The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 229: The Long Winter
As captured ghouls began to be displayed in various places, the entire kingdom was in shock. No one thought that the legendary monster actually existed in the world.

In the past few years, Westeros has been plagued by war. War zones like the Riverlands have been almost reduced to ashes in the war, and are full of suffering refugees. Many people have a feeling that the end of the world is coming. Now with the appearance of the White Walkers and their wight servants, the fire has been further fueled.

As a result, a bunch of doomsday theorists emerged in various places in the Riverlands. These people believed that the White Walkers were messengers of the old and new gods, and that they were the beings that brought liberation and freedom to the world. These fanatical doomsday theorists caused trouble in many places, but fortunately, the kingdom today is not limited to Westeros. The vast land of the East provides a way out for those who cannot survive. At present, all ports in Westeros are continuously sending bankrupts and refugees to the East.

However, as the doomsday theory became more and more popular, Hugo's reputation further increased. Against the backdrop of the invasion of the White Walkers, the God-favored Ones proved the existence of the White Walkers and led their troops north to fight against these monsters from legends. While bringing desperate news to people, he also brought hope. Many people wanted to see if he was the hero in the prophecy.

At the same time, as the civil war in the south gradually subsided, many knights and wealthy people also spontaneously went north to fight the enemy. They had long been tired of this endless civil war. Many of these people had participated in expeditions. Compared with the expedition era full of glory and wealth, today's civil war is full of ugliness and destruction. Hugo's call allowed them to see an opportunity to realize their own value and immerse themselves in the glory of the past.

The Church of the Seven also took action. Over the past decade or so, the church and Hugo had gradually developed a bond of interest. In addition, fighting the White Walkers was an excellent opportunity to increase their influence, so they quickly followed Hugo's pace. The Archbishop personally called on people to go north to fight the White Walkers, and sent the church's elite forces to participate in the war in his own name. The church's huge tentacles spread across the country also began to move, persuading the nobles and knights in the south to join the war against the White Walkers.

It was also by utilizing the intricate system of the Faith of the Seven that Hugo was able to spread the news of the White Walkers everywhere in a short period of time.

However, not everyone is brave. Some people choose to flee to the East, but these people usually do not move their families and industries there directly. Instead, they choose to stay in the East and wait and see how the war in Westeros will develop - after all, according to the legend, the White Walkers did not reach the other side of the Narrow Sea.

In Essos, Hugo's prestige reached its peak with the call to go north to fight the enemy. There were already many fanatical believers of the Seven Gods in the East. Now that they saw that Lord Hugo had been quietly working for more than ten years to fight against the White Walkers and had devoted his whole heart to assisting the kingdom, they regarded Duke Andas as the embodiment of virtue. A large number of fanatical believers flocked to various strongholds of the Eastern Church, wanting to join Hugo's army and join the ranks of fighting against the White Walkers. For a time, official residences everywhere were crowded with such fanatics.

However, what happened next cooled down everyone's enthusiasm for joining the war - the long winter was coming.

The arrival of the long winter seemed to happen overnight. The severe drop in temperature swept across the entire kingdom. In many places, there were green fields the day before, but only white fields the next day. The children who saw snow for the first time played happily, while the adults were worried because they knew very well what this meant - the crops could not be harvested and a period of hardship was coming.

The sudden long winter had greatly dampened people’s enthusiasm for joining the war. Under the pressure of survival, many people gave up the idea of ​​going north and focused on their families. The lords and bureaucrats in various places were even more troubled: because of the previous civil war, the food they had stored had been consumed in large quantities. Now that the temperature had dropped, crops in many places had been frozen to death or even buried. The food gap was getting bigger and bigger, but they could no longer think of any way to deal with it...

It was against this backdrop that various forces in the kingdom took action.

After the arrival of the long winter, King's Landing was covered in snow, but thanks to its southern location and dense population, there was not much snow in the throne city and the temperature was not too low. For many citizens, the current drop in temperature was just a matter of adding a piece of clothing.

But this is also thanks to the urban transformation in Robert's era. If the capital was still the slum filled with poor families and beggars, there would probably be hundreds of bodies dead in the streets on the first night of the long winter.

Although the long winter has arrived and there is still the threat from the White Walkers in the North, the people of King's Landing are not too panicked. The North is still far away. As for the long winter, this is the capital of Westeros. All the resources of the country will be gathered here, so there is no need to worry too much about starving to death or freezing to death.

