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The gold-and-red dragon circled high in the sky; Viserys saw only the vast, clear heavens and light clouds.
Viserys wore Orryon's steel ring crown, his short silver-white hair shimmering under the sun.
The purple gems on the steel ring complemented Viserys's pale purple eyes and his handsome, sculpted features.
Orryon's crown was very much in the Valyrian style; compared to Jaehaerys's seven gems honoring the Glory of the Seven, Viserys preferred this feeling of pure power.
Sunfyre soared freely in the sky; here, there was no terrifying sky like that of the Valyrian Ruins.
There were no enemies of dragons here; the dragon was at the very top of the food chain.
Viserys had also strapped Orryon's dragon saddle onto Sunfyre; the saddle, inlaid with purple and red gems, gold, silver, and valyrian steel, was an exquisite work of art.
The young dragon was constantly growing, needing only sufficient food and flight time.
The Lysene islands had long since become a line behind them, and the Stepstones rose from the sea ahead.
The dragon piercing through the clouds was like a tiny black speck, swift as fire.
Along the way, many sailors claimed to have seen a flying dragon preying on flying fish, but the world knew that sailors' tall tales were as famous as their alcoholism.
Unless there was an actual dragon battle, people would only consider it a joke or an anecdote.
Among the winding waterways of the Stepstones, after passing through the routine questioning at the Bloodstone Island pirate checkpoint once more, the fleet could head north all the way to the Land of Andas.
On the coast, at the Bloodstone Island position, Morroq actually saw Salladhor Saan's Valyrian, a giant three-hundred-oar warship.
Lysene warships clustered around her, all of them having distinctively painted hulls.
Salladhor Saan, who called himself the "Prince of the Narrow Sea," had always been flamboyant, just like the Lysene.
Morroq hadn't expected Salladhor to be at Bloodstone Island as well; it seemed there was time to catch up.
A cruising patrol boat politely took Morroq away from his own ship to board the Valyrian and greet Salladhor.
Even excluding the time spent staying in the Valyrian Ruins, this trip did not seem overly abrupt.
"Captain, come sit with me. How about some blood oranges? They're very sweet," said the Lysene Salladhor, always smooth-tongued and full of smiles. His attire was even more exaggerated and peculiar, famous on both sides of the Narrow Sea.
Today he wore a brilliant tunic woven with silver thread, with hanging sleeves so long they trailed on the ground, and buttons carved from jade into the shapes of monkeys.
On his head of thin, bright white curls, he wore a beautiful fan-shaped green hat decorated with peacock feathers.
Salladhor was also followed by two eunuch stewards; as his housekeepers, his display was like that of a true prince.
"I must thank you for this, Prince." Morroq took a blood orange from the Lysene; the orange was cloyingly sweet, fragrant and delicious, exactly the kind of food a sailor at sea needed.
Salladhor of Lys had the most abundant financial resources, coming from a pirate noble background.
Salladhor smuggled, traded, and lent money himself, while also being a notorious pirate who styled himself the "Prince of the Narrow Sea."
As long as a pirate had money and power, they would still be hailed as a prince.
Morroq, as a smuggler and descendant of escaped slaves, was a step below, but he also had his own team.
And Davos The Onion Knight was an even lower-tier smuggler, who had gone ashore to join Stannis's service.
"You've made a fortune in Andas, and now you won't recognize an old friend?" Salladhor said, looking at Morroq.
Morroq shook his head: "It is indeed a new trade route, but I haven't earned as much as you. Making a living at sea, I earn hard-won money."
"My dear Captain Morroq, what I want is gold. You know that if my warships are deployed, it costs twenty-three thousand gold dragons a month," Salladhor Saan said slyly. "I heard you can get gold; you have connections in Andas. Your trip to Volantis this time wasn't it precisely to market the new fine grape brandy from the Land of Andas?"
"Could it be that you want me to introduce you to King Viserys? I have a trade route in Andas, though the risk is somewhat higher," Morroq said plainly.
On these complex seas, pirates and smugglers sometimes fought and sometimes united.
"Things aren't looking so good for this little king of Andas, my friend. My Lysene friends dislike him, my Tyroshi friends hate him even more, and the Volantenes harbor ill will. Without Andas, where would we find the dock slaves and bed slaves we want? Even more terrifying is that young, hot-headed, foul-smelling barbarian Khal Drogo; he has already set out from the Great Grass Sea with his large host of angry Screamers," Salladhor also ate a piece of blood orange, sweet and delicious.
"The King must be informed of this."
"I'm afraid he already knows," Salladhor said. "War is inevitable, my friend. You're still safe; the Dothraki fear the ocean, they fear the poison water. I advise you to jump ship early; don't forget we all serve our purses, and don't let the Tyroshi come to hate you... You're a clever man, surely your head hasn't gone as rotten as The Onion Knight's..."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"This isn't a compliment, it's an recruitment, my old friend. You have ships; you can help me smuggle out the secret recipe for that grape brandy, or ancient rhoynar icons from Andas; they would fetch a good price in Pentos or Myr.
