The crow

The Night's King watched Gary's every move, his gaze growing ever sharper.

For in his eyes, Gary was no ordinary "human infant," but a monster disguised as one.

The Night's King did not understand the Common Tongue of Westeros. He could only use the ancient language of the First Men, asking hoarsely, "This... divine object, is it yours? What exactly are you?"

Unfortunately, Gary understood neither the language of the First Men nor the Common Tongue of Westeros. Still, he could guess a little: the Night's King had probably been frightened and was asking about the green stone.

But the language barrier made communication between them impossible.

Left with no choice, Gary could only ignore the Night's King's gibberish. Looking at the Green Pearl floating before him, he muttered, "Divine Pearl, my good brother, this place is incredibly dangerous. Please send me back to my original world."

Just then, perhaps summoned by the Night's King, the distant White Walkers Army suddenly awakened. With heavy strides, they rushed toward Gary like a black tide of ants.

This gave Gary quite a fright, and he hurriedly added, "Or could you cast a spell and teleport me somewhere safe first? This place is too danger-"

Before he could finish, the Green Pearl flickered several times. As though it had heard his thoughts, it suddenly burst with a dense mass of green energy.

The energy wrapped tightly around Gary like gauze. Then it shot into the sky, carrying him away into the distance.

The Night's King's expression shifted uncertainly as the White Walkers Army under his command reached his side. Taking a spear made of ice from a subordinate, he hurled it with all his might.

The ice spear shot upward like a speeding cannon shell, striking Gary in midair with unerring precision.

Bang!

The ice spear shattered into fragments, releasing the White Walker energy it contained. That energy furiously ate away at the green energy surrounding Gary, but magical power ultimately could not overcome divine power...

The erosion was far too slow to make any difference.

Yet just as Gary let his guard down, three more ice spears arrived in an instant, striking him simultaneously.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The violent jolting left Gary trembling with fear. He looked back, intending to offer a few choice words about the Night's King's family.

"You freaking... holy shit! What the hell!"

Gary stared, dumbfounded. Before his eyes was a vast, white rain of spears—more than ten thousand of them!

They were ice spears hurled into the sky by the White Walkers Army, all aimed straight at Gary.

Bang, bang, bang...

Although most of the ice spears missed Gary, nearly a hundred still struck him. Enough ants could devour an elephant, and the green energy surrounding him began to be steadily consumed by the blue White Walker energy.

The green pearl also began flickering, as though it had reached its limit.

Everything happened too quickly for Gary to react. Finally, after an intense sensation of weightlessness, he became a green meteor, plummeting toward the snow-covered forest below.

On the frozen plain, the Night's King watched intently as Gary fell into the forest. He mounted his warhorse and swept his arm forward, and the White Walkers Army followed him into the snow-covered forest to the south.

Inside the snow-covered forest.

Gary lay in a pit in the earth, his eyes vacant. The green energy surrounding him had dissipated without a trace. The once dazzlingly bright Green Pearl had also dimmed considerably, as though its battery had run out, and looked ready to drop at any moment.

Thanks to its protection, Gary had escaped injury.

But this had also exhausted the Green Pearl, leaving it unable to protect him any longer. It sent Gary a signal of "you're on your own," then crumbled into fine dust and dispersed into the air.

"What... are you kidding me? My cheat is just gone like that?" Unable to accept it, Gary stared despondently at the ashes in his hands.

But he could not stay there. He had to keep moving. The Night's King's army was closing in, and staying meant certain death.

Gary staggered to his feet, preparing to continue south, away from the Lands of Always Winter where the White Walkers Army was.

Fortunately, the green energy had just strengthened him, and his body was now very robust. Never mind walking-even sprinting through the forest would pose little problem.

It was just that his legs... were a little short, so he was never going to be very fast.

And now that he had lost the green energy's protection, he once again felt the waves of cold in the air. With no other choice, Gary draped the animal hide over himself and pressed on through the wind and snow.

Gary had not gone far when a crow suddenly landed on a nearby treetop.

"Caw... caw..."

The crow stared down at Gary, calling incessantly.

Gary glanced up at it. With pursuers behind him, he had no time for this noisy wretched bird. He set his short little legs moving and jogged south over the icy snow.

Along the way, ice spears stood everywhere, their points buried in the snow. Refracting the sunlight, they looked remarkably like fluorescent posts glowing deep blue.

Although the ice spears looked beautiful, their fall into the snowy forest had not only damaged large swathes of trees and grass, but also pinned many animals to the ground before they could escape.

Gary had covered less than a few hundred meters when he saw the bodies of at least a dozen large animals. The red blood and severed limbs were so stark against the white snow that he could hardly ignore them.

Yet, strangely enough...

