Chapter 70:
Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, temporary command post in the North.
Even though the giant dragon had been reduced to a pile of shards, the bone-chilling cold still lingered in the weather-beaten fortress.
Victor Pompey sat on an oak chair covered with thick sealskin. In front of him was a massive strategic map of the North. To his left, the deep blue crystal known as the "Ice Dragon Core" rested on a base made of insulating wood, emitting a faint, cold glow.
The entire command post needed no cold drinks — the presence of this stone kept the air at a refreshing low temperature.
"My lord, the first batch of ice dragon bones has been packaged. Fifty Steel Knights are personally escorting them and have set off overnight for White Harbor."
Maester Marwyn wiped his frostbitten nose while reporting excitedly. "That is genuine Valyrian steel reinforcement material! As long as we grind it into powder and add it to our existing furnaces, the strength of the resulting alloy can double!"
Victor nodded slightly, but his thoughts were not on the materials. He looked at Sansa, who was quietly reviewing the accounts beside him.
After her bloodline awakening, even while handling the tedious military logistics, Sansa exuded an icy majesty that kept others at a distance. Her half-silver, half-flame-red hair intertwined like a legend of ice and fire.
"Sansa, how do you feel?" Victor's voice was unusually gentle.
"It is quiet, but also very greedy." Sansa put down her quill and gently stroked her slightly curved belly. After the ritual and absorbing the core's energy, the little life inside seemed to have entered a stable explosive growth phase. "I can feel it breathing. With every breath, it draws in the cold of this land. Victor, this child… perhaps it truly does not belong to this era."
"It belongs to the Pompey era." Victor walked over, leaned down, and kissed her temple. "I will build a strong enough cradle for it."
He turned and looked out the window at the oil drilling platforms working through the night and the primary refinery belching black smoke. This place would become his nail in the far north. The Wall would no longer be merely the Night's Watch's defensive line — it would become the Northern energy base of the Pompey Empire.
However, what Victor did not know was that while he was expanding territory and harvesting divine materials in the North, thousands of miles away in the south, King's Landing was undergoing another fierce, bloodless but equally thrilling power struggle.
…
King's Landing, Red Keep, Minister of Finance's Residence.
Unlike the perpetual snow of the North, winter in King's Landing was cold but carried a damp, moldy smell.
Margaery Tyrell sat behind a desk piled high with golden dragons and various contracts. She was now more than four months pregnant, her swollen belly making her sitting posture somewhat uncomfortable, but it did not diminish the sharpness of the "Highgarden Rose" in the slightest. On the contrary, as her pregnancy progressed, her desire for control and sense of crisis were expanding at an unprecedented rate.
"So, the telegram says that Lady Stark not only awakened her bloodline but also grew silver hair?" Margaery raised an eyebrow. Her tone was calm, but the gold coin in her hand was being squeezed tightly.
"Yes, my lady. Not only that, rumor has it she personally harvested the ice dragon's core." The retainer in the shadows reported in a low voice. "The Northern lords now call her the 'Mother of Winter.' Her popularity among the smallfolk has already caught up to yours."
Margaery gave a cold laugh and slammed the gold coin onto the table.
"Mother? In this land, only one of the Seven Gods can be called Mother. If she wants to play the magic game, let her." Margaery stood up and paced slowly around the room. "Victor dotes on her because of the North behind her and the so-called 'Wolf King' in her belly. But I cannot sit and wait."
She walked over to a newly lit electric lamp. This miraculous invention by Victor, which she was responsible for promoting, had already become a luxury item that the nobles of King's Landing competed to obtain.
"Alice holds the position of the eldest son's mother, and that child Augustus is indeed exceptionally strong. Daenerys carries magitech blood with dragons to support her. As for me…" Margaery stroked her belly, a look of determination flashing in her eyes. "I will make my child grasp the throat of this world from the day he is born."
She turned to her retainer and ordered: "Send my letter to Grandmother (the Queen of Thorns). Tell her that the grain and gold mines Highgarden has accumulated over a thousand years can now be used. I don't just want King's Landing's electric company — I want to implement 'Pompey Notes' across all of Westeros."
"Paper money? My lady, those lords only recognize gold."
"That is why we must make sure they have nothing but paper in their hands." Margaery's eyes gleamed with the greed known as "financial hegemony." "Use the power company's payment contracts to force settlement in paper currency. At the same time, we will buy out all the grain routes from the Reach to King's Landing. Victor needs money to fight in the North — I will give him money. But once he takes my money, he must recognize my child as the heir to the empire."
This was an extremely dangerous gamble. Margaery was quietly weaving a vast net using the financial authority Victor had delegated to her.
She knew very well that in the face of absolute military power (dragons and tanks), money might seem weak. But without money to support them, those steel behemoths were nothing but scrap iron.
What she wanted to do was make Victor's industrial empire completely parasitic on Highgarden's wealth.
…
At the same time, in another part of the Red Keep.
Daenerys stood on a high platform in the Dragonpit, watching the direction in which her three young dragons had disappeared into the sky.
As the mother carrying a "magitech bloodline," her sensitivity to magic was far greater than that of ordinary people. She could feel that with the fall of the ice dragon in the North, an ancient balance of power had been broken.
"He is growing stronger." Daenerys murmured. She was referring to Victor, and also to the system behind him.
She was not as obsessed with money as Margaery. What she possessed was the pride of bloodline. But she was not unaware of Margaery's recent subtle moves in the city.
"Missandei, tell Doctor Qyburn." Daenerys turned around, her violet eyes carrying unquestionable authority. "Besides the dragon armor, I need him to accelerate research on the 'Magitech Power Furnace.' If the woman from Highgarden wants to speak with gold, then we will silence her with even stronger flames."
Even in this winter, the air inside the Red Keep felt hot and restless.
Three women, three power centers who had already given birth or were carrying heirs.
One was the Eldest Son faction, holding legitimacy and the head start.
One was the Gold faction, trying to control the empire's veins (energy and currency).
One was the Power faction, possessing dragons and the soon-to-arrive magitech technology.
Far away in the North, Victor looked at the jumping numbers on the system panel and revealed a wry smile.
He could see that [Family Fortune] was skyrocketing, but [Internal Stability] had developed a tiny crack.
"What a sweet trouble." Victor closed the panel.
He stood up and walked to the window. The blizzard had stopped, replaced by a sky full of stars.
He knew that the campaign in the North was temporarily over. Next, he had to return to the center of power and personally mend this crack.
"The internal combustion engine is already running, and the tank chassis is almost ready." Victor looked at the flickering lights of the refinery in the darkness. "When I return to King's Landing, I will give all of you a reason you cannot refuse."
"This empire can have only one voice. And that voice belongs to Pompey."
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