Gunshots rang out continuously behind him, but as the distance grew, the thug blinded in one eye found it even harder to hit Gao Fei with his pistol.
When he burst out of the alley entrance, Gao Fei turned and swept a glance backward. Both men had chased out after him, but in that brief moment, he had already opened up a distance of about ten meters from his pursuers.
Turning onto the main street, Gao Fei didn't dare stop, nor did he have time to look back. He simply sprinted forward with all his might.
He hadn't run far before he spotted a police car. The window was rolled down, and he could see police officers inside.
As a normal Chinese national, going to the police when encountering danger was the most natural choice—one didn't even need to think about it. Gao Fei shouted as he charged toward the police car.
"Help!"
The front of the car was facing Gao Fei; the officers inside could see him even without him shouting.
Instinctively dropping the folding knife in his hand, Gao Fei slowed down. He placed both hands on the passenger-side window of the police car and stopped, panting heavily. "Save me!"
The officer looked at Gao Fei, then at the two thugs behind him, then back at Gao Fei. His expression was rather strange.
Gao Fei also looked at the two pursuing thugs. The distance was rapidly closing. Though the two thugs weren't firing, their footsteps didn't slow in the slightest.
Weren't thugs supposed to turn and run when they saw the police? Why weren't these two afraid at all?
He had known before coming here that Moscow police were notoriously dirty, especially fond of fining Chinese people. But right now, this clearly wasn't as simple as a fine.
Snakes and rats in the same nest. Protective umbrella. After these terms flashed through his mind like an electric current, Gao Fei, who had just stopped, suddenly started moving again. Without even finishing his sentence, he broke into another sprint.
The officer in the passenger seat lunged out with his hand but failed to grab Gao Fei's arm.
And the pursuing thug behind shouted urgently, "Grab him!"
The officer in the driver's seat started the police car. The car couldn't reverse directly because there were other vehicles parked behind it. So either it turned left to make a U-turn on the road, or it turned right onto the sidewalk to chase Gao Fei.
The curb was quite high, so the police car chose to make a U-turn on the road. And in just that little bit of time, Gao Fei ran out quite a distance further.
But two legs could never outrun a car. Gao Fei was quickly caught up by the police car. Thus the situation became him running on the sidewalk while the police car drove parallel to him, separated by just one lane.
The police car was right beside him. An officer reached out the window, pointing at Gao Fei and shouting. Behind him were the two thugs in hot pursuit. Most dreadfully, the next intersection was still very far away.
It was truly despair-inducing. But at this moment, Gao Fei suddenly saw two soldiers standing up ahead.
Wearing camouflage uniforms and helmets, clad in heavy body armor, with black balaclavas covering their faces and holding AK74 rifles, two fully armed soldiers suddenly appeared in Gao Fei's field of vision.
But before he could even feel surprised or relieved, Gao Fei realized they were just two human-shaped standees.
The billboard standing next to the standees had English text reading "Wagner Group Recruitment Office," with a huge arrow pointing the way.
A shop, soldier standees—his brain couldn't connect the two at all. Yet seeing those two soldier standees, Gao Fei subconsciously charged toward them.
Whether it was a natural disaster or encountering danger, seeking help from soldiers was almost a natural reaction for every Chinese person. But while this habit was fine domestically, abroad it was actually quite dangerous.
Gao Fei didn't slow down. He rammed open the glass door with his shoulder and rushed inside, stumbling and crashing into the desk in the middle of the recruitment office. With a loud bang, Gao Fei—forced to an abrupt stop—collapsed directly onto the desk.
Since the establishment of this recruitment office, quite a few people had entered, but someone bursting in like this was a first.
The person behind the desk stood up. Beside him, a soldier holding a rifle raised his gun in panic. Close—so close. If the safety hadn't been on, the soldier would have fired directly.
For a moment Gao Fei couldn't clearly see how many people were in the room, but he could see a soldier in Russian-style camouflage raising his gun at him. In desperation, he simply lay flat on the desk and shouted, "Help!"
He was breathing heavily. He spoke English, but the man standing behind the desk understood him.
He reached out to signal the soldier beside him to lower his gun. The man behind the desk exhaled and said calmly, "This is the Wagner Group new recruit recruitment point. I am the recruiting officer here. Are you looking to sign up and join the Wagner Group?"
"Wagner?"
Gao Fei processed this. The recruiting officer was speaking English. He paused for a moment, then said with great hope, "I'm in danger. Bad people are chasing me. Can I borrow a phone? Can you help me contact my embassy?"
The recruiting officer looked at Gao Fei, then pointed behind him. "We are employees of the Wagner Group, not police, and certainly not diplomatic personnel. The police are right outside. If you need to report to the police, I can help you call them in right now."
Gao Fei followed the recruiting officer's finger and looked back. Through the glass display window, he could see the police car had already stopped outside. Both officers had gotten out, but they weren't coming in immediately. One stood at the entrance of the recruitment office, while the other was quickly walking off to the side.
