Before the Battle of the Arbor, "little birds" from King's Landing occasionally flapped their wings over the bitter cold Iron Islands, gathering sporadic information, but they never amounted to much.
However, since that naval battle shocked the Seven Kingdoms, everything quietly changed.
On the docks of Pyke, under the castle walls, in fishermen's taverns, and even around the remote salt pans, the number of seemingly insignificant beggars, urchins, and peddlers suddenly increased. Their eyes were shifty, their ears always pricked, permeating the texture of the Iron Islands as silently as growing moss.
These abnormal movements did not escape Euron Greyjoy's eyes. He clearly sensed that the "Spider" beneath the Red Keep had turned more of his attention to this previously overlooked northern archipelago.
"Lisa, Victoria," Euron ordered in the quiet of the Ghost Tower. "The 'sparrows' on the island seem a bit too noisy. Find out which ones are truly looking for food, and which ones... are wearing collars (Varys's little birds)."
After the assassin Victoria Daniels failed to kill Euron and was subsequently hired, her first task was to assist Lisa in clearing out the little birds on the island.
The Iron Islands harbor no idlers!
Handmaiden Lisa silently accepted the command. She began to use her established intelligence network and keen observation to patrol every corner of Pyke quietly. However, this task was far beyond what human effort alone could achieve. The decisive factor was the holographic map deep in Euron's consciousness, visible only to him.
He periodically sank his consciousness into the map function of the [One Piece System]. Cold blue dots represented the Ironborn under his rule, while abrupt, constantly moving red dots clearly marked every spy with hidden agendas. Their movement paths and gathering spots were laid bare on the map.
Lisa's human investigation combined perfectly with the System's precise positioning, and a silent "Purge and Convert" plan unfolded quietly.
Lisa would pinpoint targets based on Euron's guidance. Victoria Daniels, with her agile skills, would execute the captures.
For the insignificant or uncontrollable little birds, a cold dagger or an accidental "slip into the water" was the end; they vanished silently like crushed bugs.
But for others who were more valuable, or whose eyes held a glint of the desire to survive rather than absolute fanaticism, a different fate awaited.
What awaited them might be Euron's personal "recruitment," Maester Qyburn's mind-altering potions, or Shadowbinder Evelyn's whispers that touched the depths of the soul.
Coercion, bribery, even magic—the goal was singular: pry open their mouths, sever their connection to King's Landing, and quietly slip the collar back onto their old master's neck.
Gradually, under the shadows of Pyke, the flow of information began to change direction. Some messages still traveled to King's Landing, but their content gradually morphed into what Euron Greyjoy wanted Varys to see.
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Another plan that had stagnated for a long time also saw new progress.
Half a month ago, in a room of the Ghost Tower overlooking the cold sea, Lisa shed her cautious disguise for the first time. The string that had been pulled tight for so long finally relaxed under Euron Greyjoy's daily machinations and unfathomable "tolerance." She took a deep breath, exhaling the heavy past accumulated over years, and slowly recounted her origins to this young but vastly ambitious master.
Her voice was calm but contained bone-deep coldness. "My father was once a successful spice merchant in Qarth. His caravans crossed the Red Waste, his ships sailed between the ports of the Jade Sea. His wealth grew daily, and his prestige was enough to let him touch that supreme position—a seat among the 'Thirteen'."
She paused, a sharp glint of pain flashing in her eyes. "But his success attracted greedy gazes. The 'Ancient Guild of Spicers'—that behemoth lurking in Qarth's shadows—could not tolerate a new challenger. They orchestrated an 'accident.' A great fire swallowed his warehouses and his life. Afterward, in the name of law and debt, they effortlessly swallowed all our family assets. My mother, my little brother... they died miserably in our home. And I..." A bitter curve touched her lips. "...went from a merchant heiress to a slave bought and sold at will. The Ancient Guild of Spicers owns over twelve hundred ships; their tentacles reach across the known world. My hatred is as small as dust before them."
Lisa didn't detail how her father burned to death, didn't say how her mother was violated by rough mercenaries in their home, didn't mention her three-year-old brother thrown from a four-story building to become meat paste. She passed over all the death and betrayal in a sentence. But this buried hatred was one of the deep reasons she chose to serve Euron—she needed a force powerful enough and daring enough to challenge the old order.
Blood debts must be paid in blood!
In the quiet chamber of the Ghost Tower, the fire crackled, and the eternal waves murmured outside. Lisa stood before Euron, laying out her background—a past soaked in spice and blood—in its entirety.
Euron listened quietly, fingers unconsciously tapping the chair back. There was no overflowing pity in his eyes, only cold calculation and weighing like a deep pool. When her last syllable fell, the weight of silence filled the air.
After a moment, he spoke slowly. His voice was low and steady, carrying undeniable power. "The sharpest blade of revenge is never another dagger, but replacement." His gaze fell on Lisa with tangible weight. "Since they crushed everything you had because of the authority of 'The Thirteen,' then the most thorough, elegant revenge is to make that seat... our own."
A smile with almost no curve appeared on his lips. "When we navigated the waterways of Qarth, I told you that if the opportunity arose, I would be very pleased to see a magnate flowing with the will of the Iron Islands appear on the throne of the City of Qarth." This "Qarth Thirteen Replacement Plan," hidden deep within his grand chessboard, finally surfaced clearly between them.
Lisa took a deep breath and nodded, her eyes becoming sharp and focused. "Yes, My Lord. From that moment, I began constructing the blueprint you described in my mind—how to support a magnate to influence and eventually control Qarth. After returning to Pyke, I used every information network we could touch to find a key figure. Someone capable, and with enough reason to help us realize this plan."
She was not without leverage. She had an uncle, also exiled by the family's collapse, who harbored a bone-deep hatred for the Ancient Guild of Spicers. He knew all the explicit and implicit rules of Qarth and was the ideal proxy to execute this plan.
The core of the plan was clear: Euron would mobilize the wealth accumulated by the Iron Islands through war and trade, and spare no necessary means—including precise trade strikes, pervasive intelligence infiltration, covert commercial sabotage, and even using Ironborn force in the shadows to raid rival guilds—to fully support Lisa's uncle in returning to the vortex of power in Qarth. Step by step, they would help him accumulate prestige and strength. The first milestone was to seize one of those thirteen chairs of ivory and gold.
"My uncle, Sisyphus Garfield, is on his way to the Iron Islands!"
"Good. I think we can reach a consensus."
This was far more than avenging Lisa.
It was Euron Greyjoy's restless ambition, reaching precisely and powerfully across the Narrow Sea for the first time, toward that ancient city-state ruled by merchants and dripping with wealth.
A "Magnate" absolutely loyal to him would bring strategic value within Qarth far greater than ten fleets patrolling the sea.
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