Doflamingo felt the pressure vanish as quickly as it had come, yet he was left gasping, a cold sweat plastering his shirt to his back.
His own formidable Conqueror's Haki had been crushed as if it were nothing, snuffed out by a single, casual glance.
'This is the man with a seven-billion-Berry bounty,' he thought, his mind reeling.
'The absolute peak of the world.'
At the same time, Marco, standing nearby, had keenly noticed the initial eruption of Haki from Doflamingo.
That unique, violet-tinged willpower was unmistakable.
Conqueror's Haki was far too rare among the masses; it was said that only one in a million possessed the qualities of a king.
'Who would have thought,' Marco mused, 'this seemingly arrogant, flamboyant Warlord also wielded such an uncommon power?'
He frowned slightly, inwardly surprised, though his expression remained as composed as ever.
He then turned to his captain.
"Pops," he explained respectfully, "that's our new business partner, the Warlord Donquixote Doflamingo."
"Hmm." Whitebeard nodded slightly, his gaze leaving Doflamingo, who felt as though a mountain had just been lifted from his soul.
A wide, booming laugh then echoed from the Yonko's chest.
"Gurararara! If he's a partner, then there's no issue!"
....
Meanwhile, Shiki who's still hovering majestically in the sky, also caught sight of Doflamingo's defiant display.
His lips curled into a wide, predatory grin.
"Jihahahaha! It's you again, you flamingo brat!" he roared, his voice booming from above.
"Didn't get enough of a scare last time? Let's continue our battle!"
As he spoke, the twin blades that served as his feet, Oto and Kogarashi, which were already shimmering with an eerie Haki, suddenly ignited with golden flames—the power of his Phoenix fruit.
But these flames were anything but ordinary.
At one moment, they raged like wild beasts, the temperature around Shiki skyrocketing as if he were a living furnace.
In the next, the heat plummeted, replaced by a bone-chilling, regenerative cold.
The rapid alternation between these extremes created a bizarre, disorienting pressure.
"Twin Demon Flames: Overlapping Slash Wave!" Shiki roared, an attack name he made up on the spot.
His figure shot down from the sky like a golden comet, his twin blades descending with such speed they seemed to tear through the very fabric of the air, leaving trails of both steam and frost in their wake.
His target was clear: Doflamingo.
It wasn't a killing blow; it was a test, a challenge from one king to another.
"Fufufufu! Perfect timing! Let's test the true strength of a so-called legendary pirate!" Doflamingo sneered, his eyes alight with a manic battle lust. He refused to be intimidated, especially not in front of his own crew.
In an instant, a deep, violet layer of Armament Haki enveloped his right leg, amplifying its power to terrifying levels.
His body spun 270 degrees in one fluid, graceful motion before his leg lashed out like a whip!
"Overheat: Five Colored String!" he shouted, unleashing his own named attack.
CLANG! SCREEEEECH!
A crisp, deafeningly resonant metallic clash suddenly rang out, echoing across the silent plaza.
An invisible shockwave, centered around the two combatants, swept outward like a raging tsunami, carving deep gouges into the cloud-soil.
The Golden Lion's twin swords, descending with the force to split a warship in two, abruptly halted in midair.
The unstoppable momentum seemed to be gripped by an invisible, giant hand, unable to advance even an inch further.
As if blocked by a wall of diamond, under the astonished gazes of the onlookers, a web of eight faintly visible, glowing purple threads appeared, straining against the Haki-infused blades.
It was these seemingly delicate yet incredibly resilient strings that had firmly held back Shiki's immense power.
"Not bad, kid," Shiki murmured, slightly taken aback.
A hint of genuine admiration flashed across his face.
Rather than anger, he let out a hearty laugh.
Since regaining his strength, he felt a magnanimous composure he hadn't known in decades.
After holding firm for a moment, Doflamingo let out a sharp cry and forcefully repelled his opponent with a burst of power from his strings.
He landed gracefully, but subtly shifted his stance, using his feather coat to hide the slight, uncontrollable trembling in his right leg.
The force of that impact had been monstrous.
Shiki's imposing frame shuddered slightly in the air, his eyes burning with a fervent battle intent.
Clearly, his fighting spirit was unquenched, eager for a real fight.
He stomped his foot on the air itself, and the space around him seemed to tremble.
His overwhelming aura surged like a tidal wave, ready to erupt once more.
Yet, at this critical moment, Ron's steady and commanding voice abruptly cut through the air.
"Stop."
The single word carried an intangible, absolute force.
It pierced straight into Shiki's ears, bypassing the haze of his battle lust.
Hearing it, his body jerked to a halt, the immense power he was about to unleash forcibly suppressed.
He slowly turned in the air, his gaze flickering with confusion, but then, understanding dawned on him.
He remembered his contract, his new position.
He descended to the ground, his expression shifting from that of a warrior to one of heartfelt gratitude.
"Ron," he boomed, his voice sincere, each syllable brimming with earnestness.
"I won't waste words on thanks. If there's anything you need me to do, you just say the word!"
At this moment, he was magnanimous, his face alight with joy, ready to brave any danger at Ron's behest.
"Not so fast," Ron said, shaking his head slightly.
His gaze shifted from the now-loyal legend to Doflamingo and his crew.
Clutching the remaining pale pink Float-Float Fruit tightly in his hand, he strode toward them with firm, deliberate steps.
Each footfall seemed to carry an invisible pressure, thickening the air around them and drawing everyone's rapt attention.
Doflamingo, too, had no idea what Ron intended, but he braced himself.
"Joker," Ron began, his voice calm as he came to a stop before Doflamingo and his group.
"I have a new proposal for our cooperation. Care to hear it?"
"..."
Doflamingo narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed intently on the glowing fruit in Ron's hand.
He didn't need an explanation.
His keen insight allowed him to guess the younger man's intentions.
'Here it comes,' he thought, a bitter smile touching his lips.
'The exorbitant price.'
'He's going to try and sell it to me for another 30 billion.'
'How do I refuse without losing face?'
When under someone else's roof, one has no choice but to lower their head.
With this thought in mind, he slowly spoke, his voice a low purr.
"I'd like to hear the details."
"What I hold now is a second Enchanted Float-Float Fruit," Ron began, holding it up for all to see.
"It has a chance to turn one of your men into a Dual-Fruit ability user." He looked at the fruit with satisfaction before continuing, his voice clear and precise.
"The success rate is fifty percent."
He then looked Doflamingo squarely in the eye, delivering the final, stunning line of his proposal.
"The terms of this new cooperation are simple. You can choose to accept this Devil Fruit in place of one of the Replicated Devil Fruits I promised you earlier."
"NANI?!"
Doflamingo's previously calm, calculating expression instantly stiffened, then completely shattered.
His mind, which had been furiously preparing to haggle, to refuse, to play the game, went completely blank.
He had assumed Ron wanted to sell it. He had prepared for a negotiation.
But who could have guessed that instead of selling it, Ron intended to swap it?
The sheer, insane generosity of the offer was so far beyond his expectations that it left him utterly, speechlessly stunned.