(Three months ago...)
Martin pulled out his usual Webley-Scott pistol and pointed it at a man named William in English. The man was in his 35s, a sort of international student from China. Martin has found out that the man has been in the UK for a full 10 years since graduating, working carefully and diligently under a unregistered citizens account . During these 10 years, he was busy from day to night almost every day. Working as a plumber, he dealt with underground passages full of spider webs, rats and cesspits. It was obviously not his first or only job. For example, he worked as a waiter in a third- rate restaurant, as a painter, and even collected garbage in his spare time for a little extra income. Perhaps Martin did not know that the man's family was poor and that he had a sick mother. The poor pay of the local work made it impossible for him to live, and his mother's illness required medical expenses. In that year, he took a desperate gamble and came to Britain through informal intermediaries. In Martin's view, with this job, which almost all the local English people despise, the man could earn some money and send it back home. But it was this job that had cost the man's life. And for a moment in the past, Martin even began to wonder if the man was dead and that what he had encountered was just a ghost. But after clearing his mind, Martin began to think that the man is nothing more than a poor guy who sends all his income back to his family. This is very common in Europe. For example, illegal immigrants from Albania, Afghanistan, America and Mexico. There is a lot of resistance from the local population, because these people, in many cases, take their jobs. But Martin takes it all in a cool to calm manner -- the black registered people are not the worst of the people he assassinated.
Martin is well aware that most of his assassinations are motivated by politics and money. There are conspiracies, too, of course, including some that stem from what he sees as ludicrous contradictions. But most of the assassinations he has been given in the past have been of people who would be too difficult for a common hitman, like an Italian Mafia boss, a former Russian dignitary, or heirs to a family fortune in American or Middle Eastern. Once, he was asked to assassinate a Caribbean pirate leader, for which he even spent a month adrift. Each time, he had to finesse his own plan, bypassing heavy security and even dealing with highly trained C.I.A. agents. At times, though, Mr. Martin viewed killing targets as a gentlemanly art. He took it as horse racing and fencing match that people used to watch after their dinner ,those originated in the brutality of early historical battles, but are now played up as dignified ceremonies.
Somewhere along the line, he thought he might have been born to do the job. Every time he looked back on his previous assassination 'achievements', he was more convinced that once he began the work, no one could escape. This time, he could not understand why the organization had assigned himself the task of assassinating a plumber from China, which was not seems to be any difficult. No mention it is even less understandable why anyone would pay more than the plumber's life value he thought to assassinate this person at the bottom of society. He just accepted the job because the price was right. There even seemed to be a rare and interesting narrative from the scant description provided by his employer: as if the plumber was not a man, but more like a ghost. Martin, however, apparently did not believe in this ghost kind of thing. He knew that the plumber from China was probably just a bad luck who had overheard some nefarious scheme or plot that someone had to pay a high price to rid the world of him forever.
That time, Martin finally tracked down the plumber. Looking at the man sitting on the edge of the cliff, Martin hesitated, for it seemed that the man was about to kill himself. During the tracking, Martin learned about the man's daily life, behavior and preferences. Martin had to admit that, in a sense, the man's life seemed to be like a ghost. He often worked through underground pipes that no one wanted to go to. These dark corners full of sewers and dungeons and unaesthetic environments, Martin found it difficult to follow with him. Especially as it did somewhat contradict the thuggish style and professional image that he was accustomed to disguise and infiltrate in his actions in some of the most prestigious mansions. Except in exceptional circumstances, Martin often preferred Infiltrating and give a quietly and esthetically-designed death to his target in a well-guarded condition. At the very least, he felt that death was something to be respected. On this occasion, he could at least feel a dignity of life in the face of the soothing ocean, in the sound of the waves, which seemed to hover between noise and silence. But before he could pull the trigger on the pistol with a silence, the man himself fell into the ocean, and he could only watch. He didn't even know why the man had done it.
What Martin can't determine is whether the man knew he was about to be assassinated and chose to take his own life. Did the man recognize in his glazed eyes? his jacket with its brown waterproof cashmere lining and his slacks stained with brown sludge? Still, Martin had at least sensed something strange about the man -- a man who had never tried to observe or look squarely at Martin , who was about to hurt him. He seemed no longer interested in anything but his work.
This time Martin did not do his professional habit to look for the body of the dead man. After following and studying the man's way of life, Martin seemed to develop a strange feeling about him. This feeling, after he had dealt with several sanctimonious scum in a row for the first time on a mission, seemed to have vanished completely. And yet it had reappeared today!
