"Fufufufufu, let's hope so."
Doflamingo actually did not care much whether Shiki would follow his plan to the letter. Coming to save Shiki had been pure happenstance.
On one hand, he did not want the World Government to grow too comfortable.
A Golden Lion Shiki still actively roaming the seas was far from that rooster-headed, broken-down version in the original story. In terms of strength, influence, and audacity, Shiki should not change much over the next few decades. Just on that point alone, Doflamingo already felt that he had succeeded.
If Shiki could also act according to his design, then Doflamingo could only say that such icing on the cake would be hard to forget.
As for what he wanted Shiki to do, it was actually a spur-of-the-moment idea. Subduing Shiki outright was unrealistic, and Doflamingo did not need a subordinate like Shiki anyway. Since he could not recruit him, yet still wanted to maximize Shiki's utility, Doflamingo suddenly recalled the Cross Guild that Buggy would found in the original story. Even if its delivery company cover was just packaging, the inverted bounties on the Marines alone made Doflamingo feel that the model was worth copying.
What Doflamingo intended to have Shiki do was precisely that: establish a guild that would post reverse bounties, primarily targeting World Government officials, while the Marines would be left to Shiki's personal discretion.
Why target World Government officials? Yes, most of them were hopelessly corrupt, but that did not mean they were incompetent. On the contrary, it was precisely their efforts that kept the world in its current delicate balance.
If Doflamingo's plan succeeded, he could already imagine the result. Would World Government officials, living in constant fear for their lives, still be able to work with peace of mind? Heh. What kind of world would it be once the World Government lost its control over grassroots personnel? Doflamingo found himself very much looking forward to it.
Of course, he did not expect the guild Shiki founded to actually assassinate the true upper echelon of the World Government. An entity that had existed for eight hundred years was never going to be as simple as it looked on the surface.
Doflamingo did not keep Shiki waiting. He spoke seriously:
"What I want you to do is actually not complicated. I just need you to found a guild. When the time is right, rank World Government officials according to the importance of their position and post reverse bounties on them. The guild itself will put up the money and manpower to hunt and assassinate these officials."
"A guild? Putting bounties on World Government officials?"
Good grief—Shiki understood every single word, but put together, he felt a bit lost. This was the kind of idea that took nerve just to think, let alone execute. Yet the more he chewed on it, the more it seemed… not half bad.
Brazen to the point of madness, yet filled with boundless ambition, and dripping with contempt for the world itself. As Shiki silently mulled it over, the more he thought about it, the more feasible it sounded; the more he thought about it, the more fired up he became. Wasn't ruling the world precisely about cutting down World Government officials first? And once the guild developed and expanded, was there not a chance that he could use this new route to seize supremacy over the world?
Before Doflamingo even began persuading him, Shiki had basically talked himself into it. The main reason was that, in this era, scarcely anyone would dare even consider such a scheme. Part of it was the overwhelming deterrent power of the World Government. Another part was that the Marines were not just for show. Who dared to pull a stunt like this and still think the World Government would let them exist?
Did Shiki understand all of this? Of course he did. But Shiki was Shiki. Even a blind man could see the scope of his ambition. Fear was not part of the equation.
Precisely because of that, once he had made up his mind, Shiki immediately agreed.
"Fine, I'll do it!"
However, before Doflamingo could offer his specific suggestions regarding how the guild should be structured, Shiki suddenly changed the direction of the conversation:
"But this doesn't count as the favor you asked of me. I still owe you one. Opposing the World Government was already my goal to begin with, so this request of yours doesn't count as a 'demand.'"
Doflamingo was a little surprised. He had not expected the Golden Lion to be this straightforward. Still, there was nothing wrong with earning a favor from a powerhouse. Doflamingo accepted it without fuss.
Accepted or not, he still had things he needed to say. After all, he could not just stand by and watch the guild's development go off the rails.
"A guild can't be formed without money. I can help cover the initial operating funds, but the guild can't just spend without bringing anything in. It needs its own source of revenue. Maritime shipping and logistics is a good direction. In this dangerous world, being able to guarantee safe and on-time delivery can become a very significant expense for some people. Once the guild is profitable, I'll need twenty percent of the annual profits as my dividend."
Here, Doflamingo was squeezing every drop of utility out of the Cross Guild concept. As for the 'creative rights,' whoever used the idea first owned it, simple as that. Doflamingo believed that if Mihawk and Crocodile could pull it off, there was no way someone stronger than both of them—like Shiki—could not do even better.
Shiki seriously weighed the pros and cons. A major pirate like him suddenly pivoting into business? No matter how he looked at it, it felt weird.
Perhaps seeing Shiki's hesitation, Doflamingo elaborated:
"You'll be the face of the guild, the guildmaster on paper. You're not seriously planning to handle all the petty chores yourself, are you? All you need to do is serve as a deterrent and make sure no one dares to cause trouble. As long as you recruit the right people, what's there to worry about? Or are you worried that you're not up to it?"
"That's absolutely impossible! I can definitely make it work!"
Shiki was full of confidence. He could tell Doflamingo was trying to provoke him a bit, but after giving it real thought, he had to admit that what Doflamingo said made sense. It was not as if he personally had to handle every business detail. With his personality and charisma, how could he not make it happen?
After hashing out and confirming some of the finer points with Shiki, Doflamingo decided it was time to leave. Before departing, he kindly reminded Shiki not to head north.
The reason, of course, was that using Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), Doflamingo had sensed that the Roger Pirates, who had escaped the earlier tsunami by heading north, were now being encircled by the Marines. Whether Shiki listened to this warning or not was of no concern to Doflamingo. If Shiki believed him, good. If not, then Doflamingo could only wish him luck and hope that the Golden Lion could survive the Marine hunt.
Turning into arcs of lightning that flashed rapidly across the sky, Doflamingo did not go to the Sabaody Archipelago. Instead, he took out a Den Den Mushi and called Trebol.
Before Doflamingo could say a word, the Den Den Mushi in his hand had already mimicked Trebol's sniffling, delighted expression as he chattered away:
"Moshi moshi, nya, nya, I'm telling you, Doffy, that Stussy you brought back is really amazing! With her added to the family's intel network, everything's become a breeze. We've almost infiltrated half the Marine bases in the North Blue already!"
Doflamingo had originally been a bit annoyed by Trebol's impulsiveness, but hearing this, his anger dissipated at once. He knew better than anyone what Stussy was capable of. He had simply not expected that, even without explicit instructions, she would zero in on exactly what he wanted done. It was a pleasant surprise.
Of course, Doflamingo had not forgotten why he had called Trebol in the first place.
"Trebol, track down Kongming's whereabouts for me. I need his blood to quell the anger in my heart."
(End of Chapter)
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