Which one is better if the officials are forced to die together [Comprehensive British and American]

Carl pondered how to answer this question.

Of course the truth must be told, but there are certain skills in how to speak the truth.Talking half-covered is telling the truth, changing the order of events is telling the truth, and using relatively less intense vocabulary is also telling the truth.

Strange stared at Carl with piercing eyes. He had a pair of characteristic gray eyes, which Karl had only seen in him for so many years.

"You must know the legend of the six infinity gems, doctor." Carl finally chose to speak directly, "It is said that these six gems were split by the goddess of nemesis, God's punishment..."

The doctor listened carefully to every word Carl said.

"I understand." He nodded, "It's not impossible to lend it to you, but I have a few conditions."

"Please, Doctor."

"First, the time gem can't leave my sight; second, I helped you, so you have to help me; third, I don't trust Alexander, the process of stripping must be done by you."

"Okay." Carl agreed, "I understand."

In view of the particularity and importance of the time gem, they quickly agreed on a specific time for action, and Strange also informed Karl of the disaster he knew.

"It's no secret that Thanos is collecting Infinity Stones." He frowned, and his worried look seemed very smart and arrogant, "It is said that he has already got the Soul Stone that no one knows the exact location of—unbelievable—but he The next target is obviously Earth."

Carl didn't say much. Although Alexander has four gems so far, it really can't be said that Alexander is wrong.

After all, the previous owner of the gem was always stationed on the earth except for Loki. Even Loki, who spent most of his time wandering in the universe, didn't know what medicine he took wrongly during this time, and ran to the earth every three days. .

As long as Thanos is not too stupid, he will choose to come to the earth to find the infinite gem.

And his most likely action is to find the last known owner of the gem. Whether it is threatened or oppressed, or tortured, Thanos has countless ways to dig news from the former owner of the gem.

But what if even the gemstone's previous owner didn't know how they lost their gemstone?

Calculated in this way, Alexander actually did a good thing, reducing the possibility of the Infinity Stone being found by Thanos by taking the bottom line!

Carl comforted himself a few words in this way, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that his thoughts were right, and finally he was relieved. After leaving the New York Temple, he turned around and went to the headquarters of the Ayer Group.

During this period of time, he came more frequently, and he was used to the reception at the front desk. When he saw Carl, the smile on his face was much gentler, and his voice was as sweet as honey:

"Mr. Al!"

Carl nodded at her with a smile and walked to the elevator.

"Mr. Al!" The front desk called again softly.

"Huh?" Carl turned his head and looked at her with puzzled eyes. The elevator door had already opened, but he didn't go in. Instead, he waited patiently for what the front desk lady wanted to say.

This kind of behavior undoubtedly gave encouragement to the young woman who was still a little uneasy. The base of her neck was flushed, and her eyes were shining because of excitement.

"Sir," she plucked up her courage and asked in a low voice, "were you and Mr. Luthor really... together a long time ago?"

"It's too rude and unprofessional to ask your boss this kind of question, Miss Sharp." Carl glanced at her badge. When he said this, there was no smile on his face, and his tone was even a little severe.

The front desk lady's expression suddenly became terrified. She barely maintained a smile, and her fingers hidden behind the high platform were twisted together nervously.

"But I can answer your question: Yes, we have been together for a long time." Carl suddenly laughed again, "No exception, Miss Sharp, don't let me catch you deserting during working hours."

He stepped into the elevator, and when the two doors closed in the middle, he heard a clear exhalation from outside the door.

The front desk lady patted her chest with her hands in shock, secretly surprised at her own boldness.Yes, she has met the president of this huge company who inherited this huge company at a young age several times, and she also knows that the other party's temper is quite friendly, but what exactly did she eat to act recklessly? Who asked that question?

The elevator stopped at the door of Alexander's office, and Carl walked in briskly, ready to share with his brother the good news that he could get the Time Stone soon.

However, after he walked in the door, he found that Alexander was not in the office.

Planet Vormir.

"You're here..." A deep voice echoed on this empty planet, Thanos and Gamora looked around, but didn't see anyone around.

"Who are you? Don't pretend to be a ghost." With Thanos at her side, Gamora's spirit was always in a state of tension, and this weird voice made her react a little too much.

