At four o'clock in the morning, the sky was a hazy gray.
In the distant sky, there were still a few scattered stars twinkling.
In a soldier's dormitory of the Navy G3 Base, apart from the ticking sound of the clock on the wall, the only other sound was the snoring of the soldiers.
On a single bed closest to the dormitory door, Kong Ming naturally opened his eyes thanks to his very punctual biological clock.
He quickly turned over, got out of bed, and dressed neatly, then quietly pushed open the door and left the dormitory.
In a corner of the dormitory, on a bed, Sephiroth, who heard the noise, also opened his eyes. He glanced at the clock on the wall and found that it was only just four o'clock in the morning.
According to the Navy's work - rest time regulations, all soldiers must go to bed at ten o'clock at night and get up at six o'clock. Except for those who need to go out on missions.
The silver - haired teenager propped up his upper body and glanced at the playground outside the window. He found that more than a dozen Navy soldiers from the G3 Base had already gone to the playground one after another and started their morning running exercises.
The running... No! The sprinting speed of each of them was incredibly fast. On a 400 - meter - lap playground, they only took about twenty to thirty seconds to finish one lap, and they showed no sign of slowing down at all.
"Sure enough! This so - called 'rat race' exists everywhere..."
Sephiroth murmured softly. He also quickly turned over and got out of bed. After dressing up, he picked up the Akiba sword leaning against the bedside, walked out of the dormitory, and came to the playground for his daily ten - thousand - three - hundred - times sword - swinging training.
There was actually a reason why these guys worked so hard on their training.
In every G - numbered Navy base on the Grand Line, there are ten places for soldiers to enter the Marineford Military Academy every year. As long as the military rank reaches non - coms or above and the age is below twenty - six, there is a chance to enter. Moreover, after graduating, the starting military rank is second lieutenant, which means officially entering the officer class.
The way to get a place to enter the Marineford Military Academy is very simple... Strength is supreme!
As long as you are among the top ten strongest soldiers, you have a chance to get the admission quota.
All of the above information was obtained by Sephiroth when Corporal Kong Ming boasted to these new recruits.
Moreover, from what Kong Ming said, it seems that he also wants to strive for a place at the military academy...
Normally, new recruits like Sephiroth have to serve for six months to be promoted to private second class, one year to be promoted to private first class, and two years to be promoted to non - coms.
It would take two years to obtain the qualification to compete for a place at the military academy, which is really too long for Sephiroth.
But...
This is the case when there are no combat achievements.
If one has military merits, the promotion speed of the military rank will become very fast.
To promote his military rank, this was also one of the reasons why Sephiroth actively chose to participate in the battle when he encountered Paul's Grand Fleet...
At six o'clock in the morning, the sun rose slowly from the sea - level. The warm sunlight shone on the playground of the base. The wake - up bugle sounded slowly, making the entire G3 Branch instantly come alive. More and more naval soldiers gathered on the playground.
In two hours, Kong Ming, who had already run over two hundred laps, gasped and walked to the side of the silver - haired teenager.
"Good morning, Sephiroth!"
"Good morning, Kong Ming!"
Since the other party had already come over to say hello, Sephiroth could only reply while swinging his sword.
"Do you also want to join the Marineford Military Academy?"
Kong Ming reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead and asked tentatively.
"Of course! A soldier who doesn't dream of becoming a shogun isn't a good one."
The silver - haired teenager nodded very firmly. There was no need to hide such a thing.
"Well, I think you should spend more time on physical training. Otherwise, it'll be very difficult for you to get a spot in the academy..."
Kong Ming advised earnestly and then turned away.
He still had to urge other recruits to gather on the playground for morning exercises.
A moment later, led by Kong Ming, a group of recruits went for a six - kilometer morning run on the playground.
Just from this long - distance run, many problems were revealed. After finishing their morning exercises, the veterans of the G3 Branch showed no signs of qi deficiency, while most of the recruits were out of breath.
After the morning exercises, Sephiroth and other recruits from this island lined up on the playground with recruits from other islands and listened to a lecture from a major officer.
After cutting out all the clichés and nonsense, the gist was that the Navy, an armed force under the World Government, was established to maintain order on the seas. Its duty was to fight criminal pirates and uphold justice and peace.
Sephiroth scoffed at this.
This kind of nonsense can only deceive those hot - blooded young men who are enthusiastic but know nothing about the world situation!
The higher one climbs in the Navy, the broader the view, and the more dark sides one can come into contact with.
Most countries in this world practice slavery and monarchy. The Navy is just a violent institution under the World Government. They have no right to interfere in other countries' internal affairs and have to serve the nobles of every World Government - affiliated country.
After removing all the pretenses, the essence of the Navy is actually very similar to stateless mercenaries. They serve whoever pays them, just like the Vinsmoke family.
As for non - World Government - affiliated countries?
Sorry! They are not within the Navy's protection scope. Even if pirates massacre a city or destroy a country, it has nothing to do with the Navy.
Moreover, even if the Navy massacres the civilians of non - World Government - affiliated countries, it is not considered illegal!
When those lieutenants and generals who have become the mainstays of the Navy learn about the dark side of the World Government, they face a choice. They either be part of the corruption or simply slack off and muddle through. Some even choose to leave the Navy, but few ever have the idea of shaking the rules and authority of the World Government.
There's no other reason. The Navy simply has no right to participate in politics!
After all, it's just a violent institution!
Therefore, people like Garp and Kuzan, who are at the top of the Navy but know they are powerless to change the status quo, can only choose to slack off, take it easy, and muddle through, occasionally going out to fight pirates to fulfill their duties as Navy officers...
After becoming a Navy soldier, Sephiroth's days were extremely monotonous. All he did was train, and sometimes he would even add extra training on his own or receive swordsmanship guidance from Bogart. Day after day, it was the same routine.
It's worth mentioning that his speed of drawing his sword was getting faster and faster. He used to take eight hours to complete 13,000 sword swings, but gradually he managed to compress the time to three hours.
This efficiency was due not only to the extreme proficiency of his sword - swinging movements but also to the improvement of his physical fitness, which was a very important factor.
In addition, to build better stamina and quickly adapt to the sense of weakness brought on by seawater, Sephiroth would run to the shallow - water area by the beach during his lunch break every day. He would step his legs into the seawater and do squats and frog jumps.
Occasionally, he would also flap his wings in the air to train his flying ability. Currently, his maximum speed was about 50 kilometers per hour, and he could fly continuously for about three hours.
In this dull and peaceful life, apart from the growth of his strength, the only thing that Sephiroth found quite interesting and could use to kill time was probably the few medical books he borrowed from that old military doctor last time. There were diseases he had never seen before and special prescriptions...