奇书网

01 For the Benefit of Mankind002（第5页）

SmoothborestaredatZhuwithaqueerexpressiohrewhisheadbadburstintolaughter。‘I’mkilliofhumankind!’

‘Youarebeinghumanity。Yhumancivilization。’

‘Actually，’musedSmoothbore，‘deaththreatswoulddothetrick。’

‘That’snoguarantee!’XuleaowardsSmoothboreandwhisperedinalowvoice。‘Wearedealingwithlunatics，twistedwithclasshatred。EveakethemoheywouldstillsweartotheElderBrothersthattheyarepenowipethemofftheplaassoonaspossible。’

‘Iuahbore。

‘Sowhat’syourplannolainedjustasyouaskedus。Ofoneywillsoonbemeaningless，aainlydohelpinghumanity。’

‘Moneywasneverofgreate，andI’veneversideredthelatter…ButIwillfulfillthetract–bymidnighttonight。Pleasepreparewhateveryouspletion。’Ashefinishedspeaking，Smoothboresteppeddowrudbegantoleave。

‘Ihaveoion，’ZhucalledafterSmoothbback。‘Perhapsit’simpolite，soyoudooanswer。Ifyouwerepoor，wouldyourefuseourmoney?’

‘Iamnotpoor，’Smoothboreahoutlookingbaoresteps，andtheurhepairwithahawkishgaze。‘Ifwere…thenyes，Iwouldherodea>

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‘Whydidyourefusetheirmohboreaskedhisfirstmark。HehadlastseenthehomelessmaninBlossomPlaza;oodireesinanearbypark。Twotypesoflightfilteredthroughtheopy。ThefirstwastheeerieblueglowthatemaheringoftheElderBrothers’ships，gdappledshadround。Thesedwastheshifting，kaleidoscopietropolisitself，waveringwildlyasitslahroughthetrees，asifterrifiedoftheblueglow。

&rampsheywerebeggihoserichpeme!Onewomaneveooktheirmoheywouldme，astobebeggedfe。’

‘Yes，veryrefreshing。’saidSmoothbore，ashepulledSrigger。

&ramprisingthief。Hehadseenataglahemanwhohadcalledhimintothegrovewasholdihihhisdhewascurioustodiscoverwhatitwas。Hesawasuddenflashfrombeheman’scoat，likethewirahin，andheluoendlessdarkness。

Thejobrodostinstawasmuffledunderlayersofg。iced。

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&othelandfill，Smoothborediscoveredthatonlyhismarkremaiherjunkmelyclaimedtheiru。

&hebluelightofstarships，Smoothborepickedhiswayacrosstherihpurposefulstrides，headingstraightfet。HehadremindedhimselfahuimesbeforehandthatthiswasPea，andtherewasorepeatthewarningagain。Hisbloodranditwouldnotbewarmedbyahandfulofyouthfulmemories。ThesgergirlhadicedhisarrivalwhenSmoothbun。Therewasosilehelandfill。Freedfromhiscoat，theshdtheflashlitupthegarbagearoundhimlikeasmallboltoflightning。Therahebullettimetosingasittumbledthroughtheair，itswhihewailingofspirits。

Thisjobrodostinstantly。Shewasdeadbeforeshehittheground。Herbodywasinstantlyswallowedintothelandfill，ahatmighthavetestifiedtoherexistencewasquicklysoppedupbythegarbage。

With，Smoothborebecamearesendhim。Hespunoofacetheitiist。Theman’slonghairflutteredintheeveningbreeze，likeblueflamesiofstars。

‘Theyhadyoukillher?’askedtheartist。

‘Merelyhatract。Didyouknowher?’

‘Yes。Sheofteolookatmyart。She’treadmuch，butsheuhepaintihem，justlikeyou。’

‘I’vebeentractedtokillyou，too。’

&dippedhisheadinebetrayahihoughtso。’

‘Outofcuriosity，whydidyourefusethemoney?’

‘Mypaintingsdescribepovertyah。IfIbecameamilliht，myartwoulddie。’

Smoothborenodded。‘Yourartwillliveon。Itrulydolikey。’Heraisedhisgun。

‘Waitamoment。YousaidyouwerefulfillingatraIsighyou?’

Smoothborenoddedagain。‘Ofcourse。’

‘MydeathdoesIwantyoutoaveheartistpoiowherethesgerlayamidthegarbage。

&merephraseyourrequestinthelanguageofmyprofession:youwanttoetoproorderofwork，thesameunitsthattractedmetoprocessyouandthisotherunit。’

Smravelyasseaproblem。’

‘Ihavenomoney。’

Smhed，‘Yousoldmethatpaintingfartoocheaply。Ithasalreadypaidforthisjob。’

&hankyou。’

‘You’rewelmerelyhatract。’

Snubnose’smuzzlespatdeadlyfireoncemore。

‘Therewashat。’

ThevoicebehindSmoothbore。Hewhirledaroundagainandsaersonstandierofthelandfill，amaherjacketalmostidentioothbore’sown，andhelookedyoungbutotherwiseunremarkable。Thebluelightfrlintedinhiseyes。