A thick black mist gathered in front of them into a humanoid shape. A worn-out black robe was draped over the body of this unknown creature. The tail of the worn-out long cloak dissipated slowly like smoke, and its The face is hidden under the hat, and when you look over, you can only see a thick shadow.

"I am the one who protects the soul gem." It whispered, its voice as ethereal as the whispers of a ghost, "For so many years, I have endured the torment of being close to it, but not being able to hold it in my hands... to lead the search for it. It is my responsibility to go to it to stand the test..."

"Take us there," Thanos said quietly, "I'll pass the test."

The figure made up of dense fog made a movement to look towards him, and its emotions could not be seen from the worn-out and decayed appearance, only listening to him say:

"……follow me."

It leads Thanos and Gamora slowly forward. The road is surrounded by broken objects, and the surface is covered with a layer of strange iron black powder. The inexplicable suction under the feet will make people very uncomfortable. happy.

They came to the end of a cliff.

"... Sacrifice the person you love the most to the great soul gem!" The voice of the guide rose, "When it confirms your contribution, it will give you the right to use it!"

Before Thanos and Gamora could react to this, a soft male voice sounded.

"Sorry." He said, "I know you have gone through a lot of things to find the location of the soul gem, but I also have a reason why I must temporarily get this gem."

"Who?" Thanos turned around vigilantly, and Gamora also turned around quickly.

In the faint gray smoke on the surface of the planet, Alexander's figure gradually became clear to their eyes.

But he looks completely different from Earthlings.

"I have had many names, but I think any name I have used means nothing to you." He said flatly, raising his hand.

This action seemed to be an instruction, and in an instant, countless pairs of blue eyes lit up in the light gray smoke.

Thanos frowned, and Gamora had a sneer on his lips.

Countless bodies with metallic luster emerged from the light gray mist. They moved forward slowly, shrinking the encirclement. The psychological pressure brought by the steel legion was enormous. Even Thanos would not fight with bare hands. Under the condition of one person to deal with this group of dangerous enemies.

And he also carries a Gamora who could backhand him at any time.

But...however, she is the one who plays a pivotal role in this test.

Alexander stood quietly on the spot, staring deeply at the cliff. If Carl was here, he would have retreated involuntarily in front of Alexander, because this was a state that Alexander had never shown him.

It cannot be said that this is the state that Alexander has never shown him. When Carl was younger, Alexander was so standard and inorganic in front of him.

It's just that Karl forgot.

"If you have no objections," Alexander said lightly, "please let me take the test first."

"Please." Thanos said without hesitation, "I also want to know whether artificial life like you also has the legendary soul."

Alexander didn't say anything, just closed his eyes.

A robot came out, and with everyone watching, it walked to the top of the cliff, and then fell straight down.

Everything was silent, save for the distant muffled sound of heavy objects falling.

Half a minute passed, and the Soul Gem didn't respond at all.

Alexander opened his eyes.

"Sure enough, it still doesn't work." He said, turning his head to look at the guide, "Do you know why it doesn't work?"

"...you don't have a soul," it replied, as if listening to the response from the soul stone, "one who doesn't have a soul can't use it."

Alexander nodded to accept the explanation. He lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment, then grabbed his front suddenly, his hands glowed with red and purple light, and pulled him hard——

A very faint orange light appeared in his hand, mixed with the other two lights, and then slowly disappeared.

Thanos stared at him closely, his pupils constricted for a while: "You have the Reality Gem and the Power Gem."

"Yes." Alexander didn't deny it.

He checked the Soul Gem, and clearly felt the anger, frustration and annoyance that came from it. Unlike those Infinity Gems that came from the same source, it seemed to be a "living" existence.

"It's impossible." Thanos said incredulously, "The soul gem is the only special gem. It is hidden in the soul world. Even if you use the power of several other infinite gems, it is impossible to transfer it from another dimension. take out……"

"But the Infinity Stones can remember the power of the previous users," Alexander explained, and he has always been willing to explain, which may be called a service nature. "As long as their former controllers have gone to another dimension, it can remember the coordinates left on the user."

Then he looked to Earth.

"I'm going back." He said politely, "Goodbye."

Before leaving, he added as if he remembered something:

"Please try not to trouble the earth, which is my most important laboratory. If you do this, I will be quite troubled."

-

Carl sat in the empty office waiting for Alexander.

