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Epilogue The Return（第1页）

Epilogue:TheReturn

‘Therereallyiswater!’ayoushoutedwithjoyoussurprise。Itwastrue;avastsurfaceofwaterstretchedoutbeforethem。Sparklingwavesshimmereduheduskyheavens。

TheMarshalremovedtheglovesofhisspacesuit。Withbothhands，hescoopedupshisvisor，hevee。Ashequicklyclosedhisvisain，hecalled，‘Hey，it’snottoosalty。’Whethelieutenantwasabouttoopenhisownvisor，hestoppedhim。‘You’llsufferdepressiohepositiomosphereisaottheproblem;thepoisonoussulphuripoheairhavealreadythi。However，theatmosphericpressureistoolow。Withoutavisor，itislikewhatbeingatthirtythousahe>

Ageneraldugihisfeet。‘Maybethere’ssomegrassseeds，’hesaid，smilingasheraisedhisheadtolookattheMarshal。

TheMarshalshookhishead。‘Beforethewar，thiswasthebottomoftheo。’

‘Wegohavealookat’snotfarfromhere。Maybewedsomethere，’thelieuteed。

‘Anywillhavebeenburntlongago，’someohasigh。

&hemsedthehorizoniheyweresurroundedbyanunbrokenountailybornbytheeheEarth。Theyweredarkbluemassifsmadeofbarermaspillingfrlowed，likebloodoozingfromthebodyofaslaian。

ThemagmariversoftheEarthbelowhadbur。

ThiswasEarth，twohuhirtyyearsafterthe>

&hewarhadehanonehundredpeopleaboardthetrolshiphadeioheretheywaitedfortheDevourertospitouttheEarth;thentheywouldreturheirwait，theirshiphadbeeasatellite，gtheplaofDevourerahi。Inallthattime，theDevourerEmpirehaddohingtoharassthem。

Owenty-fiveyearsafterthewar，theandship’ssensorspickedupthattheDevourerwasintheprocessofleavih。Irousedsomeofthoseiioheywoke，theDevourerhadalreadylefttheEarthandflowheEarthhadbeentraoawhollyalienworld，astra，perhapsbestdescribedasalumpofcharcoalfreshlyoutoftheoven。Theoshadalldisappeared，andthelandwasawebofmagmarivers。

ThepersohetrolshiplyuetheirhibernatioheirsensorsaheEarthtocool。Thiswaitlastedaury。

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&heyagainwokefromhibernation，theyfou，itsviolentgeologyhavihwasadesolate，yellowwastelahoughalllifehaddisappeared，therewasstillasparseatmosphere。Theyevendisnantsoftheosofold。

Sotheylaheshoreofsuahesizeofapre-wartallake。

Ablastofthunder，deafeninginthisthinatmosphere，roaredabovethemasthefamiliar，ofaDevourerEmpireshiplafarfromtheirowsgiganticdoorsopened，andFangstookhisfirsttstepsout，leaningheavilyonawalkingstickthesizeofapowerpole。

‘Ah，youarestillalive，sir!’theMarshalgreetedhim。‘Youmustbearoundfivehundrednow?’

‘HowcouldIlivethatlong?I，too，wentiion，thirtyyearsafterthewar。IhibersoIcouldseeyouagain，’Faed。

&heDevourernow?’theMarshalasked。

Faheskyaboveasheanswered。‘Youstillseeitatnight;itisbutadimstarnoassedJupiter’sorbit。’

‘Itisleavingthesolarsystem?’theMarshalqueried。

Fangsnodded。‘Iwillsetouttodaytofollowit。’

TheMarshalpausedbeforespeakiholdnow。’

Fangssadlynoddedhisgianthead。‘Old…’hesaid，hiswalkingsticktremblinginhishand。‘Theworld，iioEarth。

‘Asmallamoumosphereremains。ShouldwesiderthisanaertheDevourerEmpire?’theMarshalaskedquietly。

Fangsshookhishead。‘Ithasnothingtodowithmercy;itisy。’

&h’ssoldierslookedatFangsi。

‘Oh，inthiswartheDevourerEmpiresufferedaedwouhundredsofmillionsiears，’Fangsadmitted。‘Oure，too，sufferedcriticaldamage。Afterthewar，ittookusfiftyEarthyearsjusttopletepreliminaryrepairs，andowasdonecouldwebegiheEarth。Butwekourtimeinthesolarsystemwaslimited。Ifwedidime，acloudofiwouldflhtinthtpath。Ahelongwayround，wewouldlosesevehousandyearsonourwaytothear。Inthattime，thestar’sstatewouldhavealreadyged，bursthatwewishedtoe。BecauseofthiswehadtochewtheplaheSueandotpickthemgsexplained。

‘Thatfillsuswithgreatfortandhonour。’theMarshalsaid，lookingatthesoldierssurroundinghim。

‘Youaremostworthyofit。Ittrulywasagreatiellarwar。IhyannalsoftheDevourer’swars，ourswasoremarkablebattles!Tothisday，allthroughoutourworld，minstrelssingoftheepicatsoftheEarth’sssstated。

‘Wewouldsoohumanitywouldrememberthewar。So，howishumanity?’theMarshalqueried。

&heroximatelytwobillionhumaedtotheDevourerEmpire，abouthalfofallofhumanity，’FaivatingthelargesofhisportableputerwherepicturesoflifeontheDevourerappeared。Thesrevealedabeautifulgrasslandunderblueskies。roupofhappyhumanswassinginganddandatfirstitwasdifficulttodistinguishthegehesehumans。Theirskinwasasoft，subtlewhite，andtheywerealldressedinfine，gauzyclotheswithbeautifulwreathsofflowersohedistanakeoutamagle，clearlymodelledohingfromahfairytale。Itsvibrantadeitlookasifitweremadeofdchocolate。

Thecamera’slensdrewcltheMarshalacetostudythesepeople’sdetail。Hewassooelycedthattheyweretrulyhappy。Itwasanutterlycarefreehappial。Itremindedhimofthefewshortyearsofichildhoodjoythatpre-warhumanshadexperienced。

&eheirabsolutehappiness，’Fangssaid。‘Itisthemifthem。Ifwedoguarayoftheirmeat。AnditmustbesaidthatEarthpeopleareseenasfoodofthehighestquality;onlytheupperclassoftheDevourerEmpiresoaffordtoenjoythem。Wedonottakesuchdelicaciesfranted。’Fangspausedforamoment。‘Oh，Marshal。Wefrandson，sir。Wereethingfromhimtoyou。Doyoucaretoseeit?’