Chapter 36

Late that night, an hour after lights-out.

Marine base, back kitchen.

"Sizzle--"

Large slabs of iron-plate sea-beast meat sizzled on the high-temp iron plate, fat rendered out and giving off a charred, savory aroma.

Rayne deftly sprinkled on spices and coarse salt, the rich meaty aroma instantly and tyrannically filling the entire kitchen.

Rayne had just finished the first portion of thick-sauced sea-beast meat rice bowl—thick meat cutlets, pan-fried until golden and slightly charred, cut into bite-sized strips, laid over crystal-clear rice, and drizzled with his special thick sauce.

The sauce seeped along the grain of the meat into the gaps in the rice, that bewitching scent a blend of meatiness, fat, and savory sauce making Smoker's Adam's apple roll frantically.

He crowded over impatiently.

Yet he didn't rush to eat. Instead, he grabbed an empty food box from the side, clumsily packing the freshly cooked cutlets and rice into it with flustered, exceedingly clumsy movements.

"Hey, hey," Rayne glanced at him, unable to resist teasing, "Haven't even eaten yourself yet, and you're packing for someone else already? So attentive, does Hina know about this?"

"Get lost!" Smoker's weathered face turned red, and he stiffened his neck in retort, "Hina... Hina's the one who proposed this plan, after all! I certainly can't forget her contribution!"

As he spoke, he carefully closed the food box and pushed it to a safe side, "That woman nagged about this all day yesterday; if I don't bring her a portion, she'll plague me to death tomorrow."

Done with all this, Smoker finally picked up his own portion, sat down like a starving wolf, buried his face in the large bowl, and let out muffled mm... huff... sounds.

Rayne watched his famished, starving-ghost reincarnation appearance and couldn't help but smile.

He had actually considered whether to call the big blond fellow next door to enjoy the feast together, since that guy seemed pretty decent.

Unexpectedly, Rosinante refused with a serious look, saying he felt the marine canteen was already delicious enough.

Seeing that, Rayne didn't press the matter further.

"Eat your food."

Rayne smiled, precisely arranging the cutlets from the iron plate onto his own plate, and sat down to eat.

His movements were refined, but his eating speed was shockingly fast.

"Hm, the heat is perfect." Rayne nodded in satisfaction.

He really had to thank that pirate who provided him with his cooking skills; although he couldn't remember the man's name anymore, a chef who couldn't cook truly wasn't a good pirate.

"I wonder," Rayne sliced off a piece of meat, a thought flashing through his mind, "will that curly-browed kid who dreams of finding All Blue... ever have cooking skills as formidable as mine in the future?"

Just like that, the days of "devil training by day, midnight snack by night" passed in the blink of an eye.

Under Zephyr's hellish drill, the entire recruit camp was reborn.

All recruits' physical fitness and willpower were elevated to an entirely new level.

Training in the Six Powers had fully rolled out, though most people still lingered at the introductory stage where Soru barely managed a burst of three to five meters, and Geppo only allowed two or three kicks in midair.

Yet there was no shortage of uniquely talented individuals capable of mastering all of the Six Powers.

Meanwhile, shooting and swordsmanship remained mandatory daily courses.

Among them, the most popular among all the male marines was undoubtedly Rear Admiral Gion's swordsmanship instruction class.

This future admiral candidate was spirited, dashing, and brimming with feminine charm.

Even if she just casually twirled a sword, that unique allure mixed with a faint hint of fragrance and the aura of steel was enough to make this group of hormone-overloaded recruits flush red.

A few fearless fellows would even brawl fiercely just to grab a front-row spot to be "instructed (beaten)" by her.

Meanwhile, the operation of the Midnight Diner trio had long since formed an unspoken, perfect closed loop.

Hina leveraged her meticulous traits to thoroughly map out the logistics intelligence network, from patrol shift schedules to high-end ingredient warehousing lists—she even precisely mastered which cut of meat was intended for which officer.

Smoker became the small group's security guard and porter, using the Smoke-Smoke Fruit to cover Rayne's comings and goings while hauling back the ingredients.

As for Rayne, he was the absolute core and soul of this small group, completely locking down these two pillars of the future marines with unstoppable gourmet food.

It was another howling, chilly night.

