Daenerys didn't have wings and couldn't fly to Meereen, and the dragon-spirited Little White and Big Black weren't home.
So she had no choice but to ride Little Green herself and personally escort the little assassin to the outskirts of Meereen.
4:00 a.m., Seventh Floor of the Great Pyramid, Bedroom of Cleon the Breaker of Chains.
Slap! Slap! Slap!Several crisp smacks echoed between the bed curtains.
By the window stood a wide feather bed. Beneath the pink Ghiscari silk canopy, a brawny man as dark as a black boar was entangled like tree roots with two women—one brown, one black—sleeping soundly.
At this moment, a small figure dressed in black was squatting beside the brawny man's pillow, repeatedly slapping his face with her tiny hand.
And judging by her features—wasn't that Daenerys?
"Cleon! Cleon! Wake up!"
Slapping and calling out, but the muscular man with his short black-and-red hair didn't react at all.
Left with no choice, Daenerys rolled off the bed and pulled a bronze chamber pot from underneath, pinched her nose, and poured it onto Cleon's face.
"Ugh…" Cleon slowly opened his eyes, the room dim and flickering as if a candle swayed above his head.
As his mind gradually cleared, the stench began to deliver intense sensory information through his nose and into his brain.
"By the Black Dragon… who—who just peed on my face? That's too much, even for a joke!" he groaned, rubbing his temples and cursing at the women beside him.
"Cleon, you're finally awake," Daenerys said coldly, putting the candle down.
"Who's that?"
Was there someone else in the room?
He shuddered all over, breaking out in a cold sweat. Now he was fully awake.
"It's… you're the Dragon Queen! Why are you in my house?"
Cleon opened his eyes and gave the girl a quick once-over, immediately recognizing his "old acquaintance."
Yes, Cleon and Daenerys were quite familiar with each other. They had both been slaves of the Great Masters and had risen up together, annihilating the entire family of their former masters.
"You came to kill me?" He shivered like a little chick, eyes wide in fear.
"If I came to kill you, would you even know it?" Daenerys rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Oh, true." Cleon the Butcher let out a sigh of relief. Now more lucid, he wiped his face and grumbled, "Seriously, what's wrong with you? Why pee on my face?"
Clang clang clang.Daenerys kicked the chamber pot a few times, tossed a letter at him, and snapped, "Cut the crap. Her Majesty the Queen has returned. This is her letter for you."
"What? Her Majesty's finally back?" Cleon's eyes lit up. As he opened the letter, he asked absentmindedly, "Did she approve me… uh, I got arrested?"
"Damn it! Those rebels still aren't wiped out? Someone ran to Astapor to accuse me?" The Butcher Earl swore viciously.
After a few curses, he fell silent, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he leaned closer to inspect the two women beside him.
Even with all that shouting, they hadn't woken up.
In alarm and anger, he exclaimed, "Did you smother Gina and Angie?!"
Arms crossed, Daenerys stood several meters away and replied coolly, "Drugged. Otherwise, why would I bother with the pee?"
"Oh." Cleon turned his attention back to the letter. Under the dim candlelight, his frown deepened the more he read, as if he'd encountered a serious and unsolvable problem.
"Finished reading yet?" A full quarter of an hour passed, and still he sat at the head of the bed, staring solemnly at the letter. Daenerys was starting to get impatient.
The Butcher Earl suddenly looked up and sighed deeply, beckoning the little assassin over. "Daenerys, come here and help me. What does this character mean?"
"You're really dumb. After more than a year of studying, you still can't recognize basic characters?" Daenerys scoffed with disdain.
Still, she walked over and asked, "Which one?"
"This one."
Daenerys frowned tightly, her expression turning awkward and annoyed. She muttered under her breath, "The Queen, seriously… why use such obscure words?"
Cleon shot her a blank look, sliding his finger down to point at the next line.
"Hey! This is a letter addressed to you by the Queen. I can't read it," Daenerys said, face reddening slightly. She pulled her head back and stiffened her tone to sound righteous.
"Then, could you explain the story of this 'Scholar Bao' for me?" Cleon asked.
"Scholar Bao? Who's that?"
"The Queen believes my methods are too harsh and could affect the people's perception of me. But she says there was once a famous statesman in Westeros known for strict justice.
Scholar Bao had three execution guillotines. He executed a princess's husband, killed a duke of the Seven Kingdoms, even punished his own criminal relatives, and executed countless nobles and common criminals.
Yet this man, who was even harsher than me, became a symbol of unwavering loyalty, unyielding justice, protector of the innocent, and scourge of the corrupt."
"The Queen wants me to learn from Scholar Bao—to model myself after him. At the very least, I should convince the people that I am Scholar Bao. I deeply admire him and want to know more about his stories."
Cleon sighed in admiration, face full of reverence. "First there was Scholar Lai, then Scholar Bao—both are exemplary models for people like me. Truly, Westeros is a land rich in talent, brimming with legendary ministers. It's awe-inspiring!"
"Uh… I've never been to Westeros, so I don't know anything about this 'Scholar Bao.'"
Braavos lies at the junction of the Narrow Sea and the Shivering Sea, made up of hundreds of islands connected by stone bridges and riverboats.
It's essentially a fantasy-world version of Venice.
However, in terms of natural defenses, Braavos surpasses Venice tenfold—hundredfold, even.
The bay where Braavos is located is almost entirely surrounded by towering mountainous islands, leaving only a single natural strait wide enough for ocean-going vessels to pass.
It's as if the gods molded a stone fortress around the bay, shielding it from tsunamis, storms, or enemy fleets from the open sea.
Even during the Valyrian era, the constant thick mist that shrouded the skies made even dragonlords hesitant to conquer the city of water.
