Not a drop of blood remained on his face, but the blood splattered on his clothes couldn't be wiped clean.
Like Gao Fei's life—he had just killed two people today, and all of his documents were lost. If they had fallen into the hands of those criminals, it would actually be fine, because those bad people would likely dispose of the bodies and suppress the matter, which might actually leave Gao Fei in the clear.
If the documents had fallen into police hands, that would be the real problem. The police might issue a warrant for Gao Fei directly, completely cutting off his path home.
Many things, once done, cannot be undone. Osokayev seemed like a decent enough person, but although he said there was no need to be nervous, Gao Fei couldn't truly act as if nothing had happened.
But being nervous was useless. He would take it one step at a time.
Gao Fei walked out of the restroom. A soldier in camouflage uniform with a gun slung across his body tilted his head, signaling for Gao Fei to walk in front.
The necessary precautions couldn't be neglected—someone definitely had to keep an eye on Gao Fei to prevent him from running.
"Do you speak English?"
Gao Fei asked. The soldier shook his head, and Gao Fei couldn't tell whether he didn't speak English or simply couldn't be bothered with him.
Gao Fei asked carefully, "Can I make a phone call?"
This time the soldier didn't shake his head. He simply said with an impatient expression, "Don't dream about it. There's no way you can make a call here. Wait until you get to the front lines to find an opportunity."
The soldier could speak English. Though his attitude wasn't exactly friendly, he had at least pointed Gao Fei toward a way forward.
The waiting room was reached quickly. The so-called waiting room was just a larger room with two rows of folding chairs inside. Two fully armed soldiers stood guard at the door.
The soldier escorting Gao Fei muttered a few words in a low voice to one of the soldiers at the door. Then that guard looked at Gao Fei with some surprise. Though Gao Fei couldn't understand what was being said, he could tell from their expressions that they were talking about him.
The soldier who had brought Gao Fei left. The soldier sitting by the door said to Gao Fei, "Sit down. No moving around. No talking."
There were already three new recruits in the waiting room. All three were sitting in the first row. Not wanting to talk to anyone, Gao Fei walked to the edge of the back row and sat down.
Distressed and restless, Gao Fei felt worry and confusion, but the one thing he didn't feel was regret.
He had to kill Hou Yanguo even if it cost him his life, and that goal had already been accomplished. So Gao Fei had nothing left to dwell on. Besides, he had spent over ten hours on a plane and had just completed a desperate escape. He was truly exhausted now.
So Gao Fei simply closed his eyes. Less than two minutes later, his head tilted slightly to the side, and soft snoring began.
Gao Fei was the first person to rush into this recruitment office, and he was also the first person to fall asleep in the waiting room.
The snoring was quite grating in the quiet waiting room. The two soldiers guarding the door looked over at Gao Fei. Then one of them turned his head and whispered to his companion, "This guy just took out two people."
"Oh?"
"And he took out one of Kasovsky's lieutenants. The police were chasing him right into our recruitment office just now. The police told Osokayev not to interfere, but Osokayev kept him here and told the cops to get lost."
"Oh?!"
"Osokayev ordered us to treat him well."
"Uh, well, hmm... don't disturb him. Let him sleep."
Falling asleep was nothing strange. But being able to fall asleep so quickly in this kind of environment, especially under these circumstances—that was somewhat impressive.
The position wasn't comfortable, but Gao Fei slept for a long time. Though he woke up a few times in between, he never opened his eyes. He would just adjust his posture and immediately fall back asleep.
Youth really did grant good sleep. It was just that in the end, Gao Fei didn't get to wake up naturally—he was ultimately shaken awake by someone.
His shoulder was tapped. Gao Fei opened his eyes, subconsciously wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, then looked at the soldier who had woken him with bleary eyes.
The soldier said very gently, "Stop sleeping. The vehicle is here. Let's go."
At some point, many more people had filled the room, and at this moment everyone was looking at him with rather strange expressions.
There was nothing to say. He just had to follow the others.
Judging by the sky, it was still early—the time was noon at the latest. He boarded a bus. There were two fully armed soldiers escorting them on the vehicle, and there were roughly a dozen or so new recruits. Gao Fei didn't count carefully; he was still a bit groggy and couldn't be bothered to think.
The bus seats were much more comfortable than the folding chairs, and Gao Fei still hadn't slept enough. So less than two minutes after boarding the bus, he once again entered dreamland.
This time he didn't wake up midway until he was roused again by the escorting soldiers.
Whether it was worth mentioning or not, Gao Fei felt that the Wagner veterans were quite amiable and of high caliber, not as terrifying as they appeared online. They were pretty decent.
As for the place they arrived at, it didn't look like a military camp but rather like a factory. The yard was quite large, and the buildings looked like factory workshops. All the new recruits were led into a hall that resembled an auditorium.
There were several dozen people in the hall, divided into four lines queuing for registration.
There was also a desk with no one in front of it. The person sitting behind it shouted in English, "Foreigners register here! Foreigners, here!"
