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01 For the Benefit of Mankind（第2页）

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BrotherTeethtookhishesawthathisside.Thebladewasthisserrationsrazor-sharp.Thehandlewassolidddecoratedwithbeautifulukiyo-epatterhesaedaroundhiswaistlikeabelt，as，hewouldunwinditanddrawaviolinbowacrossthebackoftheblade.Bybendingthebladeandbowingacrosssesofdifferentwidths，hecouldprodug，melanusigihemournfulcriesofspirits.Ofoothborehadheardtalesofthesaw’sotherappli，buthehadoherTeethuseitinace.Itwasduringahigh-stakesgameofdioldwarehouse.BrotherTeeth’sseand，amannamedHalf-Brick，hadgambledbigahing，eves’house.Withbloodshoteyes，heofferedtoputbothhisarmsoableihi.

BrotherTeethrattledthedidsmiledathim.Half-Brick’sarms，hesaid，tablebet.Afterall，thefuturewaslong–andwithouthands，howcouldtheyplaydicetogether?

&ys.’hesaid.

SoHalf-Brickhadbetbothhislegs–aagain.

AlthoughSmoothborewasyoung，hehadbeenatrustedmemberofBrotherTeeth’sente.Havihemaniopowerfrage，hewasobloodshed.Whehfinallyscrapedtogetherafortuhebloodyguttersofsodsoughttoshifthisbusiomorerespectableels，hismostloyalretainerswereenfiefedasoftheBoard，VicePresident，aitles.OnlySmoothborewaslefttoserveasBrotherTeeth’sbodyguard.

Thosewhokhuhattheleveloftrustimpliedbythisappoiwasnosmallmatter.Themaraordinarilycautious，perhapsasaresultofthefatethatbefellhisgodfather.BrotherTeeth’sgodfatherhadalsobeeious;ih’swords，themanedhimselfiniroheopportunity.Aftermahouti，heboardedaflightandtookhisassig，flahersidebytwoofhismosttrustedbodyguards.WhentheplanelandedinZhuhai，thestewardesshreemeed，asiflostinthought.Asedlookrevealedthattheywerealreadydead.Likehisgodfatherbeforehim，BrotherTeeth’sjourophadbeeful.Now，navigatiywaslikegaforestofhiddenbladesoramarshcrateredwithpitfalls.HelaghislifeintoSmoothbore’shands.

ButSmoothbore’sussoohreatwiththearrivalofMrK.MrKwasRussian.Atthattime，itwasthefashionamongthosewhocouldaffordittoemployex-KGBofficersasbodyguards.Havingsuchapersoninone’semploywassomethingtobeproudof.Thosewhoranih’scirclesstruggledtopronouncehisRussianname，andsimplycalledthenewer‘KGB’.Overtime，theysettledonMrK.Iy，MrKhadotheKGB.MBofficerswerecubidcivilservahoseoliflitraiofpersoy.Instead，MrKhadworkediralSecurityBureauoftheSovietUniasbodyguardtromykothethenMinisternAffairsknowas‘Mr’.Hewaseverybitthegeicle，atrueexpertinkeepinghistsbreathihhadhiredhimonavice-’ssalarynotoutofadesiretoboast，butoutofrealforhiso

FromthemomentofMrK’sarrival，itwasclearthathewasutterlyuherbodyguards.Atthediherbodyguardswouldouteatandout-drihyemployers，alyfortableiialk.Whenrealdashead，theywouldeitherwithalltheartorleavetheirthedustoftheirpa.Instarktrast，atbasotiations，MrKwouldstalybehih，hishulkingfigurelikeanimmovablewall，readytoiahreat.WhileMrKheopportunitytoprotecthisacrisissituation，hisprofessionalismaionodoubtthatshouldsuchasituationarise，hewouldfulfillhisdutieswithateexpertise.Smoothborerofessionalthaherbodyguardsanddidheirobviousfailings，buthewasfullyawareoftheworldofdiffereweenhimselfandMrK.Forexample，itwasalongtimebeforeherealizedthatMrKwlassesatallhoursofthedaynottolookcool，buttocealhisgaze.

