Landing!

The dungeons of Dragonstone are damp all year round.

The torch was inserted into the iron ring on the wall, and the dim yellow light barely dispelled the darkness, but it could not bring any warmth to the people imprisoned here.

Davos Seaworth sat against the cold stone wall, his handcuffs and shackles limiting his range of motion.

He didn't try to struggle, he just sat quietly, as comfortable as returning to his own home.

Footsteps sounded.

Heavy and regular, very familiar. Even without looking up, Davos knew who these unique footsteps belonged to.

But he immediately stood up, straightened his robes, and looked outside.

Sure enough, Davos saw the man he had followed for half his life and who had just thrown him into prison again.

The king walked down the stone steps alone, without any attendants, and there was no shadow of the red-robed witch beside him.

He stopped outside the prison bars, his dark blue eyes examining Davos in the dim light, just as he did more than ten years ago, when the man in front of him first appeared at the long-besieged Storm's End, pulling a boat full of onions and pickled fish.

"Your Majesty." Davos spoke first and behaved appropriately.

"What shall I call you, Davos?"

Stannis's voice was stiff, as if he was asking, "A traitor for the second time? Or a self-righteous fool?"

"I just did what I thought was right."

The Onion Knight looked calmly, looking directly at the king without any evasion. "I don't think that young man should pay the price for a war that does not belong to him. He doesn't even understand why this war started."

"Victory... should not be purchased with the blood of innocent people."

"Innocent?"

Hearing this word, Stannis' masseter muscles bulged slightly, and his tone became more severe. "This is war, and there are never innocent people in war."

"My brother won the throne with Warhammer, but lost it with wine and lust. Now, according to the laws of the Seven Kingdoms, it is the right thing to take back the Iron Throne and restore order to the Seven Kingdoms."

"I never asked for this crown. Gold is cold and heavy on my head, but as long as I am a king for one day, I have a responsibility."

"For this reason...

Speaking of this, Stannis's voice became a little lower, but he still said firmly, "Some necessary sacrifices are inevitable."

"Just like Mad King Aerys believes that it is necessary to burn everyone who does not surrender to him?"

As soon as these words came out, Davos's voice suddenly rose.

He looked at Stannis, with an extremely deep sadness in his eyes. "Your Majesty, during the days when you imprisoned me, I learned to read."

"Although many of the meanings in the books need to be guessed by looking at the pictures, I also forced myself to read a lot. I read about the glory of the Targaryen Dynasty and the end of Aerys II."

"The book states that Aerys Targaryen was obsessed with wildfire, believing that burning disloyal ministers could purify the Seven Kingdoms, and that pain itself could bring strength."

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and his voice became louder and louder. "When you ordered the pyre to be lit and watched those who were regarded as sacrifices scream in the flames, did you think so too?"

Hearing this, Stannis's face began to become cloudy and uncertain under the firelight.

Davos's question was too sharp, directly piercing the deepest tangle in his heart.

As the war situation became more and more unfavorable, he began to rely more and more on Melisandre's theory that "the Lord of Light needs to be sacrificed", but at the same time, the pursuit of absolute justice laws tortured Stannis like a whip all the time.

"Those people, they have wavered. They have betrayed Dragonstone, betrayed the law, and betrayed the king they swore allegiance to."

After being silent for a long time, he gave an answer that he might not be able to convince even himself.

Obviously, such an answer cannot convince Davos at all.

"The hungry fishermen secretly hide a fish that should be handed over, the soldiers cry because they miss their hometown and their children, they are not betraying!"

Davos became increasingly emotional. Since the war began, he had never accused his king so much, but today, the Onion Knight decided not to remain silent.

He stood in front of Stannis, who was not good at words, and chose to use words to awaken the wisest monarch in the Seven Kingdoms in his mind.

"Your Majesty, I am loyal to you. This has never changed. For this reason, all four of my children died in Battle of the Blackwater Rush."

He looked directly at Stannis, crying every word, "But I never complained, because I know that under the leadership of Stannis Baratheon, the difficulties are only temporary."

"But now, we are trapped here, consuming hope every day. People are afraid, not because of the enemy, but more because they don't know if they will wake up tomorrow and be labeled as a heretic and sent to the pyre just because of a dream talk or a prayer to the wrong god!"