Or simply slip into Braavos, King's Landing, or Volantis in the dead of night, undetected, and quietly carry out silk and spices. See, we'll both get rich."
17
Morroq shook his head hesitantly, "I don't think the situation is that bad."
"It's worse than just bad, and there's no harm in you hearing it. Andas has no navy and nowhere to go. Your few ships aren't enough, and the wrath of tens of thousands of Screamers is no child's play. The Archons and Governors are also rubbing their hands; there will be a grand slave trade next."
"Perhaps the Andalos will be victorious?" Morroq suggested.
"Victory?" The Lysene felt a sense of absurdity. "Slavery is the center of world trade, and the dothraki are known as invincible butchers. I may be getting old, but I'm not senile."
Salladhor added, "I see you're like The Onion Knight, your mind clouded by trying to climb high. Most of my assets are in Lys; I won't be accompanying the little king in his nonsense."
"It's all an investment," Morroq replied in a low voice.
In the old order, he had no chance of rising. But now, it was a good time to rise with the wind.
Seeing that Morroq seemed unmoved, Salladhor said no more.
Moreover, he was the Prince of the Narrow Sea; like a shark, the Prince of the Narrow Sea had his own pride and vision.
Smugglers like this, who drank blood from the edge of a blade, might look slippery, but some were actually very stubborn.
"Fine then, friend. I wish you a smooth journey." Salladhor placed his hand on his pendant. "I really wanted to discuss a business deal with you, but it seems you don't quite agree."
"Goodbye, my friend." Morroq politely took his leave of the Prince of the Narrow Sea.
Salladhor waved his hand covered in rings; he wouldn't force Morroq to stay, but next time might be different.
Morroq breathed a sigh of relief and left the Valyrian.
That was all that needed to be said between the two of them.
Three men, three smugglers, three different fates.
Morroq and Davos could only rely on other great figures, while Salladhor, the Prince of the Narrow Sea, was himself a corner of power.
To prevent the Prince of the Narrow Sea from changing his mind, Morroq personally commanded the ships to accelerate.
The ships, like howling wild bulls, quickly emerged from the winding waterways after crossing the Bloodstone Island checkpoint.
Once the Bloodstone Island checkpoint had completely disappeared from sight, the black dot in the sky slowly grew larger as the lookouts on the ships waved different flags.
Viserys descended onto the ship's deck once more, riding the dragon Sunfyre.
If it were a sneak attack, Viserys could have already killed the Prince of the Narrow Sea, but at this moment, it was not yet the best time for dragonfire to be deployed.
"I met the Prince of the Narrow Sea, Your Majesty," Morroq said.
"What kind of prince is he? A pirate of the sea, a banker, and a slave trader..." Argos also knew the Lysene's history.
"Salladhor?" Viserys had long since heard of this man's name.
"He already knows that the Dothraki are about to march west and that war is coming, and he wanted to recruit me. He let me go this time, but next time he might detain me."
"It seems there isn't much possibility for cooperation between me and the old pirate." Viserys wiped the two rings on his hand, one a ring of fire and the other a ring of blood.
In the game of thrones, whether someone is an ally or an enemy is sometimes easy to distinguish.
If cooperation is impossible, then they can only be killed in the subsequent war.
Although Salladhor came from a pirate background, much of his foundation was in Lys, and he was also a defender of the old order.
"Will the Tyroshi and Lysene come from the sea?" Viserys asked.
"I don't think the possibility is very high." Morroq shook his head. "From the sea, Andas doesn't have many ports or a navy; if they go deep, they'll run into supply issues instead. Not to mention they have to consider Braavos's attitude; the most likely possibility is that Tyrosh and Lys will hire mercenaries to approach from the land."
The Tyroshi martial spirit was quite strong because they had previously been military outposts and did not lack mercenaries and warriors.
As for the Lysene, they felt that fighting was not a man's job.
Typical Lysene had blue eyes, platinum-blonde curly hair, and smooth, fair skin, because the blood of the old Valyrian Freehold was still very strong in them.
The slender Lysene clearly disdained heavy physical labor, so they imported a large number of slaves.
It would likely be enemies on two fronts: one from the Dothraki in the east, and the other from the Tyroshi and Lysene in the south.
"Your Majesty, I..." Morroq requested. "Salladhor and I are still friends; for the sake of some past friendship, I ask for appropriate mercy."
Viserys nodded, "I will show him mercy once, if he can live until that moment."
The battlefield has no eyes; dying on the battlefield is one's own misfortune.
Viserys could not wait to return to Viserysburg, the city he had built with his own hands.
Because of the arrival of the dragon Sunfyre, Viserys had also designed a dragon's nest atop a tower.
This was not a flight of fancy on Viserys's part, but an idea born after he had seen the Valyrian map tapestries and the structure of Valyrian cities.
The Valyrians relied on either volcanic dragon pits or high towers in their cities.
Like before in King's Landing, where dragons were locked with chains and usually kept behind gates, the danger in the long run was also very great.