When the clamor of the banquet reached its peak, the sounds of clinking goblets, raucous laughter, and drunken singing merged into a dizzying wave. It was then that Euron quietly slipped away from this vortex of power.
He left not because of the endless toasts or the hypocritical pleasantries.
Tonight, he had urgent business to attend to—business far more critical than the King's wedding feast. A matter concerning two million Gold Dragons, enough to instantly empty the vaults of many great noble houses.
On the night he arrived in King's Landing, Lysa had sent crucial intelligence through encrypted channels: the massive loan from the Iron Bank of Braavos to the King of the Seven Kingdoms had been secretly loaded onto ships and had set sail, heading toward the designated waters.
Now, he had to go personally to ensure this colossal capital—which belonged to him, to the Iron Islands, and to the future bank—fell safely under his control.
---
The night was deep, the sea and sky like ink.
Standing in the guest room arranged by the Red Keep, the ring on Euron's left ring finger flashed faintly. He raised his hand and slashed at the void before him—the air split silently like silk cut by an invisible blade, revealing a fissure with glowing edges. He stepped in, and the spatial rift closed instantly behind him, as if it had never existed.
The next moment, Euron stood amidst the biting air currents a thousand meters high.
Beneath his feet was a roiling sea of clouds, spread out like an endless silver-grey carpet under the moonlight. The moment he landed, the massive "cloud island" beneath him moved slightly—it was the broad, platform-like back of the Millennium Dragon, Halcyon.
This ancient creature had been quietly following the fleet from Braavos to King's Landing, hidden deep within the high-altitude clouds beyond the sight of ordinary men, like a ghost sentinel patrolling the sky. Even if the vigilant crew of the Braavosi ships constantly scanned the horizon and low sky, they would never detect such a behemoth soaring silently above the cloud sea.
Euron leaned down, stroking Halcyon's feathers, tougher than the hardest steel yet gleaming like gems. Without words, the Millennium Dragon responded with a low hum like an ancient bell. Its massive wings stirred the airflow in the clouds, adjusting direction to glide silently toward the coordinates agreed upon in Lysa's secret letter.
In a patch of sea less than half a day's voyage from King's Landing, several jagged black reefs pierced the surface like the fangs of a giant beast, glimmering ominously under the moonlight.
This treacherous area was the designated location.
Beneath the seemingly calm ink-blue water, a shadow far larger than the reefs lay dormant.
It was a terrifying sea spider known as "Thousand-Eyes." Its mountain-like body was densely covered with hundreds of sickly green compound eyes, flickering like ghost fire in the gloomy depths, silently scanning everything around.
Floyd Greyjoy, tall and burly, sat steadily like a statue on the broad cephalothorax of "Thousand-Eyes." He was covered in rough leather armor typical of the Ironborn, cold seawater sliding down its patterns. Like his silent giant beast partner, he waited like the most patient hunter in the eternal darkness and silence for the signal Euron had promised from the sky.
Floyd trusted Euron completely, no matter how incredible Euron's words seemed. Just as before meeting Euron, he had never imagined a terrifying marine beast like "Thousand-Eyes" existed, never imagined such a beast would obey his command, and never imagined he would one day bear the surname "Greyjoy."
The Braavosi cargo ships had sailed into the designated waters, their heavy hulls breaking the ink-blue waves, oblivious to the impending fate.
At this moment, Euron, standing on Halcyon's back, moved his will. A thundercloud crackling with unstable arcs leaped from his right shoulder—it was the Soul-Soul Fruit creation, "Thundercloud" Thor.
It had no fixed form, seemingly a mix of pure lightning energy and violent will. Only amidst the churning electric light did a hideous face occasionally reveal itself, grinning with dazzling lightning-white teeth.
Thor let out a low roar like rolling thunder, then turned into a blazing bolt of lightning, plunging fiercely into the denser dark clouds above. Like a viper returning to its nest, it instantly merged with the entire cloud layer.
