Game of Thrones: The Road to Pirate King

Chapter 441 The Giant Lizard

Qarth, the feast never ends.

The poet's harp flows through the pavilion inlaid with moonstones, the aroma of exotic spices and wines swirls beneath the glass dome of the Hanging Gardens, and carefully orchestrated encounters unfold in the long corridors draped with Valyrian tapestries.

Lisa Garfield's figure, like an elegant and precise fish, glides through this sea of ​​extravagance built of gold and lies.

She would appear at different places almost every night.

Sometimes they would raise a glass with wealthy merchants in the star-studded palace of Zarona, sometimes they would whisper in the sky garden of Meralena filled with hundreds of spices, and sometimes they would have long talks in the council chamber of shipping magnate Aris, which was covered with ancient nautical charts.

Her visit was like a silent tide, washing over every crevice of Qarth's power structure, and each time the tide receded, a signed contract was left on the beach.

Gradually, the Qarthians began to realize that with the resources Lisa possessed—whether it was the Iron Islands' unparalleled fleet or the Ice and Fire Merchant Guild's global network—she could forge business partnerships with anyone.

The conditions she offered were so generous that no one could refuse; the path she pointed out was so clear that no one could question it.

Conversely, if you don't cooperate with her, your future is bleak, and you could be replaced by someone else at any time.

Within months, Lisa Garfield's reputation had spread to every corner of Qarth.

From the golden palace of the tycoon Zarro to the idle chatter of the porters, her name was known to all. The network of cooperation she had woven encompassed almost all the important merchant groups in Qarth—except for two names, those two enemies who had been like thorns in her heart for many years.

One day, in Lisa's quiet room overlooking the entire harbor, Gwendolyn looked at the list in her hand, filled with collaborators but missing two names, and couldn't help but speak up, puzzled, "If you want to kill them, why go through all this trouble? A carefully planned assassination, a colorless and odorless poison, or even some subtle magic, and I can make them disappear without a trace."

Lisa stood before the French windows, a cup of Quel'Thalas' signature lime blossom tea in hand. The harbor lights flickered in her deep eyes. Hearing this, she chuckled softly, "Yes, Sister Gwendolyn, if I wanted to take their lives now, it would be very simple. In fact, it hasn't been difficult for many years." She gently set down her teacup, the porcelain clinking crisply against the glass tabletop. "But the simpler it is, the less I want them to die so easily."

"Aren't they obsessed with hoarding gold dragons and obsessed with money?" Her voice was soft as she said calmly, "Then I'll make them watch helplessly as all their wealth vanishes bit by bit, until they have nothing left."

"Don't they consider themselves superior, valuing their status and titles more than their own lives? Then I'll utterly crush them, making them struggle in the mud and suffer the scorn of those they once despised the most."

She scoffed, "Don't they love buying and selling slaves, treating other people's freedom and dignity as commodities?" Her voice lowered as she recalled the past, "Then let them taste what it's like to be shackled, lose everything, and become livestock to be slaughtered."

"Death is liberation," Lisa concluded, her tone calm yet more chilling than any roar. "And what I will give is punishment."

Evelyn slumped lazily in the soft couch, her black robes billowing out like spilled ink. She let out a soft, amused sigh: "Lisa, you're terrifying~~~" The last syllable was drawn out, like a viper's tongue licking the air, "What do you want to do next?"

We don't know how to do business.

A brief silence fell over the room, broken only by the faint sound of horns coming from the distant port outside the window.

Gwendolyn leaned against the porch with her arms crossed, her gaze seemingly piercing through Lisa's elegant and composed demeanor. Her voice was calm yet resolute: "You're thinking of Euron."

Lisa paused slightly, then nodded frankly without any attempt to hide her feelings, a complex smile playing on her lips: "Before, I was by his side every day, listening to his orders, and I didn't think much of it." She looked out the window at the boundless night sky, where countless stars twinkled like eyes peering into fate. "Now, when I'm actually sitting in this position where I have to make constant choices, I realize—it's so difficult."

She let out a soft breath, a sigh mixed with longing, weariness, and a hint of barely perceptible growth.

Lisa's fingertips unconsciously traced the rim of her wine glass as she softly asked, "By the way, where is he now?"

Evelyn lazily adjusted her reclining position and said, "We set off from the Scorpion-tailed Beast Islands and are on our way to Assassin."

Seeing the fleeting worry in Lisa's eyes, Evelyn smiled gently: "My darling, don't worry about Euron." Her voice carried a strange, comforting power, "I have never seen anyone possess such—immense power. He wields not only dragons, but destiny itself."

"Besides," she added, a sly glint in her eyes, "I've arranged for a rather special Shadowbinder to wait for him in Assassin. With her as his guide, your husband will never lose his way in the Shadowlands."

Gwendolyn scoffed, "You should worry about those who might run into him, not him."

Lisa finally showed a genuine smile and raised her glass: "Then I wish our Lord of the Sea Monsters—a pleasant journey."

Dozens of days and nights at sea had worn the horizon into a monotonous blue, until one dawn shrouded in mist, a distorted cry rang out from the watchtower: "Land!"

That was no ordinary land.

First to come into view were five colossal black towers that seemed to support the very heavens themselves. They towered higher than any castle built by humankind, their twisted, inhuman forms appearing in the thin light of day. Then, the outline of the entire city slowly emerged from the sea mist—a vast labyrinth built of black stone, devoid of flags and smoke, only endless shadows and silence.

An aura began to fill the air, a mixture of ancient dust, exotic spices, and some indescribable energy.

This is Asshal, the true face of the legendary city.

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In the desolate harbor, a figure was already standing on the dock, waiting.

She was draped in a robe that blended into the shadows, and her face was covered by a wooden lacquered mask carved with mysterious tear-like patterns.

Kui Lizard, the Shadowbinder Evelyn recommended Assassin as Euron's guide.

When Euron stepped onto the gangplank and became the first to land on the cold, black docks of Assassin, Kui Lizard bowed slightly.

Beneath the mask, a pair of emerald green eyes, as deep as the heart of a summer forest, rose up. Their gaze seemed to pierce through flesh and blood, directly revealing the essence of the soul and seeing through all appearances and illusions of the world.

"Welcome to Asshal," her voice was calm, carrying an ancient rhythm that was clearly discernible in the eerie silence, "This will surely be a journey you will never forget."