{The Past -- China....}
After Robert Smith landed as an air raider, he earned the nickname of "Red Devil" when he rushed out of nowhere to tackle his enemy. He was covered in fuel grease, dirt, and large amount of blood. Anyone had that much of blood lost shouldn't be alive anymore. You could see the dark red stain all over Robert's military uniform. It was like, he was soaked in his own blood. And he was.
But Robert was able to self-heal. The Chinese ghosts in his head and Robert discussed the reason for his self-heal ability. They all believed it was because he ate some more snow gathered by the ancient tree.
Tao, one of the ghosts, had warned him to never reveal his secret of self-healing. Of course, Robert realized it should be a secret. So he would never tell.
But Robert thought he might as well use his superpowers and do something. Since he was never going to die, then what did he have to lose?
Robert landed in China after the Doolittle Air Raid. He volunteered to stay behind a little longer before being shipped back to the U.S.
During the war, pilots like Robert were in high demand. They wanted to get Robert to fly somewhere else again. To North Africa, they told Robert. And Robert hesitated.
"It's alright, but I just needed to be back in China from time to time." Robert told his superior.
"Why do you need to come back in China?" His superior asked.
The real reason was so Robert could slowly release his ghosts back to where they belong. That is one of Robert's "jobs" after eating the snow. But he can't tell his superior that.
"Because I know some people in China. I have friends. Plus, to keep an eye on other enemies. We can never be too careful."
His superior thought Robert was weird. But he agreed that Robert could do whatever he wanted in his free time.
As part of his ongoing "nosy" effort, Robert had been using the ghosts in his head. The ghosts would detect trouble and tell him things. The ghost would gather information. From far, far away. Or from anywhere near him.
The most far away trouble was in Northeastern China. A ghost in Robert's head had some personal tie to Northeastern China. So the ghost told Robert about Unit 731 and its bacterial weapon. That's why Robert used his personal time off to travel to Harbin, a city in Northeast China. He tried to stop the Imperial Army to destroy the evidence of the bacteria experiment at Unit 731.
But before he went over to Unit 731, Tao wanted him to wear something different so he could not be recognized.
"Oh! You should wear your old clothes," Tao suggested.
"What old clothes?"
"The one you wore when you were shot and stabbed after the landing. You know, you were covered in blood."
"Why? Also, I don't have that uniform anymore."
"Oh. Too bad. I think you should recreate the dirty looking clothes. Because people would then think of you as a dead body. No one cares about a dead man."
"Tao, you make no sense. If I was a dead man and I walk around, then more people would look at me, because a dead man shouldn't be walking around."
"So people will think you are a zombie. They will not dare to look at you. They will be afraid to see your zombie face. Even better."
Robert had to wonder, how old is Tao? Usually, Tao spoke like a grownup, scolding Robert like Tao was a big brother and Robert was too young and too naive.
But then, Tao said stupid things like this.
"Tao, how old are you?"
"Age is not important."
"It is not important, but you sound like a child sometimes. Please grow up, Tao."
"What childish thing did I say? I only said you needed a disguise. It's very smart plan. You can't go around as yourself."
And all the ghosts in Robert's head agreed.
Robert grunted, "You guys are so stupid. No one knows me anyway. Why do I need a disguise? I'm not famous."
"You will become famous if you keep interrupting Imperial Military's plan. Last time you interrupted a massacre. Near Ping Ding Mountain." Another ghost said.
"I wasn't too successful, though." Robert was disappointed in that. He tried to stop the Imperial Army killing civilians, but there were too many. He couldn't save them all.
"It doesn't matter. Wear something different. Don't wear what you are wearing now. Let people think you are something else. I think you should let people think you are a devil or a zombie."
"I like the zombie idea." Another ghost said.
"Didn't some Japanese call you a Red Devil? How about a Zombie that is a Red Devil?"
"You guys are so immature. None of that is important. I just need to get there and get out." He shook his head, but he eventually agreed.
