"Sincerity?"
The aged voice echoed in Lynn's mind, carrying a hint of cautious probing.
Seeing Lynn's body relax,
the Three-Eyed Raven on the ground finally shed its humble posture.
It straightened its body, regaining some of the dignity befitting an ancient existence.
The atmosphere was no longer one-sided judgment and oppression.
An equality based on mutual wariness quietly established itself between the man and the raven.
"Yes, sincerity."
Lynn's voice was calm.
He reached out, reassuringly scratching the chin of Winter's left, glowering blue head; the cold scales felt hard to the touch.
That head rubbed comfortably against his palm, a faint purring sound emanating from its throat, like a strange cat.
"Since it's a collaboration, we need to bring something tangible to the table."
Lynn's gaze returned to the raven.
"My conditions are simple: three things."
He held up one finger.
"First, I need weapons."
"The two used by Brynden Rivers."
Lynn clearly felt the raven's three eyes on the ground fixate on him.
"The Valyrian steel sword, dark sister."
"And that weirwood longbow."
Lynn spoke each word distinctly.
The raven's body stiffened.
These two weapons were the most dazzling symbols of Brynden Rivers' identity as a Targaryen prince and Hand of the King.
They were the glory that accompanied him throughout his life, and his only link to the past after he was exiled to the Wall.
He also liked these two weapons very much.
A long silence.
"...Alright."
After a long while, the aged voice finally uttered these two words with difficulty, as if all his strength had been expended.
"They are buried beside my decaying bones, north of the Wall. I will have the Others deliver them to you outside the Wall."
"Very good."
Lynn's face was expressionless. He held up a second finger.
"Second thing."
"I need you to make the Night King cease all his actions."
This statement caused a flicker of confusion in the raven's blood-red eyes.
Lynn ignored it and continued.
"Not only that, I also need him to constantly create wights for me."
"At a specified time, at a specified location."
"To make it convenient for my subordinates to harvest."
In Lynn's consciousness, there was a dead silence.
The raven seemed to have been struck by lightning, all its feathers bristling for a moment, and it even subconsciously retreated half a step.
It could hardly believe what it had heard.
To treat an army of the dead, capable of destroying the world, as… training tools?
What did he take the terrifying Night King for?
What on earth was going on in this man's mind?!
"Third."
Lynn gave it no chance to retort, directly raising his third finger.
"I need Greensight and warging abilities."
"But," Lynn's tone suddenly grew heavier,
"I only want the ability to see the past. I don't want your memories, and I certainly don't want your millennia-old, moldy, rotten consciousness to pollute my mind."
The three conditions were each more demanding than the last.
Each more outlandish than the last.
Especially the second and third.
One was to use the army of the dead for practice and honing skills.
The other was to completely castrate the core of the Greenseer legacy.
The room once again fell into a long silence.
Winter also seemed to sense the heavy atmosphere; its three small heads quieted down, merely watching Lynn and the strange raven with eyes of various colors.
"I cannot fulfill the second condition."
The Bloodraven's voice finally sounded again, with an unprecedented gravity.
"You underestimate the Night King."
"The Ice Magic within him is not inexhaustible."
"That is power he has accumulated for nearly a thousand years, intended to sweep south in one fell swoop and bring Winter to all of Westeros."
"Every time he converts a wight, every time he uses large-scale magic, he is depleting his already limited reserves."
"To make him stop and continuously create targets for you would completely disrupt his millennium-long plan, and would also expose him to everyone's sight prematurely."
"At that time, neither you nor I would benefit!"
The Bloodraven's voice paused, seemingly organizing its words.
He tried to make this madman understand the logic.
"Although he is also me, we are two separate entities, merely sharing the same memories."
"He will not agree, and I cannot force him."
"As for your third condition…"
The Three-Eyed Raven's voice had less rigidity and more consideration.
"Separating Greensight from memories… this is an unprecedented attempt."
"It's very dangerous."
"Without those memories as signposts, you are very likely to get lost in the currents of time, unable to precisely return to a past node."
"But I can help you."
The Three-Eyed Raven's posture was very humble.
"I can agree to the first and third conditions."
"I believe this is enough to prove my sincerity."
Lynn listened quietly.
He knew that the other party was not lying.
Perpetual motion machines do not exist anywhere.
The Night King's power also had its limits.
"Then, what are your conditions?" Lynn asked.
"You've gone to all this trouble, sending dragon eggs and horns; surely you're not doing charity, are you?"
"I want you to unify Westeros."
The Bloodraven's voice, at this moment, regained that ancient vastness and majesty.
"I want you to sit on the Iron Throne."
"I need a unified realm, a unified army, a supreme king."
"Only then can we confront the true enemy when the Long Night descends."
The Three-Eyed Raven stared intently at Lynn with its blood-red eye..
"the great other."
"That is our common enemy."
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