AlthoughMrKpickedupesequickly，hekeptalooffromthepeopleinhisemployer’sinnercircles.Hemaihisdistancecarefully，untilonedayheaskedSmoothboretostepintohisSpartanroom.Afterheplassesofvodka，hetoldSmoothboreinstiltedese，‘I，waospeak.’

‘Tospeak?’

‘Afuage.’

SoSmantolearnafuagefromMrK.HedidnotrealizehewasbeingtaughtEnglishandnotRussianuntilafewdayslater.Smoothborewasaquier，aheyuhEnglishaoldhim，‘Youarehers.’

‘Iknow.’hbore.

‘Inmythirtyyearsofexperience，Ihavelearoaccuratelydistinguishthosepeoplewithpotentialfromtherest.Youareonesuchraretalent，aimeIsawyouitchilledme.It’seasytoacoldblood，butit’sdifficulttostaycold-bloodedwith.Youeointhisbusiness，ifyoudon’tburyyourtalents.’

‘WhatIdo?’

‘First，studyabroad.’

Brreedreadilytestionaooothbore’sexpensesinfull.HehadhopedtoridhimselfofSmoothboreeversinceMrK’sarrival，buttherewereionsinthepany.

Arynight，thisboywhohadbeeayoungageaheunderbellyofsocietyboardedapassebeanddistantland.

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DrivingarundownSantana，Smoothboremadehiswayacrossthespecteachoftheloswritteographs.HisfirststopwasBlossomPlaza.Itdidnottakehimlongtofihephoto.HewasrummagingthreSmoothborearrived，andafterafewminutes，hehauledhisbulgingtrashbagtoanearbybench.Hissearchhadbornfruitintheforme，almostubemissingonlyabite;severalperfectlygoodslicesofbread;andhalfabottleofoothborehadexpectedhimtoeatwithhishands，buthewatchedwithsurpriseasthetramppulledoutasmallaluminumspooofthedirtyovercoatheworeeveninsummer.Hefinishedhisdinnerslowlyahrewwhatremainedbate.Lookingaroundtheplaza，Smoothboresawthelightsofthetoflialldires.Hewasveryfamiliarwiththisarea，butsomethioff.Inaflash，itowhythemaoleisurelyeathisfill.Theplazawasaplacefortheelesspopulation，butatthemoment，noonecouldbeseenbuthismark.Wherehadtheygoheyallbeenprocessed?

Smoothboredroveontotheaddressoograph.Underanoverpassosofthetyellowlightspilledoutfromashackcobbledtatedoothborecautiouslypushedthebusteddooroftheshajustacrack.Ashepokedhisheadin，hesuddenlyfoundhimselfinafantasticalworldofcolor.Thewallsoftheshackwerehungwithoilpaintingsofallsizes，gaseparatewallofart.Smoothbore’seyestracedawispofsmokebacktotheitiist，layedoutbehabrokeneasellikeabeariion.Hishairwaslong，andhispai-shirtwassobaggyitlookedlikearobe.Hewassmokingacheappackofjadebutterflycigarettes.Hiseyesrovedoverhisartwork，andhisgazewasfilledwithwonderandloss，asifhewasseeingitforthefirsttime.Smuessedmostofhistimeentfawningoverhisownworks.Thisparticularbreedartisthadbeenoiesoftheprevioustury，butnowadaystheywerefewaween.

‘It’sallright，ein.’saidtheartist，hiseyesneverleavinghispaintingstolookatthedoor.Histoedthiserialpalaoothboresteppedinside，heasked，‘Doyoulikemypaintings?’

Smlandandsawthatmostofthepaichaoticsplotchesofcolor–pailyontoavaswouldhaveseemedrationalbyparison.Butthereiaveryrealisticstyle，andSmoothbore’seyeswerequitoohese:ainatedbyacrackedyellowearth.Aferotrudedfromthefissuresintheground，lookingasiftheyhadwitheredawayturiesago，ifierhadeverexistedinthisworldatall.Askulllayontheparchedearth.Thoughitwasbleach-ermeatedwithcracks，twogreen，livingplantssproutedfromitsmoutha.Insharptrastwiththedroughtahsurrouheseplantsweregreenandluxuriant，andatiefloweredthetipofo.Theskull’sothereye-sotainedahumaslimpidpupilstaredatthesky，anditsgazewasfilledwiththesamewonderandlossasitspainter.

