Before long, several officers in field-grade uniforms approached. Seeing Garp and Tsuru, they hurried over to greet them.
"Vice Admiral Garp, Vice Admiral Tsuru, sorry for the trouble of bringing this batch of recruits back. Leave the rest to me," Andrew said with a slight bow.
"No trouble, no trouble. Andrew, if anything strange happens at the recruit camp, don't make a fuss. Just tell me in private," Garp said, patting Andrew on the shoulder with a meaningful look.
Andrew was a little confused. What did Vice Admiral Garp mean? He couldn't quite understand. Beside them, Tsuru was giving Rebecca some instructions and said nothing to him.
"Clerk, give Andrew the roster and hand everything over to him. We'll be going first. If anything comes up, find me in Sengoku's office, hahaha!"
Garp turned and walked toward the back of headquarters, with Tsuru following him. After a few steps, his voice rang out: "Kid Vic, enjoy your life as a recruit. Come find me if you need anything, hahaha!" Garp seemed very happy; this was one of his few nasty little pleasures. Vic's face darkened when he heard him.
You're counting on me not being able to beat you, aren't you? I'll put this in my little notebook for now. Hmph!
The roster already contained every recruit's information, including birthplace, gender, height, weight, what they were good at, whether they had eaten a Devil Fruit, what their ideals were, and so on.
Andrew took the roster from the clerk and began calling names. Everyone was present, but Vic, whom Vice Admiral Garp had mentioned just now, didn't answer. Puzzled, Andrew called his name three times in a row. Vic stepped forward and stood in front of Andrew. Andrew looked at the clerk, who nodded somewhat helplessly.
"Why is there a recruit in this batch who can't talk?" Andrew muttered. Though his voice was quiet, several people nearby heard him.
The clerk was covered in black lines. Vic glared at him with a dark face, as if saying, If you don't explain this, I'll cut you.
"Andrew, it's not that he can't talk. He just doesn't like answering roll call like that. You'll have to treat him differently from now on," the clerk explained awkwardly.
Vic felt that he was so strong now that shouting "Here!" like that was embarrassing. After all, inside, he wasn't a teenager.
Andrew nodded and said nothing more. After all, Vice Admiral Garp had singled Vic out, so he couldn't be an ordinary person. He would have to give him some privileges in the future.
Andrew had his subordinates assign the recruits their dorms, then take them to get settled.
The recruits had left, but the Elite Camp members were still there, discussing things among themselves.
"Smoker, what's that Vic's background? Even Vice Admiral Garp looked out for him personally," someone asked Smoker.
"I know what you're thinking, but I advise you not to provoke him. He's very strong. If you don't want a beating, behave yourselves."
Smoker gave the warning because he knew that veterans at headquarters had a tradition of bullying recruits, calling it, "I just want to get them to settle down and train, stop them from getting too cocky, and help them get their heads straight."
They had been bullied when they first arrived too. Smoker had also been targeted, but he had the Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit, and no one could do anything to him. That battle had made him famous.
Smoker had a considerable reputation in Marineford now and was a key trainee at the Elite Training Camp. These guys wanted to bully the newcomers too, to remind themselves they mattered, but Smoker thought they were asking for a beating and making trouble for themselves.
"Smoker, is it really as exaggerated as you say? If you're looking out for him, we won't give him a hard time, but you don't have to praise him at our expense!"
The speaker was a little unhappy. He was somebody in the Elite Camp, and his strength wasn't bad either.
"Heh, I met him a year ago. I was just an ordinary person back then. At the time, he killed a pirate with a ten-million bounty in a single move. One move, and every pirate went down!" Smoker was somewhat moved. Even now, he would have a hard time defeating an enemy in one move!
"That killing intent of his sent chills down your spine, and the sharpness in his eyes made it impossible to look straight at him. Now I can see that the sharpness in his eyes is gone. He's cultivated to the point of returning to simplicity. Can you imagine how strong he is now?"
Smoker was still shaken when he thought back on it. He wanted to warn this group of classmates not to go looking for trouble. They would probably get a vicious beating!