He couldn't figure out what would require Alexander to go out in person. Although because of work, the other party often attended various meetings, and sometimes it was inevitable to attend boring dinners and parties, but this time was obviously wrong.

Where has Alexander gone?After waiting for several minutes, he still hasn't come back.

This extraordinary thing made Carl a little nervous. He had been nervous recently, and any slight disturbance would attract his attention.

The main reason is that too many things have happened recently, Tony and Bruce are fine, and the two of them have not been entangled in trouble except for their usual bad schedule.

On the contrary, other people who usually don't need to worry about Kaldor crashed into a car in an accident. Things on the earth are easy to solve, just spend more time, but the distant universe is also surging because of Thanos' actions, and the races on countless planets are Trembling with fear, lest the army of Thanos would come.

The person who can stir up trouble the most has been locked up, no matter what happens next, it shouldn't be too serious?

With such a wonderful fantasy, Karl's mood stabilized a little.

At this moment, a space door slowly opened beside him, and Alexander, who was wearing a suit, stepped out of it. The space door closed behind him, and Karl could only vaguely see a large cloud of gray smoke.

Alexander seemed in a good mood: "I guess the doctor promised you?"

"Hmm." Carl said, "But he doesn't trust you, so you have to teach me how to do it, and then I will divide the life code in the time stone."

"Give me your hand," said Alexander suddenly.

Carl raised his hand in confusion, and then a gem fell into his palm.

"The soul gem I just got." Alexander smiled at the surprised Carl, "It took a little effort, but it's worth it."

... so efficient?Carl was also stunned.

It's not that he's bragging, he has grown up so much, and only Alexander and Lex's speed of action makes him admire.

But since the gem is in his hands, Karl also played with it with great interest.He looked at this little gem over and over, the orange light flickered as he turned it, Karl could clearly feel its emotion.

"it is……"

"Alive," said Alexander.

He opened the imitation wooden box that Carl was very familiar with, and there were four gems neatly arranged inside. He took out another box and opened it, and there were also four neatly arranged gems inside.

From the outside, there is no difference between the gems in the two boxes.

But Karl could sense something stronger, more menacing in the box of gems on his left.

"One is strength, and the other is the code of life." Alexander pushed the box on the left to him, "This one is the code of life."

Carl put the orange gem in his hand, and suddenly said: "You left the power of the soul gem in place?"

"No." Alexander paused, "The soul gem is inseparable, I think even if it is only this gem, I can resurrect the Nemesis."

"I wish you success." Carl said sincerely.

He left with the four stones of power, and long after he had left, Alexander said:

"hope so."

The bright sunshine of the metropolis shone in his blue pupils, as if illuminating the deep sea.

After a long absence, Louise received a call from her father.

"Some people want to see you, don't fight back, and don't try to record. I'll keep you safe, but I can only keep you safe...Louis, what you've done has gone too far, Captain America I won’t say much about it, sooner or later we will announce this news, but you actually released the content of Superman’s interview directly, which angered many people.”

Admiral Ryan's voice was full of tiredness.

To this daughter who had fallen out with him a long time ago, he had a very complicated state of mind.

On the one hand, anyone who has such a daughter will be proud of her charm and ability; but on the other hand, as the general of a country, he has participated in many acts that are not in line with "justice", and those things, just happen to be It was his daughter who despised and hated it.

"They can't wait at last?" Louise was not surprised at all, "Very well, I'm waiting."

She hung up the phone, packed up her desk, and walked down the stairs with her small bag.She noticed that there were very few people on the stairs, and many faces were very strange. When she pretended to look over casually, those people would turn their heads hastily and use various small movements to cover themselves.

"Okay, stop pretending, she can see it." The commander-in-chief behind the headset gave an order, "Immediately implement plan B."

A young woman quietly approached Louise, and when Louise realized it and tried to avoid it, a hard tube was already pressed against her back.

God, Louise, who has quite a lot of experience in being kidnapped, complained in her heart, why do these people always behave like this?Isn't there a more technical way of kidnapping?

"Behave as usual, Miss Lane, please cooperate with my actions." The woman with the gun said, "Follow me now."

They walked down the stairs, and under coercion, Louise obediently walked into a certain side street behind the Daily Planet, which was all places she was familiar with, so she could easily judge that the homeless people nearby were definitely Empty, no one will hear her even if she makes a fuss.

