Spellcasting Gods

But in Zhang Cheng's eyes, the so-called "Valeria steel" was nothing more than a special alloy that had been tempered by special magical processes. Its hardness and toughness were not even comparable to the mithril of the world of Azeroth. The only thing worth mentioning was its beautiful patterns, which were like works of art.

Therefore, he might be interested in the smelting process of Valyrian steel, but he would definitely not be interested in a mere piece of armor or weapon.

Euron's body, along with his armor, was quickly returned to his brother, but the Serenity was kept as a trophy.

Although the ship was rammed by the ram, the main structure was not greatly damaged and can be used again with simple repairs.

Moreover, the ship's cabin contained a large amount of treasure that Euron had looted during his exile, as well as small items he had found while exploring the ruins of Valyria. Zhang Cheng would not hand them over to anyone until he confirmed whether there were any magical items inside.

Of course, Victarion Greyjoy was well aware of this, so he didn't dwell on it. After taking possession of the armor that he had been eyeing so coveting, he immediately put away his guarded gaze and said in a slightly gloomy tone, "Now you can start talking about the plan to raid Oldtown. If there is a success rate of more than 50%, I can agree to a temporary alliance with you, but only for this time."

“Hehe, no problem. My plan is simple: first, hire a group of pirates to attack the Shield Islands, drawing the attention of families including the Tyrells and Hightowers. Then, you lead the Ironborn under cover of night to bypass the watchtowers and land at the black market near the beach in Oldtown. I will arrange for someone to meet you there, allowing you to bypass the walls and enter Oldtown. I believe you have more experience with the rest than I do.” Zhang Cheng revealed the first part of his plan meaningfully.

As for the second half, he wouldn't tell anyone.

In fact, in his plan, the Iron Islands fleet was also cannon fodder, used to wear down and weaken the power of the River Reef nobles. Even if they survived the counterattack of the major noble forces, he would personally kill them to silence them.

Victalion was clearly unaware of this; in fact, he had been raised from childhood to be a loyal guard, a protector of the family, rather than a competent leader.

In some ways, he is strikingly similar to Eddard Stark; once caught in the vortex of power, there is no way he can survive the various conspiracies and intrigues.

The serious-looking man lowered his head and pondered for a moment before immediately questioning, "Can you really bypass the old town's towering walls and let us directly inside? As far as I know, the reason the old town hasn't been attacked by pirates for so many years is not only because it possesses a powerful fleet, but also because it has established a complete defense system. Any ship approaching the old town must first pass the ballistae erected on both sides of the city walls. I don't want to see countless stone projectiles flying towards us when we get close."

"Don't worry, I've made all the preparations. All you have to do is follow my plan, understand?"

As the last word escaped his lips, Zhang Cheng suddenly pulled out the pocket watch that could influence people's minds.

moment!

A strange energy struck the unsuspecting Victorion!

A few seconds later, his eyes became vacant, as if he were sleepwalking, and then he mumbled in response, "Understood! I will do as you ask..."

“Very good! Now take your fleet and leave. I will arrange for someone to contact you later.” After saying that, Zhang Cheng quickly put away his pocket watch and left the “Invincible Iron Seed” before the sailors on the deck noticed anything.

He had been gone for less than a minute when Victalion jolted back to his senses and roared at his bewildered crew, “Fools! What are you waiting for? Hoist the signal flags now! Have all the captains come closer! I’m taking you to plunder the richest port in the Seven Kingdoms—Oldtown!”

"Wh...what? Looting the old town?" A crew member revealed undisguised surprise and elation.

It's likely that no one on the entire continent of Westeros is unaware of this vast port city with a long history that has never been touched by war, and no one is unaware of its prosperity and wealth.

If someone manages to plunder the old town, he will instantly become the richest person in the world.

For the Ironborn, who grew up on barren land, even looting just a small part of the old town would be enough to allow them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

For a moment, everyone selectively forgot about the giant dragon circling in the sky, and also ignored Euron's headless corpse, and began to fiercely discuss the possibility of success.

