The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Cersei controls the situation in King's Landing, Mountain, you can't intimidate me.” Tyrion raised his head, but his confidence was clearly lacking. “The Tyrell family is Cersei's ally. I know the Prime Minister's people control the Red Keep's guard force.”

“The world is no longer the world you see, little devil.” The Mountain smiled contemptuously. “Cersei is no longer the Cersei in power in the Red Keep, that's Arya.”

“Arya?!” The little devil didn't react at all.

“Arya Stark.”

“Arya Stark?” The little devil's one eye darted around.

“Don't doubt my words, little devil. The world is rapidly changing. Arya Stark is a Faceless Man, she comes from the House of Black and White on the Isle of Gods in Braavos.”

The little devil looked up at the Mountain: “What you said confuses me, Lord Mountain.”

“Little devil, the Queen Cersei you know is Arya Stark, and Arya Stark is a Faceless Man! The kingship of King's Landing has long been lost. Arya and Jeyne control the Red Keep of King's Landing. Cersei and Jaime's family are already our prisoners. This is the truth of the matter, and also the truth of the Red Keep of King's Landing.”

The little devil was completely stunned!

“That skinny little girl who was jumping around in the Red Keep a few years ago has transformed into a Faceless Man that everyone talks about! Faceless Man, the world's top assassin! When the name is spoken, death descends!”

The little devil felt a chill run down his spine, as if ants were crawling on him.

In Varys's intelligence system, there was no information about Arya being a Faceless Man, nor was there any news that Arya was Cersei.

“Little devil, I guided Arya Stark to Braavos when I was in Harrenhal. After she returned from her studies in the House of Black and White, the first target she wanted to assassinate was Cersei. Cersei killed everyone and every animal in the Stark family in the Prime Minister's Tower, not even letting go of a cat.”

“...So...Cersei is actually dead...” The little devil heard his own voice muttering to himself.

Damn it, am I dreaming again?

The Faceless Men never fail. What's more, Cersei herself doesn't know any fighting skills. Among the Kingsguard in the Red Keep, besides Jaime, who else is loyal?

“Cersei is not dead. If you want her to die, I can release the raven immediately.”

“No!” The little devil said subconsciously. He realized that he seemed too eager to say 'no'. He and Cersei were enemies, and Cersei had no family feelings for him. She only wanted to put him to death.

“Little devil, after Arya replaced Cersei, she also took the time to go to Storm's End and kill Aegon Targaryen VI, the Golden Company's homeless Captain-General Harry Strickland, Aegon's Kingsguard Captain Ser Rolland Darke, the royal supervisor Sister Lemore, Grand Maester Pycelle, and of course, Jon Connington, the loyal Prime Minister of the Aegon royal family—he was imprisoned in the underground black prison by Arya and is still alive.”

The little devil's breathing suffocated!

After a long while, he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He stared at the Mountain, and after a long while, he suddenly sat down, sitting on the ground: Mountain, can I have some more wine, just a horn cup!” The little devil found that he only wanted to drink now.

A sense of frustration overwhelmed him! His heart was—in every way—not feeling good.

No one likes frustration, and the little devil doesn't like it either.

“Look what this is?” The Mountain took out a round banknote and handed it to the little devil.

The little devil glanced at it and didn't take it. He had no intention of caring about anything anymore. He was disheartened and disappointed, his ambition was shattered, and his fighting spirit collapsed.

He suddenly felt that everything in the world was boring, power, desire, conquest and glory, revenge and decency, everything vanished into thin air and was meaningless. —It turned out that everything he had done was in vain, destined to be a dream, a flower in the mirror and a moon in the water, which looked beautiful and within reach, but was actually destined to be empty.

The little devil became depressed, his fighting spirit was sinking, and he suddenly just wanted to drink and have prostitutes. He looked around, this was not a city-state, this was the deepest part of the Mountains of the Moon, there was no brothel he liked here. His body had a primitive reaction, and he strongly craved prostitutes.

“I'm a stupid guy, I can't help you with anything, Mountain. Let me go, or just let me stay here and graze goats for you. I don't eat much, or you can reward me with a woman from the Burned Men tribe to be my wife.”

