hree days later, the hall at Hardhome, or rather, all of Hardhome, was a scene of lively festivity. Many people gathered around the bonfires, eating meat and drinking, thoroughly enjoying themselves!
In the hall, everyone was toasting Marco. Barrels upon barrels of ale and fruit wine were constantly opened, and quickly drunk. This low-alcohol content drink was like water here, unable to withstand the Free Folk's boisterous drinking!
Watching the Free Folk, who became uninhibited after drinking, Marco felt a great sense of responsibility. These so-called "Free Folk" had no rules or order, doing whatever they pleased based on personal preference. Moreover, each of them was arrogant and self-important, looking down on others!
Especially the Free Folk from the Frozen Coast, who were even more barbaric and crude. Cannibalistic tribes were ridiculously numerous, and almost everyone still retained the habit of cannibalism.
The Cave Dwellers from Frostfang were backward and vulgar, similar to the primitive people on Earth. The Thenn, who had some traces of civilization, were even more arrogant, and also prone to cannibalism. The Raider Clans were even worse! They simply took whatever they liked by force. In the past few days, they had given Brynden and his companions a real headache!
Therefore, Marco had been selecting suitable personnel to form a security management team these days. It was the same as before; he would only keep some of the young and strong who were willing to stay here. The old, weak, women, and children would all be sent to Skagos Island. However, this time, Marco also possessed a new "Artifact" gifted by the system.
"My Lord! I'd like to propose another toast to you!"
A gentle female voice suddenly pulled Marco back from his thoughts. Turning his head, he found it was Val, Mance Rayder's "sister-in-law".
"My Lord! I'll drink a toast to you as well!"
Another, somewhat boisterous, female voice chimed in. This time it was "Doghead" Harma.
These two strong women seemed to be natural rivals, always trying to one-up each other. They had countless arguments during their time at Hardhome, though they didn't dare to get too out of hand in front of Marco.
Marco raised his cup and reciprocated the toasts to both of them. His special-made fruit wine had long been drained by these wildling leaders; now they were drinking ordinary ale.
Over the past few days, these two wildling women had been subtly probing those around them about Marco. The new leaders among the wildlings were also constantly asking the Northwolf Guard about Marco's wife and lovers.
Previously, these arrogant Free Folk leaders wouldn't have cared about the affairs of southern nobles. But now, they naturally assumed Marco was a southern noble, so they all hoped to curry favor with him to gain the most benefits for themselves.
However, Marco wasn't very interested in the affairs of these two strong women and the other chieftains, especially the two of them. These two beauties had started "stealing men" at the age of 16, and had more experience in certain areas than Marco, a modern man!
All things considered, Moonshadow is still the best. She hasn't picked up any of the bad habits of the women in this world!
Thinking of this, Marco unconsciously grabbed his little wife's hand and smiled at her. His handsome face and that bewitching smile left the two wildling women mesmerized.
Marco didn't pay them any more attention and began to consider his next move. He had essentially completed the first step of his plan. Once he had completely assimilated these wildlings, they would provide him with a continuous supply of soldiers in the future.
At this moment, Marco opened the suddenly-appearing quest log. A faint smile played on his lips as he silently thought:
"This world will eventually undergo a change. Are 'you' ready?"
The Dividing Line of Captain Jon Snow
After Jon Snow beheaded a wildling raider with a single stroke, he slumped onto the deck, panting. They had been ambushed today. The wildling raiders had appeared suddenly, attacking Jon Snow's warship with a wolf pack tactic.
Led by Jon Snow, the more than 50 Stoneborn Warriors fought desperately, barely managing to eliminate the raiders who had boarded the ship.
Originally, Jon Snow and his men were only out on patrol and a test voyage. They hadn't expected to encounter a storm. Due to the inexperienced sailors, they had been brought to the edge of the Haunted Forest.
Jon Snow sheathed his longsword and ordered everyone to begin clearing the battlefield. Just then, something strange happened. The corpses on the ground suddenly began to twitch without any warning.
"Watch out!"
A voice suddenly echoed in Jon Snow's mind, and he instinctively dodged.
