Dany led the fleet to fish in the nearby waters, while Big Black and the Turtle Prime Minister were responsible for surveying the sea conditions around the Gate of Hell: charting maps and clearing out sea monsters and mutated marine creatures.
The Dragon Queen could not stay with the fishing fleet forever, yet venturing out to fish during the Long Night was far too dangerous. Thus, the island of the Gate of Hell was chosen as a fishing base.
"I have to leave the Sorrowful Sea immediately. I'll leave things here to you," Dany said to the Turtle Prime Minister beneath her feet.
The giant turtle lay in the shallows, half its body exposed like an island.
Beside the old turtle, on the beach under the little sun, the fishing team and the Tiger Cloak Army, numbering in the thousands, were busily at work. With axes and machetes, they dismembered giant sea monsters, salted the meat, and packed it into jars.
"What happened? This isn't according to the original plan," the Turtle Prime Minister asked in confusion.
According to the earlier plan, Dany would lead the fleet to fish, while the naval soldiers built docks and a castle on the island. During this time, the Turtle Prime Minister and Big Black were to patrol these waters continuously for more than two months.
Every beast in the forest has its own territory, and other creatures avoid that area unless they intend to start a fight.
The hunting activities of Big Black and the Turtle Prime Minister were meant to declare to the sea monsters and demons emerging from the Smoking Sea: this territory belongs to us. Stay away if you know what's good for you, or you'll be killed.
Once the castle and docks on the island were completed, fishermen could safely fish nearby. There would be abundant catches without the risk of losing their way.
In the future, even deep-sea fishing would take place only around the island. The warm waters would attract schools of fish to come on their own.
It was the ocean version of waiting for rabbits by a tree stump.
"My position has been exposed, and I don't have the Valyrian Steel Army protecting me. If I stay here any longer, I'll most likely be besieged by demons.
Sigh, those fellows weren't fooled by my delaying tactics. Instead, they've started probing me.
That's the downside of being the protagonist of an era. Enemies come wave after wave, each stronger than the last, from humans to evil gods. Every one of them is fierce and cunning.
The righteous path in the human world is full of hardships," the Dragon Queen sighed.
The old turtle moved its mouth slightly and said dryly, "I have seen Azor Ahai. He had no Bloodsworn Guards, no White Knights, no dragons, no thousands of Valyrian Steel soldiers, and no hundred-thousand-strong Mother of Dragons army. Yet he dared to enter any lord's castle alone, and every king and noble received him with the utmost enthusiasm.
I also witnessed the era when the three ancestors of Valyria rose. Even though countless forces coveted their dragons, none were like you, unwilling to go out without hundreds of Valyrian Steel guards at your side."
Dany shook her head, unconcerned. "Have you noticed? As protagonists of their eras, Yangdan experienced more slaughter and achieved greater accomplishments than Azor Ahai, and my enemies and achievements surpass Yangdan's.
The higher the level one reaches, the stronger the enemies and the greater the stakes.
Ants live in peace because no one targets them deliberately, but they can still be crushed by an accidental step.
I have many powerful enemies not because I like causing trouble, but because I've reached a level that threatens the interests of too many top-tier powers."
"That does make sense," the Turtle Prime Minister nodded, then said with some difficulty, "But there are three problems. First, I don't have the ability to guide port construction. Second, I can control waves to a limited extent, but I can't control storms. Lastly, if those demons can't find you and take their anger out on me, what should I do?"
Dany replied immediately, "Simple. I'll leave a mental projection at the Gate of Hell to oversee the castle construction.
Once I go to Dragonstone, I'll make a grand display so everyone knows where I am. The evil gods won't come here anymore. How about that?"
"That could work," the old turtle nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "But what if a great storm appears at sea?"
Dany probed, "Don't you feel that the world is dangerous, lacking a sense of security?"
"Sigh, with the смена of eras, declining morals, rampaging evil gods, and unjust true gods, it is indeed dangerous," the old turtle lamented.
Then it shook its head. "But as for lacking a sense of security, not really. If I sense danger, I can retract into my shell, sink into some deep ocean trench, and sleep for a hundred years. Who could find me?"
Dany's face went blank. "Don't you miss the days when the Mother Goddess of the Rhoyne still existed, when you could roam freely through rivers and seas?"
"Of course I miss them. That's why I like to sleep. In dreams, I can relive those happy times," the Turtle Prime Minister said sadly.
Dany's lips twitched. "Right now, there's a great opportunity in front of you. If you seize it, you won't need to rely on dreams to numb yourself anymore."
The Turtle Prime Minister's heart stirred. "You're not planning to make me your subordinate god, are you?"
"My Big Black is one of the Seven Gods. I defeated the World Alliance Army. I have sung the Song of Wind, the Song of Fire, and the Song of Light. I am the protagonist of this era. I will truly end the Long Night."
Dany merely stated her achievements calmly, and the Turtle Prime Minister understood.
"If you truly end the Long Night and usher in a new era, then becoming your subordinate god would not be impossible," the old turtle said, deeply conflicted.
