Smoker and Hina arrived right on time. Vic's cooking smelled so good that the recruits in the dormitory were practically crying with envy.
They cast resentful looks at Vic's dorm room. Now they knew what he had bought that huge bag of stuff for-he was cooking his own private meal in there!
A lot of trainees came over hoping to get a bite, but he chased them all away. Pay him? Even money wouldn't get them any. It wasn't for sale; he had made it for himself.
Rebecca arrived first. She was very familiar with the smell of Vic's cooking, and she had come over while he was making the first dish, even lending him a hand.
Smoker and Hina arrived together. He had brought two bottles of liquor as a small gesture. He knew Vic would have prepared something, but he felt a little awkward coming empty-handed. When they smelled Vic's cooking, their mouths watered a little too.
"You didn't have to bring a gift just because you came!" Vic said with a strained smile as he looked at the liquor in Smoker's hands.
"Hehe, well! I can smell it. Smells great." Smoker was a little embarrassed too, while Hina looked perfectly at ease.
"Come in and sit down. I just finished. You two have good timing-you're in for a treat!"
The two ignored Vic's teasing, already drawn to the food on the table. It looked good, smelled wonderful, and there was plenty of it. Just looking at it made them hungry.
They hurried over and sat down, staring at the dishes served in large bowls on the table. There was also a large steamer filled with white steamed buns. They knew Vic had put thought into this and was taking them seriously, and it made them both feel good.
"Here, let me introduce you. This is Rebecca, the girl next door I grew up with," Vic said with a smile, pointing her out to Smoker and Hina.
Then he pointed at the two of them and introduced them to Rebecca. "This big guy with white hair is Smoker. We met in Loguetown the year before last. This young lady is Hina. I met her in the plaza today. We're all friends from now on, so let's look out for each other."
Rebecca waved a greeting to Smoker, then went to sit beside Hina and began whispering with her.
Vic paid it no mind. He poured Smoker a drink, then looked at Hina. "Hina, do you want some?"
Hina thrust her glass straight in front of Vic, her meaning obvious. Smoker didn't think anything of it; he was already used to her.
Vic knew Hina had an uninhibited personality, so he thought nothing of it either. Only Rebecca was a little surprised.
"Come on, try the food first. See how it tastes," Vic said with a smile.
Smoker and Hina said nothing more. They had been growing impatient, and as soon as Vic said that, they hurried to dig in.
The moment the food entered their mouths, they froze. It tasted incredible. Neither of them had ever eaten anything so delicious. It was a feeling of happiness they wanted to last forever!
There were restaurants in the living area that they visited occasionally, but the food there couldn't compare to this at all. The two tried every dish.
They gave Vic a thumbs-up without stopping eating. Vic and Rebecca exchanged a smile, then began eating too.
Once the two had gotten used to how delicious the dishes were, they finally slowed down.
"Vic, your cooking is really something. Even if you weren't a Marine, you'd never starve. It's so delicious. This is the first time I've ever eaten..."
Smoker forced himself to stop chewing and praised Vic several times, but before he could finish, Hina stepped on his foot and interrupted him. Smoker turned to look at her in confusion.
"Ahem. Smoker, don't use up all the words. Could you leave a few for Hina?" Hina put on a little aggrieved expression. Smoker's face immediately turned red, and he fell silent, lowering his head to eat.
"Haha, Vic, Rebecca, sorry you had to see that. We're used to messing around like this. Smoker hasn't seen much of the world, so this rare delicacy has made him lose himself a little. But the food really is delicious. Hina is practically hallucinating. It feels like someone is playing music while Hina dances through an ocean of food, completely enchanted." After putting on an act for Smoker, Hina began praising Vic too, though what she said was a little embarrassing.
Vic thought, Haven't you been watching some strange stuff? I don't dare say anything or ask!
Vic said nothing. Smiling, he invited Smoker to drink, and Hina joined in too.
Once most of the food was gone, the three mainly drank, with an occasional bite to go with it. Rebecca drank juice. Vic wouldn't let her have alcohol, saying she was still young. Rebecca said she wasn't that young anymore, though her voice was very quiet.