"Is this the foundation stone you want the Seven Kingdoms, a throne built of fear and ashes!"

These words were so heartbreaking that Stannis turned his back abruptly, as if he could no longer bear Davos' gaze.

His broad shoulders were tall and stiff, as if he were carrying an invisible burden.

After a long time, Stannis squeezed out a sentence, his voice low, more like he was trying to convince himself to resist something that was collapsing in his heart. "Don't compare me with the Mad King, Davos Ser, I am the only legitimate heir to the Iron Throne."

"I must sit on it to protect my people, must."

After saying that, he turned around almost hastily and stepped onto the stone steps quickly, his footsteps disappearing messily into the dark corridor.

Watching the king's leaving figure, Davos's eyes kept flashing under the firelight, but there seemed to be no light at all.

"Heh...

At this moment, the dull dragging sound of chains came from the cell next door, and then, a short chuckle sounded.

Gendry leaned the back of his head against the cold stone wall, looking at Dome in the darkness above his head, with a mocking look on his face.

Obviously, he heard all the conversation between the two just now.

He was much younger than Davos, but his experiences during this period made him feel as tired as if he had lived several lifetimes.

"The rightful heir to the Iron Throne...

Gendry whispered the words that came from Stannis's mouth, his tone full of alienation and ridicule.

Satire: "These words are so beautiful, just like the sound of church bells."

"But those who ring the bell never ask the hungry people below what they think."

He turned his head. Although he couldn't see Davos, the words were meant for him.

"Right, Onion Knight?"

"I heard about you when I was a kid in Flea Bottom. They said a smuggler became a knight because of onions. That's a damn good story."

His voice was muffled, and although he pretended to be relaxed, even Davos could tell that this kid was not in a good mood.

Hearing this, Davos sat down on the ground and replied angrily, "I told you, I grew up in Flea Bottom, kid."

"Then you should know that in the eyes of noble men, people like us will never be anything more than mud that cannot hold up the wall."

Gendry's head hit the wall lightly, and his voice began to become a little erratic. "When I was a child, I saw the carriage of the noble gentlemen run over the muddy alley, crushing the other good leg of the old sick man Tom, but the carriage didn't even stop, and just drove away."

As he spoke, he paused, as if he was reminiscing, and his tone was full of inferiority. "Later, I was forging iron in Master Tob's blacksmith shop. I know that a good piece of iron needs to be hammered many times, but I also know that the hammer will not ask whether the iron hurts."

"We probably Anvil pick up iron blocks and make them into the swords they want if they are useful. If they are useless or in the way, we throw them into the scrap heap, or... directly throw them into the fire and burn them."

Davos listened in silence.

Having grown up in Flea Bottom, he could understand all the emotions in Gendry's words, the humiliation and anger of being ignored, used, and discarded at any time by the superior power.

"Stannis Your Majesty... he is different."

Davos defended. "He may be strict, maybe... he has taken the wrong path, but he really has laws in his heart and has responsibilities he believes in."

"He is the only legitimate heir to the Iron Throne. Only Stannis can bring long-term peace to this king."

"Haha...

Listening to Davos repeating these words that meant nothing to him, Gendry laughed again.

Because to him, it didn't matter whoever was the king, at least the king who came to the throne didn't suck his own blood with something terrible.

However, he did not laugh at Davos. Instead, he shook his head and said to himself, "I actually trusted that woman in red... How stupid."

"She smiled at me and asked me where I was from. She was so dexterous that I actually thought she was really interested in me, but it turned out that she was just interested in my blood!"

"Gendry, who grew up in Flea Bottom, would actually have such a dream... I'm really hungry."

As he spoke, his face was full of ridicule, but his mind could not help but recall the charming scene that night.

There was silence in the prison.

"It's a good thing for people to be self-aware." A voice suddenly sounded, calm and clear, like a scalpel cutting through a suppurating wound, "But there is no need to belittle oneself, Gendry."

Davos and Gendry were shocked at the same time, and they both turned their heads to look at the source of the sound.

Diagonally opposite their cell, in the shadowed corner, I don't know when, but a figure stood quietly.

