The azure sea was very calm, with only the slow, steady beat of drums and the soft splashing of wooden oars to be heard.
Viserys quite liked the ocean; back then, Queen Rhaella had first taken them by boat to Dragonstone, and after "Stormborn" Daenerys was born there, they had subsequently fled to Braavos.
Viserys liked the free and unfettered feeling of the open sea; after leaving Braavos, he had moved to the Andalos, avoiding the bumpy life of crossing the Narrow Sea a dozen times to change Free Cities as he once had.
Inside the cabin, Viserys carefully examined his silver scale armor; he summoned forth azure water droplets, which were directly absorbed by the armor.
The silver scale armor was on par with the pitch-black valyrian steel armor that Crows Eye would obtain in the future.
One from a Fire Mage Dragonlord of Valyria, the other from a Water Sorcerer Prince of the rhoynar, both were crystallizations of top-tier craftsmanship.
Other city-states, developed as they were now, could hardly match the prosperity and advanced technology of those two great civilizations of the past.
Although Viserys had not yet obtained a valyrian steel weapon, this set of armor was even more incomparable.
Ancient noble houses at best possessed only one or two pieces of valyrian steel equipment, whereas Viserys had a full four pieces.
If that old bastard Tywin knew that Viserys was churning out equipment as if it were wholesale goods, he would likely be angered to death.
The silver of the scale armor was like flowing, brilliant mithril, surpassing all silver-plated armor, and it was as light and comfortable to wear as a thin silk shirt.
The edges of the scales were a brighter crimson-silver, emitting a glow when in motion.
The metal was adorned with patterns—swirls, ancient rhoynar circular scripts, and mysterious symbols, most representing water plants, great rivers, turtles, crabs, and the like, all etched into the steel.
The relics of Greygalis were somewhat similar to valyrian steel; they had been tempered through magic, making them light yet hard.
Viserys knew that the red steel armor of Tywin Lannister and the green enameled armor of Renly Baratheon were both exorbitantly expensive, with highly skilled craftsmen fusing the color into the metal itself.
But their armor, in the face of the silver scale armor, could only be considered worthless trash.
Mundane armor could not be mentioned in the same breath as epic armor.
Such items only appeared a thousand years ago, when the rhoynar civilization was still prosperous and flourishing. Yet even back then, the value of this thing was worth an entire kingdom.
Viserys lifted the silver armor and pondered carefully: "Blood for fire, fire for blood, is the true essence of Valyria magic. And the magic of the rhoynar is blood and water, water and blood."
One type of magic was based on sacrificial exchange, while the other was based on mutual prosperity.
Fire Magic consumed the self, while Water Magic relied more on the water of the great rivers.
Viserys placed his palm on the silver armor; even in the sweltering heat of summer, the silver armor naturally carried a cool, jade-like sensation.
The silver armor of the rhoynar did not sink in water and was impervious to fire, making it the best reliance for Viserys's expeditions.
Of course, this performance was not absolute; if a hundred-headed dragon were to attack fiercely, no armor could withstand it.
The armor was durable, but the person inside the armor might not be.
The greater the power, the more perfect the use of the armor.
Inside the ruins of the Narrow Sea, there was not only fire, but likely Firewyrms, toxic gases, sulfurous mists, and even various creatures mutated by Blood Magic.
Through his study of the armor, Viserys felt that hardness and lightness were only the most superficial features of the silver scale armor; its essence lay in awakening the magic array through magic.
The silver armor of Greygalis acted like a large power bank, accelerating the gathering of Water Elements; it had the effect of having an affinity with Water Elements and shielding against flames, while the wielder also needed to consume a large amount of Water Elements to fully activate the armor.
It was not just the armor; the entire set of rhoynar holy gear shared this characteristic.
Viserys boldly guessed that the valyrian steel armor of the Valyrian Dragonlords should operate on the same principle. A magic array for gathering Fire Elements, serving the true Dragonlords.
Viserys had also prepared those gemstones; the Unsullied (Squires gifted by Odro) who would land with him in the future, and the fugitive ship-slaves (mostly from Volantis), would also carry such gemstones.
Sapphires storing Water Elements might perhaps hold out for a while.
Morroq was a very good fleet commander, and they advanced rapidly along the coastline.
The only places that might cause trouble were the Stepstones and the Disputed Lands; there were no masters there, just messy dens of thieves.
The good thing was that the Ironborn had been beaten severely by the iron throne, and the Ironborn were much more docile now; otherwise, they might have encountered that bunch of crazed bandits.
Through the window, Viserys could see the Stepstones in the distance; this place had always been a pirate's lair, with no true king ruling it for long.
Only two of the large islands in the archipelago had names: Bloodstone Island and Grey Gallows Island.
The northern Bloodstone Island was now considered a shared island where pirates and smugglers could come together to shelter from storms, though it leaned more towards Tyrosh.
And the southern Grey Gallows Island was the private lair of the Prince of the Narrow Sea, Saan.
"Your Majesty, we are about to reach the Stepstones; I will go and make contact with them." Morroq entered the cabin and reported to him.
"Good." Viserys nodded.
The ships patrolled the coastline rapidly, and Morroq hoisted his own special flag.
Viserys first saw Tyrosh, a fortress city protected by high walls, located at the northeasternmost end of the Stepstones.
Tyrosh was much larger than Sunspear and was described as an extremely noisy city.
Tyrosh had black inner walls, like the Black Walls of Volantis, but the Black Walls of Tyrosh were far less spectacular than those of Volantis.
The ships easily passed through Tyrosh, and then the island chain of Bloodstone Island, even acquiring many supplies.
Viserys observed the rocky islands of the island chain, the reefs, the winding waterways, and the eroded sea stacks.
This place was still not suitable for a large fleet to charge through, but rather more suited to the more flexible and smaller fleets of pirates.
The island waterways here had once been blocked by wooden palisades or clogged by sunken ships, with the few remaining open waters used for collecting taxes.
The only people Morroq encountered who wanted to board and take a look were from Grey Gallows Island—customs officials of the Lysene smuggler Saan—and Morroq unhurriedly invited them aboard.
The Lysene ships rushed over from the island, their flags depicting beautiful, unclothed maidens.
Viserys even saw that Saan's flagship was docked here; the Valyrian was a large rowing warship. Her hull was painted with colorful oil paint, and she had three hundred oars. Another large ship seemed to be called the Son of the Mother.
"I heard you've made a fortune recently, Lord Morroq?" the Lysene asked, with several slender and dangerous Lysene swordsmen following behind him.
Pure Lysene people often had fair skin, expressive eyes, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
Morroq shrugged casually, "What fortune? Just doing some small business; I certainly don't earn as much as Prince Saan."
"That's not necessarily true; Prince Saan says you've recently hooked into a monopoly smuggling route from Myr to the Andalos, selling arms and firepowder, earning a fortune." The Lysene said enviously.
"Just a little pocket money. Where is Saan?" Morroq said, then had the crew bring out their carefully packaged grape brandy.
"The Prince is still in Lys; he always says this place is a shithole and not as beautiful as the scenery in Lys."
In order to cover up the purpose of their journey, Morroq's ships were also stocked with many barrels of grape brandy, which he took the opportunity to sell.
"What is this?" the Lysene asked.
"Grape brandy, good stuff that I'm preparing to promote to Volantis," Morroq said mysteriously.
"Good stuff; I've heard that the sour wines of the Andalos all taste like horse piss."
"This flavor is even better than the pear brandy of Tyrosh; it's really not bad." But the Lysene couldn't help tasting some, and his eyes lit up; the taste was indeed different. "I think you really are going to make a fortune, Lord Morroq."
"Thanks to everyone's blessing. Sea business is too risky; I'm planning to do something safer, selling wine as a merchant."
"So now, can I pass?" Morroq asked.
"You are an old friend of the Prince; we will only charge you one-third of the tax."
"Many thanks." Morroq had his men send the smuggler's customs official five more barrels of grape brandy; everyone had a bright future.
Thus, the fleet continued forward, crossing the island chain.
The only killing occurred when they anchored in the Disputed Lands; a pirate ship recklessly approached in the night and was slaughtered by the crew like cutting vegetables.
The next day, Viserys and the others sailed to the vicinity of the beautiful seaside city of Lys.
Lys was a small city built on rocks, surrounded by a sea with frequent storms.
But the island's climate was cool, with sufficient sunshine, fertile land, and an abundance of palm trees and fruit vegetation; the ocean was emerald green, with many schools of fish active.
"Lovely Lys." Viserys looked at Lys in the distance; for the sake of time, they did not stop in Lys.
Although Lys was a colony of Valyria, it had long since gone its own way following the destruction of Valyria, and those governors were not happy to have a new master over their heads.
If one wanted true governance, it would still require blood and fire.
Back during the Doom of Valyria, some Dragonlords existed in Tyrosh or Lys, but coups followed, and these Dragonlords and their dragons were killed by the people of the Free Cities.
The ships sailed for a long time, as the distance between Lys and Volantis was quite far.
Fortunately, the weather was kind, with not many obstacles on the journey.
When Viserys saw the majestic city, he knew that Valyria was not far off.
The proud Volantis, the eldest daughter of Valyria, the Queen of the Rhoyne River, and the mistress of the Summer Sea.
The city of Volantis occupied the entire mouth of the Rhoyne River, extending from both sides of the riverbank to the inland hills and swamps, like a pair of thick, moist lips, rich and ripe to the point of decadence.
The Volantenes were keen to boast that they could sink all hundred islands of Braavos into their deep-water port.
"The eldest daughter of Valyria." "The failed successor of Valyria."
Viserys's fleet replenished food and fresh water in Volantis, and they anchored at the port on the west bank of the Rhoyne River.
Countless sailors, slaves, and merchants would land there, and all kinds of taverns, inns, and brothels were prepared precisely for them.
The wealthy old city of Volantis was located on the east bank, but this side did not welcome mercenaries, barbarians, or out-of-town bumpkins.
