Never letting go of a given opportunity

Alyssia looked around towards the many people in the audience and spoke. "As an individual I am grateful for this opportunity and I thank everyone for the support given. My next personal goal would be to grow stronger and formally challenge stronger individuals that are strong or famous for their strength and abilities. Of course those matches will be friendly exchanges that I hope will promote friendship rather than enmity no matter who is the final victor."

It was obvious that many within the world were difficult to challenge because of their status or their backing that did not allow them to accept her challenge so easily and if they lost, there may be later problems for herself and her crew.

For example, if she chose to fight people from the Four Emperors or other large organisations then she would have to worry about the political side of it.

If she had won then it would be damaging to the image of such a large force, those that had been damaged would seek to restore their lost power and influence quickly even if they were previously not angry with her for her victory which would then result in them challenging her again with a stronger challenger until both sides had become hostile.

What she was seeking was a friendly battle among the strong that would help her grow much stronger without the other complications.

Alyssia then continued. "As a member of the White Storm, I would like to announce that we have arrived in the New World and have moved over some of our groups in preparation for opening up some branches in some more places. I hope that we can cooperate with many local businesses and establish strong ties while we also hope to support and recruit many strong fighters into our mercenary group."

She took a breathe and then added. "The White Storm in particular will need many brave and strong people to carry out missions that will have to do with many different things that have been requested by clients. They can range from bodyguard or security jobs, escort missions and even exploration or gathering missions on dangerous islands. We do allow bounty hunting missions on highly dangerous criminals that have caused much harm to others but we usually do not take on tasks related to killing an individual or group. I would also like to say that in the future, the White Storm wishes to support the New World Central Fighting Tournament and wants to make sure it remains for a very long time. With the combined efforts of the boss beside me and the many coordinators and planners within the White Storm, we will work hard to make this so much better. The White Storm welcomes all kinds of talents from different backgrounds so once we have gotten settled, please come and contact us!"

The boss stepped forward and added as he pointed in a direction. "Spotlights point to over there please! Thank you Alyssia for your words and this is very true! Although we have not yet discussed the finer details, we hope to be able to work together to provide more entertainment to you all. There are some members of the White Storm in the crowd with you and you may recognise the large man sitting there! His name is Liushi and he has been seen often by Ann's side. It is a shame that we did not get to see Ann here today but you can imagine the potential from us working together."

Liushi had awkwardly waved to those around himself as the others had silently lowered their heads in embarrassment.

"Wow this is big news!"

"I do not know, I hope they do not change too much about the tournament."

"Do not worry too much, I hear that everything the White Storm touches turns to gold."

"Really?"

"What? Don't believe me?"

"I admit that they are famous within Paradise but here in the New World.. they have yet to establish themselves."

Many within the audience had a very good point but they had missed out on a vital piece of information and had not considered some other things as Alyssia was already working on plans to cooperate with the boss of the Tournament and the White Storm had already taken one island under their wing even if it was still being kept secret.

There was also her information network within the underworld which would help her to gain a better understanding of the New World so although it was challenging to start up a new branch, it was not impossible.

The competition had presented a potential chance to help the White Storm with its plans to move into the New World and Alyssia would never let go of a given opportunity.

Meanwhile Alyssia had held up her new title in the air and had collected her prize while Ideo and the person in third place had collected theirs.

Ideo had looked towards Alyssia the whole time after he had recovered from his fall and had a serious look on his face as he had the desire to grow much stronger than before.

Back in the contestant room, he had faced her and asked. "How did you get this strong?"

Alyssia stopped herself from mentioning the obvious methods of using her system and serums to bring out her true potential so she ended up telling part of the truth. "Challenging strong foes and fighting many life and death battles in many different environments. It helps to refine your techniques but also test your will, you are definitely strong and skilled but you still do not have what other masters possess which could only add to your combat power. If you wish to use my mercenary group to find such challenges then I will happily welcome you so long as you do not think mercenary work is something a martial artist should not do."

The meaning behind her words was many martial artists can often look down on assassins and mercenaries so they deny their skill but often times, it is the ones they disdain that are the ones to make the most rapid progress after they had faced many challenges.

She hoped that he would not have such a mentality and would use his skills and talents as he would improve himself too.

During those trials, he may even awaken his true potential and be able to use Haki unlike the original but it could also be misunderstood as her giving him tips on how to increase his power in the form of a Devil Fruit.

One path could lead to his original destination later in Dressrosa while the other would put his life in danger many times so that he could awaken his hidden potential.

In the end, it depended on how he interpreted it and chose to act so Alyssia left him in deep thought.