After leaving Bello Town, Lynd changed his clothes and equipment in a dense forest, taking out the Dragonslayer Ornstein's golden lion armor and dragon-slaying spear from a box and putting them on.
As the last snap on the leg armor was tightened and locked, and the lion-head helmet was donned, Lynd had already transformed into the Dragonslayer Ornstein of the Ice and Fire World.
Because the design of this golden lion armor was more complex than that of the fallen knight armor, every armor component and hanging plate was personally crafted by Tob Mott, using the best steel from the forge.
It is said that during the forging of this set of armor, Moroa also participated in a restricted area, adding some black magic from the Ice and Fire World, and Tob also incorporated some gold using Kohor's forging techniques, which is why the armor's exterior, in addition to its truly golden color, also featured some mysterious black and red patterns.
Although Moroa claimed that the power of black magic had been infused into the armor, Lynd knew very well that this set of armor had no magical aura, so the black magic power Moroa spoke of was not the kind of magic he could perceive.
To Lynd, those black and red patterns were more like imaginary creations, and since they did not affect the armor's overall aesthetics or defensive capabilities, Lynd did not pay too much attention to them.
Lynd had only two objectives for this trip to Essos: the first was naturally to retrieve his fallen knight armor from Braavos; as for how to retrieve it, he hadn't thought it through yet and would decide once he arrived.
The other, more important objective, was to personally understand the situation in the Disputed Lands, how far the Dothraki's war had progressed, and what the Three City States' plans were.
Although the Miracle Merchant Guild of the Three City States had been collecting relevant intelligence from various city-states before this, due to communication issues, the intelligence content was not very detailed.
Furthermore, the Disputed Lands were full of savage Dothraki cavalry, and it was very dangerous for the guild's intelligence personnel to leave the city to collect information in the wild.
For Lynd, every intelligence officer of the guild was extremely valuable and could not be lost, so before they were sent out, Baelon would repeatedly emphasize that they must collect intelligence while ensuring their safety, which led to almost no intelligence from the Disputed Lands.
Without sufficient intelligence, it was impossible to determine the right time or formulate an appropriate plan.
Therefore, while using the transportation of island immigrants to the Stepstones as a cover to send Chosen Legion soldiers disguised as immigrants to various islands in the Stepstones, Lynd also personally came to Essos to understand the situation here.
The first place Lynd went was Lys, because compared to the other two cities, Lys, located overseas, was the least affected and best reflected the Three City States' current attitude towards the Disputed Lands.
However, what he didn't expect was that the day before his ship arrived in Lys, Lys suddenly blockaded its port; apart from ships transporting various grains, other ships were temporarily not allowed to land in Lys.
It is said that Lys did this to welcome a delegation from a certain place; the exact origin of the delegation was unknown, but judging from the importance Lys placed on it, even blockading the port, this delegation was very important to Lys.
Since it was unclear how long Lys would blockade the port, Lynd did not wait or go ashore, but instead diverted to Bello Town to first understand the Dothraki in the Disputed Lands.
After putting on his armor, Lynd mounted his steed; this tall black horse was not Black Wind, but a descendant of Nameria's steed, Moon Maiden, as Black Wind's physique was too conspicuous and riding him would quickly lead to being recognized, thus losing the purpose of the disguise.
This black horse was currently one of the relatively ordinary among Moon Maiden's many descendants, but its endurance and speed were the strongest of all descendants.
Subsequently, he rode his warhorse, leading a packhorse carrying tents and other luggage, and headed north towards Myr along the Valyrian Road.
When the Valyrian Freehold still existed, the Disputed Lands could be said to be one of the most prosperous areas within the entire Valyrian controlled territory, because it was the most important trade hub between Essos and Westeros, with nearly eighty percent or more of the trade between the two continents passing through here.
Because of this, Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh at that time far surpassed other Free Trade City States in terms of prosperity.
To better control this region, Valyria not only carried out large-scale immigration to these three castles but also built a city in the central part of the Disputed Lands and appointed a governor specifically to rule the area.
But with the Doom of Valyria, Valyria fell, and the Disputed Lands quickly plunged into war.
The Three City States struck first, uniting to attack the city whose name was not even recorded; that city was powerless to resist, and the then governor, knowing he was doomed, set the entire city ablaze, turning it into ruins before committing suicide.
Although most of the city's residents escaped, they were quickly captured by the armies of the Three City States waiting outside.
The vast majority of Valyrians joined Lys, which is why Lys possesses the purest Valyrian bloodline.
Because no one managed to capture the governor and obtain legitimate rule over the Disputed Lands from him, the Three City States refused to acknowledge each other, leading to centuries of conflict.
During these centuries of conflict among the Three City States, there was once a brief period of unification, but this period of unification did not come from the Three City States, but from Volantis, who claimed to be the heir of Valyria.
However, this period of unification was too short; when Volantis attempted to attack Tyrosh to achieve the most complete unification of the Disputed Lands, the other Free City, along with the Storm King of Westeros and the Targaryen family on Dragonstone, united to support the besieged Tyrosh, eventually driving Volantis out of the Disputed Lands, and the conquered Myr and Lys regained their freedom.
It was precisely because of this war that the relationship between the Three City States of the Disputed Lands and Volantis has always been poor, and to this day, the ports of the Three City States refuse to allow Volantis ships to dock.
When Lynd decided to act in the Disputed Lands, he thoroughly studied these materials, even spending a fortune to collect first-hand information about that war from Volantis.
For Lynd, Volantis was his best reference; if he wanted to take the Disputed Lands, he needed to avoid the various mistakes Volantis made back then.
Due to years of warfare, the Valyrian Road, paved with solid stones, was in disrepair, and the villages along the road, once bustling, were now like ruins; however, even as ruins, they still offered good shelter from wind and rain.
Especially for those severely wounded, a dilapidated house that could block out the wind and rain outside could absolutely be life-saving.
In an abandoned village in the central part of the Disputed Lands, Fenya, a merchant from Myr, had her subordinates move the injured into sheltered houses, then used firewood collected along the way to light a fire, and together with her subordinates, covered all the goods and other loot taken from the Dothraki camp with waterproof tarpaulins, setting up several concealed sentries around to guard against sneak attacks.
After repeatedly confirming that there were no issues, Fenya finally returned to the house where the bonfire was already lit.
"How are their injuries?" Fenya asked with a grim expression, looking at her subordinates lying by the fire.
"Very bad, they might not make it through the night," a subordinate said dejectedly, "If only we had the Seven Mystery Medicine..."
Fenya couldn't help but roll her eyes at her subordinate; she also wanted the Seven Mystery Medicine, but only a handful of people in all of Myr possessed it, and her small caravan was clearly not among them.
Fenya whispered to her slave, instructing, "Take good care of them, get them something to make them more comfortable; if we can't save them, at least let them pass without so much pain."
"Yes, master," the slave responded softly.
Fenya walked to the doorway again, looking at the pouring rain outside, her heart still uneasy.
Ever since Fenya inherited her father's caravan, she had worked tirelessly to support this struggling enterprise, pulling it back from the brink of bankruptcy and expanding its size twofold within a few years, developing it into a large caravan with dozens of carriages and three ships.
Her business philosophy had always been to prioritize stability, even if it meant earning a little less, she would absolutely not take risks.
But this time, she had no choice but to take a gamble, because more than a month ago, her ship was implicated in an armor smuggling case in Miracle Port.
It was well known that Summerhall in Westeros only sold weapons and strictly prohibited the sale of armor and other defensive gear; once caught, it was a serious crime, and anyone who understood Summerhall would not touch this taboo.
The Blood Armor in Miracle Port would also try every means to set up traps to lure those who did not follow the rules, then severely punish them to warn merchants with ulterior motives who had not yet acted; this was already public knowledge among merchants traveling to and from Miracle Port, everyone knew not to trust those who claimed to be able to procure armor.
However, her highly trusted captain, for some unknown reason, became hot-headed and got involved in an armor smuggling case, being intercepted directly at Bloodstone Island, with both the people and the goods caught; not only were everyone on the ship arrested, but the ship itself was also impounded.
