Just as Lynd was merging the third character template, far away in the castle of Summerhall, Nameria, who was processing documents in Lynd's study, suddenly noticed that the patterns on the surface of the Dragon Egg, which looked like blood vessels, were now glowing with a lava-like light.
The Redemption Sisters and Silent Monks responsible for guarding Nameria in the room also noticed this unusual situation; although they didn't know if it was good or bad, they instinctively moved to Nameria's side, protecting her behind them.
"Don't worry, it's nothing," Nameria gestured to everyone and stood up.
In just two or three months, her belly was already very noticeable; although she didn't need help walking, it already affected her movements.
She walked to the Dragon Egg, looked at the lava-like light continuously flashing on it, and then tried to reach out and touch the Dragon Egg.
She was prepared to be burned, but instead, her fingers felt a chill, as if this Dragon Egg, emitting a flame-like light, was actually a ball of ice.
However, this unusual situation did not last too long and soon ended; the attentive Nameria also noticed that there were a few more patterns on the Dragon Egg.
"Lynd! Something must have happened with Lynd to cause this," Nameria looked at the restored Dragon Egg, a smile appearing on her face, and said, "Although I don't know the exact situation, at least we can be sure that our Godsworn is still alive."
Everyone present smiled upon hearing this, and even the usually expressionless Silent Monks showed a hint of joy.
Although various affairs within the Summerhall territory had not suffered major problems due to Lynd's disappearance, thanks to proper handling, and external affairs were also flourishing, seemingly better than when Lynd was in Summerhall, everyone knew that this stable and prosperous scene was only temporary because no one could fully confirm that Lynd was dead.
But as time went on, and Lynd still didn't appear, the likelihood of Lynd's death increased, and the undercurrents hidden beneath this stable and prosperous scene would emerge; at that time, even with support from all sides, the Summerhall territory would surely fall into turmoil, and even her Tengshi Town would be affected.
The Dragon Egg's reaction undoubtedly indicated that Lynd was fine, which allowed Nameria, who had been tense for days, to finally relax.
"Should we publicize this, to let the territory know...?" Moose, who assisted Nameria in handling various government affairs, asked in a deep voice.
Nameria thought for a moment, shook her head, and a hint of disdainful smile appeared on her face, saying, "No need to spread it. Let those guys continue to jump. We'll deal with them after the Earl returns. We just need to prepare the replacement list in advance."
Upon hearing the order, Moose quickly understood what to do, and then, along with Baelon, the Chief of Intelligence, and Roso, the Blood Armor Commander, he continued to closely monitor those people in the territory according to Nameria's plan, while also searching for truly loyal replacements.
If Nameria's judgment that Lynd was still alive based on the Dragon Egg's reaction was merely a vague feeling, then a few days later, the Red Falcon letter from Bale Blackteas, captain of the Nightwalker, was concrete proof that Lynd was not only alive but had also subdued a sea dragon.
Almost on the same day she received the letter, Nameria immediately convened a meeting in the Redemption Town's council hall, gathering all callable officials from Summerhall.
At the meeting, Nameria immediately displayed Bale Blackteas's letter, informing everyone that Lynd was alive and had subdued a sea dragon, and that the Miracle Fleet's strength would become unrivaled with the sea dragon's addition.
Then, before the officials could cheer, Nameria had Moose announce a list. This list involved various departments throughout the Summerhall territory, with over a hundred people on it. Although their positions were not very high, they were all, more or less, involved in aspects such as people's livelihoods, economy, and military.
Whenever Moose read out a name, a Blood Armor would take away the corresponding person. Some tried to resist and were immediately killed on the spot by several Blood Armor and guard members. Everyone knew what mistakes these taken-away people had committed; while they felt sorrow for them, they also celebrated their own ability to uphold their loyalty and not do anything to betray the interests of Summerhall.
The more than one hundred names on the list at the meeting were only one-third of the entire list; the remaining two-thirds of the people on the list were not in Redemption Town.