The west city and the east city were connected by a long bridge; along the roadside in the center of the arched bridge were many iron spikes, where the hands of many thieves and pickpockets were chopped off and hung, along with the heads of runaway slaves.
Because there were so many ships in Volantis, Viserys's fleet was completely inconspicuous.
The western docks had ships from all over the world; riverboats and seagoing vessels crowded the large and small docks, busy loading and unloading cargo.
There were warships, whalers, and trading galleys; there were large sailing ships and small sailing ships, flat-bottomed boats, large flat-bottomed barges, longships, and swan ships.
There were ships from Lys, Tyrosh, and Pentos, Qarth spice ships as large as palaces, and ships from Tolos, Yunkai, and the Basilisk Isles.
"I'll go arrange for supplies and contact merchants." Morroq went ashore to arrange these things; in addition, he also went to contact familiar Volantenes to facilitate opening up sales channels for the grape brandy.
It was still very uncomfortable for a smuggler to become a proper wine salesman.
"Alright, I'll go ashore and take a look too." Viserys said.
The smell of Volantis at the southern harbor was also surprisingly foul, suspended in the humid and hot air, so intense and choking, yet omnipresent.
It was not just the scent of fish, flowers, and elephant dung, but also mixed with some sweet, some rough, and some decaying, rotten odors.
Viserys had never encountered such a hot and humid, massive city.
Viserys rode in a dwarf elephant carriage with skin like dirty snow, strolling around the city of Volantis.
Viserys followed the local customs; Volantene nobles and foreign captains could only travel by carriage when going out, and the Triarchs even went the whole year without touching dust, never setting foot on the ground.
The elephant carriage driver shouted loudly, driving away the travelers and slaves blocking the way.
The slaves all had tattoos: some had their whole faces tattooed into blue feather masks, some had a lightning bolt tattooed from their forehead down to their chin, some had leopard spots, a coin, a skull, or a water pitcher, etc., tattooed on one cheek.
What attracted Viserys the most was the wonder of the Black Walls, but unfortunately, it was too far away, in the old city on the east bank.
Ordinary people were not allowed to enter the inner city within the Black Walls; the Black Walls were an elliptical wall two hundred feet high, built of black stones fused together.
The wall was extremely thick, enough for six four-horse carriages to travel side by side.
The inhabitants within the Black Walls called themselves the "Old Blood," because their ancestors could be traced back to the era of Old Valyria.
Unless invited by the residents living inside, outsiders, free men, or foreigners were not allowed to enter within the Black Walls.
The bustling docks of Volantis had not yet shown signs of decline, but the slightly peripheral districts already appeared very decadent.
Some of the small riverside bridges over the small tributaries flowing into the Rhoyne River were decayed and broken, their wooden planks creaking, which sounded quite frightening.
And the fortress guarding the northern river channel was left with only a dilapidated gate.
"This is truly a case of'seeing is believing'—the facade is there, but the substance is gone." Viserys thought to himself. "Braavos looks more prosperous than Volantis."
Volantis sent out its entire army, but later suffered a crushing defeat.
And the people of Braavos were smarter; war never touched their home.
Bare-bottomed children screamed and scurried through the alleys of Braavos, assassins hooked their fingers around their sword hilts and wandered outside taverns, and stooped, tattooed slaves ran errands like cockroaches at the behest of their masters.
The wars of centuries ago had drastically reduced the city's population, and many districts had gradually become desolate, reverting to swampy land by the water.
This was the beautiful Volantis, the city of fountains and flowers.
Now, half of the fountains had no water, and half of the pools were dried up or had become stagnant ponds. Flowering vines, however, had occupied every crack in the walls and walkways, and small trees had taken root on the walls of abandoned shops or temples that had lost their ceilings.
"This is a city that has never recovered." Viserys thought to himself.
Once the ships were packed full again, the grape brandy unloaded, and fresh water, food, large fish, and ice loaded on, the new journey could be completed.
With Morroq's glib tongue and salesmanship, coupled with the high quality of the grape brandy itself and the considerable profit, this batch of wine was successfully sold.
There were still many rich guys in Volantis who didn't lack this bit of money.
Thus, the ships set sail again, and Viserys bought quite a lot of aquatic products at the fish market, many of which contained Water Elements.
The supplies in Volantis were abundant, not inferior to Braavos.
After leaving Volantis, the fleet headed continuously towards the southeast; when the fleet saw the red clouds in the sky, a gloomy red light illuminated the northeast of the sky, the color of a blood bruise.
And when they saw smoke beginning to rise from the reefs below.
The seawater here began to smoke, and the Valyrian volcanoes within seemed to still be burning with fire.
The ancient ruins of the Narrow Sea had arrived.
Morroq already had a hint of nervousness; although this was a great adventure, the rumors of the Doom and the curse of the ruins were still chilling.
Viserys smelled the red Valyrian wind carrying the scent of ash and sulfur, and the black wind drove them to sail toward that long-destroyed coastline.