Tour of Dragonstone

On the surging blue sea, more than a dozen sailboats turned around and left, as if a school of fish, seeing their natural enemy, knew to retreat.

"Jon, they've retreated; they went straight to Gulltown."

"They only have a little over ten thousand men; they simply don't have the capacity to divide their forces."

Jon and Loras stood at the harbor, watching the Golden Company's ships depart, Loras felt dejected once again.

"I thought we'd be fighting a battle here. I'll go check if there are any Dragon Egg on Dragonstone."

After saying that, Loras left.

Although Jon Snow now commands the most powerful fleet in the Seven Kingdoms, a fleet still needs people to operate it, and the main mode of combat for a fleet is still to deploy soldiers.

When Jon went to war with Stannis, in order to ensure military superiority on land and resolve the war on land, he did not involve the fleet in the battle, and the main force was concentrated on land.

Stannis's death was somewhat sudden, and Jon ordered Paxter to send the fastest warship in the fleet, carrying thousands of soldiers, to seize Dragonstone.

Meanwhile, after handing over the Stormlands to Robb, Jon personally went to Dragonstone, where he met up with Loras. Loras had visited Dragonstone once before, so he wasn't particularly interested in Dragonstone scenery.

Dragonstone is the ancestral home of the Targaryen and the place where all the dragons bred and hatched after the cataclysmic event.

Not all dragons of the Targaryen have dragon riders; a significant number are wild dragons without riders and may lay their Dragon Egg in the wild.

After Loras left, Jon left Sandor and Martin to wander around Dragonstone.

Dragonstone, as a Valyria- era structure, differs greatly from the Seven Kingdoms.

Simply put, while the castles in the Seven Kingdoms have different shapes, they are all clearly castles. In contrast, Dragonstone is almost indistinguishable between statues and towers.

It is said that the buildings on Dragonstone were constructed with magic, and the fact that the main structures are all black adds to the Dragonstone's mystique.

Surprisingly, it didn't feel oppressive.

The main buildings were constructed in the shape of dragon statues; for example, the Stone Drum Tower is basically shaped like a dragon.

The dragon's nose is said to be the kitchen, hence the smoke; its mouth is the main entrance; and its tail forms a covered bridge leading directly to Aegon's Garden.

In addition, Dragonstone also has a lighthouse. The Dragon Tower, the tallest tower on Dragonstone, is shaped like a bird about to take flight, with its head held high and a light lit in its mouth to guide passing ships.

In addition, there is the Sea Dragon Tower, the residence of the scholars, where the dragon's wings spread out to form a huge dock for building ships.

Although Jon's goal in seizing Dragonstone was not for any legitimate claim to power, nor was it to seize the fortress, that didn't stop him from taking a tour.

It's no wonder it's a building created by magic; some parts don't conform to building mechanics at all, yet it has stood for hundreds of years.

The famous Valyrian Road was also made of magic. Unlike the Kingsroad, which is a cobblestone road, the Valyrian Road is a wide and smooth road that can accommodate four carriages side by side. It remains as clean as new after thousands of years of wind and rain erosion.

If he could, Jon would certainly want to regain this skill.

The saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first." If we could master the construction technology of the "Valyrian Road," it would greatly benefit the economic and social development of the Seven Kingdoms.

Dragonstone, the birthplace of the Targaryen, was historically a place where Targaryen crown princes would serve as Prince of Dragonstone before ascending the Iron Throne. However, Stannis disdained this, preferring Storm's End as his dream castle.

For Jon, Dragonstone still held no appeal. In his plans, Dragonstone could continue to serve as the Targaryen ancestral home and the Narrow Sea naval base, but he still intended to settle down in Casterly Rock.

Stannis had already searched every corner of this place for over a decade, and there was no point in continuing the exploration. It was even less likely he would find the Dragon Egg Loras had mentioned.

The only slight compensation was that Stannis's remaining fleet was also on Dragonstone. When they learned of Stannis's death, they immediately joined Jon's ranks. Many of these men were sailors and captains from the Free Cities, and Martin encountered almost no obstacles when he came to recruit them.

Forty warships were also a considerable fortune, which greatly expanded the size of Jon's fleet.

"Your Majesty, let's go take a look at the Stone Drum Tower," suggested Jon, who had arrived before Martin. He had already inspected the castle before Jon, Jon naturally had no objections.

