The Golden Lion's gaze was completely and utterly captivated.
He was lost in a state of profound awe, his mind struggling to comprehend the miraculous ability he had just experienced.
He paid no attention to the stunned disbelief on Doflamingo's face or the wary tension in the air.
Even if he had, he wouldn't have cared in the slightest.
"Hah…! This power of yours is incredible!" Shiki's rough, booming voice echoed through the clearing, brimming with an unconcealed, almost childlike excitement.
"A personal, portable space! So useful for a quick getaway!"
Without a shred of hesitation, the legendary pirate strode forward and began circling Jozu, examining him from every conceivable angle as if he were a piece of exotic machinery.
He leaned in close, tapped Jozu's diamond-hard shoulder with a curious finger, and peered at him intently.
His towering, restored figure loomed over the already massive commander, his scrutinizing gaze appraising Jozu like a rare treasure.
Jozu, who was already irritated by Shiki's arrogant demeanor, found his patience wearing dangerously thin.
Now, seeing this old relic inspecting him like a prized show pony, his temper flared.
"Oi," he growled, his voice a low rumble.
His brows furrowed, and his eyes sharpened with a glint of genuine killing intent.
His fists involuntarily clenched, his knuckles starting to shimmer with the tell-tale facets of his diamond form.
He was more than ready to teach this reckless old man a painful lesson in personal space.
Just as the situation was about to escalate, Ron quickly intervened.
"Jozu," he said, his voice calm but firm, cutting through the tension.
He swiftly stepped between the two titans, placing a gentle but unyielding hand on Jozu's raised arm.
"Stand down. From now on, Shiki the Golden Lion is one of us."
"One of us???"
Those three simple words, spoken so casually, struck the clearing like a bolt of lightning from a clear blue sky.
The charged atmosphere didn't just freeze; it shattered.
Both the battle-hardened Whitebeard Pirates and the cynical members of the Donquixote Family stood completely dumbfounded.
A wave of collective, silent shock washed over them.
Every single gaze—stunned, disbelieving, and utterly bewildered—snapped onto the Golden Lion.
"Did I... Did I hear that right, Ron?" Kingdew was the first to break the silence, his voice trembling with a doubt so profound it was as if he couldn't trust his own ears.
"This is too much," Vista muttered, his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his blade out of sheer reflex.
His brows were knitted in deep confusion.
"I'm going to need a minute to process this."
They had all been prepared for a fight, for a temporary and uneasy truce at best.
They saw the Golden Lion as an enemy, a relic from a bygone era standing on the opposite side of the board.
Yet now, in the blink of an eye, he had somehow become an ally.
"Incredible!" Ace exclaimed, his youthful face a mask of pure awe as he stared at Ron.
"Ron just talked the Golden Lion into joining us? What kind of magic trick did you pull?"
He, along with the others, exchanged glances, their minds racing, desperate to know what could have possibly been said in that secret space to cause such an impossible turn of events.
Moreover, they couldn't ignore the staggering physical changes.
Shiki's severed legs, his most infamous feature for twenty years, were gone, replaced by two real ones.
The iconic steering wheel embedded in his skull had been removed.
Freed from his physical and psychological shackles, the Golden Lion seemed more powerful than ever, his aura overwhelming, as if he had been truly reborn.
If the Whitebeard Pirates were shocked, Doflamingo was having a full-blown system meltdown behind his sunglasses.
The news hit him like a devastating tsunami, wiping out all his carefully constructed assumptions and leaving him adrift in a sea of pure shock.
'This… This is the real Golden Lion!' his mind screamed.
'The Flying Admiral!'
'The man who rivaled Roger and Whitebeard!'
'The monster who commanded the largest pirate armada the world has ever seen! And he just… what? Joined the Whitebeard Pirates?!'
The sheer, explosive absurdity of it surpassed his wildest imagination.
If word of this got out, it wouldn't just send shockwaves through the world; it would create a cataclysm.
The entire global power balance would be irrevocably shattered.
His shock, however, was quickly followed by a cold, calculating dread.
He had seen Ron's mysterious technology firsthand.
The impossible feat of becoming a multiple Devil Fruit user.
Given that reality, was it truly so hard to believe Ron could heal and recruit Shiki? He must have promised him something immense in return.
He glanced back at his own Family.
Diamante, Trebol, and Pica were frozen in stunned silence, their mouths slightly agape as if something had lodged in their throats, rendering them speechless.
Doflamingo's mind raced.
Shiki's addition didn't just give the Whitebeard Pirates a boost; it infused them with an immense surge of legendary power.
They were already a formidable Yonko crew.
Now, they were like a tiger that had sprouted dragon's wings.
Such a force didn't just stand above the other Yonko crews; it loomed over them like an impending apocalypse.
Among the Whitebeard crew, no one felt the weight of this news more than Marco the Phoenix.
His eyes were wide as he stared at Shiki, the shock in his gaze so profound it was almost tangible.
Two blazing flames of pure disbelief burned in his eyes.
"I can't believe it, yoi," Marco murmured, his voice laced with a volatile mix of excitement and astonishment.
"Back in the day, the old man told stories about him. Golden Lion's flying fleet stirred up storms across the entire Grand Line!" His voice rose, echoing through the clearing, each word landing like a hammer blow on everyone's hearts.
"In his prime, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Pops and the Pirate King! And now... now he's joining us?!"
Hearing this, the Golden Lion's previously calm, almost curious expression twisted into a mask of pure displeasure.
He abruptly lifted his head, his sharp gaze flashing like twin blades, piercing straight through the crowd to land on Marco.
"I didn't join the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Shiki roared, his voice booming like a great bell, reverberating with furious indignation.
"Stop dreaming, you pineapple-headed brat! Hmph, don't you even think about lumping me in with you lot! That will never, ever happen!"
"Hmm??"
A wave of fresh confusion washed over the onlookers.
They looked from Shiki to Ron and back again, their eyes filled with questions.
What on earth was going on? Just a moment ago, Ron had said he was one of them.
How could he go back on his word so quickly?
"Hmph!" Shiki snorted coldly, crossing his massive arms in front of his chest.
His posture radiated an untouchable arrogance, as if he stood atop the world, looking down upon all other living beings as mere insects.
He lifted his head imperiously, his condescending sneer sweeping over the faces of the Whitebeard commanders.
"I merely agreed to become that brat Ron's… guar—" He paused, the word "guard" tasting like ash in his mouth.
He visibly grimaced before quickly continuing, "—A member of his personal laboratory. That is all."
He let the clarification hang in the air for a moment before adding, his voice dripping with contempt, "And this arrangement is only temporary. Once three years are up, I'm leaving. So don't you go getting any foolish ideas about camaraderie."
As he spoke, the corners of his lips curled into a disdainful smirk.
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear to all of you." He directed his gaze squarely at Marco.
"I would rather starve to death on a deserted island, die of thirst in a burning desert, or jump from one of my own sky-islands and be smashed to pieces on the ground below, than ever willingly join the Whitebeard Pirates! JIAHAHAHA!"
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