Betrayal on the Eve of Victory

Compared to Golden Tooth, Jon's conquest of Sarsfield was a piece of cake.

After capturing the castle, the more than 10,000 troops temporarily set up camp there. After all, the soldiers needed to recover their strength after the long march, and they also needed to wait for the follow-up infantry and heavy supplies.

Inside the hall of Sarsfield, the House Sarsfield House Sarsfield's green banner with white arrows still hung, much like the House Lefford of Golden Tooth.

The men went out to fight, while the women stayed behind to guard the castle.

Earl Maewyn of Sarsfield had been killed in battle, leaving only his wife Syle, in the city. Syle was brought before Jon for questioning.

Syle is Maewyn's second wife. She is only nineteen years old, of medium build, with brown hair and a somewhat timid look in her eyes. Syle currently has only one daughter, who is four years old.

If this four-year-old daughter were to marry, the House Sarsfield would be completely extinguished. Furthermore, if circumstances change, Syle herself might remarry.

"Lady Sarsfield, you needn't worry. We're only using your castle as a temporary base. We won't harm your family. You saw it yourself; after we breached the city, my soldiers didn't kill a single person, did they?"

Syle nodded nervously, feeling uneasy and unsure of what to do with his hands and feet.

"Okay, what I want to know now is, what orders has Tywin given you during this period?"

"Tywin, Tywin— " Syle was still nervous, and his words stammered.

After all, not long ago she was just a noble lady protected by her family. When she heard that Jon had killed the Mountain, killed Joffrey, and even used witchcraft to breach the Golden Tooth, even though Jon's attitude was already quite mild, Syle was still very afraid.

After she finished speaking haltingly, Jon let her leave and ordered soldiers to protect the mother and daughter.

Through Syle's account, Jon learned that Tywin had begun his "all-in" gamble, nearly draining the Westerlands of its manpower in an attempt to take him down with him.

Wait, why does this look so familiar?

Jon suddenly thought of Aerys the Mad King, who had planted Wildfire all over King's Landing. No wonder those two got along so well when they were young.

They're practically half-brothers!

However, Jon didn't care about Tywin's hastily conscripted army.

He only needs to launch a few decisive battles to minimize the population loss. Tywin may not care about these lives, but Jon does. Whether it's building up the Westerlands, defending against the Iron Islands ' invasion, or dealing with the Long Night and the White Walkers, no one will be able to survive.

Although the Westerlands had been ravaged by war, Jon still saw it as a treasure trove where he could freely express himself.

Because of the previous wars, a large number of nobles in the Westerlands had died on the battlefields of Riverlands and King's Landing, which meant that the power of the feudal lords in the Westerlands had been greatly weakened.

In addition, Tywin's suppression and repression of the Westerlands nobles over the years have made power in Casterly Rock more concentrated than ever before.

Jon could easily create a loyal class in the Westerlands!

For example, the household registration system is very suitable for the current Westerlands, which includes military households, artisan households, and civilian households.

Regardless of whether this system becomes rigid in the future, it will allow Jon to maintain the largest possible army size and combat power at a very low cost for at least several decades.

Jon also planned to relocate tens of thousands of Mountain Clans to the vicinity of Casterly Rock, replacing those people and organizations associated with the Lannister.

These Mountain Clans will become Jon's staunch supporters, and will be the best source for selecting squires, guards, and handmaids to serve under him in the future.

Just as the Kingsguard's primary duty is not martial prowess but loyalty, Jon is not building the Kingsguard but a personal guard, and these Mountain Clans are the most trustworthy.

After all, their feat of climbing Hidden Fire Peak had made them regard themselves as gods.

Just as Jon was contemplating the future of the Westerlands, Robert Frey delivered a letter from King's Landing.

However, the letter did not bear Stannis's insignia; it was Varys's letter, and it even carried the distinctive scent of Varys's perfume.

Jon was curious, wondering what Varys' purpose was in writing to him at this time.

After he opened the letter, his expression slowly darkened.

Sure enough, the eve of victory is when betrayals erupt in full force.

In his letter, Varys told Jon that there was a debate in Stannis's court about whether or not to allow him to continue the invasion of the Westerlands.

The group, represented by the "Queen's faction," believed that Jon and the Lannister should share the Westerlands equally.