Inside the Stone Drum Tower is a long corridor that was originally filled with portraits of the Targaryen ancestors, not starting with the conqueror Aegon, but with the exile Aenar, who lived four hundred years earlier.

Aenar's daughter, Daenys the Dreamwalker, foresaw the Doom of Valyria through her dreams and persuaded her father to move the family to Dragonstone, thus making the Targaryen the last surviving House Targaryen.

During Stannis's occupation of Dragonstone, he removed and burned all the portraits of the Targaryen ancestors. It is estimated that at that time, Stannis learned that Robert had banished him to the barren Dragonstone, and he was furious with nowhere to vent his anger, which is why he burned the portraits.

"It's alright, Your Majesty. There are still portraits of the Targaryen kings in Darry Castle; Lyman can send them over later."

"Send it directly to Casterly Rock. I'll have someone make a copy and send it back to Dragonstone. Also, I'm thinking of making you the steward of Dragonstone. What do you think?"

"The Grand Steward of Dragonstone? Yes, Your Majesty!"

Martin followed behind Jon, his face filled with excitement and anticipation.

To be able to manage the Dragon King 'Dragonpit —what an honor that is!

Sandor, standing to the side, thought to himself that the relationship between the House Darry and Jon was truly incomparable.

Even after the Targaryen had fallen, they still remembered them, and kept portraits of the Targaryen kings in their homes.

What's even more incredible is that he fought alongside Jon Snow again before Jon was even Targaryen.

Moreover, even after Jon Martin on retaking Darry Castle and was attacked by his own brother, the Mountain still went to save them without hesitation.

This loyalty is forged in blood. To some extent, Jon may not trust the Tyrell or the Stark, but he will absolutely trust the House Darry.

Afterwards, the group went to the Long Table Hall.

The huge long table in the hall occupies almost half of the hall's space.

This place is known as the Long Table Hall, where the mountains and rivers of Westeros and the location of the castle are carved on the long table. It was here that Aegon the Conqueror held his war council.

Jon sat on the throne, discussing the next steps with everyone.

"If we'd known Stannis was going to be assassinated, we should have just ignored him and sent men to block that Young Griff so he wouldn't get to Westeros," Loras muttered, but no one paid him any attention.

After all, there's no such thing as having it all in this world. Even if Jon had some kind of prophetic ability, he still had to take things one step at a time.

Especially after he drastically altered the original course of events, that bit of foresight became increasingly faint.

Fortunately, Jon is becoming increasingly powerful, and with every move he makes, he himself is part of the larger trend.

Shortly before the group arrived at Dragonstone, Young Griff had already landed in the Vale and was expected to reach the the Eyrie soon.

It's clear that their withdrawal was a very wise move, since they didn't have a formidable fleet to contend with Jon for Dragonstone.

They didn't go directly to the Crownlands either, because Jon's fleet would soon blockade Blackwater Bay, and occupying the Crownlands would be like taking on a huge burden.

Although the grain in the Vale is sufficient, it will soon become insufficient if it is used to supply the Crownlands.

"My lords, Young Griff is unimportant, the Vale is unimportant. The most important reason I am determined to conquer Dragonstone is this."

As he spoke, Jon had someone bring out pieces of black Dragonglass.

The crowd was puzzled. Although Dragonglass was a stone, its ornamental value was not as high as that of gemstones, and it could not be used as a building material. Wildlings in mountain tribes might use it to make weapons, but it was very brittle against iron, so it had almost no value.

"As I mentioned before, White Walkers and Wights— "

When Jon mentioned White Walkers and Wights again, although everyone still looked serious, they were already starting to take it less seriously.

There was nothing they could do; they'd talked too much, but they'd never actually seen White Walkers, so the talk of the Long Night and the Night King didn't really bother them.

Compared to these legendary things, they cared more about the victory that was about to be won.

"The weapons made from this thing can kill White Walkers or Wights without cutting off their heads, so this thing is very important to us."

Jon could tell from their expressions and demeanor that his knights didn't care about what he said, but as king, he had to play the role of the parrot himself.

"Therefore, I have decided to have Martin stay behind to oversee the mining of Dragonglass, and strive to ensure that every castle in Westeros has a sufficient stockpile of Dragonglass weapons within the next year."

"Should we give up the castle in the Vale too?"

"Since you acknowledge me as the king of the Seven Kingdoms, then the castle in the Vale should naturally be given to you."

Upon hearing Jon's words, the eldest, Paxter, had a glint in his eyes and suddenly sensed a kingly aura emanating from Jon.

