The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 501: The Noble Bloodline of the Despicable

Count Gavin said, "Lord Gregor, are you planning to go north to fight the Others?" Count Gavin's implication was that he did not want the Mountain to go north.

The Mountain also had no intention of going north immediately.

First, his strength was insufficient; second, winter had not yet arrived; third, if Daenerys could form an alliance, with dragons leading the way, they could fight. Why let the dragons lead? The Mountain's character was not noble, and he had not yet reached the point of being willing to be cannon fodder.

The Iron Throne was currently irrelevant to the Mountain; he was not one to take the lead. Even if Daenerys were to contend for the Iron Throne in the future, it would not be the Mountain's turn to step forward. Since he was not vying for royal power, why should he do the work of royalty?

The Mountain said, "Father-in-law, it's too early to talk about going north. Winter hasn't arrived yet, but we must prepare. Mining dragonglass is essential, and forging dragonglass weapons is also necessary. Of our three thousand naval warriors, one thousand will mine dragonglass and forge weapons, while two thousand will train in naval warfare. Rotate them every fifteen or twenty days, as you and Uncle Rofer decide."

Before things happen, prepare for any eventuality!

This was wise and necessary!

"Yes, Duke!" Count Gavin and Ser Rofer said, bowing in unison.

*

A day later, the Mountain and the Imp landed on the eastern shore of Claw Isle. This was the territory of the Gael tribe, and all the young men in the tribe had left.

Wagner Gael, the chieftain of the Gael tribe, was the commander of the royal fleet of King's Landing, the Master of Ships, and a key member of the Small Council. He had summoned all the warriors of his tribe to King's Landing, making them the core of the royal navy.

A small number of fishermen had migrated to Dragonstone, becoming fishermen there and making a living by fishing in the waters between Dragonstone and Claw Isle.

The Mountain, riding Red Smoke, landed on Claw Isle, accompanied by the Imp and his own guard. Everyone was on horseback.

In the guard, the personal attendant, Comm Warner, was the chieftain of the Warner tribe of the peninsula, and his adopted son, also an attendant, Landon Gael, was the nephew of the Gael tribe's chieftain, and his cousin was the Master of Ships, Wagner Gael.

Comm Warner and Landon Gael were both attendants to the Mountain, and they held high positions in their own tribes. Comm was the chieftain, and Gael was the chieftain's cousin. To protect their safety, these two young men were accompanied by several tribal warriors.

Landon Gael was born here and took the lead, guiding the cavalry of over a hundred men forward. Not far ahead was a fishing village, and an old man was watching the children play at the entrance of the village. The arrival of these uninvited guests caused the old man and the children to look over, wary. Then, they saw Landon Gael and several famous warriors of the Gael tribe.

The old man and the children smiled, as if seeing their own children returning from afar.

The old man shouted into the village, and soon many women and children came out, gathering at the entrance of the village, waving and shouting to Landon Gael.

Some wild children ran up, running back and forth, laughing and playing along the sides of the group.

The Mountain and the Imp arrived at the entrance of the village, and the villagers knelt down, offering humble submission to the Mountain.

Some women brought out some game and dried fish to offer to the Mountain. The old man brought out soil and water.

This was the first time that the Mountain, the King of Claw Isle, had come to this village.

The people had all heard that a new king had appeared on Claw Isle, and they had also heard the story of the Mountain conquering Red Smoke. This was the first time they had all seen the Mountain and Red Smoke. Indeed, the man was like a god, and the beast was the divine beast of the blood god.

The Mountain accepted all the gifts from the people.

Then, the Mountain ordered the soldiers to bring out the flour, bread, and ham they had brought with them and give them to the people. The Mountain counted the number of people in the village, about a hundred fishermen. The young people had all gone to King's Landing to become royal navy warriors; a small number of fishermen had migrated to Dragonstone.

The Mountain took out three bags of snow salt and gave them to an old man, asking him to distribute them to everyone in the village. The villagers usually ate coarse sea salt, but even sea salt was difficult to buy due to its high price and remote location. Some poor families rarely ate salt at all.

All the villagers had never seen such fine salt before. They spoke in their local dialect, their faces filled with excitement.

The Mountain said to Landon Gael, "Landon, tell the villagers that if they are willing to move to Dragonstone, they can eat this snow salt every day."

Landon Gael said, "Father, there are many such fishing villages in the Gael tribe. Once the news spreads, all the people will probably move to Dragonstone."

"Then let them all go." The Mountain looked around on Red Smoke. In the Gael tribe's territory, there was only black rock and barren brown land that could not be cultivated. On the patches of brown land grew low shrubs and thorns.

"Move them all to Dragonstone? I'm afraid there will be too many fishermen. There are more than twenty fishing villages here."

"Don't worry, they can treat this place as their homeland and Dragonstone as their home. Everyone can return to their homeland from their home at any time. If there are enough fishermen on Dragonstone, they can form teams to go fishing in the Blackwater Rush, and sell the fish directly in the Mud Gate fish market. The Blackwater Rush harbor also needs many laborers and workers, and I will have Count Gavin send them to the Blackwater Rush harbor on warships, and then have their chieftain Wagner Gael find them work in the harbor."

Landon Gael was overjoyed to hear this.

His cousin, Wagner Gael, was the commander of the royal navy, which would be perfect for taking care of these tribal people.

