Chapter 333: Building an Army or Tech-Rushing?
Egger had no time; he was incredibly busy.
Truly, it was enough. Arya pestered him, and since he couldn't afford to offend her, he could only hide. Their relationship was so close that he didn't even know how to begin getting angry with her. But Asha Greyjoy, an enemy he had faced on the battlefield and a public enemy of the North, had the nerve to show up in front of him making demands? What was that about?
Perhaps he was feeding her too well.
Egger grumbled to himself, reconsidering his policy of preferential treatment for prisoners. As he walked, he listened to the reports from the guards stationed at Queenscrown and quickly understood the context behind Asha's final outburst.
Because his interference in the War of the Five Kings had turned the plot into a five-nation siege of the West, Robb Stark had faced no major resistance on the battlefield in this timeline. Consequently, he had never sent Theon back to the Iron Islands to seek aid. This meant that when the Iron Islands first rebelled, Theon was still a hostage within the Northern army—a clear sign that Balon Greyjoy had disregarded his son's safety, or perhaps even hoped to use the Starks' hands to eliminate his first-born heir.
The outcome was quite ironic. The father, Balon Greyjoy, had died at home, finding peace in the grave. Meanwhile, his two children ended up in the Gift—one wearing the black, the other a prisoner—both coincidentally stationed at Queenscrown.
They hadn't met in nine years, only to reunite under these circumstances. Living in such close proximity, once the initial awkwardness passed, Theon began to complain and hurl accusations. At first, it was just grumbling, but Asha possessed a stubborn pride that refused to yield or apologize. After a few sharp exchanges, old grudges and dissatisfaction with their current plight surged to the surface, inevitably spiraling into shouting matches. During Egger's absence, the Kraken siblings had erupted into public arguments twice, drawing crowds and making their conflict common knowledge throughout Queenscrown.
Compared to this, the affair between Jaime Lannister and the blonde wildling princess, or Joffrey's minor squabbles with his peers at school, weren't even considered big news anymore.
Egger rubbed his temples. This was what happened when you gathered such a colorful cast of characters in one place. While Queenscrown was flourishing and developing rapidly, it was also playing host to the greatest mess in history—but he had no time to act as a mediator.
"Wait." After a few more steps, a flash of inspiration hit him as he spotted a blind spot. "How could it be such a coincidence? I just entered the gates of Queenscrown and I 'happen' to run into Asha Greyjoy? Someone must have leaked the news of my return to her!"
The subordinates following Egger stiffened. They knew someone was in for trouble and dared not speak.
The staff in the logistics department were almost all young men from the south, most of them single. Although Queenscrown was no longer a male-only environment, the gender ratio was still heavily skewed. Asha Greyjoy might not be a legendary beauty, but compared to the wildling women from beyond the Wall or the clan women from the mountains, she was certainly a striking figure.
If she were willing to sacrifice her modesty to cozy up to the jailers, those who couldn't restrain themselves would naturally answer her every question without reservation.
In minor terms, this was just a lack of vigilance born from long-term familiarity. In major terms, however, it was a political blunder and colluding with the enemy. Today, Asha just wanted an explanation; what if tomorrow she wanted to escape or assassinate him? If she possessed the resolve to do whatever it takes, would any of those hot-blooded young men be won over by her body—or worse, actually fall in love and become blindly devoted to her?
He had brought good men to the Gift, but Egger didn't dare guarantee that every one of them could exercise self-discipline and keep their pants zipped like he did.
After all, they were just employees, and their mindset was different from his. Before his transmigration, Egger had been an "exploited worker" under a boss himself, and he understood this unavoidable mentality.
"Pass word to Yam. Have him find out which jailer leaked the date of my return to Asha Greyjoy. Discipline him and transfer him to another post. Jailers must be rotated frequently. If possible, recruit a few strong women from the mountain clans to specifically handle her guard duty."
"Yes, my Lord."
With a great enemy at the gates, why did trivial nonsense seem to be piling up? Egger was displeased, though he realized it was a psychological effect—the problems had always been there; he had just been stockpiling them without dealing with them, and now they were starting to explode.
Shaking his head to clear the distractions, he led his guards toward the small lake behind the castle.
Tech-rush or mass-produce units? This was an eternal dilemma in strategy games, and it was the choice Egger faced now.
When playing games, he liked to pick a low difficulty, hide in a corner of the map to develop peacefully, and then roll over everyone with top-tier units once he had teched up. A "noob" could only find joy in that kind of process.
Emotionally, he desperately wanted to bring out ultimate weapons like long-range artillery before hitting the battlefield to sweep away all the monsters and ghosts. Unfortunately, the enemy wasn't a low-level computer AI. Whether it was the Iron Fleet harassing the Northern coast or the Army of the Dead ready to launch a general offensive at any moment, the enemies held the initiative. They decided when the war began.