“Okay!” The Mountain said, “Arianne, tie up the little devil.”

“As you command, my lord.”

Arianne struck and knocked down the little devil, and several shepherds from the Burned Men came to help and tied the little devil up tightly.

“Gag his mouth.”

A wad of torn cloth was stuffed into the little devil's mouth.

“Release the raven to the Red Keep, let Arya kill Jaime and Tommen, let Jeyne throw Cersei and Myrcella into the women's house, and let them please guests day and night.”

“Yes, my lord.” Arianne agreed respectfully. “I'll release the raven.”

“No!” The little devil shouted. But his mouth was already gagged and he couldn't make a sound. A whirring sound came from his throat, no one knew what he wanted to say, and no one cared about him anymore.

Arianne flipped onto the back of the Red Smoke Beast and galloped towards a row of houses down the hillside.

“No!” The little devil became anxious, ah ah ah in his throat, “Tommen and Myrcella are innocent.” He roared, but the sound swirled in his throat and could not be heard.

And Arianne had already gone far!

The little devil struggled hard and struggled up from the ground, facing the Mountain, he knelt down on both knees and bowed his head, banging it on the grass.

“Are you going to submit to me? If so, kowtow three times.” The Mountain said coldly.

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang!

The little devil kowtowed many times in a row, and his wide forehead was covered with mud and green stains of grass.

“Take out the rag from his mouth.”

The rag in the little devil's mouth was taken out.

“Swear allegiance to me and swear never to betray me.”

The little devil gasped: “...Stop...Arianne Martell...I beg you...Mountain...”

The Mountain gestured, and a fierce-looking man from the Burned Men with a red turban wrapped around his head put a leaf in his mouth, and a strange whistle sounded. On the hillside, Arianne Martell reined in the Red Smoke Beast.

“From this moment on, all my wisdom, honor, loyalty, and fearlessness belong only to you, I swear in the name of all the gods known: Tyrion Lannister pledges allegiance to Duke Gregor Clegane and will never betray him.”

“Sole allegiance!” The Mountain rarely corrected someone else's oath.

“I swear in the name of all the gods known: Tyrion Lannister pledges sole allegiance to Duke Gregor Clegane and will never betray him.”

*

In the evening, at the warm dragon cave entrance, torches were blazing.

“This can leverage the entire world's economy and put money in our hands.” The Mountain placed the round banknote in front of the little devil.

“The whole world?” The little devil's eyes were suspicious. His eyes flickered as he looked at the black, unfathomable cave, with awe in his eyes. The top of the cave was too high for the little devil, and the entrance was terribly wide. Inside the cave, four dragons were resting. Hot air came from the depths of the dragon cave, like a warm oven constantly emitting heat.

“The whole world.” Arianne interjected. She slowly opened a huge parchment, which was painted with mountains, rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges, and marked with place names.

The little devil saw the continent of Westeros, the Narrow Sea, the continent of Essos, and the unknown continent of Sothoryos, which was larger than Westeros and Essos combined.

“The whole world?” The little devil said again, his finger starting from Westeros, crossing the Narrow Sea, passing over the continent of Essos, and pointing to the land of Asshai in the east.

The Mountain nodded.

The little devil stood up and said, “Why do I suddenly want to pee. Damn it, this is simply impossible.”

“The Iron Bank's money has been lent all over the East and the West, the continents of Westeros and Essos, and the countless island nations in the sea. Who dares to delay repaying the Iron Bank's money?”

“The Iron Bank uses gold, gold, gold!” The little devil pinched the Mountain's round banknote with two fingers, “Your money can circulate in the Westerlands and also in Westeros, but it cannot circulate in the continent of Essos. The people of Essos only recognize gold.”

“If it can circulate in Westeros, it will definitely be able to circulate in Essos. The principle is very simple.” The Mountain looked at the little devil contemptuously, “The nobles of Gulltown didn't accept my round banknotes at first, and the Starks of the North didn't accept them either, but in the end they all transported gold to the Westerlands themselves, and exchanged the gold for equivalent banknotes in my bank. Do you know why?”

“The North needs you to fight against the Others, and Gulltown succumbed to your power and military strength.” A big sneer hung on the corner of the little devil's mouth.

“Wrong, little devil. The North needs iron ore, and the iron ore is in my hands, and to buy iron ore, you must use Westerlands banknotes. The reason why the nobles of Gulltown accept banknotes is the same. They buy snow salt, iron ore, wine, and all the fruit wine from the Riverlands. Without Westerlands banknotes, they can't buy anything.”

“That's also because you have the power to control wine, salt, and iron ore, and behind this power is the support of military strength.”

“You're right, little devil, this is why I want to build a dragon knight legion: to promote Westerlands banknotes all over the world. There are two indispensable forces behind it, the first is gold reserves; the second is military strength. With these two things, which country's nobles would dare not comply? Unless he wants his clan to be exterminated, or some king wants to be overthrown by his political enemies.”

The little devil took a step back, then another step back, and looked up at the Mountain, who was much taller than him even when sitting: “Daenerys's goal is the Iron Throne, and your goal is two continents?”

“Yes, otherwise why would the Mountain want you to submit? He needs help, little devil.” Arianne Martell went behind the Mountain, wrapped her arms around the Mountain's neck, and her beautiful golden hair draped down from the Mountain's shoulders.

“Little devil, if I stand lower than Daenerys, then there's no need for you to follow me.” The Mountain's thick finger pointed on the map.

The little devil took two more steps back, his one eye shining brightly: “Mountain, you are no longer the Mountain.”

“If he's not the Mountain, then who else can he be?” Arianne's two arms tightly held the Mountain's neck, and her lips gently breathed against the Mountain's ear.

“He's a madman!” The little devil's expression became a little ferocious.

“I'll take that as your compliment to me.” The Mountain said lightly.

“Mountain, I don't care what crazy plans you have. If you want to play, I'll die with you. But before that, release my family first.”

“Who?”

“Jaime, Cersei, Tommen, and Myrcella.”

“I can't release them.”

The little devil's face turned cold: “Mountain, I have sworn allegiance to you, and I will definitely be loyal to you. If you can't release Jaime's family first, my oath will be void.”

“I haven't caught them, how can I release them?” The Mountain spread his hands.

The little devil was stunned!

“Jaime, Cersei, Tommen, and Myrcella, they have arrived in a safe place. The Mountain never intended to kill Jaime, nor did he plan to sell Cersei and Myrcella into the women's house.” Arianne Martell chuckled, her body shaking.

“Little devil, I'm not Tywin Lannister. I can't do things like killing Jaime and buying Cersei into the women's house. If you can resist not submitting, in fact, I can't do anything to you. I once saved your life, and now I don't have the heart to kill you.”

Arianne Martell's laughter spread far away in the silent night, and then floated back from the valley.

“............” The little devil had a look of bewilderment. He couldn't laugh at all.

“Jaime made great contributions in the war between the living and the dead. I have already ordered not to kill him. Cersei's face has been replaced by Arya with the face of the handmaiden Conny, and she can no longer be the Cersei she used to be. This is better for her, and will not cause her to die unexpectedly. Myrcella and Tommen are both innocent children. I, the Mountain, am blessed by the Seven Gods, and my nature has changed. I will never harm children again.”

The little devil stared at the Mountain: “I saw the snake's tongue, the scorpion's sting, the hellhound's teeth, the night owl's eyes...” The little devil's face twisted.

“All of them are not as terrifying as the Others and the wights. I would rather you compare me to the Others.” The Mountain shrugged, “Little devil, the first thing I want you to do is to go back to Dragonstone and let Daenerys order Asha Greyjoy to return the Iron Islands to Count Gylbert Farwynd. If Daenerys doesn't agree, I will make Asha kneel at my feet, submit to me, and then be my naval deputy commander.”

“I don't care about Asha and the Iron Islands. Mountain, how will you get along with Daenerys? Will you kill her, or—” He glanced at Arianne Martell, and returned his gaze to the Mountain, “Marry her?!”

“Marriage!”