However, they weren't worried that Jon would rebel after taking control of the Westerlands; they were worried about Tyrell Ottomans.

The time and cost Jon took to breach Golden Tooth were far less than Stannis had anticipated. They had expected Jon to be held back at Golden Tooth for half a year, or to fight Tywin in Cornfield Golden Tooth to the south, at the cost of several thousand lives, before entering the Westerlands.

Unexpectedly, Jon captured Golden Tooth in just one month with only a few hundred casualties, thus defeating their primary objective of weakening Tyrell.

In the letter, Varys also told Jon that although Stannis' side had not yet accepted Tywin's peace talks, they were already probing each other's demands and trump cards.

Regarding the loan, Stannis's demands were that Casterly Rock not only forgive all debts but also assume the royal family's debts to the Free Cities Bank.

This adds up to an astronomical figure of six million Gold Dragon. While it might not completely drain the Westerlands, it would definitely empty Casterly Rock.

Tywin believes that forgiving the three million debt as a penalty is sufficient and is unwilling to budge for the time being.

All of these negotiations were conducted without Jon's involvement.

"Well, so you're all playing cards here?" Jon sneered as he placed the secret letter into the brazier and lit it.

Tywin and King's Landing have not yet reached a peace agreement, mainly because Jon has not taken any further action. At this time, there are still tens of thousands of newly organized troops in the Westerlands. If Jon can defeat these tens of thousands of troops, then King's Landing's Landing will demand a higher price.

Conversely, if Jon fails to make a breakthrough on the battlefield, Tywin will speak with even more conviction.

The two sides are still locked in a stalemate because they both believe that Jon cannot conquer Casterly Rock. If he does, then Jon becoming the Lord of Casterly Rock Casterly Rock a foregone conclusion.

Stannis wouldn't contradict himself.

But Varys ' letter made the difficulty of capturing Casterly Rock secondary; now, a time limit had also been added.

If this goes on for too long, Stannis might talk to Tywin, leaving Jon stranded.

Golden Tooth alone is far from enough to satisfy Jon's appetite. Casterly Rock is still in Lannister hands, and he is not even able to effectively govern the Westerlands.

Without effective control over the Westerlands, it's impossible to effectively accumulate power. In the end, either the Night King will march south and turn everyone into zombies, or Daenerys will cross the sea, ride her dragons, and burn everyone to death.

If you can't prove you're Targaryen, your fate will definitely not be good.

Jon's plan was to ensure he had a standing army of 20,000 men before winter arrived! A reserve army twice the size of the standing army, enough manpower, food and weapons, and Euron as a troublesome figure to deal with.

In short, he must take Casterly Rock!

The first step to taking down Casterly Rock is to disconnect the internet connection between King's Landing and Casterly Rock!

Casterly Rock was surrounded by open space, so Jon could no longer have the Raven lie in ambush and wait for the Raven inside the city to set out, as he had done before.

He needs more Raven to constantly monitor Casterly Rock, which requires upgrading the [Skinchanger] attribute to its highest level.

[Skinchanger]: Gold Remaining Upgrade Attempts: 1

After adding the last of the upgrade points to the Skinchanger attribute, the golden attribute was enveloped in red light—[Spirit Shifter].

"Hmm? It's not about controlling more Raven?"

The changes to the upgraded attributes surprised Jon. Although he could indeed control more Raven now, the changes brought about by the red attributes were clearly more than that.

Jon discovers that he seems to be able to indirectly control other animals by controlling the Raven, without having to develop a bond through feeding or interacting with them.

It's equivalent to turning a Skinchanging into Skinchanger. Only the duration and number of shapeshifters under your control are limited by the Skinchanging itself.

For example, he can currently control about three to seven ravens.

This way, unlike the previous attack on Golden Tooth, where a dozen or so Raven were sent out to attack and ambush, only one Raven is needed to intercept it.

Or to put it more simply, Jon could send Raven to infiltrate the ravens' lodges at Casterly Rock, allowing them to control Raven Raven that Casterly Rock is sending out and intercept the Raven coming from King's Landing's Landing.

These Raven would eventually fly directly to Jon, effectively cutting off any possibility of communication between Casterly Rock and King's Landing.

Realizing the usefulness of his new ability, Jon immediately sent three Raven to infiltrate the ravens' lodge at Casterly Rock.