However, even though the capital can remain unscathed for now, many people in the city still donated money and goods at the donation points set up by the Church of the Seven Gods, and many volunteers also set out on the road north to join Hugo's army gathered in White Harbor.

The once declining Alchemist Guild was also revived, with orders pouring in from the North and the Great Wall. Most of them came from Hugo. Over the years, the guild had relied on Hugo's orders to survive, and now that they had received so many orders, they naturally went all out. Not only did they recruit many new apprentices, they also purchased many houses to expand production.

As for the tense atmosphere before King's Landing, it has eased a lot now, which made many people breathe a sigh of relief. Against the backdrop of the invasion of the White Walkers, the two queens of the Red Castle finally stopped the military confrontation, and King's Landing was temporarily liberated from the tense atmosphere. At least the citizens don't have to worry about a sudden fight in King's Landing one day, and then the whole city will be plunged into fighting.

It is difficult to get Cersei to make concessions, but now under the threat of the White Walkers, even someone as politically savvy as Cersei realizes how disadvantageous it is to continue to be hostile to Margaery. So, after Margaery took the initiative to show goodwill to Cersei, Cersei also backed down and ended the confrontation between the two queens - but this was only temporary.

"Stannis is leading his army north? Has the guy finally gone mad? But this is really great."

In the Red Castle, Cersei was quite surprised when she heard the news from the Tyrosh Islands, but her surprise then turned into ecstasy. Things developed much more smoothly than she expected.

The Vale, Dorne, the River Reach, and most importantly, Hugo, all chose to lead their armies north, and now Stannis has joined them. This is undoubtedly the best development direction for her and the royal family.

Cersei used to have a headache about how to deal with these rebellious ministers, but now that they have chosen to go north to face those monsters, everything is no longer a problem.

Let these guys fight the White Walkers in the north. I will gather the army in the south. In the end, whether they win or the White Walkers win, it will be beneficial to me. When they are both defeated in the north, I can come out to reap the victory.

However, the next moment, Cersei's expression became bitter again, and the reason was very simple. She thought of Margaery. Until now, she had not been able to deal with that damn bitch, and King's Landing had not been completely controlled by her. But she believed that the opportunity would come sooner or later.
As Westeros was shaken by the threat of the White Walkers in the north, the locals on the Arbor, the southernmost island of the continent, encountered even greater trouble.

For the people of Qingting Island, these days were really hard. The Qingting Island fleet was almost wiped out in the Battle of the Strait, which dealt a fatal blow to the island. The Qingting Island fleet was composed of the backbone of Qingting Island, which led to many wealthy families on the island being in mourning.

However, what they didn't expect was that a more fatal blow was yet to come.

On a stormy night, Euron Greyjoy, the destroyer of the Arbor Fleet who had disappeared since the Battle of the Strait, led his fleet to the Arbor. They wiped out the Arbor's garrison at lightning speed and then began to attack the manors on the island. The pirates and ironmen team began to sweep the Arbor in an orderly manner, and they quickly captured one wine estate after another. The inland of the Arbor had been peaceful for a long time, and it could not hold out for long in the face of the attack of a large number of ironmen and pirates.

From these estates, Euron obtained a large amount of wine and wealth. The wealth of the Arbor was known to the world. The Ironmen and pirates never gave up their covetousness for the island, but the powerful Arbor fleet effectively defended their coasts. If the Arbor fleet had not been annihilated in the Narrow Sea this time, Euron might not have been able to enter the Arbor - if the fleet was still there, even if the Arbor people could not drive out the enemy, they would have enough time to strengthen their defenses and fight a tug-of-war with the invading enemy to see whether the Iron Throne reinforcements arrived first or the local area fell first.

Now, the Arbor is completely under Euron's control. His actions were so fast and his plans were so orderly that not a single ship or person escaped from the Arbor, and outsiders had no idea that the island had become Euron's territory.

Of course, if no wine ships docked for too long, the people of the Bay would eventually notice that something was wrong in the south.

Euron Greyjoy then divided the Arbor into fiefdoms, and the great lords and captains under his command all received corresponding lands. Even those who did not receive lands received a large amount of wealth and concubines, which made all of Euron's subordinates very satisfied.