Inside the back kitchen, however, it was piping hot and warm as spring.

Rayne and Smoker sat before a makeshift stove.

Atop the stove sat a massive, deep-bellied iron pot—this was Rayne's culinary inspiration of a sudden whim tonight: hot pot.

Inside the pot was a broth Rayne had simmered from sea-beast bones and exclusive spices, violently rolling and bubbling at that moment.

The entire surface of the soup was a brilliant crimson, floating countless dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and spices.

The tyrannical numbing, spicy, and fresh flavors blended with the rich aroma of beef tallow to form a gourmet tempest that had nearly condensed into substance; just smelling this scent was enough to make every pore on one's body relax and saliva secrete frantically!

On the table before the two sat mountain-like piles of top-tier sea-beast meat slices freshly "borrowed" from the cold storage, their marble-like snowflake grain clearly visible.

There were also neatly arranged thick-cut meat rolls, alongside various washed vegetables and fresh seafood caught that very day.

"Ha--!"

Smoker was stripped to the waist, downing a large gulp of sake "purloined" from the head chef. Steamed by the heat of the pot, he puffed out breaths of heat, his face flushed with ecstatic intoxication.

"Awesome!" He picked up a large pair of chopsticks piled high with meat slices cooked in the numbing, spicy broth, shoved them into his mouth, and mumbled as he chewed, "Seriously, Rayne, I feel like your cooking... has gotten even more amazing."

He gestured: "Clearly, eating the rice bowl you made a month ago was already the most delicious thing in the world. How can this hot pot... taste even better to this extent?!"

"Is that so?" Rayne leisurely swished meat slices around, taking another sip of wine as well. "I think it's probably just that tonight's ingredients are exceptionally good."

"No, no, no," Smoker shook his head with rare seriousness, "The ingredients are good, but your skills really have gotten stronger again... You guy, are you even this competitive at cooking?"

Through this month of companionship, Smoker long since lost his initial wariness toward Rayne. Though his mouth remained unforgiving, in his heart he already regarded Rayne as a true friend.

"Seriously, Rayne," Smoker slanted his eyes to look at him, "You guy really seem like a monster. The amount you eat every night catches up to three days of my food intake, so how do you have zero body fat? And... I feel like you're getting stronger all the time."

Hearing this, Rayne impassively glanced at the system panel visible only to him.

Name: Corvo Rayne

Age: 16

Rank: Sergeant

[Physique Realm]: Advanced

[Talent]: Voice of All Things, Life Return

[Skills]: Swordsmanship (Top-tier), Shooting (Top-tier), Marine Six Powers (Advanced), Stealth (Advanced), Combat Techniques (Top-tier), Cooking (Top-tier), Navigation (Advanced)

[Haki]: Observation Haki (Peak), Armament Haki (Top-tier)

[Sin Points]: 180,237

[Equipment]: Skillful Grade Blade x1, Fine Firearm x1, Storage Ring, Small Weather Pot

The Small Weather Pot was an item the system refreshed last month. It was inexpensive yet possessed a very interesting effect: changing the weather within a radius of one kilometer.

Rayne felt this thing might yield unexpected results in the future, so he casually bought it.

This month of Marine Six Powers training, which was difficult for others, posed no difficulty whatsoever for Rayne.

Relying on his formidable physique and [Peak]-level Observation Haki, almost the moment he came into contact with them, he rapidly pushed all six powers to the [Advanced] realm.

As for [Life Return], it was precisely the top-tier technique of controlling the body that naturally derived after cultivating the Six Powers to a profound depth.

Why do I eat so much? he thought inwardly. Naturally because I can use Life Return to perfectly convert all the food I consume into stored energy and stamina...

"Probably because... I digest well." Rayne casually brushed it off.

"Tch." Smoker obviously didn't believe him, but he didn't press further either, merely raising his glass. "Whatever! Here, a toast to our great head chef Rayne!"

"To our endless ingredients." Rayne also smiled and raised his cup.

Their wine glasses were about to meet in midair.

Suddenly--

"Who is there?!"

A crisp, melodious, yet thoroughly authoritative female voice abruptly rang out from the shadows at the kitchen entrance!

The drunkenness on Smoker's face vanished instantly, and the cup he had just raised dropped into the pot with a clack.