Gao Fei walked over and stood in front of the desk. Before he could speak, the staff member said directly, "Do you speak Russian?"
"No."
"Can you communicate normally in English?"
"Yes."
"Give me your registration card."
Gao Fei pulled the registration card from his pocket and placed it on the table. The person in charge of registration faced a computer. After one glance at Gao Fei's registration card, he said directly, "Name: Rex. Registering only this name?"
Rex was the name Gao Fei had registered under. It held no special meaning; it was just something his English teacher had randomly given him when he was learning the language.
"Yes, just register that name."
"Age."
"Twenty-six."
"Height."
"One hundred eighty-three centimeters."
"Weight."
"Eighty-two kilograms."
"Blood type."
"B."
Gao Fei answered without hesitation, and the registration staff also said without hesitation, "Alright. If there are no issues, we'll make your ID tag according to this."
After hitting the enter key, the registration staff continued, "Do you have a criminal record?"
"No."
"Your registration card shows you have military service experience. Do you have any special skills?"
"No special skills."
"We have two contract durations to choose from: six months and twelve months. The base salary for six months is one thousand euros; for twelve months, it's one thousand four hundred euros. Which do you choose?"
Gao Fei answered without hesitation, "Six months."
"Alright, six months."
The registration staff finished just like that. After tapping on the computer once more, he said to Gao Fei, "You can register a bank account. If you are killed in action, there will be a one-million-ruble death benefit. We will transfer the benefit to this account."
Gao Fei was taken aback and said, "Can I use a Huaxia bank account?"
"No. For now, it can only be a Russian bank account."
"Can I apply for a bank card now?"
"You can't do that here. You can supplement your bank account to receive the death benefit later when you have the chance, or you can register a companion's account to receive it on your behalf."
Gao Fei said without hesitation, "Then I'll leave it blank for now."
First of all, Gao Fei had no companions. But even if he did, he would never register someone else's bank account.
Having the death benefit sent to someone else's account—wasn't that just testing human nature? He might just get shot in the back.
"Alright. Take your soldier card. It has your unique identification code on it. Remember, salary and death benefits are distributed according to this code alone. Go to this side to collect your uniform and equipment. Next."
The registration was extremely simple. There was no identity verification process whatsoever—so simple it was outrageous.
The registration officer handed Gao Fei a plastic card—the kind of membership card most commonly seen back home. It had a name written on it, and in the bottom right corner was a numeric code.
106953. The number was fine, at least it didn't contain a four.
Right as he took the card, someone beside him tossed over two name tags strung on a chain.
As the data was entered into the computer here, a laser engraver beside it produced the name tags.
The so-called name tags were two small metal plates with name, blood type, and so on written on them—commonly known as dog tags.
Gao Fei took the card, grabbed his name tags, and walked forward through the passage beside the registration staff.
After registration came uniform collection. Gao Fei stood before a long table, where two soldiers were slapping his clothes down onto the table.
A backpack, a soft-shell camouflage jacket, a pair of pants, a green short-sleeved T-shirt, three pairs of olive-green underwear, three pairs of socks, a pair of military boots, a cap, a belt, and a Wagner Group skull armband—the iconic emblem. All the items were laid out on the table. Then a soldier quickly counted them off under his breath and swept everything into one of the large plastic crates placed beside the table.
This full set of clothes would cost several thousand yuan at least. The old Gao Fei really couldn't have afforded to buy it.
"Go change up ahead. Put your old clothes in the crate. You must turn in your phone and all communication devices. Other valuables can be kept on your person. Next."
Gao Fei picked up the large basket. He walked forward two steps, still looking for a place to change, when he noticed that the soldiers who had completed registration were already changing clothes.
Here was where the new recruits and veterans separated. The new recruits didn't change clothes; after completing registration, they were gathered together, and no one knew where they would be sent.
The veterans changed directly. There were no changing rooms either; they simply stripped naked in full view of everyone and changed.
Gao Fei didn't have anything valuable on him to begin with, especially since he had been robbed clean—he didn't even have his documents left—so there was nothing to keep.
He put on the unfamiliar military uniform piece by piece, hung the dog tags around his neck. The boots were slightly large, but military boots were better a size too big.
Having changed into the new clothes, he tossed his old clothes into the crate and stood to the side with the group who had finished changing and were waiting, carrying an empty backpack.
They weren't standing in formation, but Gao Fei subconsciously puffed out his chest and lifted his head after putting on the military uniform, standing there with a very proper posture.
Although he was wearing Russian military clothing, he was pretending to be a Huaxia veteran. So Gao Fei absolutely couldn't disgrace Huaxia veterans. Whether walking, sitting, or lying down, his posture subconsciously became proper.
He had never been a soldier, but he had undergone military training twice. Gao Fei really could stand at attention, stand at ease, and march in step. He could even fold a blanket into a tofu block. So when he stood at attention, he actually looked somewhat the part.
