53 Wesley Is Caught

Wesley stumbled through the dark alleyway, his body feeling out of control. He had experienced this before, the feeling of being watched. Despite his fear, he shouted out into the darkness.

"Who the hell is there? Show yourself!" But there was no response. Wesley collapsed to the ground, his heart racing and his breath in short gasps.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the alleyway, growing louder with each passing second. Wesley tried to stand, but before he could, a figure emerged from the darkness, pointing a gun straight at him.

"Don't move," the hooded figure commanded. "I've been watching you for a while now."

"Who are you?" Wesley asked, panic rising in his voice. He didn't know who this person was or what they wanted from him.

"It doesn't matter who I am," the figure replied, their voice cold and emotionless. "What matters is who you are, Wesley."

Wesley's heart pounded as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. He was exhausted, hungry, and emotionally drained. He knew he didn't have the energy to fight back.

Before he could say anything else, the figure punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

As Wesley lay there, unconscious, the figure turned to his companion.

"Are all assassins like this?" The figure asked, shaking their head in disbelief. "How can they enter such a state under these circumstances?"

"It varies from person to person," a voice from the shadows replied. It was Carlos.

"But Wesley's blood is pure. Purer than mine."

Together, they picked up Wesley's unconscious body and headed toward their next target. As they walked, they continued to bicker and joke with each other, their banter lightening the mood and easing the situation's tension.

Jack turned to Carlos and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? I'm a little worried about hurting you."

Carlos scoffed. "I'm a Templar. I can handle myself."

"Actually, you haven't even gone through the initiation ceremony yet. You're just a preparatory knight or, more specifically, a part-time worker." Jack said with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"Ah, what? You are just a part-time worker now, understand? So work quickly! If you don't work, Wesley will wake up. Do you want me to knock him out again?" Jack added.

Carlos picked up Wesley, followed Jack, and walked to the next execution location of their plan. Suddenly, he began to feel that his previous decision to join the Knights Templar was too hasty. How did he become a part-time worker?

...

"Click," "click." The sound was slightly rhythmic, like a ticking clock, but it was what woke Wesley up. As his eyes slowly opened, his vision changed from blurred to clear, and he finally saw the scene before him. He was in a dilapidated room illuminated by a dusty incandescent lamp. On a table in the corner, a figure was assembling something.

Wesley tried to stand up but realized he was tied to a pillar and couldn't move.

"Who are you?" he asked, struggling in vain. "Why did you kidnap me? I don't have money!"

The man didn't turn his head from his task.

"Of course, I know you don't have money, and I'm not short of it either, Wesley."

Wesley's confusion only grew. Someone had kidnapped him for no reason?

The man "clicked," assembling the pistol in his hand and loading it. He then turned around and walked towards Wesley.

"I didn't kidnap you for money," he said, sitting on a chair before him. "I kidnapped you for you."

"For me? What do you mean?" Wesley was understandably perplexed.

The man was wearing a disguise of Ethan's face and a wig. "Your name is Wesley Gibson, right?"

Wesley nodded.

"I'm looking for you because I want to find your father."

Wesley's eyes widened. "My father? I don't even know where he is! He left me seven days after birth and never appeared again!"

Carlos, listening in through the walkie-talkie, covered his face in dismay.

"You're half right," the man said. "He didn't show up, but he didn't leave you."

"What do you mean?" Wesley asked, his confusion mounting.

"Your father hasn't left. He just doesn't appear in your life. It's because of his identity, Wesley. Do you know what your father does?"

Wesley shook his head, his mind reeling.

Wesley was speechless. "You won't tell me that my father is an agent and on a top-secret mission, so he can't come back and reveal his identity in front of me, right?"

The man smirked. "Well, it's not that far from the truth. Your father may not be an agent, but his line of work is definitely top-secret."

Wesley scoffed. "Come on, this isn't one of those action movies!"

"Wrong again," the man said. "But trust me, the truth is stranger than fiction."

....

"Assassin?" Wesley's eyes widened in disbelief as Jack revealed his father's true identity.

"Assassin, murderous assassin," Jack nodded with a smirk.

Wesley couldn't believe what was happening. He was just an ordinary guy leading a mundane life, and now he was face to face with a real-life assassin who came to kill his father, who was also an Assasin.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Bang!" Jack fired a shot, narrowly missing Wesley's ear.

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Wesley screamed in fear.

"Be quiet, or the next shot will hit you!" Jack threatened, waving the gun in his hand.

"I...you..." Wesley stuttered, realizing he didn't feel any pain in his body, but his ears were still ringing from the gunshot.

"Now, do you still think I'm joking?" Jack asked, shaking the gun in his hand.

"...No," Wesley replied meekly, wanting nothing more than to shrink away from this terrifying situation.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you because I will rely on you to lure out that killer father of yours," Jack explained, still holding the gun menacingly.

"He is the famous cross, the master killer of the Assassin League..."

"I think you may be disappointed," Wesley said, trying to reason with Jack.

"He hasn't appeared for so many years. How could he appear at this time? Why don't you let me go? I'm really useless!"

"I don't know anything about the qualifications you have and the choices you have," Jack replied dismissively.

"As for your father, Carlos, although he has not appeared in your life, he has always been by your side…."

"You said...he's always been by my side?" Wesley was shocked and even forgot to be afraid. "I've never seen him before!"

"That's because he didn't want you to see him, Wesley," Jack explained, his tone softening slightly.

"He doesn't want to drag you into the world of assassins because once you enter, you can only spend the rest of your life killing and being killed. He wants you to live a happy and ordinary life in the world of normal people."

Jack paused momentarily, then added with a hint of contempt, "However, he didn't expect that without anyone teaching you, you have no idea how to use your talent, so you have fallen to such a point."

"You live in an old apartment near the train tracks, which has turned you into a sleep-deprived zombie. Your job is mundane and torture due to your boss. You have a quarreling girlfriend who sleeps with your best friend... Your life is like a pool of stagnant water, without any waves or excitement.."

Wesley hung his head in shame, feeling like a failure in every aspect of his life.

"Yeah," Wesley replied, his voice heavy with resignation. "So, what else can I do? Maybe I was born to be a waste..."

As the conversation trailed off, Wesley couldn't help but wonder what his father would think of him if he knew the sorry state of his life. And more importantly, what would happen if the assassin who stood before he managed to find his father?