Several men in uniform came up, put a hood on Louise, and then pulled her into the car.

A jolt around and around—these people are so old-fashioned and professional, leaving no room for Louise to know the exact location of the destination, but it also made Louise relax a lot.

She will take pains to cover up, which means she is safe.

No matter what the group wanted, they would let her go.

About two hours later, the car stopped, and Louise was sent to a wheelchair. It was another silent journey, and finally, those who escorted Louise disappeared.

The hood was taken off, Louise blinked a few times and looked forward.

"It's a pity that you can only be invited here in this way, Miss Lane, please believe me, this is a last resort. I need more information about Superman, and you can help."

Standing in front of her turned out to be a woman in her 30s, with a tough appearance, both in expression and tone of voice, full of annoying bureaucratic arrogance.

"I'm not convinced by this attitude, ma'am," Louise looked at the other party calmly, "I don't know who you are yet."

"Amanda Waller, one of the leaders of the Sky Eye Society." Amanda said.

After Louise's report came out, the Sky Eye Society was probably the organization that paid the most attention to her.

Although Lex did not seriously cooperate with them, he was definitely one of the people who knew Superman best, and the information he provided, even if it was only very sparse information, made great progress in various researches of the Eye Society.

And Lex.Luther put forward the theory that "Superman is not human" very early on. When he said this at the meeting, he was greeted with eyes full of distrust and a smile. There were very few believers, but everyone did take this The words came to my ears.

Louise's report is strong evidence.

After seeing the content of the report, the senior executives of Tianyan Eye Society turned out to be "what Lex Luthor said is true" was the first reaction.

Superman has personally admitted that the content of the report is true, and those laughing voices were swept away immediately. It is conceivable that Lex would be more comfortable in this place... Amanda doesn't like this, to Lex.Luther, she was always wary.

That's why she secretly kidnapped Louise, hoping to learn more secrets about Superman from her mouth.

"I've written everything in the report, Waller, and I have nothing to hide from my readers." Louise shook her head, "It's useless for you to ask me, why don't you read the report a few more times."

"Details, I need more details of what he showed when you got along with him." Amanda stared at Louise, "This is not about you alone, Miss Lane, I think you can understand an alien How much threat and impact does the existence of have on us..."

"It's as if if he didn't tell the truth himself, you wouldn't hold hostility towards him." Louise interrupted her contemptuously, "What threat and impact does he have on you? It brings out your short-sightedness and Incompetent?"

Amanda's face turned livid.

But she is worthy of being one of the leaders of this important organization, the Sky Eye Society. She quickly suppressed her anger forcibly, changed her tone, and said earnestly:

"I can understand that you have a special feeling for Superman, Louise, you're the reporter who knows him best anyway, and I know people like you have a natural sensitivity and possessiveness about secrets—but you As a citizen of the United States, Louise, it is your responsibility to protect your country and maintain national security. This responsibility should be higher than your responsibility as a reporter."

"I don't deny what you said, which is also an important reason why I'm still sitting here talking to you." Louise folded her chest, which is a very typical defensive posture, "but I can't see that you want me to say What is exported has any connection with national security, I can only see that a group of people are trying their best to find Superman's weakness, want to defeat him, capture him, and study his..."

Probably seeing that Amanda could no longer control the twitching of her facial muscles, Louise stopped talking here and did not say anything further.

The first conversation between the two ended in an unhappy breakup.

Louise insisted that all the news about Superman she knew was written in the report, but Amanda firmly believed that Louise must be hiding some secrets. Reasonable with emotion, and coerced and lured into battle, and finally even Colonel Lane took it out as a threat.

No matter how Amanda bids, Louise has only one answer.

"I don't know what you want to know." She looked straight at Amanda, her eyes were clear, and she seemed very sincere, "You have time to interrogate me, why don't you read the report a few times, and then find out from Superman's answer. what you want to find."

After all, Louise is the general's daughter, and this identity hinders Louise most of the time, making her always a living target.

But there are also very few times, this identity will make the other party dare not act rashly.

For example, when the characters who want to dig things out of her hands are colleagues who belong to the same system as her father.

The Sky Eye Society is directly ordered by the president. It is an independent organization with great authority. Even so, they dare not do something outrageous to Louise without any evidence.