"Smoker, how long have you been at headquarters?" Vic got down to business.
"A little over half a year, I guess. Almost ten months."
"Oh? Then how much do you know about headquarters?"
"Just the basics. We're not allowed into the office area up front yet. As for the living area, that's all there is to it. You probably saw it all when you went shopping. The places guarded by soldiers are where the big shots live, and there's nothing much to see there. What I know best is this recruit training area. We spend most of our time here."
Smoker was enjoying the food and drink. Vic would learn all this eventually, and there was nothing he couldn't tell him. He would just be finding out a little earlier, which wouldn't make any difference.
"Then tell me about the recruit area. I'd like to know more about it."
"The recruit area is divided into several parts. All new recruits who arrive at headquarters train and study together at the recruit training camp for six months. Then they're assigned to different departments for further study based on their individual talents, preferences, Devil Fruit abilities, how they're doing in their studies, and so on."
"We have advanced classes for the logistics department, science department, navigation department, intelligence department, shipbuilding department, medical division, ordnance department, commerce department, finance department, law department, military merit department, publicity department, combat department, weapons department... and so on. They're places for further specialized study."
"Those are some of the major departments. There are also some special departments with very few people. After completing their studies in these advanced classes, recruits are assigned directly to positions in the various departments."
"Once they graduate from the combat department-that is, the Elite Camp, where I am now-the outstanding Marines who are assigned elsewhere generally become warship captains. Then they select the necessary people from the other departments to form a complete shipboard system. That's what the recruit area trains people for. A lot of it is just what I've heard, though; I haven't actually gone and seen it for myself."
Good grief, Vic thought. As expected, having only read the manga in his previous life had given him far too narrow a view. So much of what he knew about the Marines had been superficial.
What Smoker said now made much more sense. An organization that large needed a complete system to function. If any part of it had a problem, it couldn't possibly become a top-tier power.
All you saw were the warships out at sea, but every one of those warships was a small operating system in itself!
Someone had to build the warships, right? Someone had to make the weapons on board, cook the food, and handle procurement. Navigation needed professionals too, didn't it? Someone had to command the defense against pirates, and someone had to charge ahead. Someone had to record military merits, right? Promotions didn't come out of nowhere. Captured spoils had to be recorded, and if they ran out of money, they had to apply for more, right? Who would they go to?
Would they sail blindly around the sea without a clue? They had to know where the pirates were, right? Who handled that? Intelligence had to be gathered, and so on... It involved many professions and branches of service. The Marines weren't pirates who could just find a ship and head out to sea.
This was a real world. You could be weak and unable to beat pirates, but you couldn't let a ship wander blindly around the sea, could you? Send the people on board against armed enemies with their bare hands? If the ship broke and no one could repair it, everyone could just sink together. Or if no one cooked, everyone could eat their food raw...
Then who would become a Marine? If you had to do everything yourself, couldn't you just become an adventurer who helped the righteous and stood up for justice instead?
Vic thought of many things at that moment. Everything he had wanted to know was here, and what he wanted could also be found in this recruit area.
"Smoker, is training in the Elite Camp hard right now? Who's the instructor? What are you learning at the moment? Are they teaching Haki?" Vic wanted to learn about the Elite Camp and see how his own progress compared.
"Hic. Our Elite Camp mainly trains physical fitness and teaches the Six Powers and combat techniques. Swordsmanship and weapons are up to individual choice, and there are people to teach those too."
"Our current instructor is former Admiral Zephyr. He has us call him teacher. Haki is rare even in the Elite Camp. The vast majority of people find it difficult to awaken Haki during their time at the training camp. They haven't built up enough! Only monsters and people who are special from birth have Haki while they're still at the training camp."
"Everyone else either awakens it after taking up a post or never awakens it in their lifetime. It's hard to say. Quite a few people from the classes that graduated before ours still haven't awakened Haki, even though they've been serving in their posts for years now. For us, Haki is still just theory at the moment."