"Doffy! I'm ready whenever you are!"
Pica emerged from the shadows, his towering, stone-like physique radiating brute strength.
He took his place behind Doflamingo.
"Pica, this is your rebirth."
Doflamingo clapped a hand on his shoulder, visibly excited, then turned to Caesar and the others.
"Begin."
"Yes, Boss!"
...
Core of the Laboratory
Pica lay in a giant life-support pod, wearing only shorts. With a mechanical click, metal restraints snapped over his limbs.
"Shirolororo! Welcome to glorious evolution!" Caesar cackled as he slammed down several buttons on the control panel.
A pale green fluid began to fill the pod, slowly submerging Pica's body. Oddly, he realized he could still breathe.
Before he could process much, Judge stepped forward with a bottle of glowing pink liquid and injected it directly into the pod.
The green liquid turned pink before their eyes.
This was IQPor, a substance extracted from IQ. Unlike SIQ, which induces gigantification and enhances aggression in animals, IQPor enhances human adaptability—boosting the success rate of bloodline factor fusion.
Two mechanical arms extended from the sides of the chamber and pierced Pica's wrists.
Caesar then picked up a syringe the size of a forearm and plugged it into the tank.
The liquid inside glowed a sinister crimson.
This was every last trace of Brand's bloodline factor—extracted from the Burn-Burn Fruit user after draining him into a corpse.
It began to flow, drop by drop, into Pica's body.
Agony twisted Pica's face. His muscles seized. Every inch of him cracked like a dried-out riverbed.
The fluid in the pod turned from pink to a deep, blackish red as it mingled with his blood.
It didn't take Observation Haki to see what was happening. Doflamingo adjusted his sunglasses and gave an order to the side.
"Baccarat, activate your power."
He'd anticipated this wouldn't go smoothly.
This wasn't like the single-gene fusion used on the Skypieans.
Pica was already a Devil Fruit user undergoing genetic reconstruction—that alone was difficult. Then came the second complication: ordinary gene transfusions usually require time to stabilize.
But they didn't have time.
They were injecting a completely new DNA sequence directly into Pica's stable genetic structure. If the fusion worked, Judge and Caesar predicted the ability would skip the development phase and immediately mature.
"I understand, Boss!"
Baccarat closed her eyes and activated her Lady Luck ability.
Bit by bit, the noble-born luck of a North Blue pirate offering herself as tribute drained away.
-5000
-10000
-100000
Then the drain stopped.
Baccarat's eyes flew open. She turned toward Doflamingo in surprise.
"Boss, it looks like... we don't even need my power!"
"Oh?"
Doflamingo turned his attention to the pod.
Pica's cracked muscles were slowly healing—only to tear open again.
The price? A staggering amount of IQPor was being consumed.
Fortunately, Caesar and Judge had planned for this. They injected dose after dose into the chamber.
And this continued...
For three days and three nights.
Aside from the ever-efficient laborer Tesoro, who dropped by briefly and left just as quickly, only Trebol and Vergo remained stationed at the lab.
Trebol was so anxious he began pacing. After all, Pica was their first true comrade from the beginning.
Baccarat, unable to stay awake any longer, had already returned to rest.
But Caesar and Judge hadn't closed their eyes once. Bloodshot and unblinking, they stared at the pod without pause.
This was more than just an experiment—it was the foundation for everything that came next. If it failed, they'd be facing more than just Doflamingo's wrath.
Doflamingo, however, looked as fresh as ever.
Baccarat had already confirmed the odds.
And more importantly, his Observation Haki told him Pica's mental state had shifted—from pain to peace, even... enjoyment.
A sign the fusion was working.
All they had to do was wait.
...
Clack.
The lab door opened.
Smoothie stepped in, a food tray in hand and concern in her eyes.
"Doffy, you should eat something."
"Just set it dow—"
Halfway through the sentence, Doflamingo's head snapped toward the pod.
The fluid began bubbling intensely. The temperature was spiking. It began to boil.
Pica opened his eyes.
But they were vacant—utterly lifeless.
"Something's wrong!" Trebol rushed forward, his voice panicked. "This isn't normal!"
"No—it's working!!!"
Caesar and Judge lit up. After three days, they were finally seeing changes.
Inside the pod, Pica drifted in slumber.
But deep within, he heard voices echoing from every fiber of his being.
"I want to become stone."
"If I could control stone, building wouldn't be so tiring."
"Fire—we need fire."
"If I had the power to control fire, Mom and Dad wouldn't have starved!"
...
Images poured into Pica's mind.
He became a laborer who died building a bridge in a foreign land—a man who, with his final breath, dreamed of shaping stone.
He became a primitive human who used fire to survive the wilderness—a caveman who longed to become fire itself.
...
An ocean of wishes and desires surged into him.
Washing away his sense of self.
In the real world, Smoothie frowned and set the tray down.
"What's going on, Doffy?"
Doflamingo's face darkened as he stared into the pod.
Pica's emotions were a whirlwind of chaos.
Too many voices echoed inside his mind.
Was this the true nature of Devil Fruits? Humanity's collective desire?
Why hadn't he heard these voices when he awakened?
Was it because his will had crushed whatever "devil will" resided in the fruit?
Or was it that damn voice in his head doing all the work?
No time to ponder.
Pica's mind was slipping away.
Doflamingo unleashed his Observation Haki, flooding into Pica's mind as he shouted:
"PICA!!!"
"What the hell's going on, Boss?" Caesar looked around, confused. "Why're you yelling?"
"Is Pica alright?" Trebol asked anxiously.
Doflamingo's reaction had been... off.
Something was wrong.
"Everyone SHUT UP!"
No time for explanations.
Doflamingo concentrated, resonating his emotions through the haze of voices in Pica's head.
His face went pale.
Vergo immediately stepped in, catching Doflamingo before he could collapse.
Vmmmm...
Within the depths of the spiritual world, the voices faded.
One grew louder.
"PICA!!!"
His vacant eyes flickered.
"I'm not some wretched laborer!"
The laborer shattered the bridge he had died building with stone he no longer wished to touch.
"Nor am I one of those savages!"
The caveman ignited an island in fire and vanished into the blaze.
"I'm Doffy's loyal crewmate—PICA!!!"
The light returned to his eyes.
The fluid around him transformed into stone and wrapped around his body like armor.
"Wha—He awakened!" Caesar staggered backward in shock.
"But... where's the fire? Did it fail?" Judge muttered, far more concerned with the outcome of the experiment than Pica's condition.
"Phew…"
Doflamingo let out a deep breath. For a moment, it felt like a thousand screaming voices had been barking in his head.
Like being trapped in an 8D surround sound room filled with dying dogs on loop.
It reminded him of the time he got smacked with that damn ice cream cone years ago.
Then something changed again.
The stone armor encasing Pica began to crack...
And flames burst out.
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg