The news of Lord of Summerhall Linde Terra unifying the Stepstones quickly spread throughout Westeros.
This event didn't cause much of a stir among the common people, as they didn't know where the Stepstones were, nor could they understand its importance.
However, for the lords and nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, the far-reaching impact of this event was comparable to Dorne's submission to the Iron Throne back then.
The Iron Throne had always placed great importance on the Stepstones, frequently dispatching fleets to clear out pirates.
The most recent instance was after the Iron Islands rebellion, when Stannis led the royal fleet to clear out the Iron Islands.
Although the Iron Throne declared a great victory, those who frequently traded in this sea knew that Stannis's ships merely cruised the waters of the Stepstones before returning, never engaging in a formal battle with the pirates of the Stepstones.
The reasons for this were, besides Stannis's extreme care for his fleet and his unwillingness to waste his men on pirate suppression, more importantly, the pirate alliance of the Stepstones was incredibly powerful, with both the number of ships and sailors far exceeding Stannis's royal fleet; regardless of victory or defeat, the royal fleet would suffer heavy losses.
Moreover, Stannis believed that pirates were endless and couldn't be completely eliminated; if one group was cleared out today, another would soon emerge, so there was no need to pay too much attention to them, only to ensure the Stepstones shipping lanes remained open and stable.
It was precisely for this reason that when Lynd spent a fortune to lease those islands of the Stepstones from the Iron Throne, Stannis, as the Master of Ships, only requested that the shipping lanes be kept stable and did not obstruct the lease agreement.
Because in Stannis's mind, even Daemon Targaryen, who rode a dragon and brought several Dragon Riders, couldn't unify the Stepstones, so Lynd would be even less likely to do so.
But the result completely exceeded his expectations; Lynd not only unified the Stepstones but did so perfectly, annihilating the pirate alliance's fleet at minimal cost, and even capturing the Tyrosh fleet, increasing his strength instead of decreasing it.
Furthermore, this unification was not merely a nominal unification after a conquest war, like Prince Daemon's; it was a true unification, where all the islands were firmly in his grasp, and facilities like towns and ports were established on them.
According to the collected intelligence, Lynd had stationed immigrants on all the islands of the Stepstones, built ports and villages, with defensive fortresses within the villages, constructed signal towers, and maintained armed fleets patrolling back and forth.
It's no exaggeration to say that the entire Stepstones had been forged into an impenetrable fortress by Lynd; no pirate could obtain any supplies from here, and as soon as they entered these waters, a signal tower would immediately report their presence, and the armed fleets from nearby islands would rush over at the first opportunity.
The armed fleet was not the most terrifying thing; the most terrifying was Lynd's Sea Dragon Glutton, which would periodically patrol the Stepstones waters, and once pirates encountered it, it would be a dead end, becoming its next meal.
It was precisely for this reason that a few months after Lynd unified the Stepstones, pirates had basically disappeared from the Stepstones.
For those who relied on maritime trade, this was undoubtedly good news, allowing them to safely navigate these most dangerous waters, but the bad news was that navigating here required paying a fixed fee based on the number and size of ships, with Miracle Merchant Guild members being exempt.
Therefore, those sea merchants who frequently needed to pass through the Stepstones would voluntarily join the Miracle Merchant Guild; although this still required paying a hefty annual fee, it was much more cost-effective than paying the Stepstones' transit fees, as this annual fee not only included the Stepstones' transit fees but also merchandise insurance fees, warehouse usage fees, and privileged discounts on various goods.
In short, due to the various benefits brought by the Miracle Merchant Guild, a large number of sea merchants actively applied to join, and the Miracle Merchant Guild's liaison offices and branch offices successively appeared in different city-states.
At the same time, the powerful nobles of Westeros also found that, imperceptibly, Lynd's territories had grown large enough to almost rival the Wardens of the Seven Kingdoms.
Moreover, Lynd's territories were not like those of the Wardens, where most control was nominal, and actual control was held by many lesser lords and even smaller local lords.
All of Lynd's territories, whether Summerhall, the Borderlands, the Dorne Sea, or the Stepstones, were firmly held in his own hands.
And not only did he control his own territories, but even those territories bordering his own were under his influence, such as Black Harbor, Green Valley City, and so on.
Throughout the history of Westeros, there had never been a lord with such strong control over his territories.
Many even thought they had discovered Lynd's weakness, believing that Lynd's stinginess in granting fiefs to loyal subordinates would inevitably lead to dissatisfaction among his nobles and knights, and that a little instigation could cause Lynd's subordinates to betray him.
Afterward, many indeed followed this line of thought, and while the effects had not yet manifested, a considerable amount of money was paid out; it seemed every official and general under Lynd was extremely greedy, demanding insatiably.
But for those with ulterior motives, this was a good thing; insatiable demands were far better than having no desires, and in their view, this at least indicated that Lynd's subordinates were not impregnable.
However, what they didn't expect was that the bribes they used to buy off officials and generals, once delivered to the recipients, were immediately transferred to Summerhall's finance department, recorded on the ledger, and at the end of the month, half of it would be returned as a reward to the submitter.
Before these officials and generals took office, they all had to undergo a loyalty trial at the Redemption Sanctuary; unless supernatural forces intervened to completely distortion their minds, it would be very difficult for these individuals to commit acts of betrayal.
Furthermore, Lynd encouraged them to accept overtures and bribes from various factions, provided they reported it afterward to the relevant departments, such as Baelon's intelligence department, Roso's Blood Armor, or the finance department, etc.
Through these baits, Lynd easily determined which lords and nobles harbored ill will towards him and could also anticipate their next moves.
After the unification of the Stepstones, many expected Lynd to make a big move, but surprisingly, months passed, and Lynd seemed content with the status quo, making no further moves.
Summerhall's territory was prosperous and peaceful, and even the army was rarely deployed.
Aside from the regular forces maintaining order and conducting periodic patrols, all other troops returned to the Army Camp; only the navy continuously replenished ships and sailors to the Stepstones, enhancing the overall strength of the Stepstones.
In the past two months, Lynd had rarely left the castle; even when he did, he mostly went to the restricted area in the mountains or played with his son at the horse farm in Redemption Town.
As for the affairs of the territory, they were all entrusted to his wife, Nameria; the officials of Summerhall's territory had grown accustomed to this, and all affairs of the entire territory were operating normally without any issues.
Just as everyone thought Lynd was recuperating in Summerhall Castle, an ordinary sailing merchant ship docked at Bello Town's pier, and Lynd, dressed as a mercenary, disembarked from the ship, leading a tall black warhorse and a pack horse.
Two large boxes were placed on the pack horse's back; one of these large boxes was very long, appearing to hold some kind of long polearm weapon, while the other was very large, emitting a metallic rubbing sound as the pack horse moved, sounding as if it contained many metal objects.
Bello Town is the most important and only port of the island city-state of Lys on Essos, with a Valyrian Road extending from the port, passing through the Disputed Lands, and crossing the Myr River directly to Myr.
Aside from some goods transported by sea from Lys, many goods also departed from Bello Town and were transported to various places via the Valyrian Road.
However, the Valyrian Road in the Disputed Lands has now been suspended because seven Dothraki Khals are roaming there, with a total of over sixty thousand people.
Among these Dothraki Khals, three Khals were hired by three Free City, originally intending to use these Dothraki to contend for the open gemstone mines.
However, four more Dothraki Khals were attracted by the gemstone mines and the wealth of the three Free City.
Afterward, for unknown reasons, the animosity between the seven Dothraki Khals ignited.
Subsequently, the seven Khals engaged in continuous skirmishes in this small Disputed Lands, completely forgetting their initial objective.
Defeating other Khals and annexing their Khals, instead, became the war objective of these Dothraki.
The Three City States also did not expect things to turn out this way; therefore, they had to postpone the gemstone mine struggle and instead recruit mercenaries from other places to guard their respective port towns in the Disputed Lands, because they clearly understood that once these seven Khals determined a winner and merged into one large Khal, the Dothraki would definitely plunder the Three City States to celebrate the birth of this powerful Khal.
The Hounds originally hired to serve them would now become vicious dogs that turned on their masters; the Three City States had to prepare in advance, recruiting a large number of people to garrison the towns they considered important, and Lys's Bello Town was one of them.
Now, the caravans in Bello Town were nowhere to be seen; there were only mercenaries from various parts of Essos and Unsullied purchased from Slaver's Bay.
Lynd's disguise made him look like a mercenary from Westeros; in Bello Town, people like him from across Across the Narrow Sea, while not numerous, were not few either.
No one in the town recognized Lynd, the newly crowned King of the Stepstones, except for one person: Jorah Mormont, the former Lord of Bear Island, who had renounced his title and escaped a death sentence almost a year ago.
"I thought I saw wrong, but it really is you, Lord Linde." As Lynd was about to leave Bello Town, Jorah Mormont, who had been following behind Lynd, quickly stepped forward, approached Lynd, and with a somewhat exaggerated expression of surprise, said.
Compared to the Big Bear who had achieved merit and was full of vigor during the rebellion, Jorah Mormont now looked much more haggard; his already sparse hair on top had completely fallen out, his unkempt beard grew wildly, and his old clothes and leather armor made him look more like a Beyond the Wall Wildling than a lord of a territory.
"Lord Jorah, long time no see." Lynd was not too surprised, because when he disembarked and passed through the town square, he had already seen Jorah Mormont discussing mercenary pay with a recruiting officer, and he also knew that Jorah Mormont had recognized him and was following him.
It's just that he seemed to be hesitating about something, not immediately stepping forward to greet him, but only after mustering his courage did he catch up.
"I presume Lord Linde has already heard about my situation?" Jorah was a bit embarrassed at this moment; according to his character, even if he recognized Lynd, he would have actively walked away and not contacted Lynd, because he was now truly down and out, so much so that he would inexplicably feel embarrassed when he saw people who knew him.
But due to necessity, he had to suppress this feeling of embarrassment and actively contact Lynd to see if he could gain any benefit.
"Yes, I heard about it, and it's still fresh in my memory." Lynd sized up Jorah and said, "Your incident caused me to lose an important subordinate; I find it hard not to remember."
"Ah?" Jorah was stunned, not understanding what Lynd was saying.
Lynd briefly explained, saying, "Daisy was recalled to Bear Island by Lady Maege to inherit the title of Countess of Bear Island."
Upon hearing this, Jorah's face showed shame; he wasn't ashamed because his actions caused Lynd to lose a capable subordinate, but because he realized that his actions had left Bear Island to be supported by a group of women, which made him feel ashamed.
"If you've come to me to ask me to intercede with Lord Eddard to pardon your death sentence, then you might be overestimating my influence." Lynd looked at Jorah's ashamed face, guessing his intentions, and said, "You should know Lord Eddard's character; even King Robert, who is as close as a brother to him, cannot sway his judgment."
"I know Eddard Stark's character is as cold as the ice of the Wall, showing no mercy to anyone who has made a mistake; I never hoped to return home." Jorah shook his head, then wanted to say something but looked troubled, not knowing how to express himself.
Lynd frowned at the squirming Jorah; based on his understanding of Jorah, he should be very straightforward.
However, Lynd quickly understood the purpose of Jorah's strong suppression of shame and active contact with him from his attire and state.
So, without confirming or waiting for Jorah to recover from his awkwardness, he directly took out a golden banknote exclusive to the Miracle Merchant Guild, tore off a sheet, and placed it in Jorah's hand, saying, "This golden banknote can be exchanged for two thousand gold dragons at any Miracle Merchant Guild; this money should alleviate your current predicament."
Having said that, without waiting for Jorah to come to his senses and thank him, he led his horse and walked towards the town exit.
Jorah held the golden banknote in his hand, his face flushed with shame and embarrassment, feeling that if there were a hole in the ground, he might immediately crawl into it.
He stood there for a good while before his complexion returned to normal, then carefully put the golden banknote into his pocket, turned, and walked towards the dock with his head down.
For him, although his heart still felt very uncomfortable, with this money, he and his wife could live comfortably in Lys for a while, and he wouldn't have to fight the Dothraki for such a small commission.
However, as he pondered how to best utilize this money, he was completely unaware that several groups of people had already set their sights on his wallet containing the golden banknote, closely following him as he walked towards the port dock.
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