Although Hina had heard Smoker mention Vic, he had only said Vic was a very strong person. This was the first time she had heard the details, and she was a little taken aback. Even now, she wasn't sure she could deal with someone with a ten-million-Beli bounty, despite having a Devil Fruit ability.
The people nearby were immediately relieved when they heard this. Fortunately, Smoker had warned them, or there was no telling how badly they would have been beaten. They thanked him repeatedly and offered to buy him a drink.
Smoker waved them off, saying he was going to drink with Vic today and they could do it another time. When Hina heard he was going to drink with Vic, she immediately asked to come along. Smoker had no choice but to agree. Fortunately, the two had at least met today, so bringing Hina along wouldn't be rude.
Vic and the others passed through the administrative district near the harbor and reached the residential district in the middle. It was bustling, with a rich variety of goods lining both sides of the streets.
The residential district was where the Marines at headquarters and their families lived. Many shops were run by family members, and there were also publicly owned businesses run by managers recruited from outside.
As such, nothing needed for daily life was lacking here, from food and clothing to housing and transportation. Cargo ships came and went frequently.
Past the streets of the residential district, at the very back near the Red Line, was the training base for all recruits. It was also very large, serving as an institution that supplied the Marines with elites.
As Vic walked across the grounds, he felt that even the earth here was different. It was solid and weathered, as though it had been tempered a thousand times. Many stories must have unfolded here: perhaps some were happy, some filled with sweat and struggle, some with bloodshed, bitter tears, and regrets...
Vic and the others arrived at the dormitory area in the recruit district. Andrew assigned Vic and Rebecca a single room each. The others didn't get that treatment; it was thanks to Garp and Tsuru's influence. At least for now, neither of them had shown Andrew any exceptional strength that would make him look at them differently.
Before leaving, Andrew instructed all the recruits standing in formation, "Gather in the small square in front of the dorms at five tomorrow morning. Now go tidy your rooms, get to bed early tonight, and don't go wandering around. All right, dismissed!"
After tidying his room, Vic went out for a look around. The dorms were divided into men's and women's areas. Many rooms here were already occupied; clearly, this wasn't a residence reserved solely for their recruit camp.
Vic went to the women's dorms and asked Rebecca to come over for dinner, then headed to the residential district to buy food, liquor, and cooking equipment.
He was treating Smoker to drinks that night. His single room had no cooking tools, so he had to buy those too. He would have to cook for himself often in the future.
Vic went out onto the streets and began looking around, first checking what kinds of shops were there so he would know where to go when he needed something later.
After making a circuit, he had a general understanding of the area. Many sections were guarded by Marines who wouldn't let anyone in. They were probably the residences of senior officers. Vic didn't linger there.
He bought a stove, an iron wok, and other cooking utensils, along with firewood, seasonings, tableware, and the like. Only then did he buy meat, vegetables, rice, flour, and so on. In the end, he had a huge pile of assorted things. Fortunately, Vic was strong, so carrying them was no problem.
Amid the many surprised looks in the recruit camp, Vic calmly returned to his dorm room and got busy. He had to prepare all the ingredients, or there wouldn't be enough time later.
Then he kneaded dough and steamed a batch of large mantou. People in this world could really eat, so he steamed more than a hundred before cooking a large pot of rice.
Only after the staples were ready did he start cooking the dishes. It was nearly dark by the time all eight dishes and one soup were finally done. With his physical proficiency talent, cooking couldn't have been easier, and the food tasted excellent. With the eight great cuisines and all kinds of cooking methods from his previous life, cooking in this world was like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.
I can't keep doing all the preparation myself. I'll have to teach someone else to do it, and only then should I, the master chef, get to work. Having me do everything is too much of a waste of time. It's affecting my cultivation progress! Vic thought.
This meal had taken him quite a while. If he had to cook for himself in the future, wouldn't it drive him crazy? The main thing was that preparation took so much time. But when they could eat their own cooking, who would want the food made in big batches at the cafeteria?