Like at the uniform issue, when Gao Fei walked up to the table, a plastic bag was tossed directly in front of him.
The transparent plastic bag contained quite a few things. He could make out two packs of cigarettes and some compressed biscuits. Below those should be a toothbrush, and there were some other items as well. He didn't open the bag to see exactly what was inside.
It was a fairly complete kit. Without opening it to inspect, Gao Fei put the plastic bag into his backpack and continued forward with the line.
The next items had to be collected by entering a room. The entrance and exit were separate—he saw people going in but not coming out. He didn't know exactly what was being issued, but Gao Fei estimated it was probably weapons.
They entered the room in groups of ten. On ten tables were weapons—all identical. One AK-74 with a magazine loaded, three spare magazines, four grenades consisting of two RGO defensive grenades and two RGN offensive grenades, and a bayonet.
Besides the weapons, there was a chest rig, a canteen, and a helmet on each table.
A middle-aged man in military uniform shouted something. After he finished shouting, a person beside him said in English, "Now inspect and inventory your weapons and equipment. Then collect them."
Gao Fei understood—they were using the equipment issue to conduct a simple inspection.
One's competency with this equipment could reveal many things, but Gao Fei figured no one would be foolish enough to impersonate a veteran, right?
Just as Gao Fei thought this, he noticed a man who didn't look particularly young snatch up the rifle.
That wasn't right, was it?
Although he wasn't particularly clear on Russian military procedure, Gao Fei remembered that when arming oneself, the first thing to do was definitely not grab the rifle.
Lacking confidence, Gao Fei's movements were slightly slower. But though he wasn't confident, he still decisively picked up the chest rig first.
At least Gao Fei had watched online how a soldier went from being unarmed to fully equipped.
He put on the chest rig first. It was Gao Fei's first time handling this thing, so his movements seemed somewhat slow. But although slow, they were methodical. That middle-aged man who grabbed the rifle first was different—his movements appeared flustered.
No way? There really was someone foolish enough to impersonate a veteran?
After seeing what others were doing, the middle-aged man quickly put the rifle back on the table. But after picking up the chest rig, he still had to look at what others were doing to know what came next.
There was no need to watch further—he was definitely an imposter. And the people present seemed long accustomed to such situations. Without waiting for the officer to speak, a soldier beside him directly smashed him with a rifle butt from behind.
The rifle stock struck his back, followed by furious shouting and cursing. Gao Fei didn't understand what was being said, but he caught one phrase: suka blyat.
Gao Fei's heart was truly somewhat panicked, because he was also one of those fools impersonating a veteran.
Rich in theory but zero in practice—speaking with great expertise but becoming at a loss when actually doing. This was the normal state of a military enthusiast.
Now the equipment lay before Gao Fei. He knew what everything was and where it should go, but knowing and doing were different—his hand movements were ultimately slow.
When those true veterans organized their equipment, they could finish without even thinking. Even if it wasn't as exaggerated as muscle memory, their speed far outpaced Gao Fei's.
The examiner who was issuing equipment and conducting the inspection was now staring at Gao Fei intently, seemingly having noticed something off.
Gao Fei put on the chest rig at a measured pace. He placed the grenades in the designated grenade pouches, inserted the three empty magazines into the magazine pouches. The bayonet didn't go on the belt; it hung on the chest rig as well. This could be adjusted to a position he was used to later, but for now, he definitely had to follow standard procedure.
Although Gao Fei was slow and his movements appeared somewhat unpracticed, he was merely rusty rather than completely unfamiliar—more like someone who needed to recall and re-familiarize himself after a long time away from this equipment.
The examiner was somewhat uncertain. Since the others no longer needed attention, he simply walked up to Gao Fei and stared at him intently, applying psychological pressure.
Gao Fei was nervous inside. He tried hard to appear normal.
The final step was inspecting the firearm. And now, Gao Fei was truly holding a gun for the first time.
Fortunately, Gao Fei clearly knew the entire procedure for inspecting a firearm. Though his heart was somewhat excited when he picked up the gun, Gao Fei wasn't flustered at all, because he had watched this process countless times. His hands were inexperienced, but his mind was extremely familiar.
First he removed the magazine, glanced to confirm it was empty, then pulled back the charging handle to inspect the chamber and discovered a blank round loaded inside. At this point Gao Fei understood this was indeed a simple assessment, and he also roughly determined that he could pass.
Only nine of the ten remained. The other eight had long finished all the steps. Gao Fei was slow, but he completed the entire firearm inspection procedure by the book. So this slowness could also appear to be steadiness.
If the examiner asked, Gao Fei would say he was Huaxian and had never handled an AK-74 before. That reason should be acceptable.
But the examiner didn't ask anything. After Gao Fei was the last to finish inspecting his firearm, he simply said, "Take your weapons and equipment. You can go eat now."
Alright, the first hurdle—and the hardest one—was passed.
From here on out, it was all about learning on the job and learning by doing. Fear was useless anyway; he just had to get it done.