"Can you do that, Alex?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very well then, your ship shall leave port at 8 o'clock sharp."
"Understood."
The next day, Alex was already sent out on his very first mission; he wasn't even allowed to take a break. This is the negative side when you show off your strength.
Alex stood on his ship, taking in his crew. They weren't anything special, but he did take an interest in a few of his crewmates.
His tactician, who went by the name Elle Von Durne. She was a beautiful lady in her late 20s or maybe early 30s; according to her own statements, her specialty lay in Kami-e and long-range attacks using firearms (Alex thinks that she might have an inkling of Observation Haki, though he'd need to unlock Haki himself first and then talk). Personality-wise, she is reserved and sharp-witted.
Bran 'Boomer' Kells. He is the best when it comes to blowing shit up. He said that his specialties lie in Rankyaku and tech, which he uses to make most of his explosives. He's also a huge Vegapunk fan. He is wild and loud; basically, he got himself some comic relief here. He spends the bulk of his time tinkering on something or trying to convince some untainted soul of the art that is explosions. Alex couldn't stop the shivers when he imagined the dude with the bomb-bomb fruit. The world's end might be nigh if this were to come to pass.
They even had a Fishman friend in their crew; he went by Sei Hoshigaki. His specialties lay in Soru and Geppo, which he infused into his Fishman Karate, where he is no slouch either. He is calm and philosophical, sometimes too much, though.
Rai Genbo was a brutal hand-to-hand freak with a short temper and much pride, but he was loyal as hell once you got past the other deficiencies in his character. He had the makings of a vice admiral already, quite strong, but he was older than Alex by at least 25 years easily.
Anyway, the mission Alex was required to do was to follow a leak on a certain Ope-Ope no mi. Since it's hella valuable and the WGovt. would get his ass if he failed, he'd need to complete the mission successfully.
It was on an island in the New World, so they had to go to Marijois, then go to G1 and take a ship, then move there.
Dangers of the new world included, but weren't limited to super-rookie Gol D. Roger with a bounty of 3 billion beli and Overlord of the Sea, Rocks D. Xebec, who sat at a bounty of 5 billion beli, and he had so many infamous pirates under his flag. There wasn't anybody in the world who didn't know who this dude was.
So, he was pretty sure he was supposed to die here, but his conqueror's spirit made him want to prove them wrong.
He, of course, didn't let up on his training, making sure to complete the daily exercises, and he had his crew join him as well. 1000 push-ups, 1000 sit-ups, 1000 squats, and a 10-kilometer run, all of that with weights of about 50-kilogram vests.
Alex completed his weighted swings, 10 thousand of them, and then came dinner.
Their cook, Aika, was a freaking goddess when it came to whipping up something tasty and filling their stomachs, and Alex only knew her for a day, yet she was one of his favorite people outside of someone like Tsuru and his homies from recruit training.
The voyage there took about 3 days, and in these three days, Alex took down about 10 crews of pirates, though they were so weak that Alex didn't even waste the time remembering them.
They arrived on an island named Regenwald. Alex's memories of German words kicked in, and he snickered to himself. Regenwald translates to rainforest, and that's exactly what that island looked like.
Halting the ship, Alex issues a few orders, since he was a rear admiral, the leader of the mission.
"Alrighty, we're looking for a Devil Fruit, the Ope-Ope no mi, which is a red heart-shaped fruit with swirls. When transmitting reports, you use the codeword DF when talking about it. There might be other people here. None here have learned Haki yet, meaning we're kind of at a disadvantage, so you will remove your bright, white uniform and put on something less visible. Lastly, we will split into groups of 5 and take on the diamond formation to cover more ground. The person with the transponder snail will be in the center. Of course, all of you carry swords and firearms along with a mini medical care pack on your person at all times, understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good, disperse!"
Alex walked at the front position, Elle Von Durne was in the center of their formation, Boomer was to his right, Sei was to his left, Rai was behind Sei, and their cook, who actually was a fighter as well, stood behind Boomer.
Their search was just like with the other teams; it was fruitless. But they did find some trails and signs of other presences on the island. After the report to all squads, they were in the know as well, and thus all were ready for an ambush and battle.
All the way on the other side of the island, a gathering of sorts happened; an informant of the Rocks Pirates met up with some slave traders, the Ope-Ope Fruit was in the hands of the slave traders, and of course the informant wasn't a weakling, working as a solo informant of that crew.
Back with Alex, he received a system message:
[New mission alert:]
Obtain the legendary Ope-Ope no mi
Defeat all the enemies in your way
Reward: you reach 25% in the Igris System fusion rate, and you will be allowed to obtain or further one of the three Haki types
[Message over]
His inner musings were interrupted as they received a report, their Transponder snail going off with that familiar buruburuburuburu.
"Yes?"
"Rear Admiral Alex, sir, it seems we aren't alone here; we have seen a ship belonging to Rocks D. Xebec's crew."
"I need you not to panic and try to make it as close as possible; try not to die. I trust in all of you, my comrades."
"Heh, things can't be done without violence here, huh?"