The Mountain of Ice and Fire

‘Bad teammates’ have existed in every era, from ancient times to the present.

Anyone who screws over both themselves and their teammates is the very image of a ‘bad teammate.’

Like Bernie.

Ever since Bernie brought his ten brothers into the orphanage, he hasn't been low-key for a single day.

When Varys needs to enter or leave the orphanage, he always wears makeup; no one who knows him would ever recognize him.

Bernie also changed his appearance somewhat when he entered the orphanage, but not by much; he simply made some minor adjustments, which can't be compared to Varys's complete disguise.

Since the orphanage harbors the secret of Varys's little birds, being discreet is essential.

Some children get bullied when they go out, and some girls are humiliated by hooligans; these are minor matters, not worth Varys's effort to retaliate.

For an intelligence system, the trouble caused by retaliating against petty hooligans may not be worth the cost.

For many years, the work of the little birds in the orphanage has proceeded in an orderly manner.

Varys only takes action when the lives of the orphanage staff are truly endangered, completely erasing those who don't know the immensity of the heavens and the earth, silently and without a trace.

The orphanage is surrounded by residential buildings.

The residents of these buildings are used to dumping their excrement out of the windows.

The orphanage's gate and the alley leading in and out are often subjected to residents dumping their waste from several floors up.

In Bernie's eyes, this is a bad thing!

But in Varys's eyes, it's not a bad thing at all.

The orphanage is made less accessible because of this garbage.

The donating monks and nobles are accustomed to making their donations at the Great Sept of Baelor, and then the orphanage's director leads the staff to collect the items from there.

This isn't convenient, but it's the best protection for Varys's intelligence system.

For over twenty years, the little bird intelligence system hidden in the orphanage has never had an accident.

No one knows that the nest of Varys's little birds is in the orphanage.

Even the city watch patrolling Flea Bottom doesn't go to the orphanage.

Why?

The alley leading in and out of the orphanage is full of garbage and too smelly!

But this is precisely the best cover and protection for Varys's nest.

The little birds have been replaced batch after batch, but Varys's nest remains as solid as a mountain.

But since Bernie arrived, Varys hasn't had a single night of peaceful sleep.

When Bernie scared the residents who dumped waste into being afraid, Varys knew that the orphanage's base might be ruined.

Once the alley leading in and out of the orphanage and the gate become clean and tidy, even the King and Queen might pretend to love the people and visit the children.

The nobles who need to gain prestige would go even more often, and the nuns and monks of the Great Sept of Baelor would definitely come and go from the orphanage at any time.

Visiting the children in the orphanage can improve the image of the King, Queen, and nobles, and also enhance the prestige of the monks and nuns, earning them more goodwill and faith.

But if the alley leading into the orphanage is dirty and smelly, and there's even the possibility of a bucket of waste being dumped at the gate at any time, no noble would be willing to enter the orphanage.

Even hooligans and thieves wouldn't bother to go to the orphanage to cause trouble.

This made Varys feel very at ease and comfortable, and he could sleep soundly at night.

All the changes started with the arrival of the bad teammate, Bernie.

After the road leading in and out of the orphanage became clean and tidy, Varys knew that the Bernie trusted by the Mountain was actually someone who couldn't do intelligence work at all.

When Bernie took his brothers all over Flea Bottom to fight when children were bullied or girls were humiliated, Varys knew that Bernie was very stupid.

There's one big advantage to having this kind of person do intelligence work: they die quickly.

Fortunately, the political situation in King's Landing is currently stable on the surface.

The tearing between the lion and the wolf has been effectively alleviated with Jaime and the Mountain fleeing King's Landing.

If it were a different environment, such as the city of Lys across the Narrow Sea, or the 'Disputed Lands' over which Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh all claim sovereignty, in those places with complex situations and sharp conflicts between various forces, an intelligence leader like Bernie would be killed as soon as he appeared, without even knowing how he died.

However, it was precisely because the Mountain actually sent such a stupid and arrogant guy to take over the direct management of fifty little birds that Varys, who had originally wanted to run away, decided to stay.

The person chosen by the Mountain is so terrible, which proves that the Mountain's own intelligence can't be that great.

In terms of recognizing and employing people, the Mountain is still the crude, violent, stupid, and ignorant Mountain.

Since the Mountain isn't a supremely intelligent person, Varys's fear of the Mountain is greatly reduced.

The secrets that the Mountain knows are naturally some fragments of information seen by the blood mages through blood; the fragments are incomplete and can't reveal the whole picture.

Varys's fear and unease towards the Mountain have been effectively alleviated by Bernie's stupidity and ignorance.

But if the bad teammate's increasingly bold and completely rogue-like behavior in Flea Bottom isn't stopped, it will eventually implicate Varys's safety, as they are 'allies.'

The headquarters where Varys's little birds' nest is located must never attract the attention of the nobles.

The attention of the low-level hooligans is fine, but the hooligans all have inextricable links with the nobles.

It's like a chamber pot; the nobles need a chamber pot when they need to pee.

Many of the dirty and shameful things that the nobles do are done with the help of hooligans.

Varys and Illyrio made a fortune by spying on the nobles' shameful secrets and then selling them at high prices.

This business is very profitable.

Varys later discovered that 'secrets' are the most profitable of all businesses, so he resolutely founded the little rats organization and insisted on cultivating the little rats' literacy and mathematical abilities, because spying on the nobles' 'secrets' requires these skills! It's a must!!

But at the same time, the risk of this kind of thing is also the highest; one wrong step and you'll lose your head.

Varys knows this deeply, so when the alley leading in and out of an orphanage is surrounded by garbage and excrement, a place that everyone wants to avoid and stay away from, it's actually the safest place.

