扰了紫色能力？还是炼金术师临死前做了什么手脚？
恐惧攫住了瑞恩的心。如果不能存档……如果不能存档，他是不是就会被困在这座城市，一次又一次被送回过去？死不了，也无法继续向前？
时空收音机里传出了一个声音，却不属于小矮个。
那是莉维娅的声音。
“十秒钟能有多大差别？”瑞恩的女友问道，那是上一条时间线的回声。
“差别大得出奇。”幽魂的声音回答，听起来像墓碑一样了无生趣。
接下来，是菲利克斯带着嘲弄的话语，来自早已消逝的某一轮遥远循环。“原来你也不是什么都知道。”
瑞恩攥紧了方向盘。他以前也遇到过类似的情况：那时，他正试图第一次接触紫色终极者。过去的回声曾指引他和小矮个，让他们走上了寻找意识传输技术的道路。
虽然无法强制读档，瑞恩的灵药却能阻止他存档，就像在摩纳哥时那样。当时，它是为了避免信使把自己锁死在无路可走的境地，毁掉此后的每一轮循环。
这次也是类似的情况吗？瑞恩是不是漏掉了什么细节，导致现在存档会很危险，所以他的守护天使才出手干涉？这次完美通关，从一开始就已经毁了吗？
回答这些无声疑问的，是瑞恩自己的声音。“有人说，我应该坚持下去。”他的话从时空收音机里传来，随后扭曲成了福尔图娜的声音。“我的能力会指引我们走向胜利！”
瑞恩嗤了一声。“我讨厌强制剧情。”
“爬坡时别把自己累垮了。”西蒙的声音鼓励他，随后时空收音机归于寂静。
好吧。
他得把这一轮走完，看看终点等着他的究竟是什么。
瑞恩终于抵达目的地，把车停在雷内斯科的酒吧附近。他正等着自己最爱的骷髅老爹出现，手机忽然响了。认出是莉维娅的号码，瑞恩接起电话。“亲爱的？”
“我的骑士，你在哪儿？”
“我正往酒吧去。”瑞恩答道，“一切都好吗？”
“不好。”她惊慌地回答，让他大吃一惊。“出问题了。”
信使立刻担心起来。心心又控制了蕾恩的大脑？还是谁的传输出了问题？“怎么了？”
“我看不见幽魂了。”
瑞恩在面具后眨了眨眼，同时注意到，戴着兜帽的食尸鬼正从街角向酒吧走来。
“我不知道，几分钟前他还好好的，接着就消失得无影无踪。巴克斯又试着联系他，还是没用。简直就像……”
“就像他已经往生了。”瑞恩接完了她的话。
暗灵警告过他。他的黑色能力以被删除的现实和悖论为食，每使用一次，它对现实的影响力都会增强。
两轮。
两轮循环，就让瑞恩的黑色能力强到足以追溯过去、产生作用。
也就是说，如果他不小心用它杀了谁，哪怕是奥古斯都……
“瑞恩，你做了什么？”莉维娅问，半是害怕，半是震惊。“我用能力甚至都没法看见他了。”
“我也不确定，公主。”瑞恩承认。影响是永久的吗，还是再来一轮就会消退？这就是他不能存档的原因？黑色能力干扰了他的另一种能力？还是说，它有可能对时间线造成永久损伤？
阳光说得没错，他对自己的能力还不够了解。
“眼下必须按计划行动。”信使说，“每一秒都很重要。卡斯珀到底怎么了，之后再查。”
“我……嗯，你说得对。”莉维娅清了清嗓子。“我会和福尔图娜赶去废料场。一会儿见。”
“一会儿见。”瑞恩温柔地回答。挂断电话时，食尸鬼正好走进酒吧。
该死，这一轮才刚开始，他就得调整时间安排了！
瑞恩把手机塞回口袋，一脚猛踩油门，开车撞上食尸鬼的后背，为自己的完美通关拉开序幕。
不知怎么的，这事总是百做不厌。
酒吧入口处的墙壁在普利茅斯“狂怒”身后轰然坍塌，食尸鬼一头栽在地上。酒保缩到吧台后，顾客们则尖叫着四散逃窜。
瑞恩从容下车，走到后备厢前，取出雇主托他投递的公文箱。随后，他像走进糖果店的小孩一样，轻快地穿过酒吧。
“我要叫私人安保队了！”雷内斯科在吧台后面嚷道。
“没事，邮政服务！”瑞恩答道，趁食尸鬼还晕着，抡起公文箱砸向他的脑壳。“我来送邮件！”
“给我他妈滚出酒——”雷内斯科没能说完。瑞恩近乎用扔的，把公文箱和一大笔用来买通他的欧元拍在吧台上。
“快存使命必达，不管要试多少次。”瑞恩说道。雷内斯科飞快地点着钱，几乎没分神去看公文箱。“我们还提供一流的财产损失保险服务。”
“这些够付维修费了。”雷内斯科说着，从吧台后探头，看了看晕头转向的食尸鬼。“他怎么办？”
“这把骨头不用操心。”信使瞥向自己最爱的亡灵。食尸鬼正挣扎着试图爬起来，想借一把椅子撑住身体。瑞恩好心地把椅子踢远了。“用我们的行话说，他是赠品。”
“你是谁？”食尸鬼沙哑地问，总算凭自己的力气站起了半截。
这也许是信使最后一轮能拿最爱的亡灵磨牙玩具找乐子了，而眼下正是发泄情绪的绝佳时机。既然女友不准他再搞惯常的自杀游乐循环，那他就决定趁还能玩的时候，先快活一把。
他要把积累的紧张情绪统统释放干净，然后神清气爽、心平气和、心理健康地开始完美通关。
“你知道吗，食尸鬼，这也许是我们最后一次能敞开心扉地谈谈了，所以我觉得，应该告诉你我的感受。”
信使长长地吸了一口气。
“你对我来说，几乎就是另一个路易吉。”
瑞恩出其不意地一把抓住亡灵的头骨。
“所以我要送你上太空！”信使宣布，眼中闪着疯狂的光，“你要坐火箭了，食尸鬼！我要把你塞进火箭，我们给它起名叫杰夫！你要上太空了，食尸鬼，太空！白骨与人类的最后边疆！”
“你他妈在说什——”瑞恩朝骷髅磨牙玩具腿上踢了一脚，松开抓着脑袋的手，让他瘫倒在地。
“我要送你去火星，或者冥王星，因为我不管别人怎么说，它就是颗行星！”瑞恩继续咆哮，恐惧开始攫住疯魔的心。这只让信使更加来劲，继续从受害者的痛苦中汲取养分。“它是圆的，绕着太阳转，上面还有座外星基地！他们拿贝壳给你付钱，开飞碟的架势跟喝醉的旅鼠一个样！他们是色盲，食尸鬼，色盲！”
食尸鬼试图爬走逃命，瑞恩却抓住他一条腿，把他拖了回来。随后，信使四肢着地，凑到亡灵跟前，闯进了他的私人空间。
“你要成为第一具进入太空的尸体了，食尸鬼！全宇宙第一个亡灵宇航员！”这时瑞恩已经吼得震天响，每说一个字，都让他的路易吉替身瑟缩一下。“不过在那之前，你得和亨丽埃特一起接受任务训练！她会啃你，给你的头骨施洗，把它封为她的猫砂盆！可这会让你变得强壮，像俄罗斯宇航员一样强壮！蕾恩会喜欢的，因为这意味着我们要把共产主义输出到太阳系以外！”
食尸鬼畏缩成一团，意识到噩梦才刚刚开始。
“你要拿这身骨头去干火星人了，食尸鬼！”