It was neither Robert's violent intimidation nor Rhaegar's elegance, but the power that brought order.

The meeting ended quickly, Jon saw Cersei again.

Cersei, imprisoned on Dragonstone, became a nun to atone for her sins. After all, she was Stannis's sister-in-law, so she wasn't forced to have her head shaved or be paraded naked through the streets.

However, she was in very poor condition. She used to be elegant and beautiful, with her golden hair shining like a jewel, but now it was tucked under the nun's black and white hood, with only a few strands peeking out, which looked like withered weeds.

As for her chubby son, Tommen, there weren't many good things to eat on Dragonstone, and with the deliberate exclusion from others, he turned into a freakish child in just over a year, and even became somewhat withdrawn.

When Jon came to find her, Cersei's pride made her want to stand tall and not lose her dignity, but when she thought of her child, she felt like a deflated balloon.

"Your Majesty, my child, how is Myrcella?"

"That's good. She's in Casterly Rock now, and she's friends with Sansa Arya. Besides, she prefers swordsmanship to needlework."

"She does resemble her father." Cersei believed Jon wouldn't lie to her, nor would he have any reason to, so she nodded.

Then, Cersei blinked, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

She thought for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, now that Stannis is dead, you will eventually reclaim King's Landing and the Red Keep. Besides, you currently occupy Storm's End, so what about Casterly Rock— "

"Casterly Rock will henceforth be called Casterly Palace, and it belongs to the Targaryen," Jon said bluntly. "The same goes for Storm's End."

Cersei hadn't expected Jon to be so greedy," and a hint of resentment appeared on her face.

She thought for a moment and asked, "Then why do you still use the name Jon? You could easily call yourself Aegon."

"I made an agreement with Margaery that she would name all our children, and she chose Aegon Jon Snow between Aegon and Rhaegar," Jon Snow began.

This caused Cersei to break down, her face turning pale and then flushed, her hands, calloused from hard labor, twisting her clothes, looking very unwilling.

She has two men: Robert, who is promiscuous and doesn't like her, and Jaime, who is shameful and often lacks common sense.

Cersei had intended to tease Jon, but instead, she ended up being outmaneuvered herself.

Seeing her somewhat embarrassed expression, Jon steered the conversation back on track.

"Cersei, don't be discouraged. Your brother, Tyrion, isn't dead. On the contrary, he's serving as Hand of the Queen with Daenerys Targaryen. If you're willing, I can send you to Slaver's Bay in the future."

"I'm not going to listen to that dwarf's attitude."

"Not even for Tommen's sake?"

"Tommen ----"

When Jon mentioned her son, Cersei hesitated.

Jon's plan was to use his family to completely tie Tyrion to Slaver's Bay, so that he wouldn't always think about coming back, and rebuilding the Lannister in Slaver's Bay would be a good idea.

If Petyr can cause such a commotion, it's hard to say what kind of big trouble Tyrion might pull off.

Just in case, Jon decided to send Cersei over.

Moreover, Tyrion is a womanizer, and he hasn't had a single child in all these years. There might be some problems, so we can just make Tommen his heir.

He doesn't need to worry about fighting the White Walkers; he can just stay in Slaver's Bay and relieve Daenerys of any worries.

After leaving Cersei's side, Jon met with Patchface, the jester left behind by Stannis.

When Patchface heard that Shireen had become queen of the Vale, his first reaction was that Selyse had been deceived.

"Your Majesty, Shireen is not that kind of person. Please do not punish her; she is just a child."

"I understand. I won't blame Shireen. It was all orchestrated by that treacherous Petyr. I will definitely put him to death in the future."

The tattoos on the Patchface of the jester were no longer vibrant; instead, they appeared blurred, like ink smudges.

Whether it was genuine or feigned, the fact that he burst into tears upon seeing Jon and pleaded for Shireen and her son was touching enough.

"Patchface, would you be willing to go to the Vale to take care of Shireen?"

"Your Majesty, you, you, you are willing to send me to the Vale? Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Before Jon could say whether he really intended to do so, Patchface immediately demonstrated his greatest skill as a court jester. "Reading between the lines."

"Yes, but I have one condition."

"I will definitely complete it, I will definitely complete it. Please, Your Majesty, give me your orders, Patchface."

Although the sentence sounded a little strange, Jon didn't care.

"I need you to pass on a message to Young Griff."