Following the gazes of the two people, the figure walked slowly over, and the firelight shone from the side, cutting his face into two parts of intertwined light and dark.

He walked neither hastily nor slowly, and the soles of his boots stepped on the stone slabs. His voice was very soft, but it seemed very weighty.

"For a virgin, your performance is outstanding enough."

The voice continued, "At least you have believed it. Many people in this world don't even have the courage to believe it."

"It's you!"

Seeing the familiar face, Gendry immediately shouted loudly, "You are the one who captured us," Vito·Corleone."

Corleone nodded slightly and moved gracefully. "You can call me Ser Corleone. I just got this title recently and I am still in the adaptation period."

As he spoke, his eyes glanced past Davos, only for a brief glance, and then rested on Gendry.

"Your reasoning is very philosophical, Gendry."

Corleone A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, "But it's not accurate enough. It should be said that noble gentlemen are like blacksmiths swinging hammers. Whether it is a hammer or an iron block, they are just tools in their hands."

"This is very realistic, because they are not playing the same game as us at all. They make the rules, and we are just expendable numbers in the rules."

As he spoke, Corleone turned his eyes to Davos: "What do you think, Onion Knight, do you think Stannis Baratheon is playing the same game as you?"

"Stannis Your Majesty is just." Davos's voice sounded in the dungeon, dry but firm. "He just shouldered a heavier responsibility!"

"Yes, responsibility, law, obligation... Bala, Bala, I have heard this rhetoric."

Corleone interrupted him, there was no sarcasm in his tone, only a tired understanding, as if he had heard these words too many times.

He stared directly at Davos and asked, "Excuse me, a man who needs to kill his own brother, and relies on absorbing the blood of his own nephew to gain strength and pursue victory."

"Are you worthy of standing under the banner of justice and honor and claiming that you are the benchmark for legal principles and morals in the seven countries?"

As soon as these words came out, Davos was speechless. He opened his mouth and couldn't make a sound for a long time.

Gendry on the side was completely confused. "Who? Who is his nephew?"

Corleone glanced at this simple-minded young man, then looked at Davos, his smile a little more playful, "It seems you haven't told him yet."

"But I'm not here for a ancestry lesson today. Let's talk about something practical."

He completely ignored Davos's pale face, refocused on Gendry, and asked one word at a time, "Do you want to go back to Flea Bottom, kid?"

Flea Bottom.

This word was like a key, opening a dusty box in Gendry's heart.

His eyes flickered, his Adam's apple rolled, and he remembered the smell of charcoal fire in the blacksmith shop, the musty smell in the alley that would never go away after the rain, and the bloody days of fighting for half a Copper Penny.

But vigilance soon outweighed nostalgia.

"I'm already back in King's Landing!"

Gendry's voice suddenly rose, pointing at Corleone and angrily yelling, "If it weren't for you, I should be working in a blacksmith shop now, instead of being locked up in this damn place waiting to be bloodletted!"

Seeing how excited he was, Corleone just shook his head slightly and said in a disappointed tone, "You don't really think that as the illegitimate son of King Robert Baratheon, you will be safe alone in King's Landing, do you?"

Robert·Baratheon!

Hearing the name, Gendry's eyes widened and his pupils shrank.

Ever since he was a child, he felt that he was a little different. He was very powerful. Although he came from a humble background, adults of one kind or another always came to him. Even the former Prime Minister Eddard Stark came to the blacksmith shop to see him.

But he never thought that he would be the king's illegitimate son!

No wonder.

No wonder that woman used her own blood to cast those evil Magic.

Those fragmented memory fragments were suddenly connected by a thread, and many things seemed to be figured out in an instant.

"So those...Magic..." Gendry's voice was trembling.

"Blood Magic needs the true king's blood as an introduction." Corleone finished what he was thinking for him, "At least that's what the woman thinks."

Hearing this, Gendry grabbed the iron railing and shouted to the next door, "Is what he said true? Tell me, Onion Knight!"

However, there was only silence in response to him.

Davos didn't answer, but he didn't deny it either. This tacit attitude made Gendry immediately understand the truth.

A wave of boiling heat rushed to Gendry's head.