Martin looked out to sea. For some reason, he even felt a little glad that he was not that poor man, and he hoped that the man from China, by luck, had not really died, but just simply disappeared into society -- that he would live a good life in a part of the world where no one could find him. Martin began to wonder if this thought of feeling was the killer's most taboo -- sympathy? !
Apparently, the results of the mission were not satisfactory to the employer, who needed a specific death certificate for the man, not a disappearing-like result. In the sea, the odds of finding a body even depend on luck, and this time they had no luck, for the man had indeed left nothing behind, and had vanished like a ghost. After this' mistake ', Martin received the news from the organization that he had lost his contract payment. Martin didn't object. He acknowledged his' mistake '. In other words, Martin demands that he maintain a quality of "grace" -- which, he believes, is necessary for a good killer of his caliber. He demands the same of his daily life, both
physically and spiritually. Every morning, for example, he adds some honey to his milk and coffee, and spreads melted camel cheese on perfectly crisp bread. In the afternoon, he would drink a cup of black tea at one of the nicer teahouses around him. In the evening, in addition to special tasks, he always demands that he must be accompanied by music and fall asleep before 10 o 'clock. Outside the mission, in addition to accidents, he will often stay in some high-end hotels or homestays. As for his various weapons, as well as travel clothes, he has his own standards, even willing to spend a lot of money to choose private customization. For Martin, quality is the key to everything. He plans to put this unique motto into the Killer Hall of Fame, and be able to live with it even after retiring. That's why he doesn't have much savings, despite the high commissions of task he's paid.
In order to make up for his previous' mistake ', the organization assigned him a new task, this time, his employer asked him to assassinate a Chinese businessman. In Martin's opinion, this is another assassination motivated by commercial competition. The mystery employer said he was unable to arrange any assistance. Any problems that might arise in accomplishing this task must be solved by Martin himself. But to Martin, none of this would be a problem for him, he even found it as a challenge. In the past,he was rarely involved in missions to China for his professional experience. His predecessors who had been there to "do the work" seemed to have mixed feelings about Martin's trip that was going to be -- while most of them spoke highly of the food and travel, they were often reticent about the assignments. There were even rumors that many of his "colleagues" had been cursed by some kind of mission there. Though no one really took the rumors or the curse seriously. However, it is true that many colleagues who have been there have given up their killer career after coming back, and even have no intention of killing anyone!
"Maybe that's why organizations don't often accept assignments from China?" "Martin wondered. The corners of his mouth turned up a little, with the expression of a hungry cat who sees a little hole in the corner where a mouse is poking its head awkwardly. This was clearly a new opportunity for him, and he even felt the possibility that this time he would open up a new market for the organization, a feat that only he could achieve.
He did so not only because of his absolute confidence in his own experience and achievements, but also because of the other half of his heritage, which has become increasingly mysterious in the industry: Chinese heritage. He has dark brown hair and pupils, and the angular facial shape of a typical Western man. This made it difficult for his colleagues to understand his nationality. a few years ago, it is memorable that Martin shoved a young Frenchman colleague's head down the toilet for mocking Martin of having an Asian face. Although that was the only time that he showed uncontrolled rudeness in the organization and was formally disciplined by the organization. After that, not a single word of ridicule was uttered to his face. In particular, after that young Frenchman was transferred from his former office in England to a department in Ireland because of his psychological problems. Now one has ever heard him again, just like disappear.
Martin made Hong Kong his first stop on the mission. In his opinion, Hong Kong is of most famous place in China and the most desirable place for businessmen from all over the world. Hong Kong has a mature business and financial system. Although most people there speak Cantonese which he doesn't understand. But in Hong Kong, English is the language of everyday communication. Martin is still fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He believes that through the network there, he has full access to the information he needs to complete his mission.
On the flight to Hong Kong, the announcer spoke in both Chinese and English, which made him feel at home. It had been a long time since he had been to China, and the last time he had been here was with his mother, who is still alive. Yes, his mother is Chinese. After China's reform and opening up, she moved to the UK, where she met a native Briton who would become her father at university. For many years, her father had taken a keen interest in the Oriental mysteries of China. They took out a joint loan to buy a house in Rochester and lived there for a long time. Although Martin considered himself to be more in line with his father's temperament, his physical features were in some ways more like those of his mother: he had almost black brown hair and dark amber eyes, and features that were polished out of mold. As a young man in England, he was often very popular with women, and he was proud of that. Now he is 35 years old, which is the prime age in England and in many European countries.