"The Wagner Group only provides comprehensive assistance and protection to its own employees. Join the Wagner Group now, and you can immediately receive shelter."
This wasn't a hint; this was blatant extortion taking advantage of his predicament.
Gao Fei jerked his head back to look at the recruiting officer. The officer, like a magician, produced a form, slapped it onto the desk, and pushed it toward him—proving with his actions that he didn't care what trouble Gao Fei was in.
"All you need to do is sign here, and you can immediately join the Wagner Group."
Tapping the signature line with his finger, the recruiting officer smiled. "I suggest you sign right now, because the police outside aren't here to protect you."
Gao Fei wasn't unfamiliar with the Wagner Group.
The Wagner Group was a mercenary outfit, and probably the most famous one at that. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Wagner Group hadn't been absent from a single major battle.
So the recruiting officer's attitude was quite normal. The reason was simple: if Gao Fei had committed some serious crime, they could just hand him over to the police outside immediately. But if Gao Fei had simply encountered extortion, or a fight, or any other minor matter, then the Wagner Group would immediately gain a new recruit, and this recruiting officer would instantly complete a recruitment task.
There was no risk, only benefits and no downsides. As long as one wasn't stupid, who would let slip this kind of opportunity to complete their KPI?
Join the Wagner Group? To be precise, join the Wagner mercenary outfit?
No, no, no. That wouldn't do. Gao Fei had come to collect a debt, not to become cannon fodder.
Being taken away by bad guys meant certain death. Being taken away by the police wouldn't lead to any good outcome either. But becoming a mercenary—what decent person becomes a mercenary!
Gao Fei hesitated, while the recruiting officer wasn't anxious at all.
Finally, a police officer slowly pushed open the glass door and walked in.
Hearing the sound, Gao Fei turned to look at the officer. The officer glared at him, then immediately began chattering away at the recruiting officer in Russian.
The recruiting officer nodded, then said to Gao Fei, "This officer says you robbed someone. He is going to take you away now."
Robbery? Just robbery? It seemed this police officer wasn't telling the truth, or perhaps those two thugs had concealed the truth.
Gao Fei immediately said, "I didn't rob anyone! I encountered a human trafficking group. There are two more people outside. They want to kill me and harvest my organs to sell. Do you understand? They are the bad guys!"
The recruiting officer smiled. "I'm not the police, so I don't care whether you robbed someone or were robbed. I'm only responsible for recruiting soldiers. Understand?"
The police officer hurriedly said a few sentences. This time he spoke quite a lot to the recruiting officer. One couldn't tell what was said, but from the looks of it, he didn't intend to forcibly take Gao Fei away; instead, he was consulting with the recruiting officer.
It seemed the police were quite wary of the Wagner Group, but it was uncertain whether the recruiting officer would change his mind.
Gao Fei picked up the contract and carefully looked it over.
The contract was written in Russian and English. Its contents were extremely simple:
No questions about nationality, no questions about origins, no questions about age.
The contract didn't stipulate obligations, didn't reflect responsibilities, and didn't mention any monetary amounts. It simply confirmed that the person filling out the form was volunteering to participate in combat.
Using the time spent reading the contract, Gao Fei quickly pondered his predicament.
Hou Yanguo had lost blood from his carotid artery; by now he was certainly dead.
As for that boss, he was probably dead too.
If he didn't sign this contract, he would be taken away by the police. Leaving aside whether the police would hand him over to those bad guys, even if he were brought to the police station, how would he explain his actions to the Moscow police? How would he prove he acted in legitimate self-defense?
His ID card, passport, phone, money—everything was lost. If he sought help from the embassy, how would he prove his identity, and how would he explain his situation?
The recruiting officer's expression changed somewhat from what the police officer said. He turned his head and sized Gao Fei up—looking him up and down—then appeared thoughtful.
Gao Fei felt uneasy being looked at like that, but the recruiting officer suddenly said, "Let me tell you about the benefits of joining the Wagner Group. If you have no military service experience, we will send you to the Krasnodar boot camp to receive complete training. After your training ends, you will immediately receive a base salary of five hundred euros per month."
Five hundred euros a month?
Only five hundred euros? At the current exchange rate, converted to RMB, wasn't that just three thousand five hundred?
The recruiting officer smiled. "But if you're a veteran, it's different. You can enter combat directly and receive a base salary of one thousand euros per month."
One thousand euros—that was about seven thousand RMB per month.
Gao Fei's expression began to turn serious.
"If you possess certain specialties and pass verification, you can receive a base salary of two thousand to five thousand euros per month. And besides the base salary, there are bonuses."
Gao Fei's eyes lit up. He couldn't help asking, "There are bonuses?"
"Yes, the base salaries for new recruits and veterans differ, but the bonuses are the same. For example, destroying a tank earns a reward of ten thousand euros, destroying an armored vehicle earns five thousand euros, or receiving recognition for your performance can also earn cash rewards. It's the same whether you're a new recruit or a veteran."
