After four hours at sea, the Dog-Head Warship arrived at Marine Headquarters. The headquarters was built on a small patch of land jutting out from the Red Line. It was tiny compared to the Red Line, like a pimple on a leg, but it was still a little larger than Sabaody.
The Dog-Head Warship docked at the port of Marineford. The port was enormous, with more than enough room for thirty warships at once. Several were already docked there.
Garp disembarked while eating rice crackers, with Vice Admiral Tsuru beside him. The ship's regular Marines followed, and last came the trainee Marines who had come to headquarters for further training.
Garp led everyone to the plaza in front of the headquarters building and stopped. It was the trainees' first time at headquarters. As they gazed up at the towering, magnificent building, their eyes were full of reverence and longing, as though they were on a pilgrimage.
They had seen photos in the papers, but the feelings those inspired were nothing compared to seeing the real thing. To Marines, this place was like sacred ground. If someone badmouthed the Marines in front of them now, that person would be lucky to get away with a beating.
Garp brought them over and simply stood there eating without saying a word. He rarely bothered handling things himself; all he had to do was speak and raise a hand. "Hey, you, wipe the floor. What? You don't want to? Take my iron fist!"
The veteran Marines beside Garp stood in neat formation. The recruits were still lost in their excitement; though they stood in place, they glanced and looked all around, their faces full of curiosity.
Vic was also surveying the place. Although he had seen pictures of it in his previous life, they had only shown the large area out front that had served as the battlefield for the Paramount War. There was still a huge expanse behind it, all the way to the Red Line!
He figured that was where the family residential area, training grounds, and such were. Having seen skyscrapers in his previous life, Vic didn't think the headquarters building was all that remarkable. It just looked rather solemn and imposing. He strolled over to Garp.
"Vice Admiral Garp, what are we waiting for here? What's the plan after this?" Vic asked curiously. He hadn't felt quite comfortable asking too many questions aboard the warship.
"Kid, we're waiting for your instructor to come collect you. First, you'll go to the recruit training camp to learn lots of useful theory and do basic physical training. Hahaha, you're in for it!"
Garp was rather gleeful at their misfortune. He hated learning theory more than anything. Wouldn't it be fine to leave that to his subordinates?
"Once you graduate from recruit training camp, you'll have a chance to go to the Elite Training Camp for special training if you score well on your assessment. You'll definitely have no problem. Don't you want to learn Haki? That's the best place for it, hahaha!"
Garp was a bit of an old rascal, but he saw things clearly.
"You could have gone straight to the Elite Training Camp, but you'll be joining my ship in the future, so I'll have to trouble you to learn about running and managing a ship. I'm doing this for your own good too, hahaha!"
The truth was that the old man Garp thought Vic was too young. He was already exceptionally strong at such a young age, and Garp was afraid he would grow conceited and overly arrogant. Throwing him into recruit training camp to temper his character was just the thing!
Vic was a little dumbfounded. This old man was far too cautious. Vic had come here to learn Armament Haki as soon as possible, only to be told to go study instead, for books held beauties and houses of gold.
This was not quite how things were supposed to start. Vic decided to seek someone out for guidance in private.
While they waited for the instructor, many people came to the plaza to watch. They all wanted to see what these newcomers were like and whether any were particularly awesome, funny-looking, or beautiful. Some of them were recruits from the Elite Training Camp.
"So these are this year's recruits? They don't look like much."
"Please, do you think every class produces monsters like Vice Admiral Akainu, Vice Admiral Kizaru, and Vice Admiral Aokiji?"
"You can't be sure. What if some lucky guy gets an overpowered Devil Fruit? Wouldn't that turn things around for him right away?"
"What the hell do you know? No matter how overpowered a Devil Fruit is, you need a strong body to support it. If your body can't handle it and you go soft after two minutes, what good is it?"
"Hey, hey... I get the feeling you're not talking about Devil Fruits. Are you being serious?"
