The night was clear and starry, with the sound of flowing water.
In the Marine training base dormitories of Water Seven, the living conditions were not particularly good.
There was a lot of moisture and most of the dormitory walls were moldy.
Some ceilings even had black liquid seeping through from time to time.
The smell in the dormitories wasn't very pleasant either.
The base had deteriorated significantly due to age.
Each floor had about 20 dormitory rooms, with 6 people per room.
There was only one large washroom in the hallway, with ten squats toilets, a wall and about eight individual shower stalls.
Of the eight shower stalls, two were almost unusable due to years of disrepair.
Training ended at 8 PM each night.
Soldiers without guard duty were required to finish washing up and be in bed by 8:30 PM, when officers would come to inspect.
This short amount of time wasn't enough for everyone to shower.
If someone was even a little slow, forget showering - even basic washing up became a problem.
So often, soldiers would secretly get up at night to shower.
But the smells on bedsheets and in the dormitories were unavoidable.
Fortunately, since Jake and Monet were new recruits, the base initially didn't have beds for them.
This led to them being urgently assigned to the bottom floor of a nearly abandoned dormitory building after emergency allocation.
Perhaps assuming they were a couple, no one said anything about separating their accommodations.
Looking at the room before him that barely had water or electricity, Jake sighed helplessly.
Holy Light surrounded his hand, illuminating the surroundings slightly.
Monet used the light to light the candle T-Bone had given them.
Her golden eyes glowed softly in the candlelight.
Seeing Jake's slightly worried expression, Monet smiled and comforted him.
"At least it's better than a cell with 20-30 people and no private bathroom, right?"
Hearing Monet's words, Jake smiled back, though still a bit helplessly.
"That's true. I'll stay in the room next to yours. If you run into any problems, just call for me."
"Same goes for you. If you're scared to go to the bathroom alone at night, you can call me to accompany you. I don't mind."
After being teased by Monet, Jake just laughed and then returned to his own room.
Opening the door, a musty smell hit his nose.
The room was very damp and had no electricity, with only a candle giving off weak light.
With a creaking sound, the wooden bed made a noise as if it could break anytime.
Lying on the bed, Jake sighed slightly.
To distract himself, he opened his current system panel.
"Name: Jake Lawrence"
"Age: 16"
"Power Level: 17 (As Holy Light flows through you, your stamina and endurance have significantly improved.)"
"Holy Light: 15 (When you encounter hardship, please sincerely call out to the deity you pray to.)"
"Passive Ability 1: Holy Light Infusion (25/100)"
"Passive Ability 2: Holy Light Retribution (31/100)"
"Active Ability 1: Judgment Hammer Strike (27/100)"
"Active Ability 2: Healing Prayer (61/100)"
Looking at his nearly doubled Power Level, as well as the increased Holy Light proficiency from healing the Marines on the ship these past days, Jake's mood immediately improved.
No bottlenecks, no side effects from overtraining - this would always be his cheat for getting stronger.
After knocking on the next door and borrowing a bucket of snow water that Monet had condensed with her Devil Fruit power, Jake quickly wiped himself down with a damp towel before going to sleep.
Before sleeping, Jake made a mental note to buy some matches tomorrow.
At least when showering at night, he still wanted some hot water.
Most soldiers either bathed in cold water or chopped wood to heat water.
Currently, the base renovation funds allocated by the World Government only covered the areas around Mary Geoise and a few important Marine branches.
This situation wouldn't improve until the 15th year of the Great Pirate Era.
****
Early in the morning, as the familiar wake-up call sounded through the broadcast system, Jake rubbed his slightly sore eyes and stretched before quickly getting up.
Outside, the sky was just starting to brighten.
Due to being in Water Seven, the mornings here always had rather thick fog.
There was a knock at the door, and Monet's voice rang out.
"Jake, are you up? We need to go early today. Vice Admiral Sakazuki said today's training will focus specifically on developing our Devil Fruit abilities. If we're late, we'll be made to clean all the toilets in the base."
Hearing Monet's words, Jake quickened his movements.
He spat out his toothpaste foam, hastily wiped his face and headed for the door.
The technology in the One Piece world was quite confusing.
They didn't even have widespread steam ships, yet things like toothpaste existed.
The door opened, and Monet stood there smiling, her voice clear and clean.
"Let's go. We shouldn't keep Vice Admiral Sakazuki waiting too long. Oh Jake, your mouth."
As she spoke, Monet reached out her hand and gently wiped away a streak of toothpaste foam from the corner of Jake's mouth.
But the next moment, Monet seemed to realize this was a very intimate gesture.
Her face instantly turned red as she began to explain frantically.
"Um, I usually take care of my sister like this, so I guess it's become a habit! I'm sorry, sorry! That was a bit too forward just now."
Meanwhile, Jake looked at Monet's flushed cheeks in front of him, lightly coughed and then changed the subject.
"It's alright, Monet. Let's go eat first. Vice Admiral Sakazuki won't come here until after the meal. What do you want to eat? I heard from old William that they provide clam soup every morning, but it tastes a bit sour, probably because it wasn't stored properly. Why don't we go talk to the kitchen staff? We can use your Devil Fruit ability to provide a frozen storage room and then ask them to give us some benefit."
"I'll follow your lead. You're much better at these things than I am. As you often say, using Devil Fruit powers for fighting is the least cost-effective way. Productivity is the world's greatest driving force."