-

Watching Louise, who was put on the hood again, being pushed out of the room, Amanda turned her head and went out through another door.

This is a big secret base. Although it is not as large as the "Cadmus Project" laboratory, it has a decent appearance, equipped with excellent experimenters and various equipment.

She walked through the long corridor in high heels. Although it was only a small laboratory, all the patrolmen she met along the way were fully armed, from helmets to boots, and they were all dressed up as riot police. .

And these teams stood up quickly when Amanda passed by, and saluted her respectfully.

Amanda was feeling irritable, so she didn't say much, just nodded slightly.

She finally reached the end of the corridor, and the guard with guns at the door stood upright, not expressing any opinion on Amanda's work of opening the door and walking in.

Lex stood inside the door, calmly reading the paper report in his hand.

"You've been reading that report since before I went out, and now I'm back, and you're still reading this report." Amanda's voice was full of anger, "Our people have been studying it over and over again all day, all All the information that can be unearthed has been recorded by us—what is your opinion differently, Luther?"

"I don't think Louise said anything." Lex replied, "Calm down, Ms. Waller, don't lose your temper with me. I'm not your subordinate. I'm just here to help you."

Amanda sneered.

"You only played a very small role in our plan. In the Cadmus project, we hoped to be able to reproduce a clone of Superman, but you couldn't even collect a single blood sample from Superman."

"It's as if someone other than me has collected it." Lex's words still didn't fluctuate at all.

He finally raised his head from the newspaper, and stared at Amanda with cold, imperceptible mocking eyes: "As for you, what have you gained during this time?"

This is the real reason Amanda is so angry.

Although Lex.Luthor didn't give much fruit in the Cadmus project, but he was still an integral part of the team, as he was always able to subtly predict Superman's reactions in various situations, even this one. Superman speaks out.

As for her, when she was the captain of the vanguard team rushing to the forefront, she made great contributions and was the core figure in the team. After sitting in the management position, she has not given any satisfaction to her superiors. results.

The most important thing is that the Sky Eye Society was established to have dialogue and cooperation with those supernatural humans, but until now, they have not talked to any superpowers.

As a competitor, S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to be planning a big move.

Amanda vaguely learned that they seemed to have proposed a plan to assemble those "superheroes" as a team. This plan attracted the attention of the superiors, and they temporarily threw the Sky Eye Society behind them.

Thinking of this, no matter how much Amanda can't understand Luther, she still has to discuss countermeasures with him.

"I heard that the new plan of S.H.I.E.L.D. is to contact some superhumans and form the 'Avengers'," she said. "What do you think?"

"This is not a new plan, but a proposal that existed many years ago. It existed long after Hulk disappeared. It's just that SHIELD shelved it for various reasons." Lex corrected Amanda's wrong message, "Now that the plan is restarted, it must be because Fury has found someone who he thinks can take on the big responsibility. He has found a core for this team, a captain."

"Captain." Amanda Foo said to his heart, "Steve Rogers, Captain America?"

"I think so," said Lex. "Even I have to admit that he's a pretty good fit. There's no better fit."

"There is no one more suitable than you, Steve." Fury said with a heavy tone.

After many days, he visited Steve's residence again.

This guy is still dressed in the same way, a dull and unremarkable suit, but he wears a very pirate-like eye patch. Walking on the road, this look can create special effects that are unforgettable.

"...I don't know if I can take on this responsibility." Steve didn't forcefully refuse, but he didn't agree either.

Fury has indeed painted a beautiful picture for him, and it sounds like he has everything thought out.

Form a special team with some people who have the same special ability as yourself, and then go to perform some special tasks.

Their team is not under the direct jurisdiction of the country, nor is it mandatory for the team members to reveal their true identities. The only requirement is that their actions must be approved by the higher-ups, they must not act without permission, and they must not betray at any time organize.

The conditions didn't sound harsh, and even took their feelings into consideration to a large extent.

But Steve is no longer the Captain America in the past. Regarding the so-called "upper class" in Fury's mouth, he has some vigilance and suspicion that he is not aware of.

"I know you've retired, captain, but are you really going to waste your energy by running and drawing every day like this? It's been decades since World War II, but you haven't become an old man yet, Shi Tiff, you're still a young lad."