"I think he's speaking from experience, hahaha!"
The chatter around him was incessant. Vic looked over the crowd, hoping to find familiar faces from the original story, but all he saw were the white-haired Smoker and the pink-haired Hina. There were no other familiar faces.
Come to think of it, the familiar Admirals and Vice Admirals and the like had all been in their fifties when they appeared, hadn't they? They were nearly thirty by now and had long since graduated and been assigned to missions. Smoker and Hina were the youngest now, with Momousagi and Chaton next above them. But those two probably didn't have their candidate titles yet, did they?
When Vic saw Smoker, he walked over to him. Smoker saw Vic too. He had thought Vic had joined the Marines long ago, but he hadn't seen him since arriving here.
He had seen Vic fight and knew that if Vic joined the Marines, he would surely come to headquarters. But his inquiries had turned up nothing, and he had thought Vic had lied to him. He hadn't expected to see him at headquarters today.
"Hey, Smoker, I didn't expect you to get here before me. How strong are you now? Aren't you going to introduce the beauty next to you?" Vic greeted Smoker with a smile.
Vic was the only one who had left the formation; everyone else was still in line. He was the only one breaking the rules, and there was something unruly about his behavior that drew many eyes.
But Garp said nothing when he saw it. He merely laughed heartily, as though he had seen his younger self. He had been just as unruly, listening to his superiors' orders selectively. If he didn't want to listen, he went to sleep; if he was unwilling to listen, he picked his ear to show he hadn't heard.
He felt that too high a rank would interfere with his freedom of action. Vic felt that as long as he reached the top, he would be free too.
"Vic, I thought you weren't going to join the Marines. With how strong you are, it would've been a real shame if you hadn't. This is where you can get the best instruction and the most resources. This is the best choice. You came to the right place," Smoker said with a smile, reverence in his eyes.
"Before I joined the Marines, I picked up a Logia Devil Fruit. Then I told my family and enlisted right away," Smoker added, looking a little shy.
When all was said and done, Smoker was still just a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy. He didn't yet have the domineering air and imposing presence he would later possess.
"This is Hina. She's in the same class as me, and we're friends. She's a Devil Fruit User too," Smoker said, pointing to Hina as he introduced her.
"Oh, hello, Hina. I'm Vic, a new recruit. I look forward to learning from you." Smiling, Vic held out his hand as he introduced himself.
"Hello. Hina has heard about your exploits from Smoker. He thinks very highly of you. Let's spar when we get the chance. I'm Hina, a recruit in the Elite Training Camp. Nice to meet you!" Hina shook Vic's hand openly.
The current Hina was not yet the delinquent spinster she would become, with a cigarette always in her mouth. She was very young, with smooth skin and a well-proportioned figure, and could be called the goddess of this year's recruits.
"Yeah, we'll have a chance. I'm looking forward to it," Vic said with a smile. Then he turned to Smoker. "Where do you live? You should know where we'll be assigned, right? Come find me for a drink tonight, hehe!"
"Sure, I'll come find you tonight," Smoker said with a smile.
Vic looked around again but still didn't see anyone familiar. Maybe some of the background characters had appeared in the original story, but he didn't pay much attention. He might be going to the Elite Camp before long anyway. After saying goodbye to the two of them, he returned to Garp's side.
Vic wanted to ask Smoker about headquarters so he could better plan his future training. As for theory, an hour a day was enough for him. His photographic memory was no joke. He couldn't sit idle the rest of the time; he would have to find some training suited to him.
"Kid, you know those two?" Garp was still eating rice crackers. Seeing Vic return after greeting them, he asked.
"Yes. I met Smoker in Loguetown before. Smoker introduced me to Hina just now," Vic replied.
"Those two are top students in this year's Elite Training Camp, and they're both Devil Fruit Users. You know a lot of people, hahaha!"
"Y-yes. I know Admiral Sengoku too. He just doesn't know me, that's all." Vic rolled his eyes.