However, none of these people managed to escape, because almost on the same day the Redemption Town meeting ended, they were separately taken away by the guard, Blood Armor, and Chosen Legion.
This internal purge of officials in Summerhall and Tengshi Town involved over three hundred people, affecting more than two thousand others in total. Only a portion of these people were sent to the mines as miners, while the rest were directly executed. No one's plea to Nameria was effective.
Among those executed were some wandering knights and free cavalry, but more were second, third, or illegitimate sons from various noble families of different territories. Their executions, more or less, offended these territorial nobles, but Nameria didn't care; she simply wanted to use this opportunity to show everyone what fate awaited traitors.
This also made the Seven Kingdoms re-evaluate Nameria, Lynd's only lover. Her ruthless and cruel methods shocked everyone, and for a time, the title of "Bloody Countess" fell upon her, giving her her first concrete label.
However, while everyone was shocked by Nameria's cruel methods, they were also surprised by her political acumen.
In any other territory, the dismissal of hundreds of officials, large and small, would certainly cause severe turmoil within the territory, and might even lead to the collapse of order and descent into civil strife.
But Summerhall was different; while hundreds of officials were dismissed, hundreds more were immediately promoted to fill the vacancies.
Although there would be some unusual turbulence when new officials took over new positions, these disturbances quickly subsided in just half a day, and all levels of municipal administration in Summerhall returned to normal operation.
At this moment, those great lords also realized the superiority of the various political reforms Lynd implemented in his territory. They also wanted to implement these reforms in their own territories, but they soon found that their territories simply couldn't do it because, in their territories, noble relations were like a vast net tightly enmeshing the entire territory's power structure. Any change would trigger a tremor throughout the noble network, and at that time, such tremors might even backfire on those in power.
Therefore, the various reforms implemented by Lynd were only suitable for a newly emerging great lord like him, who built from scratch, and were not suitable for the ancient noble systems of other kingdoms, whose family legacies spanned at least several hundred years.
However, at this moment, for those great lords, the most noteworthy point was Lynd, not just because Lynd was still alive, but more so because Lynd had subdued a dragon. This was the first time someone had re-subdued a dragon since the last Targaryen dragon died over a hundred years ago; although it was a sea dragon, it was still a dragon.
At this time, rumors about Lynd's identity reappeared in various cities of the Seven Kingdoms. The incident of the Summerhall ghost bestowing a Dragon Egg was mentioned again, and they all believed that Lynd was not a hunter's son at all, but probably a descendant of a Targaryen bastard. This also explained why Lynd, despite not having the traditional silver hair and purple eyes of the Targaryen, could still subdue a dragon.
Because the Targaryen had examples of intermarriage with the great nobles of the Seven Kingdoms in the past, and now, the bloodlines of families like Baratheon, Stark, Lannister, etc., all contain a portion of Targaryen blood. Even Robert Baratheon, who hated the Targaryen so much, still had to admit that his bloodline contained the dragon family's blood.
Therefore, even if Lynd did not possess the physical characteristics of the Targaryen, he could still possess the Targaryen bloodline.
However, all speculations were less real than the dragon itself. Currently, news about Lynd subduing a sea dragon only came from a letter from Lynd's subordinate. People had not truly seen the tamed sea dragon, so some still expressed doubt, even believing that Nameria's intention was to mislead the outside world, making them think Lynd was still alive, and taking the opportunity to resolve internal unstable factors, so that when news of Lynd's death spread in the future, the political situation within Summerhall could be maintained.
Regardless of the external speculations, their focus would ultimately converge on Miracle Port, because whether Lynd subdued the sea dragon or killed the sea dragon, he would eventually return to Miracle Port.
Thus, the eyes and ears of various noble factions in the Seven Kingdoms were dispatched to Miracle Port, staring at the docks every day, waiting for Lynd's appearance. Some even disguised themselves as fishermen, cruising the seas outside Miracle Port to ensure they could confirm Lynd's return at the first opportunity.