Is it anger? Or humiliation?

Or both.

For so many years, he had been a nameless bastard, struggling to survive in the mud of Flea Bottom, and now someone suddenly told him that your father is a king.

But for Gendry, what this bloodline brought him was not glory, castles and gold, but being betrayed, kidnapped, and used as material for Magic again and again.

And all of this stemmed from a drunken sexual affair that the famous prostitute king had when he was young!

"So?"

Gendry seemed a little hard to accept this fact. His voice was hoarse and he glared at Corleone: "Even if I am the king's illegitimate son, so what?"

"Why should I follow you?"

"You tied us up and sent us here as gifts. What's the difference between you and those people? Don't think I will be fooled again!"

Seeing his hysterical look, Corleone smiled again.

It wasn't a sneer or a proud smile, but a very calm smile.

"I admit that when I caught you, I did treat you as a meeting gift to Stannis."

"This is business, Gendry, and I'm a businessman."

As he spoke, he took a step forward, and the firelight illuminated half of his face. There was no guilt or quibble on it.

"But now." Corleone continued, his voice lowered. "The gift has been delivered, and the recipient has also inspected the goods."

"According to my business principles, if the other party fails to pay the consideration, or I am not satisfied with the consideration paid, I have the right to take back my goods and find another buyer, or simply keep them for myself."

Seeing him taking it for granted, Gendry wanted to refute, curse, or spit on this calm face.

But Corleone's next words made all the curse words that rushed to his mouth get stuck in his throat.

"And... don't you want to see Ellie Yar Stark again?"

This name was like a bolt of lightning, immediately splitting the darkness in Gendry's eyes.

He rushed to the railing, stretched out his hands and waved wildly. "Do you know where she is? You have seen her!"

"Calm down, kid."

Corleone's tone was still calm and he spoke very honestly, "I don't know exactly where she is now, but I know one thing, that is, she owes me a favor."

"In the Riverlands, I helped her and her companions solve a little trouble."

"She will always come to me." Corleone continued, with a very confident tone. "Maybe it will be a month, maybe it will be a year."

"But one day, Ellie ia Stark will appear in front of me and return the favor she owes me. Then you will be able to meet each other, right?"

Hearing this, Gendry's chest heaved violently.

There were two voices arguing fiercely in his head. One voice screamed to remind himself, don't believe him, this man is too dangerous, he just kidnapped you to Dragonstone!

But another voice kept repeating, murmuring the name "Ellie ia Stark" over and over again.

He still remembered the way Ellie dressed up as a little boy, and the flash of pain in her eyes when she mentioned her family.

He remembered that when he was sold to Red Woman by the Brotherhood Without Banners, among all the people, only that strong little girl spoke up for him.

"Okay."

After a long while, Gendry took a deep breath, as if trying to gather the courage to jump off the cliff, and nodded heavily. "I'll go with you."

"I will admit it even if I die in King's Landing. At least I don't have to lie here anymore, waiting for that woman to suck my blood with those disgusting things when she needs King's Blood again!"

"A wise choice."

Corleone nodded with satisfaction, as if another deal had been reached.

However, at this moment, Davos' faint voice came from the cell next to him. "Have you forgotten, I'm still here."

"You are plotting to escape from prison so loudly, do you think I don't exist, or do you think I will definitely keep your secrets?"

The air in the dungeon seemed to be solid again.

Corleone slowly turned his head and looked at Davos.

His expression did not change, and his expression was still very casual. "Ah, if you didn't tell me, I almost forgot."

Rub!!!

Longsword The sound of unsheathing sounded, and the tip of the sword was raised and pointed directly at Davos without any hesitation.

"Then I'll silence you first."

Corleone held the sword and his tone was extremely calm.

"No!"

Gendry, who had originally complained about Davos, immediately rushed forward, stretched out a hand and begged, "Please don't hurt him! Ser!"

"He... he's a good guy!"

Corleone didn't look back, his hand holding the sword was very steady. "He heard me."

"I have to kill him. You know, kid, being soft-hearted at a time like this will only kill everyone."

Davos looked at the sword pointed at him, with no fear on his face.

Instead, he calmed down and even sighed softly. There was no resistance to death in that sigh, but a hint of exhaustion.