"Swoosh!"
An ice spear instantly sliced across his cheek, hitting a twitching corpse not far away. The frigid energy instantly turned the corpse into a ball of ice.
"White Walkers are attacking! Use obsidian weapons!"
A Stoneborn Warrior shouted as he drew a dagger from his waist and tossed it to Jon Snow.
Several warriors charged towards the ship's cabin, seemingly to retrieve weapons. Although surprised, Jon Snow fled towards the cabin entrance with the other warriors.
The wights, now fully reanimated, began to swarm Jon Snow and his companions. Fighting and retreating, they finally managed to hold their ground at the entrance to the cramped hold.
Several warriors, who had been the first to descend into the hold to grab weapons, now brought forward a pile of spears and daggers. Under Jon Snow's command, they formed three rows of sharp spear formations, successfully repelling the charging wights!
Taking advantage of this moment, Jon Snow pulled the Stoneborn warrior who had tossed him the dagger closer and demanded,
"Skarr! How did you know these things are afraid of obsidian? Aren't they just legends? What's going on?"
"Captain Jon! Have you forgotten? Lord Marco told your Duke about this a long time ago, but you didn't believe him. My brother is in the Snow Bear Guard, so naturally, I know these things. We..."
"BOOM!"
Before Skarr could finish speaking, several loud explosions interrupted him. The deck near the hold's entrance was ripped apart by several enormous gashes, as if some terrifying force had struck.
The wights howled as they poured through the gaps, instantly filling the hold entrance with both men and wights. Fortunately, the Stoneborn warriors were cooperating well, preventing the wights from breaking through their defenses.
Jon Snow's obsidian dagger thrust out with a savage force, plunging directly into the eye socket of a Wight. The Wight howled and fell backwards, quickly turning into a dried-up husk.
Jon Snow pulled Skarr towards him and demanded, "What weaknesses do these things have? Tell me quickly! Or we'll all die, hurry!"
Skarr was stunned by the question, and shook his head, stammering, "I! My brother also said they fear fire, no, no, no! I don't mean setting fire! Oh! Right! Right! My brother said they're all controlled by White Walkers! We can..."
"'Northwolf Guard'! Attack! Break the enemy! Advance!"
Jon Snow didn't wait for him to finish, and immediately issued the order to the surrounding warriors.
"Hoo-ah!"
The warriors thrust their spears forward, impaling the wights swarming the entrance. A second wave of warriors followed, spearing the wights in front of them. Working together, they quickly reached the deck.
Jon Snow quietly instructed the five crossbowmen beside him:
"Wait! Follow my orders and attack the targets. Make sure you kill them with one shot!"
"Yes, Captain Jon!"...
The five men around him replied quietly.
The warriors had just reached the deck when two ice spears hurtled towards them. The two soldiers in the front row raised their shields in time to block the attack. Fortunately, the obsidian-studded shields successfully deflected the ice spears, but the strange energy of the spears still left the shield-bearing warriors frostbitten.
Jon Snow seized the opportunity, pointing his sword to the right and shouting,
"Attack!"
Five specially made obsidian arrows sped towards the direction Jon Snow's sword was pointing.
Two White Walkers howled and turned into a shower of ice shards. Jon Snow looked around, but found that the wights had not fallen. He immediately shouted to the warriors around him:
"Watch out! There's still..."
Jon Snow immediately spun around and threw an obsidian dagger behind him. A wight that had jumped off the bow of the ship, preparing to attack, was hit in the eye by the dagger and instantly shattered into ice shards!
As soon as this wight was struck, the wights that had been desperately attacking seemed to lose their souls and all fell to the ground!
Seeing this situation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Jon Snow quickly ordered:
"Count the numbers, check the weapons, and see how many are still usable! This weapon seems to be useless after being used a few times! Hurry!"
Everyone took the order and began to check if there were any surviving companions on the ship. Jon Snow had them group into groups of five, just in case.
About five minutes later, the bodies on the deck were thrown into the sea. Someone had suggested that each corpse be stabbed with an obsidian dagger, but Jon Snow had refused, citing the need to conserve weapons.