The good news was that the Thenn tribe, who had migrated from beyond the Wall, had experience in smelting bronze and knew how to identify tin ore. After a great deal of searching by the tribesmen, they had found exploitable tin deposits in the mountains of the Gift. This meant the Gift would soon have the capacity to produce bronze.
The bad news was that while his profession was metal-related, Egger's knowledge of the link between bronze and cannons was limited to the fact that bronze can be used to cast cannons. What ratio of tin and copper to use? To what level must impurities be reduced for the metal to survive the pressure of firing? How to make the casting molds? How to ensure power, accuracy, and safety? As a member of a modern society built on hyper-specialized labor, he knew none of the specifics.
As a graduate in science and engineering, Egger leading the research team personally would certainly yield better results than anyone else. However, as the leader of the Gift and the Night's Watch, he lacked the time and energy to be hands-on with everything. He could only point in the general direction and let the local technicians figure it out, checking in on their progress occasionally.
To avoid the disastrous scenario of the enemy arriving before he was prepared, Egger's military policy could be summed up in one sentence: Mass-produce troops while tech-rushing; balanced development.
Specifically, he temporarily put aside projectile thermal weapons like guns or cannons, prioritizing the creation of explosive weapons. For delivery, he would use existing light catapults and ballistae. It was foreseeable that even if cannons were successfully developed, there was still a long road ahead to make their power, range, and accuracy viable for combat. The two imminent wars would not wait for him.
He gave the military industry department two major objectives: develop incendiary weapons targeting the Ironborn's wooden warships and the massive wight swarms, and develop Dragonglass Bombs specifically for dealing with the White Walkers.
For the first task, the pyromancers gave Egger two options: the Fire-spouting Crossbow (Siphon) and firebombs.
The siphon was an existing device in this world, essentially a prototype of a modern flamethrower. It relied on manual air pumps to create airflow, forcing liquid out of a pipe and igniting it at the nozzle to form a jet of flame.
The advantages were obvious, but several drawbacks severely hindered its practicality:
It required a whole suite of equipment that was heavy and bulky, and the Gift's current industrial level couldn't manufacture it.It required a fluid; the legacy Wildfire Egger had brought from King's Landing (shipped only after he traded power for safety) was processed to be nearly solid. A siphon would require new liquid wildfire or ordinary oil—the former was rare and dangerous, while the latter lacked power.The range was too short: a distance of less than ten meters was barely acceptable for city defense, but in a naval battle, by the time you ignited an Ironborn ship, they would have already rammed you. The Northern navy would certainly be at a massive numerical disadvantage against the Iron Islands; they couldn't afford a war of attrition.
Ultimately, the pyromancers' assistants recommended the second option: Firebombs. These were far less complex. You stuff combustibles into a container and prepare an ignition method. Whether used as a landmine for an ambush, hand-thrown at close range, or launched via catapult at distant targets... the possibilities were endless.
The most critical point was that firebombs could be made using passivated wildfire. The massive stockpile accumulated by the Targaryen dynasty was enough to burn the entire Iron Fleet to a crisp.
"There are two designs for the firebombs," said a technician who spent his days with the pyromancers. "One uses a fuse—light the string, and it explodes when it burns down. The other is an impact-ignition method, using small glass vials inside the outer casing containing substances that react and release heat upon breaking—eventually igniting the wildfire. Considering they may be used for long-range attacks between ships, the second option is more reliable..."
Egger wasn't there to listen to a thesis defense. He waved his hand. "Whichever is better, decide for yourselves. I only want the finished product. What about the Dragonglass Bombs?"
"We're about halfway through development... my Lord, you gave us the ratio for the gunpowder, but after some comparative tests, we found it wasn't the optimal ratio—likely due to impurities in the raw materials. We spent some time running controlled experiments to find the ratio and the grinding/mixing process that maximizes power. Then there's the structural issue: to ensure it sends a large number of obsidian shards flying in all directions upon explosion, we've adopted a multi-layered wrapped structure, with gunpowder at the core and obsidian shards on the outside..."
"Don't tell me the details; just tell me the result."
"We've made them, but you said we couldn't test them near Queenscrown, so we haven't had a single test detonation." Perhaps frustrated at being unable to showcase the results to his leader, the man held it in for a moment before continuing his report. "But even if successful, we face another problem: an explosion requires a sealed environment, and the packaging we currently use is clay jars. Unless you intend to set traps to lure the White Walkers to a specific spot to blow them up in one go, we have to consider long-range projectiles—the clay jars will shatter upon impact, and the gunpowder will just burn instead of exploding."
Egger nodded. "I see. I will issue orders for the relevant departments to get you suitable wooden or metal canisters as soon as possible. As for which is more appropriate, decide after your experiments."
"Thank you, my Lord."
The military industry department hadn't brought Egger any massive surprises, but he was satisfied with the overall progress. He hadn't allowed test explosions at Queenscrown because there were too many prying eyes—especially the observers sent by the Iron Bank. But now, it was time to find a location for these men to conduct the next crucial stage of practical testing.
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