Fishing in the Blackwater Rush, exchanging it for money in the fish market in King's Landing, and then buying flour and milk. Girls and women, and some men, could also find work in the Blackwater Rush harbor if they wished. The income and lives of the tribesmen would be greatly improved.

"Father, I will go and tell everyone the good news."

"Then go quickly."

Landon Gael and several tribal warriors split up to tell the people in the various fishing villages of the Gael tribe this great news.

The royal warship Hammer was docked on the coast, ready to transport everyone to Dragonstone to settle down. The warriors guarding the Hammer were all from the peninsula.

*

The Mountain took the Imp to land on Claw Isle from the east coast. The various tribes of the peninsula had achieved peace because of the appearance of the Mountain and Red Smoke. They rested in the Gael tribe's territory, stayed for one night, and set off west the next morning. Along the way, they enjoyed the warm hospitality of the people of different tribes. After several days, the group arrived at the entrance of the largest valley plain on the peninsula: the Fuka Plain.

The Fuka Valley Plain was over two hundred li long and nearly one hundred li wide at its widest point. The Fuka Valley Plain could grow all kinds of crops, the weather was good, and water resources were abundant, so the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, self-sufficient. This made the Fuka tribe the most powerful tribe on the peninsula, with the largest population, infantry, and cavalry.

The current leader and chieftain of the Fuka tribe, Joyce Fuka, was currently stationed in the Red Keep in King's Landing, and was one of the tribal generals in the Mountain's six hundred Claw Isle heavy cavalry.

As the Mountain's group entered the valley plain, they saw a cavalryman in the forest on the cliff opposite them. The cavalryman blew a military whistle, the sound sharp and high-pitched, carrying far away. Soon, a responding whistle sounded in the distance, and then, a whistle sounded even further away... The whistles were passed down one by one, and in the blink of an eye, they had traveled far away...

The military whistle was the Mountain's creation and was one of the unique military items of the Clegane Legion and the Westerlands army.

The military whistle was stronger than the shouts of messengers and could also protect the throat.

The guard captain, Ellyn, said, "Lord, General Jeko Locke's training is beginning to show results."

The Imp's face was slightly uneasy. He had forced Jeyne to withdraw her troops from King's Landing. Jeyne withdrew her troops in batches, and one batch left King's Landing and took the Rosby Road. At the time, everyone was somewhat puzzled as to why the legion was not going to Dragonstone.

It turned out that one of the legions had gone to Claw Isle for training.

"Lord Mountain, I remember that the legion that led the Claw Isle warriors out of King's Landing was about eight hundred men, led by Lady Dorthea Quentina."

"General Jeko Locke and Julie's father, Thomasman, had arrived at Claw Isle ahead of time. Thomasman was responsible for raising horses, and Ser Jeko was responsible for recruiting and training soldiers."

A chill rose in the Imp's heart.

"Lord Mountain, Lady Jeyne has stationed over ten thousand troops in the Westerlands, and the combined troops of all the nobles in the Westerlands are less than ten thousand. You have stationed three thousand troops on Dragonstone, and you are secretly recruiting and training soldiers on Claw Isle. Do you want to seize the Iron Throne? I see you have no small ambition!"

"One is to strengthen myself, and the other is to prepare for the Others," the Mountain said. "As long as they don't want my head, they don't need to fear my recruiting and training soldiers."

"But your actions of constantly developing military power will make all the nobles feel threatened."

The Mountain stared at the Imp with a strange look: "Imp, since you are so knowledgeable, how did your ancestors get Casterly Rock? Tell me!"

The Imp was stunned.

"In the Age of Heroes, there was a great noble in the Westerlands named Casterly, who named a small castle built in stone Casterly Rock. The twenty-mile stone mountain that contained Casterly Rock contained rich gold mines. As the gold mines were continuously mined, the castle of Casterly Rock continued to expand. Later, a clever guy named Lann the Clever, legend has it that he tricked the castle of Casterly Rock from the Casterly family without a sword or a weapon, relying on his cunning. Then, the clever Lann promised heavy money and united other nobles to exterminate the Casterly family, and he also changed his surname to Lannister. This is also why there are many Lannister branches in Lannisport who are surnamed Lann, because the original Lannister family was surnamed Lann."

The Imp looked at the Mountain and shrugged.

"How did the Tyrell family of the Reach grow up? The Tyrell ancestors who made their fortune were just inconspicuous servants in the Reach royal family. After serving the Reach queen for many generations, they were valued by the king and became the steward of the royal castle. When the last Reach king, Mern IX, died in the Field of Fire, the Highgarden steward Harlan Tyrell, whom he had promoted, offered the city and the king's heir to Aegon I the Conqueror, for which Aegon granted Highgarden to the Tyrell family."

"The ancestors of the Lannister family made their fortune by fraud, and the ancestors of the Tyrell family made their fortune by betraying their master and seeking glory. Their descendants now have a sense of superiority with noble bloodlines, opening their mouths and closing their mouths with noble bloodlines, looking down on other commoners, and unable to tolerate the strength and development of 'commoners'. Imp, your ancestors had no honor, but were just habitual thieves and swindlers. What qualifications do you have to question my current development and self-improvement? The Westerlands territory, after the despicable person obtained it by despicable means, his descendants demanded that others not develop their own strength? And also put a noble bloodline on the face of the despicable ancestor to suppress people?"

The Imp's face turned white, his forehead was sweating, his mouth opened and closed, and he was speechless!

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