"Then do it, Ser."

He opened his arms and seemed to be hugging Stranger: "Anyway, I have betrayed my king twice. According to the law, I should have died long ago."

Seeing this, the corner of Corleone's mouth seemed to move slightly.

Then, the sword light flashed.

At that moment, Gendry's heart almost stopped beating, and he closed his eyes, not daring to look.

But there was no scream or groan as expected.

There was only a small "click, click" sound as something fell to the floor.

Gendry opened his eyes and saw Corleone neatly put the blade back into the scabbard, without any blood on it.

In the cell next to him, Davos lowered his head in confusion and looked at his chest.

The string of bags that had been hung around his neck for more than ten years was cut with precision and neatly cut.

Four knuckles, which had dried and turned black, and their original appearance was almost invisible, were scattered at his feet.

Touching his neck, Davos could even feel that when the sword blade just passed by, it was less than an inch away from his throat.

But he was unscathed.

"One must always look forward, Davos Seaworth Ser."

Corleone's voice sounded, his tone as calm as ever, but every word struck Davos' heart.

"Sometimes, clinging to the past is like clinging to the wreckage of a sunken ship, and you will be dragged with you to the bottom of the ocean."

As he spoke, he paused and his eyes fell on the scattered severed fingers. "Loyalty is a virtue, but blind obedience is stupidity. Loyalty to a monarch who has lost his true heart is the stupidest of stupidities."

Hearing this, Davos sat stiffly on the ground.

His hands moved unconsciously, trying to pick up those severed fingers, which were a symbol of his loyalty and the price for his transformation from a smuggler to a knight.

But the hand stopped in mid-air, trembling, unable to reach out.

Seeing this, Corleone stopped looking at him, turned around and walked towards the dungeon door. The sound of footsteps was clear and steady.

"If you want to see this boy die on Dragonstone."

"Or if he is kept in captivity like an animal waiting to be slaughtered and is dragged out to draw a tube when he needs blood... then just go ahead and report him."

Having said this, he had already walked to the heavy oak door and pressed it with his hand.

At this moment.

Suddenly, deafening shouts of death rang out from all directions!

Thinking that his whereabouts were exposed, Corleone instinctively clenched the hilt of the sword at his waist, but immediately frowned and realized that something was wrong.

A cry of death of this magnitude must have been made by at least hundreds or thousands of people at the same time. It would be impossible for such a large formation to be launched just to capture one person!

"Bang!!!"

Just when Corleone was confused, there was a loud noise, and the heavy cell door was violently pushed open from the outside!

Immediately afterwards, a Dragonstone soldier covered in blood stumbled in, his helmet tilted and a look of fear on his face.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" he roared, "A large number of enemy warships have landed. Anyone who can still stand up will follow me out to meet the enemy...

His words stopped abruptly.

Because he saw Corleone standing behind the door.

The two Xiahou Dun looked at Yang Jian, their eyes facing each other.

The soldier was stunned.

Obviously, he did not expect to see a neatly dressed man in the dungeon who looked nothing like a prisoner.

Corleone smiled at him.

That smile was elegant and calm, even with a hint of apology, as if to say, "What a coincidence, you're in the wrong place."

Then, before the opponent could react, he drew his sword, stabbed forward, and pulled it out, all in one go.

The soldier's throat was instantly penetrated.

His eyes widened, and he covered his neck in vain with both hands. Blood spurted out from between his fingers. Then he fell softly, hit the door frame, and slid to the ground.

The whole process takes less than three seconds.

Corleone didn't even take a second look at the corpse, and quickly went up to observe. At this time, footsteps and shouts of death were heard in the corridor outside. It was obvious that the Dragonstone army was in chaos due to the arrival of the enemy.

He thought for a moment, then immediately closed the still shaking cell door, bolted the door, then squatted down and groped for the soldier's body with great skill.

Then he stood up, walked quickly to Gendry's cell door, rummaged through it quickly by the firelight, and quickly identified the correct one.

Click.

Corleone opened the door, tilted his head towards Gendry, who was still in a daze, and joked, "It seems that our escape plan has to be advanced."

"Illegitimate child."

1