Gao Fei couldn't help licking his lips. He tasted blood that had not yet fully coagulated, but he couldn't taste the metallic flavor at all.
He owed workers their wages, owed suppliers their payments. The house was going to be repossessed by the bank. His father had already become a deadbeat debtor and was currently lying in the hospital. Though it was a minor cerebral hemorrhage, he probably wouldn't be able to earn money outside anymore.
Moreover, Gao Fei couldn't imagine what he could do after returning to pay off these debts.
After going bankrupt, he had driven for ride-hailing services, but Gao Fei's temper wasn't well-suited for this line of work. He didn't indulge those bizarre passengers, so after being complained about three times in one month, he decisively switched to delivering takeout.
Delivering takeout wasn't much better. These days there were too many idiots who spent a little money and acted like masters. But delivering takeout in a county town, the most he ever made in a month was a little over four thousand yuan.
Forced into a corner, he had come to a foreign land to collect a debt. In the end, not only did he fail to get the money, now he had become a criminal.
Having fallen to this point in life, what was there left to hesitate about?
Gao Fei picked up the pen and heavily signed an English name.
The moment he saw Gao Fei sign, the recruiting officer didn't hesitate for an instant. He pointed at the police officer, then waved his hand toward the glass door, calmly yet arrogantly saying, "He's ours now. You, get out!"
The recruiting officer had made his choice. The police officer shook his head helplessly, said nothing, and turned to leave.
Gao Fei watched the officer leave. He watched the two officers meet and mutter a few words, then watched them directly get into the police car and leave. Only then did he finally let out a long breath and collapse into a chair.
The recruiting officer didn't treat driving away the police as any great matter; he still had to continue his work.
Picking up a form, the recruiting officer said easily, "Welcome to the Wagner Group. Now there are several questions you must answer truthfully. Then I will send you to a suitable place based on your situation. First question: Do you have military service experience?"
Having temporarily escaped trouble, he now had to face a new challenge.
Gao Fei had never been a soldier, never touched a gun, and hadn't even had the chance to see a real firearm up close.
Logically speaking, Gao Fei should start as a new recruit.
But Gao Fei said without hesitation, "I have military service experience. I'm a veteran with five years of service!"
The pay for a new recruit was five hundred euros; for a veteran it started at one thousand. But this wasn't the reason Gao Fei lied.
Gao Fei's reason for choosing to pose as a veteran was simple. Both the Russian and Ukrainian sides liked to place inexperienced new recruits at the very forefront of the lines, because forward positions would be carpeted with artillery shells. To defend against shells, one could only dig trenches to reduce the lethality of the shells, but even with trenches, they would be bombed repeatedly by suicide drones over and over. So whether veteran or new recruit, as long as you were holding the forward positions, the mortality rate was terrifyingly high.
In any war, veterans were much more precious than new recruits. And positions had to be held, so just let a small number of new recruits hold the forward positions to serve as an early warning. Place veterans further back in the second line or even farther to the rear. Whether attacking or defending, these veterans were the ones who played the decisive role.
The result was that during large-scale battles between Russia and Ukraine, the average survival time of new recruits was twenty-four hours.
Both Ukraine and Russia had large numbers of mercenaries, and many mercenaries streamed live on the battlefield. They leaked many secrets of the battlefield. So the correct choice was to become a veteran who could be placed in the second line, rather than new recruit cannon fodder filling the trenches.
The recruiting officer didn't doubt Gao Fei. He made a checkmark on the form, then asked the second question.
"What specialties do you have? For example, are you a drone pilot, EOD or combat engineer, sniper, demolitions expert—any of these would work."
Gao Fei's specialty was having extremely rich theoretical knowledge—a veteran expert on military forums, a quality keyboard warrior, an armchair expert on small arms, a tactical research enthusiast, commonly known as a military enthusiast.
Unfortunately, this specialty couldn't be mentioned. Most importantly, they wouldn't recognize it.
Gao Fei said with a face full of confidence, "I am an extremely excellent infantryman!"
The recruiting officer shook his head. "'Extremely excellent' is an evaluation, not a specialty. So that means no specialty. If there's no specialty, then there's nothing more to ask. Take your registration card. Don't lose it. Next, you will be sent to the training center, where you will register detailed information. Then they will send you to a suitable place. Now go wait in the lounge in the back."
Gao Fei reached out to take his registration card. Just as he grasped it, the recruiting officer pinched the card and didn't let go. Then with a serious expression he said, "I wrote 'none' for your criminal record. If someone at the training center asks you, say you have none."
Stunned for a moment, Gao Fei nodded. "Thank you. You saved me. I'm very grateful. I hope I can repay you somehow. So can you tell me your name?"
The recruiting officer released the registration card. He smiled at Gao Fei with a look of satisfaction. "My name is Osokayev. Alright, go wash your face. Then no matter what trouble you have, you don't need to worry about it anymore. Relax a little. Good luck. Goodbye."