In an instant, countless pale electric snakes crisscrossed deep within the clouds. Low thunder rapidly accumulated into a deafening roar. The entire sky seemed to turn into a lightning furnace about to erupt, the aura of destruction locking firmly onto the tiny ships below.
Euron took out a strangely shaped fruit from his chest, seemingly formed from flowing air currents—the [Wind-Wind Fruit (One-Time Use)]. Without hesitation, he instantly triggered the power contained within.
The next moment, his figure blurred abruptly, as if merging into the air itself, transforming into formless yet irresistible gale winds shooting straight into the sky!
This artificially created wild will slammed into the clouds already restless because of Thor, becoming the last straw to break the balance.
Instantly, the weather changed drastically!
The sea surface, calm under the bright moon just moments ago, seemed to be stirred violently by an invisible giant hand.
Gentle sea breezes turned into shrieking hurricanes, tearing at everything; ink-black clouds rolled down like boiling soup; streaks of pale lightning, like the whips of giant gods, tore the sky, illuminating the sea in flashes; deafening thunder rolled in, as if giant drums were beating overhead.
The entire ocean was thoroughly enraged. Massive wave crests rose like mountains and collapsed with thunderous roars.
The three Braavosi ships were now like fragile leaves gripped in a giant's hand, ruthlessly tossed up and down amidst the violent waves. The hulls groaned tooth-achingly, as if ready to disintegrate under the might of heaven and earth at any moment.
Rain began to fall—first sparse cold drops pattering on the deck and waves, then becoming dense and violent with astonishing speed, finally turning into a grey curtain covering the world, as if all the water of the Narrow Sea were being poured down.
In this chaotic moment of storm, lightning, and thunder, several black shadows struggled to take flight from the violently pitching ships—ravens carrying high hopes, flapping their wet, heavy wings, trying to break through the storm and fly toward Braavos to deliver messages of distress or warning.
The wind roared, lightning danced like silver snakes, rain poured down, and ravens struggled to fly away—
These four agreed-upon elements appeared simultaneously, without a second's difference!
This was the signal Euron had told Floyd Greyjoy to wait for.
Lurking beneath the pitch-black water, Floyd drove "Thousand-Eyes" close to the three merchant ships swaying violently in the storm, silent as a ghost in the deep sea. His sharp gaze penetrated the murky water, quickly locking onto one ship with a special hidden mark on its hull.
Without further command, "Thousand-Eyes," connected to his mind, launched its attack abruptly!
Several sharp claws covered in hard shell, like giant scythes, stabbed out from the seabed with thunderous momentum, tearing precisely and violently at the marked hull. Under terrifying power, the wooden shell was sliced open easily like thin paper, exposing the hidden hold beneath.
Inside, exactly ten chests reinforced with heavy steel and emitting an enticing glow were stacked neatly—containing the suffocating two million Gold Dragons! The dozens of fully armed guards inside became laughable decorations before this sudden, devastating strike from below. Before they could even draw their weapons, they were tossed about by the violent shaking and bursting seawater.
"Thousand-Eyes'" massive mouthparts opened and closed, spewing out large amounts of silver-grey, sticky, and incredibly tough spider silk. Like living tentacles, the silk wrapped precisely around every iron chest. It also bound the guards who tried to resist or flee as firmly as insects, rendering their struggles futile as they watched themselves become white cocoons.
After completing all this, the deep-sea beast dragged its incredibly heavy "prey," turned flexibly, and quickly dived back into deeper, darker waters, away from the three merchant ships still struggling helplessly in the storm. Like a hunter completing a mission, it hid with its spoils at the edge of its lair, waiting quietly for the next instruction.
The moment "Thousand-Eyes" dragged its spoils into the deep, the gale in the sky controlled by Euron seemed injected with final madness, suddenly contracting and condensing!
Above the sea, a massive tornado vortex connecting the ink-black clouds and the roaring ocean formed brazenly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Like a berserk grey titan, it emitted a deafening roar, ruthlessly sucking everything around into it.
