However, what Linde hadn't expected was that bringing Glory with him this time would lead to an unexpected discovery.
He didn't know what effect or change Glory absorbing that chill would have, but he was very clear that this cracked Dragon Egg had undergone a transformation with the loss of that chill. The most obvious change was that the scaly patterns on the Dragon Egg's shell had become dull and lifeless, and looked somewhat like stone, far less dazzling than before.
"Could that rumor about the albino Shadow Lynx be true?" This made Linde ponder, wondering if the chill was the remnant of a dragon's soul within the Dragon Egg, and the absorption of the chill by the Glory lynx seemed to align with the old saying that albino Shadow Lynxes devour souls. This coincidence made it hard for him not to make connections.
However, now was not a good time to investigate whether Glory had changed. He re-covered the box's partition and did not take the Valyrian steel dagger with the dragonbone handle. After all, that dagger was too conspicuous, and taking it now would cause unnecessary trouble, especially drawing Littlefinger's attention, which would definitely be more detrimental than beneficial.
As for the Dragon Egg, although it had changed, it wasn't noticeable. Linde also left the other Valyrian era antiques untouched, putting them all back as they were. Then, he quietly left the warehouse by the same route, the entire process silent, without alarming anyone.
After leaving the warehouse, Linde, wanting to quickly check if Glory's body had any problems, did not stop on the way. Instead, he walked along the slums near the city wall, heading towards the Lion Gate.
Although passing directly through the tourney grounds would be a shorter route, that area was already crowded with people. The refugees and poor people from the surrounding slums had also gathered there to watch the excitement. Conversely, the slums where these people lived were much less crowded. The ground was a bit dirty, but it could save a lot of time.
When Linde arrived at the road exit of the slum outside the Lion Gate, preparing to turn towards the House Tyrell camp on Lion Hill, he saw the Lion Gate slightly ajar. Immediately after, several Lannister soldiers dressed in reddish-brown iron armor carried a person out of the gate.
Lannister, after all, mined gold, and their family's equipment and weapons for their soldiers far surpassed those of other families.
Other noble families, including his House Tyrell, mostly had their lowest-ranking soldiers equip themselves with their own gear and weapons. Only special units, like Linde's newly formed ten-man cavalry troop, received armor and weapons specially prepared by House Tyrell.
House Tyrell was slightly better, able to provide a few pieces of clothing, but other families not only had to prepare their own weapons and equipment, but even their food.
Compared to these noble families, Lannister's financial investment in their direct army was astonishing. Their family provided leather, iron, and steel armor based on the direct army's affiliation. Their weapons included iron-tipped spears, sharp iron swords, and so on. All equipment was paid for and forged by Lannister, so Lannister's direct army also appeared more disciplined than the armies of other families.
It was precisely because they possessed such a powerful army that even though King Robert Baratheon and King's Hand Jon Arryn strongly disliked Lannister, they still had to choose to intermarry with Lannister.
Now, two Lannister soldiers in iron armor were risking violating the city gate restrictions, making the City Watch guarding the gate open it, and then carrying someone out. This made Linde curious about who this person was.
It should be known that in Lannister, only the household guards of direct family members were qualified to wear iron armor. This meant that these two soldiers were from the retinues of Jaime Lannister or Tyrell Lannister. As for why Kevan Lannister wasn't mentioned, it was because Duke Tywin's brother was currently stationed at Casterly Rock and had not come to King's Landing.
Although the torches outside the Lion Gate were not very bright, Linde's superhuman vision could still make out that the person being carried by the two Lannister soldiers was a girl, a completely naked girl.
The two men carried the girl to a garbage heap not far from the Lion Gate, then directly threw her into the pile. After muttering a few words, they turned and left.
The girl thrown into the garbage heap did not move. Even when she fell onto the garbage, her body showed no protective reflex, looking as if she were dead.
After the Lannister soldiers left, some people from the surrounding slum gathered around the garbage heap. It seemed they were all interested in the corpse. It was well known that in Flea Bottom in King's Landing, a corpse could fetch a good price.
Linde wasn't interested in why the Lannister soldiers would throw a girl's corpse outside the city, so he didn't go closer and was about to leave.
But as he turned, he saw the corpse's hand move. It seemed the girl was still alive. Some people from the slum also saw this, but they apparently didn't intend to let the girl continue living. Someone picked up a stone from the ground and was about to smash it into the girl's head, to make her truly pass away.
If the girl had died, Linde might not have cared how the corpse was finally disposed of, but now that the girl was still alive, his basic morals from his previous life prevented him from ignoring it.
Moreover, more importantly, as the combat experience of the Peace Envoy fully integrated into him, he felt that his personality had become increasingly indifferent, especially regarding life. The only way to resolve this side effect was to use his thoughts and personality from his previous life to dilute the mental changes produced by the integration, so saving this girl would also benefit him.
Almost simultaneously with the decision to save the girl, Linde quickly rushed towards the ill-intentioned commoners, and before the stone in one of their hands could strike the girl, he landed several punches, knocking them to the ground.
Afterward, he ignored the fainted commoners and looked at the girl covered in wounds. After a slight hesitation, he picked her up and walked towards the House Tyrell camp.