Game of Thrones: The Road to Pirate King

Chapter 84 A Two-Sided Success

Just as the battle raged on the Whispering Bay front, drawing all of Starfish Harbor's attention, an elite squad of twelve Ironborn slipped away like ghosts to carry out another deadly order from Euron.

Instead of attacking the fortified defenses, they lay prostrate on the road that the dejected caravan, carrying dozens of carts of dangerous "cargo," was bound to take back to King's Landing.

Their ship was anchored in a remote spot far from the port of Starfish, as the Mad King did not want his actions to be known by others.

Ser Harlan Grandson, the Kingsguard, sat astride his horse, his face still ashen from Adrian's refusal. The guards were demoralized by the sudden departure the previous night, which had deprived them of the fine wines and beauties of Green Pavilion Island. They were completely unaware that death was already lurking in the shadows ahead.

No bloodshed needed, not even close proximity required.

As the convoy entered the pre-set deadly trap zone, a dozen or so Ironborn archers appeared indifferently. They did not fire ordinary arrows, but rather fire arrows wrapped in grease-soaked linen.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—a dozen arrows trailing orange-red flames, like venomous fireflies, traced graceful arcs and accurately struck the heavily covered carriages! When Kingsguard Harlan Grandson heard the whistling arrows, he instinctively drew his longsword, but he realized the arrows weren't aimed at him or his guards. Especially when he saw the fire-like flashes on the arrows, his pupils suddenly dilated!

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

Then came a deafening boom!

A terrifying explosion, unlike anything in the human world, suddenly rang out! Its power was so great that even those fighting in the port and on the sea felt the ground beneath their feet tremble!

At the epicenter of the explosion, an enormous, eerily beautiful green fireball shot into the sky, instantly engulfing Sir Harlan Grandson, his white-robed brothers, all the royal guards, and the dozens of carriages! The green flames, as if possessing a living being, leaped and spread wildly, vaporizing, igniting, and tearing everything in their path—people, horses, vehicles, even rocks—in an instant into the finest dust!

There were no screams, no struggles. The entire royal convoy was completely vaporized in the earth-shattering green flames, as if it had never existed. Only a charred crater remained on the ground and the cloying, deadly smell of burning filled the air.

This terrifying explosion, like divine punishment, instantly drew the attention of everyone inside and outside Starfish Harbor!

Whether it was the panicked civilians in the port, the busy logistics soldiers, the soldiers holding the city walls, or even the soldiers of the two armies fighting on the sea, they were all involuntarily shocked by this unprecedented scene of destruction from the rear, and their movements froze!

In that fleeting moment of chaos and disorientation created by the green hellfire, Euron Greyjoy and his hundred-man squad of killers, like bloodthirsty sea monsters that had been lurking in the shadows, revealed their most deadly fangs amidst the chaos!

The operation began with astonishing efficiency. Without the slightest hesitation, the hundred elite soldiers swiftly dispersed into ten razor-sharp ten-man squads. They were already intimately familiar with the port's layout through maps and Pamela's intelligence, and now, like mercury flowing across the ground, they silently infiltrated the port's intricate network of alleyways and warehouses along several pre-planned optimal routes.

In a secluded corner, they deftly tore off the rough, salt-stained leather uniforms that represented the Ironborn and the ornaments symbolizing the sea monster, revealing the Redwyn family garrison uniforms they had already donned or hastily retrieved from their packs. Some of these garments were stripped from slain patrolmen and still carried a faint smell of blood, while others were brand-new spare uniforms "borrowed" from the port warehouse. The camouflage was completed in a very short time; at this moment, they appeared no different from the other panicked soldiers running through the port.

The moment the disguise was complete, the killing began. Their movements were as swift as lightning, yet as silent as the deep sea.

As the destructive green flames shot into the sky in the distance, and the earth trembled with a deafening roar like divine punishment, the first team of elite Iron People, who had been lying in wait throughout Qingting Island City, immediately began their performance, as if they had received a long-awaited signal.

The arson sites they chose were by no means random—they were locations carefully scouted: dried fishing nets and lumber yards piled up on the edge of a crowded slum, oil storage huts near the inner harbor, and even several unattended horse feed warehouses filled with hay. These locations were scattered throughout different areas of the city, echoing each other yet remaining relatively independent.

The operation began. The Ironborn emerged from the shadows like ghosts, swiftly splashing their specially prepared fuel mixture (a mixture of oil and some damp animal dung or herbs that produced copious amounts of smoke) onto their targets. Then, a flint and steel was struck, or a pre-prepared torch was thrown into the mix.

Boom! Whoosh!

Almost as soon as the echoes of the distant wildfire explosions had faded, multiple locations within Qingting Island City simultaneously erupted in towering flames and even thicker, blacker, and more murky smoke! These flames, though not as eerie and dazzling as the wildfires, burned extremely fiercely, accompanied by billowing, suffocating black smoke that quickly spread, as if shrouding the city in an ominous veil.

"Fire! Fire in the city!"

"So many places! Look!"

"Good heavens! Was it caused by that explosion?!"

Panic screams, chaotic running sounds, and the crackling of burning wood spread throughout the city in an instant, mingling with the sounds of naval battle coming from the port, plunging the entire Qingting Island into unprecedented chaos.

Earl Adrian Redwin, who had been standing on the city wall, and his officers and soldiers who were equally stunned by the distant explosions, were naturally drawn to the multiple fires that suddenly broke out in the city.

Count Adrian's face turned ashen as he stared at the gradually dissipating green demonic flames outside the city. Then, looking back at the black smoke and fire rising from various places within the city, a "logical" but fatal misjudgment instantly formed in his mind: it was the earth-shattering King's Landing Wildfire explosion that had just occurred, and its enormous impact or the flying embers that had accidentally ignited our city!

This thought filled him with anxiety. The naval battle was raging; if a fire broke out in their own backyard, supplies were destroyed, and morale collapsed, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"Hurry!" he practically roared, his voice trembling with anxiety. "Send some men down from the city walls immediately to fight the fires inside! Quickly! Prioritize protecting the granaries and armories! Stabilize the civilians! Go now!"

The order seemed so "correct" and urgent under the circumstances. Immediately, the previously heavily fortified garrison on the city wall began to stir. Squads of soldiers, hastily led by their officers, ran down the city wall steps in a panic, rushing towards the fires and smoke rising from within the city.

Their attention was completely drawn to the "accidental fire," and chaos and gaps inevitably appeared in order.