Because all the ghosts wanted Robert to wear something dirty and scary, so Robert just found his dirty clothes and decided to make it dirtier.
"Or you can just shoot yourself and make your clothes covered in blood."
"Unbelievable, Tao! Gosh! Maybe it's a good thing that you are a ghost. With the things you say, you can't possibly be a likable person." Robert protested against Tao.
Tao then made "tsk" noise impatiently.
"Robert, I have a reason to say you should get shot or get hurt. I think every time you get hurt, your powers grow. You almost died last time. You self-healed. And you started to run even faster after that. Maybe you'll get more powers if you get shot again."
Hmm. Robert kind of agreed. He did feel more powerful after the death experience. It was his second death. What could he achieve if he die a third time? Or maybe just get really injured?
So Robert decided he would go near a Japanese station to get shot on purpose. He would also throw a grenade or two into the station just because he could.
After he purposely got shot by the station guards, he was once again covered in blood. This time, he didn't die because he was only shot three times. But that's OK. He just wanted the blood on his clothes for now. He then took the train and went to Harbin. People on the train were all frightened by Robert.
Bob then carried out the plan to stop Unit 731.
But he also knew he couldn't keep doing this for too long. Someone did recognize him and called him the Red Devil. So he tried to look like he jumped off the cliff. So no one would go after him.
After his little stunt at Unit 731, Robert came back to his air base to report back to duty, and he was told he definitely had to leave China now and go fight the war in Europe.
The ghosts in his head suggested Robert, if he ever needed to intervene anything in Europe, he should try to put on a disguise. But, Robert did not plan to do that. He did not want to be a hero.
Before Robert left for Europe, a commander specifically asked to see him.
"Have a seat, Robert." The commander was friendly. "I was told you seemed to be able to speak Chinese?"
"Not really, Sir. I was just trying to learn, Sir."
"Do you want to try to learn Russian?" The commander asked.
"Maybe. Why do you ask, Sir?"
"The War will end one day. And I can already tell we might need to learn Russian later on. You should start learning Russian. I have other tasks for you in the future."
"What tasks, Sir?" Robert asked.
"I cannot tell you right now. But a few higher-ups in the military are thinking of forming a Central Intelligence Agency after the War is over. It would not be part of the military anymore. It would be more of a... governmental and diplomatic affair. I believe, with your language talent, you can be helpful and collect information for us."
"I see. That sounds good. Please let me know when you will need my service, Sir. I'd be glad to help, Sir."
Robert was really glad indeed. Because he wanted to leave the military at some point. He can't keep being on the front line, and possibly die, and then definitely not die, and then raise suspicions.
Tao had told Robert to find a different job. Maybe collecting information is the new job he needed. Not to mention, Robert could use all the ghosts to find information for him. That had been why he knew Unit 731 was destroying evidences. The ghost told him.
Robert was sure he could learn more information than everyone else.
"Maybe you guys have to stay with me a little longer, ghosts." Robert said to his ghost friends.
"It's OK we have to stay. We don't care. We don't have anywhere to go right now. But you don't mind your privacy anymore ? You said you didn't like us when you were thinking about women?"
"Yeah, we need to talk about that," Robert scratched his head, "If I ever was going to do some.... private man thing, is there a way for you guys to give me some privacy?"
"I wonder if we could temporarily be stored somewhere else?" One ghost suggested.
"Like a bottle?" Robert asked.
"A Bottle, a box, whatever. We should try to find a way where you could put us there, and get us out when you are done with your private....'man thing.'"
Tao laughed, "Let's not call it a 'man thing.' That's not a man thing yet. He's not a man yet. Are you still a virgin, Robert?"
"I will not answer that!" Robert yelled at Tao.
These ghosts had no filter. Always said whatever. Robert would like to keep them as long as they were willing to stay. But Gosh, Robert really needed to put these ghosts somewhere.