Looking at the bustling scene on the opposite ship, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but smile and sigh, "What's that saying again? Oh, right, people die for wealth and birds die for food. Nothing can arouse the greed in the human subconscious more than naked profit."

"My lord! As you requested, all the gold and silver treasures on the 'Tranquility' have been moved into our cabins. What do you think we should do with this ship?" Eric appeared beside him at some point and asked in a low voice.

"Leave ten sailors and thirty soldiers, plus the prisoners from the 'Tranquility,' to slowly repair the ship. Once it's repaired, return immediately. Remember, be quick. Set sail again for our destination in half an hour. I don't have time to waste waiting," Zhang Cheng replied without hesitation.

"As you wish!"

Eric bowed with one hand on his chest, then quickly turned and shouted to the sailors to use oars to slowly separate the two ships. Those who remained began to repair the huge hole in the hull of the "Tranquility," while the rest quickly hoisted the sails and sailed towards the location of the Valyrian ruins.

Seeing that everything had returned to normal, Zhang Cheng left the deck and went straight into the captain's cabin, eager to study the powerful magic on the Dragon Horn and the dozens of mysterious symbols carved on it.

In the minds of the natives of the A Song of Ice and Fire world, this thing might be a treasure that brings power, wealth, and authority, but in his mind, it is a key that hides entirely new knowledge, and even a system of power...

Chapter 0161 Deciphering

Undoubtedly, before the advent of the steam age, sailing on the vast ocean with sails and oars was a rather tedious task, so tedious that captains had to constantly harass the sailors to ensure they wouldn't get too excited and start fighting, brawling, or even mutiny.

Of course, none of this concerned Zhang Cheng. He had long ago handed over the management to the team leader Eric and hid in the captain's cabin with Celine Baratheon, studying the ancient texts and mysterious symbols on the Dragon Horn.

It has to be said that abducting a "little girl" was probably the best decision he ever made after coming into this world.

Because Celine Baratheon not only memorized all the books left behind by the Targaryen family, but also had a slight understanding of the High Valyrian language and script.

It's important to know that, apart from a very few poems and books that still preserve a small portion of the Higher Valyrian language, no one can fully decipher this ancient language and script. Therefore, even providing a glimmer of direction for exploration is invaluable.

After two full weeks of research and deciphering, Zhang Cheng finally figured out the meaning of most of the Higher Valyrian script. In reality, it was just a single sentence, or rather, a eulogy.

"Great Kronada, you are the first dragon and the mother of all dragons. We offer you sacrifices in exchange for the power to bind your offspring..."

As Zhang Cheng muttered the sentence he had just deciphered, unsure if there were any errors, a very strange expression appeared on his face.

Literally, it seems the Valyrians discovered this dragon called Kronada before they discovered the dragon eggs, and all the dragons in the entire world of Ice and Fire appear to be descendants of this dragon.

Clearly, this information differs from his previous information that the Valyrians discovered a large number of dragon eggs in a volcano; to be precise, no books or legends mention the so-called "Mother of Dragons."

To confirm that there was no problem with the grammar or translation, Zhang Cheng turned to the girl sitting in the chair and asked, "Celine, have you read about the name Kronada in the Targaryen family's library?"

"Hmm...it seems not." The little guy frowned, hesitated for a moment, and quickly shook his head.

Since the gruesome dead skin on half of her face completely disappeared, her personality has gradually changed from introverted and quiet to lively and cheerful. Especially recently, after spending a lot of time outdoors, her originally pale skin has turned into a healthy wheat color. At this moment, she is lying in a hammock, trying to figure out the meaning of the many mysterious symbols on the horn.

However, given that these symbols are far older than Higher Valyrian script, progress has been maddeningly slow.

As we all know, written language has always been a symbol of humankind's transition from barbarism to civilization. In this process, some civilizations preserved primitive pictographic characters, such as the Chinese characters of the Celestial Empire, while others gradually evolved into alphabets that are easier to learn and understand, such as the Phoenician alphabet, the ancestor of all European languages.