Because Jon Snow had discovered during the recent battle that these obsidian weapons lost their effectiveness after repeated use, either breaking or simply failing to kill the wights. To ensure their supply for later, Jon Snow had to forgo the suggestion.
"Captain Jon! Come and take a look, we need your decision!"
A voice suddenly interrupted Jon Snow's thoughts. He had just discussed the next plan with the helmsman and was still considering how to return to the island.
A warrior ran up to Jon Snow and said to him:
"Captain! We found a live person at the stern, come and take a look! It's a woman!"
Jon Snow, hearing this, said curiously:
"A woman? And still alive? Could she have come aboard with those Raider Clans?"
After speaking, he walked towards the deck room with the messenger. The deck room at the stern was in disarray. Stoneborn Warriors were carrying out corpses. Several warriors were gathered around a woman, their spears pointed at her neck.
Jon Snow walked over and saw that the woman was about fifteen or sixteen years old. She had crystal-white hair and her deep blue eyes were filled with fear and helplessness, as if she was worried about some terrible misfortune!
Jon Snow asked a sturdy young Stoneborn warrior:
"Sgorr! You haven't done anything to her, have you? Did you find out anything?"
The young man named Sgorr replied:
"Captain Jon! We are not like those 'Free Folk' who like to steal people. We wouldn't do anything like that. She seems to be deaf and mute! We can't communicate with her!"
Jon Snow patted his shoulder and gave a apologetic smile, saying:
"Alright! That's good. I'll give it a try!"
Jon Snow approached the woman, finding her somewhat petite. The custom-made fur clothing she wore seemed a bit oversized, and her delicate features, combined with skin as white as snow, made her appear like a beautiful noblewoman.
Jon Snow involuntarily looked into her eyes. A certain light seemed to shimmer within her deep blue eyes, causing Jon Snow to unconsciously become lost in them.
The necklace on his chest suddenly turned cold, immediately bringing Jon Snow back to his senses. He felt embarrassed and said to his mother in his mind:
"Sorry, Mother!"
Lyanna Stark, however, didn't respond to him, instead silently sensing the girl in front of them, feeling a unique aura emanating from her.
Seeing that his mother didn't reply, Jon Snow could only ask the girl in the Common Tongue:
"I am the master of this ship! What is your name? Can you understand me?"
Seeing that the girl didn't answer, he repeated the question in broken Old Tongue. During his time on Skagos Island, Jon Snow had also taken the time to learn some Old Tongue to facilitate communication with the other clan warriors.
After a patient exchange, the girl seemed to be moved by Jon Snow's persistence and began to respond with nods and shakes of her head.
Since he couldn't learn the girl's name, Jon Snow referred to her as "Lan Xue," and she seemed to like the name.
And so, the girl was left on the ship. Jon Snow planned to take her to Skagos Island first and then discuss with the three chieftains how to arrange for her.
"Alright, Lan Xue! You'll live here from now on! There are two cabins on the deck, and I'm right next door. If you need anything, ring this little bell three times, like this! Then I'll come! Get some rest!"
That night, Jon Snow instructed Lan Xue, and after speaking, he opened the door and walked out, leaving the white-haired, blue-eyed girl staring blankly at him.
After Jon Snow went out, several people gathered around him, chattering and asking him questions. Skarr spoke first:
"Hey, Captain Jon! Why didn't you stay inside? Aren't people from your side fond of girls like that? Although she's not as beautiful as our Stoneborn girls, she should meet your standards! Look, Lord... my brother said that the girls from your side are mostly small and delicate, unlike ours!"
Jon Snow punched him in the chest, both annoyed and amused, and cursed, "Get lost! Don't talk nonsense. Lan Xue can understand. Go patrol!"
"Yes, Captain!"
The men chuckled and dispersed, accepting the order.
Jon Snow watched them go, shook his head, and returned to his room.
Meanwhile, far from the ships, in a certain stretch of the sea, several corpses floating on the surface began to tremble violently, suddenly opening their ice-blue eyes.