"Quitting time, what a tough day, working so late every day."
Wilson walked home alone at night. As a universally acknowledged good person in the neighborhood, Wilson was well-liked in this area. Many neighbors he had helped would greet him enthusiastically, and Wilson would respond to them all.
Wilson's apparent job was an insurance salesman, and he had to rush around everywhere every morning for a living. In reality, he was a secret agent for Sector Thirteen.
However, his job wasn't like that of other agents who had to go out on missions. Instead, he was a desk worker who handled various documents in an office, just like a regular office worker. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Wilson's agent identity was kept a secret even from his own family.
To avoid drawing attention from those around him, Wilson earned a meager salary each month. The remaining portion of his agent's salary was delivered to him through various means, such as shopping cards or lottery winnings.
Therefore, even with a housewife for a wife and two young children to care for, Wilson's life was still very comfortable.
It was precisely because of Wilson's luck that the children in the street would call him "Lucky Wilson" when they saw him.
On this day, Wilson, as usual, finished his work at Sector Thirteen and was heading home. Although it was already very dark, Wilson was, after all, a trained agent. Even if he encountered robbers blocking his way, Wilson was confident that he could subdue them with his kung fu, which his colleagues called "three-legged cat" style.
Walking on the road, the streetlights flickered. A cold wind blew, making Wilson shiver. He didn't know if he was being overly sensitive, but he had felt uneasy since the afternoon, as if something big was about to happen.
Wilson quickened his pace, greeted the neighbors by the roadside briefly, and left quickly.
Soon, Wilson arrived outside his house. His agent's discipline made him check the marks he had placed beforehand before entering. He found that all the marks were the same as when he left, with no signs of being tampered with.
"Wilson, you're back."
As soon as Wilson entered the house, his wife, with a smile, came forward and helped him take off his jacket.
"Why don't I see Jack and Alice?"
Wilson was a little surprised. Normally, Jack and Alice, the two children, would be the first to rush out as soon as he came home. But for some reason today, the two children had not appeared.
His wife said reproachfully, "The children are already asleep. You always come back so late. Do you want the children to stay up with you?"
Seeing his wife angry, Wilson immediately said, "Yes, yes, it's my fault. The children are at a growing age and should go to bed early."
His wife hung up Wilson's coat and said, "You must be hungry after a whole day of work. I've saved dinner for you, go eat."
Because of the emergence of non-scientific things like magic and talismans, his workload had increased drastically. After a busy day, he hadn't even had a hot meal yet. Hearing that his wife had saved dinner for him, Wilson's stomach rumbled uncontrollably.
"You're still the best to me."
With that, he kissed his wife on the cheek and skipped happily to the dining room.
As soon as he reached the dining room, he heard his wife's scolding voice asking him to be quiet so as not to disturb the children. Wilson glanced at the table full of delicacies, gave a simple reply, and began to eat heartily.
However, after only a few bites, he felt dizzy and disoriented. With a bang, he fell onto the table, his face buried directly in a plate of salad covered in salad dressing.
"Sector Thirteen agents aren't that great either."
At that moment, his wife walked in, but the voice was a rough male voice.
His wife walked to the dining table, lifted Wilson's head from the salad, and just as she was about to confirm if he was truly dazed, Wilson suddenly grabbed her arm. Then, Wilson, who should have been dazed, suddenly woke up, stood up abruptly, and shoved his wife away.
"Who are you? And what have you done to my wife and children?!"
His wife stumbled back a few steps, quickly regaining her balance. Looking at Wilson, whose face was contorted with ferocity, she grinned and said, "I take back what I said earlier. Sector Thirteen agents aren't that useless."
Hearing a man's voice coming from his wife's mouth, even though he knew this person was not his real wife, it still felt strange. Especially since he had kissed her when he came in. Recalling it sent a shiver down Wilson's spine.
In fact, Wilson hadn't fallen for the trick. Instead, he had played along and counterattacked. This made the disguised wife doubt if she had made any mistakes or revealed any flaws that he had discovered.
In reality, he was overthinking. His biggest mistake wasn't a slip-up, but rather that his imitation was too perfect.
It was so perfect that he had discovered Wilson's marks beforehand and deliberately avoided triggering them.
It was precisely because of this that Wilson became alert.
In the past, his wife would always mess up the marks Wilson left when she was trimming the lawn outside and cleaning up after the pet dog. Wilson found this very troublesome but couldn't directly tell his wife.
But this time, all the marks were perfectly preserved, so intact as if someone had deliberately arranged them. This was what led Wilson to take his subsequent actions.
A machete appeared in his wife's hand as if by magic.
"If you want to know the whereabouts of your family, agree to my terms and I'll tell you."
With that said, she quickly charged at Wilson.
Facing his charging wife, Wilson retaliated using the combat skills he had learned in agent training. However, after all, Wilson had been a desk worker for too long. He could handle petty thieves, but when facing professional killers or mercenaries, his skills were truly just "three-legged cat" kung fu, as his colleagues called it.
With almost no effort, Wilson was subdued and knocked unconscious by his wife.
After tying up the unconscious Wilson, a gag was put in his mouth, an eye mask was put on, and he was thrown into the closet. To prevent Wilson from struggling and escaping when he woke up, the door was deliberately placed facing the wall, and then a sofa was used to block the closet.
As for why there were some strange things, it was freedom in America, and those who understood would understand.
The next day, a brand new Wilson left home and, as usual, greeted his neighbors. The neighbors also responded warmly.
Thus, Wilson arrived at a deserted alley with sparse human activity. He walked into an old phone booth, pretending to make a phone call, and dialed a sequence of numbers.
After Wilson pressed the last digit, the wall in front of the phone booth opened. The phone booth slid into the wall and turned into a high-speed elevator, descending rapidly.