The drumbeats blurred into a long, frenzied, ceaseless pounding as the Honeywine took flight, its prow cutting through the water, spray like milk.
On the deck, the sea breeze stirred Gendry's black hair as he looked at the undulating curve of land in the distance—the Disputed Lands. This fertile, chaotic place was now the best, and one of the few, options available.
"My young friend! The road ahead is difficult." Old Pirate Salaan of Lys approached Gendry, holding a cup of warmed wine.
"Decades ago, my ancestors raised their army here, and the Ninepenny Kings formed an alliance under the Crowned Tree!" The Old Pirate pointed in the direction of the Disputed Lands.
"It's a pity their attempt failed miserably in the Stepstones," Gendry said. Everyone was familiar with that story.
"The road ahead is uncertain! If you find yourselves unable to stay here, I'll keep a place for you on my smuggler's ship!"
"I'm immensely grateful!" Gendry said.
Gendry was sincerely thankful for the Old Pirate's support; operating in the Disputed Lands was impossible without fleet support. Moreover, the gunpowder herb, spices, and liquor they plundered in the future would need to be sold by the Lyseni. However, the Old Pirate's network was too vast, and Gendry couldn't fully trust him.
"I have only one piece of advice for you, Commander-in-Chief!" the Old Pirate said. "In the Disputed Lands, try to concentrate your strength into one point, otherwise, you'll make too many enemies and find it hard to establish a foothold!"
"I'll do my best!" Gendry also didn't want to provoke all of the Three Daughters, but liberating slaves and confronting the slavers of the Three Daughters was bound to be earth-shattering. This was a fundamental conflict, and perhaps when he grew stronger, even the Old Pirate of Lys would contend with him.
On the ships, the manor slaves who had been transporting gunpowder herb with the Wolf Pack Company threw off the wooden tags from their necks, casting them into the sea.
"Eleven!" "Twenty-two!" The slaves pulled off the tags from their necks. These wooden tags were shackles, a symbol of their slave lives. With the tags, they were slaves. Without the tags, they were even more miserable, runaway slaves hunted at will!
"Have you thought it through?" Gendry asked the group of slaves again.
"The worst outcome is death, but if we return to Firegrass Manor, that's a fate worse than death!" the slaves said.
"I cannot give you much; I can only give you freedom, and perhaps only temporarily!" Gendry stood before the slaves, his short black hair as firm as a mountain. He held up the slaves' wooden tags and then threw them forcefully into the sea. "Freedom! Freedom!"
The slaves shouted in unison, "Freedom!" "Freedom!"
The slaves half-knelt at Gendry's feet, "From now on, freedom will be our faith!"
The banner of the Wolf Pack Company fluttered, and the slaves cheered again. "Abolitionists! Abolitionists!"
This was the reality of Myr: when a Governor died, all his spheres of influence became zero, to be carved up by other Governors. If these Firegrass Manor slaves were taken over by other Governors, their fate would be no different from now, perhaps even worse than before.
The clamor of the slaves echoed across the sea, tears, excitement, or fire.
"I will lead them to face another destiny!" Gendry thought.
"Free Army!" Gendry looked at the slaves, people of all sorts and sizes. But now, now they were Gendry's most promising army. Mercenaries in the Disputed Lands were hard to keep loyal; freeing slaves was a better option.
The liberated slaves had nowhere else to go and could only follow him steadfastly. The slaves had not received special training, nor did they have warrior experience, but they were his army.
Salaan looked at Gendry. With the development of slavery, there were naturally those who sought to overthrow it or rebel. Most ended in failure; he wondered how far this young man would go.
The smuggler's ship transported Gendry and the Wolf Pack Company to the coastline. From there, they returned to Firegrass Manor with the gunpowder herb. Governor Kasu's influence melted like an iceberg, and Firegrass Manor now belonged to the Wolf Pack Company.
"First are our asset problems!" Qyburn said. "The wealth owned by the Wolf Pack Company, its real estate in Myr, and its deposits in the Myr bank will now be completely seized by the people of Myr. Fortunately, some of the gold is in the Wolf's Den, and there are also some deposits in the Iron Bank of Braavos."
"That's good!" Gendry thought for a moment. Mercenaries lived by the sword, earning much and spending quickly. The descendants of the Northmen were relatively frugal, so these surpluses remained.
"The Disputed Lands are not a good place! But we can only establish ourselves here!"
"What we can refer to is the story of the Ninepenny Kings from decades ago!" Qyburn said.
"I know them! They were defeated by Barristan, the Fearless Knight. Because Duncan the Tall and the short Duncan both died at Summerhall, a temporary commander was chosen." Gendry had heard the war story of the Ninepenny Kings, the Fearless Knight.
The Ninepenny Kings were like shining apes, but their strength was also considerable.
"The Ninepenny Kings were an alliance of pirates, merchants, Mercenaries, and exiled knights! Although they subsequently failed, their attempt was still viable: occupying the Disputed Lands, then Tyrosh, and the Stepstones. If not for Barristan turning the tide, the Band of Nine could have ignited war on the continent of Westeros!" Qyburn said.
"These regions are one! The Three Daughters, the Disputed Lands, the Stepstones, Dorne!" Gendry said. "Conquering those manors in the Disputed Lands is bound to offend the Three Daughters."
"And Dorne. The failure of the Ninepenny Kings also cannot be separated from Dorne siding with the iron throne!" Qyburn said. "When we are in the Disputed Lands, if we expand to the Stepstones in the future, we will also need to talk to the Dornish!"
Dorne was also extremely crucial. The Stepstones were the middle of the snake. Dorne and the Three Daughters were the tail of the snake. The long duration of the Stepstones war before Dorne submitted was because the iron throne would be attacked from both sides when attacking the Stepstones.
"That's troublesome!" Gendry thought for a moment. "Being with the Dornish is like dancing with scorpions, and what's more, because of the sack of King's Landing back then, they have always hated the iron throne and House Lannister."
"This is indeed a troublesome matter!" Qyburn sighed. "Your identity is also a thorny issue."
Entering the city after the fall of King's Landing, when the war was nearing its end, the seventeen-year-old Gregor and Ser Amory Lorch together massacred The Red Keep. Gregor burst into the royal nursery, smashing Prince Aegon, Rhaegar's infant son, against a wall, killing him. Before the Child's blood and brains had dried, Gregor raped and murdered Princess Elia Martell, Aegon's mother.
Although House Lannister was most cruel in this matter, House Martell resented both House Baratheon and House Lannister.