While Miracle Port was experiencing a rising tide of change, Lynd's fleet was still slowly sailing on the sea towards Miracle Port.
A journey that should have taken three days stubbornly took six days to reach the waters near Corpse Tooth; it would only take half a day at most to reach Miracle Port, of course, that's under normal circumstances, but under the current abnormal circumstances, Bale estimated it would still take more than a day to reach their destination.
It wasn't that Bale Blackteas deliberately slowed down and delayed; it was because he and his ships simply couldn't sail fast. Forget about unfurling sails, even paddling with manpower was impossible.
Because the storm that appeared out of nowhere surrounding them was too strong; the waves it stirred up could easily capsize any intruding ships, and the storm consistently enveloped them without any sign of dissipating. Its movement was also abnormally slow, so Bale's fleet could only move with the storm, not daring to overstep its bounds.
However, this situation began to change as they reached the inshore waters of Corpse Tooth, approaching the coastline of Redsoil Watch.
It's unclear whether it was due to the storm itself or if the high mountains near the coastline played a blocking role, but the dark clouds in the sky seemed to have thinned considerably, the lightning within the clouds also decreased accordingly, and the surrounding storm was weakening. The most obvious characteristic was that the waves on the sea surface were much smaller.
As night fell, the oil lamp in the Nightwalker's captain's cabin suddenly lit up.
Since Lynd entered the captain's cabin and had Bale guard outside, the oil lamp inside the captain's cabin had never been lit. No one knew what Lynd was doing inside, but now that the oil lamp was lit, it seemed to be some kind of signal.
Almost simultaneously with the lighting of the oil lamp, the dark clouds in the sky completely dispersed, the surrounding storm subsided, and the sea surface returned to a calm state.
Watching the change in the surrounding weather, Bale stood dumbfounded for a while, then knocked on the captain's cabin door and asked, "Earl, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Lynd quickly replied, then asked, "Where are we now?"
Bale replied, "In the waters near Corpse Tooth. We should reach Miracle Port in about half a day."
"Let's rest on the sea for the night, and we'll continue our journey tomorrow," Lynd instructed.
Sailing in the storm for these past few days had left everyone mentally and physically exhausted and in need of rest, so upon hearing Lynd's command, Bale immediately agreed, "Yes, my lord."
After speaking, he went to arrange for the rest and watch duties for the crew on each of his ships.
Inside the cabin, Lynd had already taken off his sweat-soaked clothes, picked up the water jug on the table, and without caring whether it was wine or water, gulped it all down to quench his dry throat.
The third character template, which was the last character template of the Golden Finger, had been completely integrated into Lynd's body. Unlike the previous two template integrations, which were mostly reflected in memory fusion, this time the character template integration involved both memory fusion and physical transformation simultaneously. This meant that during these past few days, he had once again completed a Dragon Feast Ritual, and it was a several-times-enhanced version of the Dragon Feast Ritual.
The reason for this was that the character template he integrated was extraordinary, or perhaps using the term "character template" is not quite appropriate; "divine template" would be more accurate, because the character template he integrated was a deity, an important figure from a game in his previous life: the Firstborn of the Sun, the Nameless King, the Dragon Slayer God of War.
Perhaps precisely because this was a deity, during the integration process, Lynd not only gained his memories, but his body also underwent a transformation under the influence of the Golden Finger template to adapt to the side effects of the divine memories. At the same time, this laid the physical foundation for him to be able to unleash the Nameless King's various abilities and skills in the future.
The changes in physical quality go without saying. The most special change was that the Dragon Feast Dragon Rune in his heart also transformed, becoming a Nameless King Rune that still bore the shadow of the Dragon Feast Dragon Rune but was mixed with various mysterious runes.
Lynd temporarily didn't know what this Nameless King Rune was for, but from his situation after waking up, this rune, at the very least, had made a leap in the speed of absorbing subtle magic power from the surrounding air, much faster than the previous Dragon Feast Dragon Rune, basically on par with the absorption speed of the Dragon Rune on the Lost Knight's Greatsword.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"