Outside the tent, the sun was bright, another ordinary day in the allied army camp. When Aegon slept until he woke up naturally, got dressed, and emerged from the tent, he felt the atmosphere was a bit strange.
After observing his surroundings slightly, he quickly found the source of this strange feeling: many soldiers around were pointing towards the eastern sky, pointing and discussing animatedly.
Following everyone's gaze, Aegon looked up at the sky, squinted his eyes, and quickly found what everyone was looking at: low in the eastern sky, a comet was quietly hanging next to the rising sun, dragging a long tail, showing a blood-like red color, as if someone had cut a bloody gash on the blue skin of a sky Giant, or as if a fragment of scorching light had burst from the sun.
The Red Comet.
The reason he hadn't seen it at first glance when he emerged from the tent was because the sun had just risen, and its brilliant light obscured the bloody celestial phenomenon also in the eastern sky... But once you see it, you can never ignore its existence: its brightness is so high and its color is so vivid that even side-by-side with the sun, it doesn't appear dim or blurry at all!
It's truly hard to imagine what the sky will look like at night.
This comet will probably be as bright as the full moon.
Aegon felt a strange chill, but unfortunately, no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't immediately recall what this comet was about. Too much time had passed since he read the Ice and Fire World original novels, and his memory of the story details had become blurred. He could only vaguely remember that the appearance of this comet seemed to be around the same time Daenerys Targaryen hatched three Dragons. As for whether the hatching of the Dragons caused the resurgence of magic, thus leading to the celestial phenomenon, or the arrival of the comet brought back magic, allowing the Dragon eggs to regain vitality... he had no clue at all.
Even if he had a clue, the Mother of Dragons is still far away, what could he do? The idea that crossing over meant he had to hook up with this so-called "most beautiful woman" sounds reasonable at first glance, but once you are truly in this cruel world, you'll find you simply don't have the energy to think about such things.
Because of himself, Tyrion will probably stay in Westeros and play his money games properly. Without the assistance of one of Westeros's smartest minds, whether this Targaryen girl can successfully counterattack the continent is an unknown. How beautiful, how magical this prophesied Queen truly is... let's wait until Aegon sees her alive before talking about it.
...
Aegon decided not to think about Daenerys, but the shadow of that comet lingered stubbornly in his mind. He took a deep breath and subconsciously tried to analyze its existence using the way he understood the world: such a conspicuous comet, if it were returning periodically along a solar orbit, it should gradually enter people's field of vision from nothing, rather than suddenly appearing and instantly becoming visible in broad daylight—this is unreasonable.
It looks so close, it should be very close to the planet where the Ice and Fire World is located. At this distance, the angular velocity of the comet relative to human observers would definitely be quite large. People should see a dazzling streak of light rapidly flashing past and then quickly moving away, rather than a bloody trace hanging motionless in the sky.
Could it be... it's actually quite far from people, but is so conspicuous only because of its huge size? That's impossible, such a large object, even if it were a gas planet, would be enough to cause gravitational disturbances to the Ice and Fire World, but the surroundings are clearly peaceful!
Only if it were extremely small but on a solar orbit close to this alien "Earth", moving forward parallel to the planet where everyone is, could explain its stability and harmlessness... But then the question returns to how it suddenly appeared in the first place.
His thoughts were in a chaotic mess for a moment, and Aegon decided to give up thinking about the Red Comet's existence. There are too many things in this world that cannot be explained by the knowledge he possesses, and one more won't make a difference. Since they exist, it cannot be said to be unreasonable. What he should truly do is to realize and admit that the knowledge he possesses also has limitations, and find a way to overcome this shortcoming!
***
"Everyone says the appearance of the bloody comet signifies that the Bloody Gate will definitely be breached!" Casey excitedly reported to his Lord the saying he heard from various parts of the camp.
"Bloody comet, Bloody Gate." Aegon's mouth lifted at the corner. This saying is quite plausible. "Do you believe it?"
"Isn't it true?" The young man actually wanted to say yes, but under the gaze of the Night's Watch Quartermaster, he could only honestly change his answer: "No."
"I dare say there are definitely people among the Bloody Gate defenders muttering that this comet signifies the failure and destruction of King Robert and his allied army. Believe whichever you want, but remember to think independently. Regardless of the final conclusion, whether it is correct, it is better than just following others, believing whatever you hear."
"Oh, I understand," the young man said as such, not knowing if he actually took it in.
Aegon nodded and said no more. Whether others admit it or not, he now counts as someone with his own influence. And in this situation, guiding and promoting the followers and helpers around him is a very normal and necessary behavior. After all, the better the people around him are, the stronger and more promising his own influence will be.
...
The Martell army responsible for the siege today had already launched a charge towards the Bloody Gate. After successfully causing casualties on both sides, they declared today's military mission complete and retreated to the main camp to begin defensive work.
Sometimes, people truly won't know their limits unless they push themselves. A month and a half after leaving King's Landing, Aegon met with most of the named and titled families summoned from the Six Kingdoms who were above the rank of knight. Among them, forty to fifty people showed interest in the Night's Watch Industry—even if only half of them were successfully recruited in the end, and each family only purchased a hundred golden dragon bond, it was still a huge sum of several thousand golden dragons.
After finishing breakfast, the sun gradually rose, and the Red Comet still hung steadily in the eastern sky, but Aegon, who had stayed at Castle Black for a year, easily accepted its existence. No matter how dazzling and terrifying this thing looked, compared to The The Wall, its visual impact was ultimately so small it could almost be ignored—as long as it doesn't fall down and extinguish humanity, life must go on.
The main tasks that could be done in the allied army camp were nearing their end. Aegon now just waited for The The Wall to send a steward or Crow to replace his position as "Night's Watch accompanying the army," and then he could return to King's Landing with peace of mind to continue his venture... As for the rebellion suppression war, as long as Robert doesn't court death and get himself involved, what does the victory or defeat have to do with the Night's Watch?
Aegon, who had unloaded his psychological burden, began to enjoy the rare leisure time. He strolled through the camp, while thinking about who else he could visit, and feeling genuinely happy that it wasn't his turn to go to the battlefield.
...
Ahead, under a huge, gold and red crowned stag banner, roars, cheers, and the clanging of weapons kept coming. The army was stationed in one place, and soldiers had to find something else to pass the time besides looking at dirty books and finding camp followers. Tournaments were one such activity. soldiers usually divided into factions based on the different Lords they served, and then engaged in activities in various forms and rules—mounted combat, team matches, duels, etc... Those who won gained glory and cheers for their faction, and those who lost would find others from their side to relay and try to win back face... The young squire Casey watched every tournament with great interest, but after Aegon watched a few matches, he quickly lost interest.
Just killing skills. It's undeniable that this is real skill, and seven or eight out of ten participants were better than him, but just like most people who drown can swim, the more skilled one is at these things, the closer one often is to danger. Aegon is now playing a game that can leverage the entire world, and relying on macro-level operations to keep himself away from danger while changing this world is his goal.
But today, the cheers from the crowd attracted Aegon's attention: he actually heard someone calling out "Beauty" and "Prince"? Could it be that Brienne is dueling the Red Viper Oberyn?
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