Unfortunately, the various symbols on the surface of the "Dragonbinder" were similar to primitive hieroglyphs, but the Valyrians later developed an alphabet.

This means that there is no connection between the two at all, and it is impossible to deduce the meaning of oracle bone script bit by bit through ancient books, stone tablets and the like in China.

Zhang Cheng sometimes even felt that these symbols were not invented by the Valyrians at all, but belonged to some more mysterious magical civilization.

The reason is simple: everything the Valyrians created far exceeded the average level of other civilizations in the A Song of Ice and Fire by tens or even hundreds of times. It's like a nation with 21st-century technology suddenly appearing on Earth before Christ—strictly speaking, that's impossible.

unless……

Unless the Valyrian civilization was not a native civilization from the beginning, and all the technology and magic they possessed originated from another civilization.

boom! boom! boom!

Just as he was lost in thought, there was a knock on the door outside the captain's cabin.

"Sir, the lookout has just spotted many islands ahead. If all goes well, we should have reached our destination. I need you to come out and confirm which island we should land on." Eric's slightly excited voice came through the crack in the door.

"Oh? Really?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Cheng immediately opened the door to the captain's cabin.

“Yes! Through the telescope, we can already see traces of Stone People activity on some of the islands. We'd better be careful when we land, or we'll be in trouble if we get infected with Greyscale.” Eric explained as he made way for them.

"Don't worry, I have a way to deal with the gray scale disease. Also, get the soldiers ready for battle. Once we land, clear out the stone people on the island as soon as possible. I don't want these irrational guys causing trouble at a crucial moment." With that, Zhang Cheng picked up the nautical chart, stepped out of the cabin, and stood on the highest point of the deck, looking out into the distance.

By constantly comparing with the nautical chart, he quickly locked onto the target from among countless reefs and islets, and without turning his head, ordered: "Did you notice that island with a half-built tower on the starboard side? Just walk right up to it!"

"As you wish!" Eric bowed slightly and began to urge the sailors to adjust their course.

In less than an hour, the warship named "Enlightenment" dropped anchor and anchored in the bay near the island. The crew then launched five or six small boats and orderly disembarked onto the beach.

Before they could even get their footing, a dozen stone people covered in gray dead skin suddenly rushed out, baring their teeth and claws as they pounced on the nearest person.

"Watch out! Spearmen, prepare!"

The well-prepared soldiers quickly formed ranks, one hand holding a shield and the other gripping a spear over four meters long, creating a solid defensive line.

The stone man at the forefront had undoubtedly lost his mind completely, utterly disregarding the gleaming spear tip, and charged straight at it, letting the spear pierce through his body.

The rest weren't much better off; their eyes showed no trace of humanity, and they followed one after another like moths to a flame, getting pierced through the heart by the spear.

Their terribly contagious blood splattered everywhere, forcing the first rank of soldiers to retreat and frantically wash their blood-stained shields and weapons with seawater. They didn't want to contract gray scale disease and be abandoned on some deserted island to fend for themselves.

After killing all the Stone People, Eric ordered the sailors to gather the corpses and burn them. Then, they found a good, easily defensible location to set up a temporary camp and transported some supplies from the ship.

Chapter 0162 Exploring the Ruins (Part 1)

In order to have a secure logistical base, the experienced Eric had his sailors and soldiers spend several hours cutting down all the trees and weeds around the camp that might obstruct the view, and also used the salvaged wood to build two simple watchtowers and arrow towers so that they could keep a close watch on the surrounding area and the sea.

Although most ships avoid this cursed sea area for various reasons, pirates or smugglers still occasionally pass through.

He didn't want his warship, anchored in the bay, to be sunk or captured by a sudden enemy due to a moment of carelessness.

The arduous physical labor continued until evening before Zhang Cheng left the "Qidi" and entered the camp standing on the hillside.

At this moment, more than a dozen tents have been set up, and most people are busy taking showers and cooking.