To this day, even if the other eight Free Cities allied with Westeros, they couldn't breach this bay stronghold.
In fact, since the founding of Braavos, no enemy has ever broken through its first line of defense—the groin of the Titan.
Yes, the Braavosi built a massive Titan statue at the entrance of the strait, forged from stone and bronze, hundreds of meters tall, straddling two peaks of separate islets.
Every ship that enters or exits Braavos must pass through the narrow path between the Titan's legs.
For centuries, without exception.
Until today.
As the red sun dipped below the horizon, casting a bloody glow across sea and sky, a white-sailed swan ship slowly approached the strait.
No matter how many times they saw it, the sailors from the Summer Isles were always stunned into silence by the towering bronze giant looming ever larger before them.
They dropped their ropes, barrels, and hemp sacks. The captain left the helm. The red-arrow archers lowered their goldenwood bows.All of them stepped onto the deck, raising their heads in awe to behold the godlike colossus.
The great sun sank into the vast sea, and two blazing flames ignited in the eye sockets of the Titan, as if a god had opened his eyes to gaze upon the mortal world.
The swan ship approached the legs of the colossal figure carved from black granite. Suddenly, the statue of the giant seemed to come alive.
"Roar—!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the giant's mouth!
With those glowing red eyes, green hair swaying in the wind (actually green ropes tied to its head), the sailors were truly terrified. They feared the Titan might swing down the broken sword held high in his right hand and cleave the Laurel Wind in two.
"That's terrifying! The giant can really roar?" a young Black sailor exclaimed in horror from the bridge.
"That's a horn. A little trick of the Braavosi," Captain Kuhuru replied with a faint smile. "Whenever a ship enters the port, guards inside the Titan's mouth blow the horn to alert the arsenal in the rear. If it's an enemy, the horn sounds different."
As the swan ship passed beneath the Titan's skirted armor, rows of beehive-like arrow slits could be seen on the inside of the Titan's thighs—and even beneath the battle skirt were multiple rows of murder holes.
A bald Black woman holding a golden wooden bow sighed and said, "I wonder how many passageways and rooms were built inside the Titan. They say thousands of armored soldiers are stationed there at all times—even the Dragon Queen wouldn't dare—"
"Screeeeech—!"
A piercing and majestic beastly roar echoed from the sky, turning the expressions of both the woman and the captain grave.
"That sound…"
They both felt a twinge of familiarity—it was something they'd heard two years ago, but back then, the roar hadn't been this loud or overpowering.
Clang.
The golden wooden bow dropped to the deck. The woman, Koujia, suddenly turned her head and cried out in horror, "A dragon!"
The setting sun, like a giant plate, slowly sank into the dark sea. Against the backdrop of the red-gold horizon, a dark silhouette sped across the shimmering waters toward the Titan.
Closer and closer, the black figure grew more distinct, like a god of the sky flying out of the burning sun.
"Screeeeech—!"
"A dragon! It's him—that black dragon! Black Diamond! The Dragon Queen calls him 'Big Black'!" Captain Kuhuru's dark, weathered face softened with a complex expression. "It's been two years, and he's grown this big already.
Back then, he could already paint. Who knows how clever he's become now—maybe he'll even recognize us."
Koujia said, "Father, the Dragon Queen might be up there. Should we wave to her or shout?"
Thinking of the painting hanging in the captain's quarters, Kuhuru felt a surge of warmth in his heart. But when he looked up at the massive figure of the Titan, his overheated mind instantly cooled.
"No," he shook his head firmly, his tone serious. "The Dragon Queen hasn't come with good intentions. I fear there's going to be a major conflict between her and the Braavosi."
"You mean... a war? But haven't the Braavosi always claimed to oppose slavery? Maybe she's here to form an alliance," the woman asked, confused.
A mocking smile appeared on Kuhuru's dark face. "Since its founding, Braavos has preached the abolition of slavery.
Nine hundred years later, they've become the world's leading city-state—yet they haven't even abolished slavery in neighboring Norvos. None of the other slave-trading cities consider Braavos an enemy.
But the Dragon Queen—she barely makes grand speeches. Yet in just two years, she's liberated three cities in Slaver's Bay. Now, she's made slave traders across the world lose sleep."
"Roar—roar—roar—!"
The Titan suddenly let out a series of sharp and urgent roars. Then, as if the stone-and-bronze giant had truly come to life, countless openings slid open, revealing ballistae, bows, catapults, and even dragon-shooting crossbows identical to those used in the Citadel.
Under the glow of firelight, countless metal arrowheads glinted cold and deadly.
Boom boom boom!
Heavy drumbeats rang out from the arsenal behind the Titan at the mouth of the strait.
—At the entrance to the Great Lagoon, just behind the Braavosi Titan, stood a fist-shaped rocky islet. Atop the stone ramparts were countless catapults, ballistae, and flame-throwing crossbows.
This was the Arsenal—the central stronghold guarding Braavos's main port.
The Arsenal was also a harbor capable of accommodating dozens of large sailing ships. Along its coast were numerous piers, sheds, and drydocks, where even more vessels were docked.
Here, the city's defense fleet was stationed. It also served as Braavos's shipbuilding hub.
This one place alone could build an average of one warship per day.
The name "Arsenal" was well deserved!
Wooo—wooo—wooo—
The horns on the Arsenal's docks blew in unison as warships and rowing longboats departed from the stone islet, forming battle lines at the wide lake mouth behind the Titan, preparing to confront the approaching enemy.
Koujia picked up her golden wooden bow from the deck, her voice dry as she looked at the massive fleet ahead. "The Braavosi were prepared for this? That was fast…"
"This is bad!" Kuhuru's dark face turned pale. He stomped his foot and cursed, "We're stuck in the middle of the battlefield—what now?!"
(End of Chapter)
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