This enormous loss wiped out all her hard-earned savings from the past few years, forcing her to accept a very dangerous task from Archon Patch: to deliver a batch of weapons to Shakokaao, who was currently fighting in the Disputed Lands.
Everyone knew the current situation in the Disputed Lands; not long ago, two Khals even led their troops to fight outside the city of Myr, causing so many casualties that Myr took three full days to clear all the bodies.
That battle, witnessed firsthand, made all Myr merchants trading in the Disputed Lands realize that leaving the city walls meant entering dangerous territory; therefore, almost all Myr caravans heading south preferred to pay the exorbitant Stepstones toll and take the safer sea route, unwilling to transport goods by land, no matter how high the price the employer offered, no one would risk leaving the protection of the city walls.
So when the various Myr caravans learned that Fenya had taken on the task of delivering goods to Shakokaao and walked out of Myr's city gate with her loyal subordinates, everyone believed that Fenya was certainly doomed this time.
In fact, it was exactly as those people expected; Shakokaao, the recipient, was overthrown by another Khal Zhego before he could even receive the weapons, and she and her caravan naturally fell into Khal Zhego's hands.
Originally, she thought she was certainly finished and would be sold as a slave to Slaver's Bay by the Dothraki, but Khal Zhego was assassinated that very night and ambushed by some unknown Khal, and she seized the opportunity to escape with her subordinates.
"You don't have to worry, it's already very good that we managed to escape from the Dothraki," the old man in the caravan said, seeing Fenya's worry, and came closer to comfort her, "And while escaping, not only did we bring our own goods, but we also robbed the Dothraki of a fortune; once we return to Myr and sell these things, we will still have made a profit."
"It's too early to say that," Fenya was not so optimistic; they were still in the Disputed Lands, and the Dothraki were still rampaging and fighting here, and they could encounter a Dothraki attack at any time.
Just as she was speaking, a cry came from beside the bonfire; two injured subordinates had not made it through the night and had just stopped breathing.
Seeing this scene, Fenya took a deep breath, walked out of the house, and began digging a pit in the rain; the others also walked out of the house to assist her.
Soon a pit was dug, and everyone placed the two deceased into the pit, but they did not fill it with soil, because there were still three severely wounded and unconscious people by the bonfire, and these three might also not make it through the night; they would be buried together after they died.
Fenya washed the mud off her body with rainwater, and after returning to the house, she took the hot soup handed to her by a subordinate and drank a mouthful to warm herself.
Because of the rain, night came earlier, and soon it was pitch black outside, and the rain outside did not stop, but rather intensified.
The remaining severely wounded also breathed their last when the sky outside completely darkened, and everyone buried their companions' bodies together.
Although five companions had died, everyone's emotions were still stable, even much better than before, because without the depressing emotions brought by the severely wounded, everyone's mood, after a brief period of sadness, returned to normal, and with the burden of severely wounded companions gone, they would travel much faster tomorrow.
Most of Fenya's subordinates had been working for the caravan since her father's time, and coupled with the excellent treatment in Fenya's caravan, such as the fact that the families of official employees would receive a pension after their death, etc., the loyalty of Fenya's caravan members was also very high.
Just like now, even when captured and fleeing in disarray, her subordinates still obeyed her commands and never thought of abandoning her and escaping alone with the goods.
It was precisely because of this that even when imprisoned by the Dothraki a few days ago, with shackles on her hands and neck, Fenya still did not give up hope and still believed she had a chance to turn things around.
At this moment, she not only had to consider the escape route but also the arrangements after returning to Myr, such as how to sell the weapons and loot recovered from the Dothraki, how to use the funds at hand to re-establish the caravan, and so on.
Sitting by the warm bonfire, she thought and thought, then fell into a deep sleep; she didn't know how much time had passed when a shove startled her awake from her dream, and then she saw the guard captain making a silencing gesture, the bonfire nearby had already been covered with earth, and everyone else had also stood up, nervously gripping their weapons, looking outside the door.
Outside the door at this moment, besides the sound of the downpour, there were faint sounds of hurried hoofbeats, sounding like hundreds of people.
A thought flashed through Fenya's mind, saying, "The Dothraki are catching up!"
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