‘Ilikethisohboresaid，pointiing.

‘It’scalledBarrenNo.2.Willyoubuyit?’

‘Howmuch?’

‘Howmuchyougot?’

Smoothborepulledouthiswalletahehundredyuaaihemtotheartist，butthelatteronlytooktwobills.

‘It’sonlyworththismuch.It’syoursnow.’

Smoothborestartedthedpickedupthethirdphotographtostudythelastaddress.Hecuttheignitiolater，ashisdestinatihtaloheoverpass:thecity’slargestlahisbinodpeeredthroughthewindshield，seararkamongstthesgersgovertherubbishdump.

300，000junkmenmadealivingoffthegarbageofthemetrtheiroletewithitsowndistihehighestrankingjunkmehecity’sritzyvilladistricts.There，itossibletopickadailyhaulofshirts，sodbedsheets，usedohedelicatelysculptedwastebins–intheseneighborhoods，theseweresideredsingle-usegoods.Allkindsofthingsfoundtheirwayinthtlyscuffedpremiumleathershoesas，half-smokedHavanacigars，expeetheers…Butpiggarbagethereedheftybribestotheresideyguardsthatonlyafewcouldafford，andthosewhocouldafforditbecamearistsgers.

Themiddleranksofjuheredarouy’smaraiostopsformunicipalwaste.There，themostvaluablerefuse–wasteeleics，scrapmetal，is，discardedmedicaldevidexpiredpharmaceuticals–wasquiappedup.Thesesiteswereanyoationwasthedomainofajunkboss.Anysgerwhoetheirpermissionuorsofminoroffelybeatenanddrivenoff，whileseriousoffenderscouldlosetheirlives.

Littleofvalueremaihatpassedthroughthetraionstotherubbishdumpsandlandfillsosofthedyetitwasthisortedthelargestnumberofpeople.ThesewerethelowliestofjuhekindofpehtinfrontofSmoothbore.Worthless，unrecyclablebrokenplastidshreddedpaperwasallthatwasleftforthesgersosofjunkmaheresofrottenfood，whichcouldbegleaherubbishandsoldaspigfeedtfarmsattenyuantothekilo.Iaropolisshobrilliasradiaaflighalooverthefetidmountaine.Thejuheluxuryoftheybysiftingthroughitstrash.Miherottenfood，itossibletomakeoutaroastsugpigwithoenaway，abarelytouchedgrouper，wholes…Retly，ithadbeontofindwholeSilkiehens，owingtothepopularityofanewdishcalledWhiteJade.Thedisharedbyslittiomachofthe，fillingitwithtofu，asimmer.Theslicesoftofuweretherealdelicacy;the，whiledelierelyg.Likethereedleavesaroundrigs，anydinerfoolisheheitselfwouldbeethelaughingstopatrons…

&garbagetruckofthedaypulledi.Asittippeditsloadroupofjunkmetheavalae，quiishingintdustawasliketheyhadpassedintoanewphaseofevolutiohestencheheap，thegermsaoxicfilth.Ofcourse，thiswasanillusion，maintainedbypeoplewhoonlysawhowtheylivedandnothowtheydied.Likethecorpsesofisandrats，thebodiesofjueredthelandfill.Theypassedawayquietlyhere，soonburiedbyrash.

Inthedimlightemanatingfromthefloodlampsattheedgeofthelot，thejunkmey，indistinctshadows，butSmoothborestillswiftlylocatedhismarkamohespeedwithwhichhespottedherwasdueinparttohisownkeenvision，buttherewasalsoanotherreasohevagrantsinBlossomPlaza，thereweresignifitlyfewerjuhelandfilltoday.Whatwasgoingon?Smoothboreobservedhismarkthroughhisbinoculars.Atfirstglance，sheseemedhananyer.Thereetiedarou，andshecarriedalargewovenbagandalong-handledrake.Shesabitskiheothers.Uosqueezethroughthethrongofjunkmen，shelysgealongtheperiphery，siftingthroughthetrashoftrash.