After all that commotion, there were no living creatures to be seen along the way. The entire forest was silent.

Except...

Gary stopped and tilted his head to look up to one side. That noisy crow was still following him, refusing to leave.

All the other animals had fled, yet this crow alone... seemed quite bold, actually choosing to stay.

"Caw!"

For some reason, the crow began making a racket again. It hopped back and forth along the branch, extremely excited.

Gary startled, but he could not let the crow keep calling like this. After all, the White Walkers Army was still pursuing him. He could not let the crow draw them here.

He bent down, picked up an egg-sized stone, aimed at the crow in the tree, and hurled it hard.

Crack!

The stone shot from Gary's fingertips like a bullet, not only killing the squawking crow, but also leaving a conspicuous crater in the ice-covered tree trunk.

Gary froze at the sight. He could not help pondering: Was I... actually that strong?

"Whatever. Escaping comes first." However strong he was, he was still only a little baby. How could he possibly fight the Night's King's vast army?

Moreover, the freezing temperatures were making Gary's hands and feet go numb again.

With the harsh conditions and the pursuers behind him, Gary's heart filled with despair and helplessness. He knew his chances of survival were exceedingly slim.

But he could not give up so easily. However slim the chance, he had to try... to make it out of this snowy forest alive!

Beyond the snowy forest, there might be signs of people...

"Hsss..."

What was that!

Hearing the sound, Gary instantly went on alert. He picked up a branch as a weapon and hurriedly turned to look.

A foul breath rushed into his face, its damp warmth washing over his little cheeks. It came from an enormous mouth filled with sharp teeth, every one larger than Gary's fist.

Gary froze completely. Before him stood a specialty of Game of Thrones—a powerfully built adult direwolf!

Direwolves were carnivorous pack animals that lived in the continent's north. Much larger than ordinary wolves and comparable to lions and tigers, they were apex predators.

The direwolf bared its teeth, looking ferocious on the surface, yet its eyes betrayed humanlike hesitation and inner conflict.

What was going on? Was it intelligent?

But the direwolf soon made up its mind, opening its great jaws to bite the tiny Gary.

The direwolf's strange behavior had also left Gary dazed for a few seconds.

But he watched its every move. The instant it was about to bite, he summoned all his strength and punched it in the mouth.

The direwolf howled. Not only had it failed to bite Gary, but he had also knocked out one of its sharp teeth.

Gary seized the chance to put some distance between them and watched the direwolf warily. It was not that he did not want to flee; he simply could not outrun a four-legged direwolf.

There was something strange about this direwolf. Its emotions were far too human.

Now the direwolf stared at Gary in astonishment, its face full of surprise. It seemed to wonder how a mere newborn human infant could possess such divine strength.

Gary was inwardly frantic as well. Accompanied by tremors through the earth, the distant hoofbeats drew closer and closer. Now he could neither advance nor retreat. He was trapped in a dead end.

The direwolf, however, raised its head and sniffed at Gary, seemingly trying to confirm something.

Seeing that the direwolf did not attack again, Gary backed away step by step, intending to leave.

The direwolf had long since sensed the White Walkers Army's presence. By rights, it should have fled. Yet after hesitating for a moment, it suddenly lay down in the snow.

"So you haven't been turned into a White Walker yet. Get on. I'll get you out of here." The direwolf lowered its head and spoke in human words.

It was a somewhat weathered male voice, its tone full of goodwill.

Gary could not understand what it was saying, but he knew the direwolf had spoken!

Although he could not understand, watching the direwolf's actions gave him some idea.

Did it want to carry me away with it?

But how could a direwolf possibly talk? How could it be that intelligent?

Unless... someone was possessing it?

In the world of Game of Thrones, there were also special individuals among humans. Called "skinchangers," they could project their consciousness into animals.

The outstanding few among skinchangers were called "Greenseers." Not only could they possess animals and plants, they could also know the past and foresee the future.

In present-day Westeros, only one last Greenseer remained.

He was the "Three-Eyed Crow," Brynden Rivers. For all these years, he had remained hidden somewhere beyond the Wall, secretly monitoring the Night's King's every move.

He was humanity's first line of defense against the White Walkers' invasion.

Returning to the present, Gary considered the direwolf's abnormal behavior again. He was certain that the direwolf before him was possessed by some skinchanger.

Although he did not know whether the other party was friend or foe, at least they had a common enemy-the Night's King.

Gary weighed it over and over. There did not seem to be any other choice. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the prickly wolf fur and struggled onto the direwolf's back.

Only after he was seated securely and holding tight did the direwolf carefully rise. It dared not make any sudden movements, for fear of throwing Gary off.

After making sure Gary was ready, the direwolf raced silently south.