Steve just shook his head, his original refusal attitude was not very firm, but when Fury said this, his temper also came up:

"When I chose to become a soldier, it was for the sake of peace. With all due respect, Fury, I don't see any positive role for this squad other than becoming a knife in someone's hands."

This has already been said very clearly. Steve is not unwilling to give, nor is he willing to be ordinary and like his current life.

He just doesn't believe in Fury's promises, or someone behind Fury's back.

Fury wanted to persuade him again, but was blocked by Steve's words: "Since I am the captain, there must be other members in the team. You should go and persuade them first."

Seeing that the captain refused to give up, Fury sighed and retreated from Steve's residence.

He glanced back at Bucky's door before leaving, and could sense that much of Steve's firm refusal was chilled by the events of The Winter Soldier.

Until now, the "Winter Soldier" is still wanted by the military.

Even though many people actually knew what was going on, and how innocent Bucky was as the "Winter Soldier", those who were assassinated had a lot of background, and there must be someone who is responsible for the blame.

Hydra hides too deeply, they can't do anything about this organization, isn't a little Winter Soldier the best target to shirk responsibility?

Moreover, Bucky has already determined the specific location. Now he is not only the best target to shirk responsibility, but also a walking meritorious service. Whoever can catch him can rely on this meritorious service to rise to the top.

Fury knew this, and Steve knew it even more.

That's why he refused to let Bucky out of his sight and out of his protection.

Fortunately, those people didn't have time to care about Captain America and the Winter Soldier during this time. All their thoughts were put on the information leaked by Superman and the existence of Superman himself.

An alien, flying around above my head every day, I don’t know when it can fly into my office or bedroom, and then kill myself without anyone noticing—I don’t know how many people are watching Sleepless nights after reports of Superman.

It's not that they didn't feel that the existence of Superman was not a threat before, but mutants are fundamentally different from aliens anyway.

Mutants are just a group of mutated individuals that appeared among ordinary humans. Although it is impossible to determine who has the possibility of mutation with the current technology, at least they are all human beings, and they share the same thinking and logic as humans. is communicable.

As for Superman, he looks exactly like a human being and seems to be able to communicate with humans, but who knows what he looks like?

Who knows if this is his disguise?

Once this identity was made public, Superman's danger level in the hearts of the leaders of various countries soared rapidly... Well, his ranking will not soar. Superman has already become the well-deserved top of the dangerous list with his super high activity frequency and appearance rate. Now the leaders were more nervous about his very existence, as if Superman himself had nothing to worry about.

The reaction of the people is much slower than that of these leaders.

It has been more than a month since Louise's report was made public, and various follow-up reports of the Planet Daily have been keeping up. With Louise's visits and new reports to those who have been helped by Superman, A more concrete image of Superman was established.

He is gentle, kind, and possesses great power, but he only wants to use this power to help others.

He is an alien, but he lost his home planet; his spaceship landed on the earth, and the earth has become his homeland ever since.

Most people have gradually accepted the fact that "Superman is an alien" and have always maintained a good impression of Superman.

The populace may be stupid, blind and demagogic, but Superman is spotless right now, and his reputation is at a time when his reputation is still on the rise, and no one with brains would bother to discredit him at such a time.

Of course, those skeptical discordant voices are always there.

Superman is an alien - and this becomes a weakness that some people who hate Superman so much when they don't know the truth focus on it.

They brazenly arranged Superman's "conspiracy", saying that when Superman landed on the earth, he carried a virus from an alien; they said that Superman landed on the earth to destroy human beings and turn the earth into a new Krypton.

They said that Superman actually lied, he is not the only Kryptonian in the universe at all, he was sent to the earth as the advance force of Krypton, and the action of saving human beings is to collect the current situation of human society and prepare for future army invasion be prepared.

These words are made up in a decent manner, even extremely logical, even if you don't believe people, you will subconsciously remember the information conveyed in them.

"Just plant some seeds of hatred for Superman in people's minds," reads Lex."Then it's time to wait for the harvest," Luther said.

He raised his head and looked at the sky.

The sunshine of the metropolis is filtered into pale gold by the air.

Against the blue background, a red and blue shadow crossed his window.

"Superman." He put the word in his mouth, "You know, sometimes, I even feel a little admiration for you...it can only be the admiration of a winner for a loser."

Superman glanced in his direction knowingly, then turned his head and smiled.