The three Braavosi merchant ships, already struggling like toys in the waves, were instantly captured by this irresistible force of nature. They were plucked easily from the sea like wood chips in a child's hand, spinning and rising in the dizzying vortex, thrown into the suffocating high altitude.
Then, as if possessing a malicious will, the tornado wrapped the three ships and hurled them viciously and precisely toward the area filled with jagged reefs!
BOOM!!! CRACK—SNAP—!!
A series of earth-shaking crashes drowned out the roar of the storm.
Wood chips, sails, broken keels, and screams covered by wind and thunder erupted among the reefs. The sturdy hulls disintegrated instantly like fragile eggshells under such violent impact, turning into countless fragments immediately swallowed by the subsequent giant waves, scattered without a trace.
With just one impact, the three merchant ships were shattered. Only the reefs dancing wildly in the storm and the murky seawater churning with sparse wood debris remained to tell of the thorough and clean destruction that had just occurred.
Far from the devastating reef area, a thick scent of blood spread in the gloomy seawater.
The dozens of unlucky guards wrapped tightly in spider silk, along with their leather and steel armor, became the incidental "reward" for "Thousand-Eyes" on this trip. The terrifying sea spider used its mouthparts, capable of chewing through reefs, to devour and crush them along with their armor, emitting terrible sounds of metal and bone being ground together, until finally, silence returned.
Floyd directed "Thousand-Eyes" to deftly slice open the tough spider silk wrapping the chests with its sharp claws. The moment the lids opened, even in the dim seabed, the light refracted by the mountains of Gold Dragons awoke like a slumbering treasure, almost dispelling the surrounding darkness, shining suffocatingly bright.
Euron's voice instructed Floyd, "Transport them safely back to Iron Wind Island and hand them to Lysa."
A simple, excited smile appeared on Floyd's rugged face as he nodded heavily.
Then, Euron's instruction came again, carrying undeniable seriousness. "Remember, not a word of this to anyone except your father, my uncle Baelor!"
Floyd's expression turned solemn as he responded deeply, "Understood, my Lord!"
Euron's tone softened slightly, laughing. "You are a Greyjoy too, connected by blood. No need for such formality. You are my cousin, after all. Hard work this time."
Hearing this, Floyd scratched his seaweed-draped head somewhat bashfully. Saying no more, he drove "Thousand-Eyes," dragging the ten heavy chests of gold, slowly turned, and stealthily headed toward the Iron Islands.
High in the sky where the storm was subsiding, the Millennium Dragon Halcyon had received Euron's order before the storm raged its fiercest and the tornado formed. It quietly hid above the higher clouds, then returned to Iron Wind Island alone.
The spatial rift closed soundlessly in the quiet guest room of the Red Keep, as if it had never appeared.
Euron stepped out, his body seemingly still carrying the cold moisture of distant seas and a faint scent of blood.
An "unfortunate" shipwreck had buried the Braavosi ships, leaving no witnesses.
A perfect heist. Two million Gold Dragons had quietly changed their surname to Greyjoy.
At this thought, a satisfied smile stretched uncontrollably across his lips.
Euron quickly stripped off his soaked clothes and changed into a dry, opulent outfit, covering all the slaughter and secrets beneath bright silk.
When Euron stepped back into the clamorous banquet hall, it was as if he had only left for a moment. No one knew that in this short time, a massive fortune capable of shaking the economy of the Seven Kingdoms had quietly changed hands.
Euron casually took a golden goblet filled with dark red wine from a waiter's tray, merging into the reveling crowd. He clinked cups with approaching nobles, laughing heartily.
"Lord Euron, where did you go just now? Penalty: three cups!"
"Haha, easy! To the King and Queen, cheers!"
Euron drank freely. The amber liquid swayed in the cup, reflecting the light deep in his eyes—a victor's light that only he understood.
This feast was truly worth celebrating now.