Chapter 27:
King's Landing, the Great Sept of Baelor.
A grand yet eerie state funeral was underway.
Lord Tywin Lannister's corpse lay in a coffin of golden nanmu wood, dressed in a battle robe embroidered with golden lions, his hands clutching a gilded longsword.
But beneath the solemn and majestic facade, an unmistakable stench of rot permeated the air.
Even though the Silent Sisters had carefully prepared the body, and despite the countless incense burners lit throughout the Great Sept, that deep, soul-penetrating smell of decay still wormed its way into every mourner's nose.
The rumor had become reality: when Lord Tywin died, he had indeed shit himself. And even in death, he stank like rotten salted fish.
"Is this the smell of power?"
Victor Pompey stood in the front row, the golden brooch of the Hand of the King pinned to his chest. He looked at the corpse with an expressionless face, but a cold smile played in his heart.
The lion of the old era had rotted away.
The new order would be built by him.
Queen Cersei stood beside him, dressed in black mourning veils, her face pale and haggard. She had not only lost her father — she was also gripped by deep fear. She kept imagining Tyrion still crawling through the walls of the Red Keep, ready to emerge at any moment to kill her.
"Victor…" Cersei quietly grabbed his sleeve, her fingers trembling. "This smell… he's mocking me. Everyone is mocking House Lannister."
"Let them laugh."
Victor took her hand in his, the warmth of his palm giving her a sliver of security. "The dead may stink, but the living must continue to rule. As long as I am here, no one will dare laugh openly."
…
After the funeral, in the Hand's Tower.
Victor sat in the heavy oak chair that had once belonged to Tywin.
He dismissed everyone, took a deep breath, and spoke:
"System, open the Volume 2 settlement rewards."
Buzz—!
In his mind, the familiar blue panel underwent a massive transformation. The once-simple interface now unfolded into a vast and intricate golden light tree!
[System Upgrade Complete!] [Family Talent Tree Unlocked!] [Current Family Rank: Renowned Across the Seven Kingdoms.] [Talent Points Acquired: 3 (from the death rewards of Tywin and Joffrey).]
Victor looked at the three main branches:
[War Dominance] (Unlocks advanced troops, boosts army morale) [Industrial Titan] (Unlocks technology blueprints, increases productivity) [Magic Bloodline] (Increases family members' magic affinity, unlocks dragon/wolf talents)
Victor hesitated for only a moment.
What were the Others afraid of? Fire and dragonglass.
What were dragons afraid of? Giant scorpions and even stronger firepower.
In this low-magic world, rather than chasing vague and elusive magic (that was Melisandre's domain), it was better to trust the truth of physics.
"Truth lies only within range."
"System, invest all points into the [Industrial Titan] branch!"
[Ding! Talent Points injected…] [Congratulations, host! First-stage core technologies unlocked!]
[Basic Chemistry: Black Powder Formula (Improved Granulated Version)] Description: The key to leaving the cold-weapon era behind. Turns knights' plate armor into paper toys.
[Basic Materials Science: Portland Cement (Concrete)] Description: The divine tool of infrastructure mania. Allows the construction of impregnable fortresses in days — even repairing the Wall is possible.
[Basic Mechanics: Hydraulic Forging Press Blueprints] Description: Prerequisite technology for mass-producing plate armor and gun barrels. The prototype of industrial assembly lines.
Victor looked at these three technologies, and the ambition in his eyes burned hotter than the wildfire on the Blackwater.
Gunpowder. Cement. Hydraulic press.
With these three, he could upgrade House Pompey's army from a medieval elite force into a semi-modern steel torrent!
"Hound!" Victor called toward the door.
"Boss, who are we killing this time?" The Hound pushed the door open, still gnawing on a chicken leg.
"We're not killing anyone. This time we're going to the Alchemists' Guild."
Victor stood up and adjusted the Hand's brooch. "I'm going to find those crazy old men who only know how to make wildfire. I'm going to teach them a little… real 'art'."
…
Three days later, on a desolate beach beside the Blackwater Rush outside King's Landing.
"This is impossible! Lord Pompey!"
Wisdom Hallyne (head of the Alchemists' Guild) looked at the wooden barrel filled with black granules with utter disdain. "Without the green glow of wildfire, what power could these black powder grains possibly have? You say it can blow open city walls? Don't make me laugh!"
The few Small Council members watching — including the newly appointed Master of Ships (one of Victor's trusted appointees) and Mace Tyrell (who was there for show) — also wore doubtful expressions.
"Whether it's a joke or not, we'll know after a test."
Victor had the barrel buried under a massive boulder and inserted a fuse.
"Everyone step back," Victor waved his hand. "Back three hundred paces. Get down."
"Three hundred paces?" Hallyne scoffed. "With that little powder, thirty paces would be…"
Hiss—
Victor personally lit the fuse, then quickly turned and pulled a bewildered Cersei (who had insisted on coming to see Victor's "new toy") into cover behind a barricade.
"Cover your ears and open your mouth."
The fuse burned out.
BOOM!!!!!!
A heaven-shaking explosion roared as if the Seven Gods were screaming in unison!
The ground trembled violently. A black-and-red mushroom cloud rose into the sky!
The several-ton boulder was instantly blasted into a rain of flying stones.
The shockwave swept across the area, knocking the previously mocking Hallyne flat on his face, forcing him to eat a mouthful of dirt.
Horses neighed in panic. Ministers scrambled in terror, thinking divine punishment had descended.
Cersei huddled in Victor's arms, staring at the lingering smoke in horror. "What… what is this? Is this dragonflame?"
"No, Cersei."
Victor brushed the dust from his clothes and stood up, gazing at the massive crater.
"This is thunder."
"This is the voice with which House Pompey makes all its enemies kneel and sing of conquest."
He walked over to the dust-covered alchemist and looked down at him.
"Do you believe it now?"
Hallyne crawled up trembling, staring at the black powder with eyes that had shifted from disdain to fanatical worship.
"A miracle… this is the ultimate secret of alchemy…"
"Make it for me."
Victor gave the cold order. "I want one thousand barrels. Also, according to the blueprints I gave you, cast iron tubes called 'cannons'."
"Anyone who dares leak the formula, I will stuff him inside a barrel and send him to the sky."
…
While Victor was igniting the tree of technology,
A black raven, flapping its exhausted wings, crossed thousands of miles and flew into the Hand's Tower in the Red Keep.
That night, Victor removed the message tube.
The letter came from the Wall.
The sender was the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch — Jon Snow.
The message was short, only one line, yet it carried bone-chilling cold:
"They have come. The dead have risen. We need dragonglass, we need fire, we need help. Winter has come."
Victor burned the letter over the candle flame.
The firelight illuminated his cold, stern face.
"The dead have risen?"
Victor glanced at the freshly made black powder granules on the table, and a cruel smile curved his lips.
"Perfect."
"My new weapons were just lacking live targets."
[Ding! Volume Two Main Quest Triggered: Northern Expedition!] [Quest Objective: Lead the army north to support the Wall.] [Optional Quest: Demonstrate firepower before the Others, recruit the Night's Watch and the Wildlings, and become the true — Guardian of the Wall!]
================================================================
Support me and be 90 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/arthursink