Because of the long-term lack of fresh water at sea, they had not taken a bath for half a month. In addition, the hot weather caused everyone to smell of a pungent sour odor. Now that they were on land, they naturally had to clean themselves up.

In addition, the terrible cured meat, the bread rusks gnawed by rats, and the hard beans made them yearn for a change of pace.

In no time, all kinds of seabirds, wild animals, fish, crabs, and shellfish on the island suffered. The hungry sailors didn't even spare the turtles, killing them and throwing them into the pot for dinner.

Smelling the aroma of meat in the air, Zhang Cheng turned around and asked Eric, who was following behind him, "Don't you think they're a little too relaxed? We're in the heart of the Valyrian ruins, and we could encounter any unexpected situation at any time."

"Hahaha! Don't worry, sir, these lads are just venting. They'll calm down in a few hours at most. After all, they've been at sea for so long, they're all going stir-crazy." Eric glanced at the sailors chatting and laughing together and shrugged dismissively.

In his view, any adult male who has been at sea for more than a week will inevitably do some outrageous things after going ashore, such as taking out all the money in his pocket to go to a hotel for a drinking spree, and then having a wild night with a woman.

In fact, nine out of ten people who work as sailors regularly drink alcohol and visit prostitutes, so hunting and improving their meals are perfectly normal behaviors and nothing to be surprised about.

“Alright, get them on edge as soon as possible. You need to understand, what we’re going to face next isn’t pirates or stone people, but something far more incredible.” With that, Zhang Cheng ignored the camp, which was in a semi-frenzied state, and led little Celine straight toward the half-tower in the middle of the island, which was covered with all sorts of green vines.

According to the Targaryen family records, this is one of the most important places in the Valyrian capital—the Arcane Tower, where Valyrians studied supernatural powers and the only source of Valyrian steel.

It was here that they unleashed powerful magic, knocking a mysterious and deadly meteorite off the red comet.

Although Zhang Cheng did not believe that the meteorite would have fallen near the tower, otherwise the destructive force generated by the instantaneous release of energy would have sunk the island to the bottom of the sea long ago.

But no matter what, as the location of a magical ritual, there should be some clues left behind. His goal was to find the hidden location of the meteorite based on the clues and then use every means to retrieve it.

They trudged through the ruins overgrown with weeds and low shrubs, one large and one small, until they stopped at the entrance of the tower.

Gently stroking the exquisite symbols carved on the wall, Zhang Cheng suddenly turned around without warning and asked the girl, "My lovely little princess, tell me, what exactly is magic in your eyes?"

"Huh?!" Celine was clearly taken aback. She bit her lower lip and hesitated for a long time before quickly shaking her head. "I...I don't know. I think magic is something that is both powerful and mysterious."

"Powerful and mysterious? Don't you think magic should be a kind of knowledge, a kind of skill, that anyone who is smart enough can learn and master?" Zhang Cheng asked with a half-smile.

"Learn...learn magic?!" Little Celine was undoubtedly shocked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Hehe, what, do you find it a bit unbelievable? Actually, any power you don’t understand contains corresponding skills and methods. As long as you can master it, you can master that power. Magic is no exception. Look at the black light spots on the cross-sections of these broken rocks and walls. They are evidence that the Valyrians mastered superb magical skills.” Zhang Cheng said as he picked up a stone and handed it to the girl.

The latter had just caught the stone and subconsciously touched its cross-section when he immediately screamed and threw the stone far away.

"Ah!!!! It's so hot!"

"That's right! Did you know that these black spots are actually specially treated dragon crystal? Adding it to the walls not only increases their hardness but also allows them to withstand temperatures like dragonfire. Do you remember the walls of Dragonstone Fortress? They used a similar process. Unfortunately, these techniques have been completely lost. Let's go inside and see what valuable things are left behind."

After a brief moment of reflection, Zhang Cheng stepped into the empty tower.

Because it was broken in half, there were no obstructions overhead inside the tower, so the light was excellent and every corner could be clearly observed.