"You don't want to share hardship with me, yet you want to share in the rewards?" Dany said irritably.
"You're right, but I'm a bit afraid…" the Turtle Prime Minister said, ashamed.
"What's there to be afraid of? I'm not asking you to charge into battle. If things become impossible, just retreat into your shell, find a trench, and sink. Who could get to you?"
Thinking of the Dragon Queen's achievements and recalling her conduct, she seemed promising and of decent character, perhaps even a wise ruler.
The Turtle Prime Minister pondered for a long time.
Just as Dany thought his silence meant refusal, a flash of light appeared on the old turtle's bald head. A small green turtle flew out, circled in midair, and stopped before the Dragon Queen's forehead.
Dany chuckled, opened her consciousness space, and accepted the little green turtle into the faith space of the Seven Gods, placing it within the divine thought that formed heaven.
"Buzz—crash!" Dany clenched her fist. Black divine power of water surged, and seven massive columns of water rose from the sea, each as thick as several people embracing and as tall as a ten-story building.
Amid the gasps of those on shore, a layer of mist peeled off the columns, revealing seven five-clawed water dragons with deer horns and long whiskers.
"Roar!" The water dragons moved like living creatures, circling around the giant turtle.
"Your Majesty, please go easy. My body may be large, but the divine power inside me is not much," the Turtle Prime Minister said with a wry smile.
His tone and form of address had changed.
After splitting off a portion of his soul core and forging it into the Seal of Divine Contract to give to the Dragon Queen, he had become her subordinate god.
The essence of the Seal of Divine Contract is the divine soul, which naturally can mobilize divine power. One of its basic functions is to serve as a conduit connecting the main god and subordinate god.
The main god can draw upon the subordinate god's divine power through this conduit, just as Dany was doing now. The subordinate god can also request to borrow divine power from the main god. If the main god agrees, the subordinate god can draw upon it to perform divine arts.
From now on, even if Dany no longer followed the fleet, the old turtle could change the wind direction.
However, compared to Dany as the Wind Goddess, the old turtle's efficiency would be much lower, requiring far more divine power to achieve the same effect.
Fifty kilometers northeast of Meereen.
"Thunk, thunk, thunk." The dull sound of an axe chopping a tree stump echoed through the dim forest at dusk.
Seeing the trunk begin to sway, frosted leaves whispering as they fell, Grazdan exhaled a cloud of white breath. Holding his axe, he stepped behind the trunk and gave the stump a light kick.
"Crash—boom!" The ice-laden pine tree fell heavily, sending up a spray of snow.
"Clang, clang, clang!" Just as he stepped forward to strip the branches, a crisp gong sounded from outside the forest.
Grazdan swung his arm and drove the axe into the trunk, leaving it embedded there, then turned and walked out of the forest.
After walking about three hundred meters along the soft, decaying leaf-covered path, he encountered dozens of other lumberjacks dressed like him: wearing white sheepskin hats with ear flaps, linen scarves wrapped around their faces leaving only their eyes visible, and thick coats lined with wool.
Before this, the poorest fur Grazdan had ever worn as a war god of Yunkai had been a robe made of gray sable.
Yet he had no complaints, even feeling grateful. As a slave master, he had never cared about the warmth or suffering of slaves.
The felled trees left only bare stumps. The snow was trampled into a messy mix of black and white patches. A hall made of wood and mud stood abruptly in the clearing.
A gong hung at the entrance, where a militiaman with a dragon emblem on his chest struck it repeatedly.
Hundreds of lumberjacks emerged from all directions, all heading toward the wooden building of less than a hundred square meters.
Strangely, though the house clearly could not hold so many people, more than five hundred had already entered within a short time.
It was as if it were not a wooden house, but the mouth of a beast swallowing them whole.
"Hey, Grazdan!" Before entering, he encountered a few acquaintances.
He nodded, deliberately slowing his pace until they caught up, and then entered together.
The wooden house was empty, except for a four-meter-wide pit dug into the center of the floor.
A dark red glow flickered from the entrance, revealing a deep and spacious passage. The lumberjacks, familiar with the route, descended the stairs.
They eventually arrived inside a worm tunnel.
At the entrance stood several half-human-height copper buckets set over burning charcoal. The contents bubbled and steamed, releasing a rich, spicy aroma that made Grazdan, waiting in line, swallow.
"Seaweed stewed fish heads again," an old man beside him said, pulling down his linen scarf to reveal a terrifying face.
The left side was that of a normal aged man, but the right looked as if it had been scalded in boiling water.
It was none other than Danzo, the warrior-poet and deputy commander of the Windblown.
"At least it's oily and filling," Grazdan said, pulling down his own scarf.
"I heard in Slaver's Bay they feed fish heads to pigs," someone behind them said.
The speaker lowered his scarf, revealing a familiar face: Zidane, commander of the Second Sons.
The three of them had fought together in the Battle of Kayun, failed together, gone to Volantis together, regrouped, then fought again in the great Battle of Meereen, only to fail once more. They were old acquaintances and old comrades in arms.
(End of Chapter)
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