This victory also quickly attracted more Ironmen from the Iron Islands, including many women. The long winter has arrived, and the Iron Islands, which already have barren land, are bound to face a severe famine. Joining Euron's fleet is undoubtedly the best choice for them now.

However, Euron then did something that puzzled all his men. He ordered a large-scale excavation on the Arbor, and the Ironborn and pirates became overseers, driving the Arbor people to complete the labor.

Under the high-intensity labor, many people from the Arbor died on the construction site, and many of the places Euron had to dig were grape fields with special soil. This made many newly appointed Ironborn lords extremely distressed. After all, these grapes represented wealth that could be passed down for generations - but this was Euron's order, and no matter how dissatisfied they were, everyone had to obey.

Fortunately, Euron soon found what he was looking for.

It was a huge black stone building.

When he saw the black stone building, Euron's eyes became even crazier. Yes, it was here. The guidance of the gods was correct, and the path I chose was possible.

However, if Euron wants to achieve his goal, he will need many, many blood sacrifices. That battle only showed him the location of this place, but in order to open the altar and enter it, more blood will be needed.

He thought of the nearest big city, which was very suitable. In his eyes, the city was as weak as a newborn baby. Moreover, he could find more knowledge there, and perhaps even more important things.…
Although the news of the White Walkers' southward migration had not yet reached the vast land east of the kingdom, the long winter had already made a profound impression on the local area. The sudden severe climate led to continuous fighting in Essos, and the war around the southern coast was also escalating. In the Great Grass Sea, as the environment deteriorated, the Dothraki tribe was forced to face the cold and storms they had never experienced before. A large number of Dothraki tribes also began to migrate south, and the place they were heading to was naturally the Slave Bay in the south.

The sudden arrival of so many Dothraki caught Daenerys off guard, but she quickly found a way to use them.

Thanks to the southern location of Slaver's Bay, the food production of Slaver's Bay and the Laza people was not greatly affected, which allowed Daenerys to use these people with ease. She transported some of these Dothraki tribes to New Ghis to join the siege of the island city-state, and sent others to Volantis to attack the declining city.

New Ghis and Volantis, one in the east and one in the west, formed the siege of Slaver's Bay by Qarth. If Daenerys wanted to break the siege, she had to take down these two city-states first. After realizing the threat of Qarth, Daenerys studied the situation nearby for a long time. This was the judgment she and her staff made after struggling for a long time.

However, they cannot be too hasty to take down these two city-states. Daenerys plans to use these two city-states as bait to lure the fleet of Qarth to come for support. Daenerys is not afraid that they will not come. After losing these two important strongholds, Qarth will have no focus if it wants to attack the Slaver's Bay. As long as these two city-states are taken, the siege of Daenerys will be completely bankrupt.

This is Khaleesi's conspiracy against Qarth. No matter what choice Qarth makes, Daenerys will be the winner.

While extending her two fists to hit people, Daenerys also implemented her new system in Slave Bay. After all, the future Slave Bay will be an important base for her westward expansion, and she must ensure stability here.

However, just as Daenerys' plan was progressing steadily, changes in the north made Daenerys alert.

"So, the Jogsnai are crossing the Mountains of Bones in large groups, and they say that there are demons chasing them?" Daenerys frowned as she looked at the scout in front of her.

"Yes, Khaleesi. I can't see the end of the Jogsnai I have seen. I'm afraid that all the states in the Skeleton Mountains have been destroyed by them. These guys will eat up every place they come to. I suspect that all the Jogsnai are migrating to the east."

The Dothraki scout said firmly, with a look of horror on his face. He witnessed the Jorgesnai people quickly and efficiently destroy several tribes and city-states along the way. Everything that the Dothraki warriors had been proud of was so ridiculous in front of these people.

Daenerys fell silent. These Jorgesnai came at the right time. They did not go south to the Yi Land as tradition allowed, but instead migrated westward. It seemed that the gods could not bear to see them idle.

At present, the amount of food consumed by these guys is probably an astronomical figure. They have to eat all the food in every place they go. The barrenness of the Great Grass Sea will definitely not support their continued migration to the west. These people will definitely come to the Slave Bay, and a war is likely to break out.

Moreover, Daenerys was also concerned about the "devil behind" mentioned by the people of Jugsnai. She had an inexplicable feeling that it was a very scary existence...
(End of this chapter)