"Impossible!!!"
The word wasn't just spoken; it was a physical explosion of sound and willpower.
The Golden Lion roared, his voice like a thunderclap in the confined space.
His newly restored Conqueror's Haki, still raw and untamed, flared unconsciously, pressing down on the very air and making it tremble.
His eyes, which had been filled with joy just moments before, now burned with a furious, indignant fire.
"You want me to serve under that bastard Newgate?!" he snarled, rejecting the proposal with every fiber of his being.
"You might as well take this sword and run me through right now! I would rather die than bend the knee to that old fossil!"
His agitation was palpable, a raging inferno of pride and decades-old resentment.
His chest heaved, his fists clenched, and the air around him crackled with barely contained power.
To him, serving Whitebeard was a fate worse than death.
It was the ultimate humiliation, an admission that his greatest rival had finally won.
"Non-negotiable!" he spat, each word forced through gritted teeth.
"Absolutely not!"
A heavy, ringing silence fell over the room, broken only by Shiki's ragged breathing.
Ron, for his part, hadn't expected a reaction of such pure, unadulterated rage.
He had anticipated resistance, but this was on another level.
His brow furrowed for a fraction of a second, a thoughtful glint in his eyes as he recalibrated his approach.
He had poked the lion's pride, and the lion had roared.
Fine.
There were other ways to secure the leash.
After a deliberate pause, allowing Shiki's fury to crest, Ron spoke again, his tone perfectly measured and calm.
"Then let's try a different proposal. What if you were to join my personal research laboratory? Become my bodyguard."
"Huh? Join your lab?"
Shiki was momentarily taken aback by the sudden shift.
The sheer fury on his face morphed into a sneer of contempt.
"Heh. Don't play games with me, kid. Just say what you really mean: you want me to be your free labor for three years."
Ron was briefly stunned by the blunt assessment, then let out a soft sigh.
There was no point in denying it.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, Shiki. And besides," he added, his voice smooth and reasonable, "Three years will pass in the blink of an eye. A tiny fraction of the time you've already lost."
That last line hit its mark.
Shiki fell silent, the rage in his eyes dimming, replaced by a flicker of genuine hesitation.
He began to weigh the options in his mind.
The humiliation of being a "bodyguard" versus the ultimate prize of wielding two of the most powerful Devil Fruits in existence.
A bodyguard... him? The Golden Lion Shiki, a man who once commanded the largest pirate fleet in history, reduced to being a glorified guard dog for some kid? The thought was nauseating.
"That... is quite tempting..." he muttered, scratching his head in a gesture of deep thought.
His fingers brushed against his scalp, and for a second, he was confused by the lack of the familiar, hard wooden spokes of the helm.
It dawned on him again that it was truly gone.
He still wasn't used to being whole.
"To be clear," Ron added, pressing his advantage, "My lab belongs solely to me. This has nothing to do with the Whitebeard Pirates. You would answer only to me."
"Hmm... becoming your bodyguard," Shiki mused, the idea slowly taking root.
"That... might be acceptable, but..." He frowned.
Something still felt off.
Yet, the alternative was unthinkable.
He had wasted twenty years in a haze of pain and obsession.
Now, an opportunity to reclaim not just his old power, but to ascend to an entirely new level of strength, was right in front of him.
Could he really let his pride make him throw it all away?
Three years of temporary servitude in exchange for a power that could make him a king again.
The scales in his mind tipped decisively.
"DEAL!" he shouted, his voice booming with renewed conviction.
"Three years is nothing! I'm not losing out on this deal!"
He knew, with absolute certainty, that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
To refuse it would be a regret he would carry to his grave.
Ron nodded, a satisfied smile gracing his lips.
Getting the Golden Lion as his personal enforcer for three years was an unexpected but massive fortune.
He was certain that once Shiki experienced the resources and possibilities within his lab, he wouldn't even want to leave.
"To a pleasant partnership," Ron said, extending his hand.
"Gyahahaha! Pleasant partnership, little Ron— uh... Ron," Shiki laughed heartily as he took the offered hand, his grip like iron.
He knew he had made the right choice.
"Just call me Ron."
"Sure, sure."
The moment the partnership was officially sealed, Shiki's entire demeanor shifted.
The arrogance he had momentarily suppressed came roaring back.
With the deal struck, he saw no more need for formalities.
He impatiently thrust his thick, powerful hand out, his eyes burning with an urgency that bordered on manic.
"Alright, give it to me! The Devil Fruit! I want to become a Dual-Fruit user right now! Hmph, I can't wait another second!"
Ron simply raised an eyebrow, a faint, amused smile playing on his lips as he leisurely shook his head.
"No need to rush, Shiki. Even if I wanted to give it to you, I couldn't produce it right now." His voice was utterly calm, radiating an unshakeable sense of control.
He raised a hand, signaling for Shiki to rein in his excitement.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, his gaze turned profound.
"Creating a perfect synthesis between a person and a second Devil Fruit ability can't be rushed. This isn't just about eating a fruit; it's a complex procedure. The science involved is beyond your imagination. Or would you rather I give you a defective product that might fall apart the first time you try to lift an island?"
Shiki's eager expression faltered, his face flushing with embarrassment.
He lowered his head slightly, realizing how rash he'd been.
"Uh... sorry, Ron. I got a little carried away."
Then, a new thought occurred to him.
He looked up, his eyes filled with a mix of suspicion and genuine curiosity.
"Aren't you afraid I'll just take the power and run off? After all," he added, a proud, booming laugh escaping him, "Even the great undersea prison, Impel Down, couldn't hold me!"
He puffed out his chest, basking in the memory of his legendary escape.
He was the only person in history to have broken out of that fortress alone.
It was a feat that had cemented his name in the annals of piracy forever.
In response to this blatant boast, Ron simply shook his head, his smile never wavering.
"Nahh. Now, just follow me."
Without any visible signal, Ron somehow notified Jozu on the outside.
Under Shiki's astonished gaze, the solid walls of the room dissolved into a shimmer of light, and in the blink of an eye, they were standing back on the sun-drenched island.
.....
Doflamingo was leisurely enjoying his afternoon tea.
The sunlight filtered through the canopy of leaves overhead, casting dappled, shifting patterns on the ground.
It was a cozy, comfortable atmosphere.
This tranquility was shattered in an instant.
His eyes, hidden behind his signature sunglasses, happened to glance up.
His gaze was instantly drawn to a faint distortion in the air.
For a moment, the teacup in his hand trembled, nearly slipping from his grasp as two figures materialized out of thin air.
His eyes widened, his mouth falling slightly agape.
He was too stunned to speak.
His focus snapped to the two figures, Ron and Shiki.
But when his gaze landed on the Golden Lion, his shock intensified into pure, unadulterated disbelief.
His jaw practically unhinged.
He saw legs.
Two strong, real, flesh-and-blood legs planted firmly on the ground.
Not only that, but the iconic, ridiculous ship's helm that had been a permanent fixture on Shiki's head for twenty years was gone.
Vanished.
The man standing before him was not the same man who had disappeared into that strange vortex.
The broken, withered relic was gone.
This man stood taller, his presence was heavier, and the aura of power rolling off him was immense, almost suffocating.
He was a completely different person.
The drastic changes left Doflamingo utterly shaken, his mind racing.
What in the world happened in there? What kind of deal did they make? How is this even possible?!
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