Andrew Smiled, His Smile Exceptionally Cruel

Deep within the dark, dense forest.

More than a dozen burly men surrounded the frail Andrew, all wearing sinister grins.

"Heh heh. Kid, surrender now. If you give up, you might suffer a little less!"

Someone, practically dripping with villainous flair, loudly urged him to surrender, hoping he would know what was good for him.

In this situation, let alone a scrawny boy, even a grown man would never escape their grasp with his ass—no, that was wrong. He would never escape at all.

Yet Andrew smiled.

"I really couldn't find you rats hiding in the shadows and firing poisoned arrows.

"But the moment you stepped into the sunlight, the scales of victory had already tipped!"

It was as if he were smiling for the first time. Beneath that smile lay a hint of delight at his plan's success.

To those men, however, that delight was exceptionally glaring.

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Get him!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets flew at Andrew one after another.

Andrew spread his right hand, and powerful telekinesis shielded him. Ripples spread through the air as the bullets stopped thirty centimeters in front of him.

"Damn it, this target's tough! Call for reinforcements!"

"Too late!!"

With a furious roar, Andrew thrust both hands forward.

Telekinesis amplified by the Killing Stone Fragment slammed into every enemy before him in an instant.

Crack! Crack!

Amid the dense sounds of breaking bones, they howled as their bodies were sent flying straight backward.

Bang bang bang bang!

The moment their bodies hit the ground, they did not even groan. Their heads lolled to one side, and they passed out cold.

"Whew."

As he caught his breath, an ID card lying on the ground caught his attention.

Using telekinesis to float the card before him and open it, Andrew froze.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.? Good. Very good."

His face twisted with fury as he viciously kicked one of the bodies away. The glow from the Killing Stone Fragment on his forehead became increasingly ominous.

Whoosh!

Telekinesis lifted his body, and Andrew flew into the distance.

Five minutes later, Coulson and Barton arrived at the small grove.

After inspecting the grim scene, they began calling for reinforcements.

At the same time, Crossbones received the intelligence from here. He roared and slammed his fist into the steering wheel. With a thoroughly fucked-up expression on his face, the car rolled over and crashed out of control.

Brooklyn Bridge.

As usual, people and vehicles flowed endlessly across it, the bridge deck packed with traffic.

In the air, Andrew coughed a few times and descended unsteadily onto the middle of Brooklyn Bridge.

His nose felt hot and itchy. He wiped it with his hand, only to find it covered in blood.

".Shit."

He cursed, unable to stop himself from leaning against the railing as he panted softly.

Some pedestrians in the distance had already noticed the guy who had fallen from the sky.

"What was that? Some kind of magic show?"

"Is this a prank? You know, there are a lot of idiots around these days!"

"Could it be a reality show? Either way, I don't believe he can really fly!"

"..."

So annoying!

His body clearly needed rest, yet he still had to endure these people's noise!

He really wanted to kill them.

The Killing Stone on his forehead flickered faintly, and Andrew's eyes seemed to be veiled in firelight.

Watching those powerless people point and gesture at him made the impatience in his heart increasingly unbearable.

"Hey, man~ How did you come down from the sky just now? Are you performing some kind of magic trick here?"

A young Black man who had been drinking stumbled drunkenly in his direction.

Andrew moved two steps to the left, putting some distance between himself and the man.

The guy reeked. Not only was there a heavy stench of alcohol, but also an awful smell of body odor, like he had not bathed for a month—enough to make anyone sick.

But the drunk man's reason was clearly nowhere to be found. He grabbed Andrew's sleeve and shouted.

"Why are you dodging? Why won't you answer my question? Are you discriminating against me?"

"Hic! Let me tell you, discriminating against us Black people is against the law!"

Having no interest in listening to him, Andrew impatiently pulled his sleeve free.

The force was not great, but the man was unsteady from drinking and fell to the ground with a splat.

Andrew frowned, but still did not help him up. He turned to leave.

A few thugs in the distance had originally been watching the show. Seeing one of their own being bullied, they grabbed their bottles and surrounded him, spouting obscenities.

"Kid, are you fucking looking to die?"

"If you don't hand over a thousand dollars today, don't even think about leaving!"

"You dare lay hands on our brother? Do you know who we are?"

They looked human, but their mouths buzzed like irritating flies. Andrew grew increasingly agitated.

"Get lost! Stop bothering me—!"

He let out a low growl, desperately suppressing the violence in his heart.

But these people obviously could not see Andrew's problem. They only felt that this guy was incredibly arrogant. Not only had he bullied their brother, he had insulted them as well!

That attitude was far too outrageous. They pulled out daggers, deciding to draw some blood from this kid today and teach him a painful lesson.

But what answered them was an invisible impact.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Without seeing any means of attack, the men screamed as they were sent flying.

One of them was not lucky enough and slammed straight into an oncoming car. His arm broke on the spot, and he dropped to his knees, howling in agony.

Because his cries were so miserable, even more pedestrians noticed the commotion.

Some cars slowed down to look over, some people took out their smartphones to record the scene, and others sensed trouble and had already called the police.

Gritting his teeth, Andrew stood where he was. He could now feel the Killing Stone Fragment twisting his thoughts, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"I can't stay here any longer."

Having made up his mind, Andrew prepared to leave.

The fragment embedded in his forehead shone brightly, its color becoming ever more vivid, like a gemstone tempting people into crime.

A Mexican man with inverted triangular eyes could no longer resist the greed in his heart. He pulled out a gun, rushed forward, and pointed it at Andrew's head.

"Quick! Hand over that gemstone on your forehead!"

"Don't try any tricks. I've killed more people than you've ever seen!"

He licked his lips. This thing looked immensely valuable. Based on his experience from several robberies, it would surely fetch a high price.

No matter what strange powers this kid had, they were worthless in front of bullets!

His gaze became increasingly greedy, his killing intent completely unrestrained. He even eagerly reached out, intending to gouge that gemstone out while Andrew was still alive.

Ah. He had just gotten out of prison and stumbled across something like this. Today really was... too lucky!

"Heh heh."

Andrew smiled, a smile of exceptional cruelty. The anger he had desperately been suppressing, under the Killing Stone Fragment's continual temptation, instantly broke past some threshold.

Without any visible movement, the Mexican man was lifted into the air as though something had seized him by the throat.

Bang! Bang!

In a desperate struggle, he fired, but the bullets stopped in front of Andrew and clattered to the ground.

"M-Monster!!"

His eyes widened in terror as he finally came to his senses.

To be honest, for a character like Andrew, who did not have much screen time, it was quite difficult to make his psychological transformation feel smooth and natural within just one or two chapters.