Setting up the little birds' nest in such a place is the best thing to do.

But Bernie may be enjoying the prestige of leading ten strong brothers to rampage through Flea Bottom, and the children are increasingly fond of and admire him.

The four teachers also feel that the sense of security has been enhanced because of Bernie's arrival, which makes Varys feel very emotional.

As expected, there aren't many people as truly excellent as him.

The little birds and the teachers are as stupid as Bernie, completely unable to see that their current comfort and sense of security are built on the danger of exposing their true identities.

Once exposed, they will pay the price with their lives.

An orphanage that is strong and can sweep away the large and small hooligan gangs in Flea Bottom will attract the eyes of the city's nobles.

This isn't dangerous, it's extremely dangerous!

A place with secrets must be low-key, so low-key that it's buried in the dirt.

Bernie's efficiency is still very high.

In a short period of time, he has forced Varys, such a top-notch smart person, to stay up all night.

Varys decided to take action.

He's an old fox, and even if he wants to end this, he will never come forward himself.

He's always been used to acting behind a layer of protection.

He closely monitors all of Bernie's actions every day.

When Bernie beat up Polliver Clegane's young father-in-law, Bute, in a fight he didn't know him from, Varys knew he had to step in to smooth things over.

When he finished the Small Council meeting and walked out of the throne hall, he said a word to Littlefinger without showing any emotion, pushing Littlefinger in front of him.

"My little birds tell me that the Mountain's brother, Bernie, is in the orphanage, and he will die!"

"Why is Bernie in the orphanage? Lady Janne's donation? Isn't the orphanage renovated yet?"

Varys shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands.

Varys believes that no matter how stupid Bernie is, he won't tell Littlefinger why he's in the orphanage.

Let the Mountain's dog, Littlefinger, solve this problem.

Even if Littlefinger figures out the answer, Varys isn't afraid.

Littlefinger will choose to keep his mouth shut, because he's very smart; second, if he dares to talk nonsense, the Mountain will definitely kill him, without even needing Varys's help.

When more than a hundred hooligans filled the orphanage's courtyard, Bernie on the second floor soberly realized a problem he had previously overlooked: he wasn't the Mountain.

If the Mountain were here, these guys would all have to submit; the bosses who didn't submit would definitely be beaten until they flew, and then their brains would explode.

Bernie looked at the ten brothers beside him.

These brothers were very capable.

The brothers the Mountain gave him weren't good people either.

They had undergone real military training, and had armor, longswords, and short crossbows.

When the first brother dragged out his armor with a clatter and prepared to put it on, Bernie realized that he had done something wrong.

How could the staff in the orphanage have such a set of fine armor, helmets, and good swords?

It doesn't make sense, and it's not reasonable.

Usually when fighting in the streets, the brothers can kill everyone with their bare hands, and those street hooligans are indeed very weak.

But this time, the other side had seventeen bosses.

Bernie was lying on the edge of the window, peeking at the courtyard through the curtain, and had repeatedly counted the number of leaders.

As for how to determine which guys were leaders in the noisy crowd of hooligans, it's hard to say, but Bernie could tell at a glance which guys were leaders.

If you're also a veteran hooligan, you can also tell at a glance which guys are leaders.

"Don't wear armor!" Bernie shouted to his brothers.

The brothers looked at Bernie in confusion.

Their level of stupidity in this regard was very consistent.

"We're the staff of the orphanage, some are sweepers, some are gatekeepers, some accept donations, and some take care of the children.

What we should have are coarse cloth shoes, cloth clothes and gray robes, wooden sticks and kitchen knives, definitely not helmets, armor, leg guards, and longswords."

Bernie became uncharacteristically smart.

He suddenly realized that the things he had done before, taking his brothers to rampage through the streets to vent their anger for the children, might not have been appropriate.

The brothers all understood!

However, the hooligan bosses in the courtyard below were shouting for the orphanage's deputy director, Bernie, to come out quickly, otherwise they would break in to find him.

If it weren't for the fact that the orphanage was a very special place, these hooligan bosses would have already broken in and wouldn't be shouting in the courtyard.

The children, teachers, and staff in the orphanage all consciously hid and closed the doors tightly, reinforcing them.

At the same time, they were all hoping that the new deputy director, Bernie, would lead the orphanage's fighting sweepers, guards, benefactors, and administrative uncles downstairs to beat the hooligans to a pulp, just like they beat the hooligans on the streets.

"Bernie, if we don't wear armor, we won't be their opponents, there are too many of those guys," one of the brothers said.

"We can't wear armor, can we use longswords and shields?" one of the brothers said.

Even with longswords and shields, it wouldn't work.

Ten brothers, divided into two sides of the stairs, five on each side, could still drive away these guys who didn't have armor and were waving knives.

The ruthlessness of a hooligan after military training and a street hooligan is at the same level, but the tactical coordination is much better.

"Longswords, shields, short crossbows, leg armor, and neck armor can't be used," Bernie's face was covered in cold sweat.

He was thinking about how to escape, and it seemed like there was no way to go to heaven or earth.

He realized that he had screwed himself over miserably.

Why did he think of inviting all the hooligan bosses here to negotiate?

He thought that the ten fully armed brothers could kill the hooligan bosses' prestige in the limited space of the courtyard and dominate Flea Bottom, but when it came to the point, he realized that fine weapons such as helmets, armor, longswords, leg guards, shields, and short crossbows couldn't be used in broad daylight, let alone in front of these hundred hooligans.

If they were used, these hundred mouths would spread the word everywhere, and soon the entire King's Landing would pay attention to this arrogant orphanage.

His identity would be exposed, and then because of him, people would associate him with the Mountain.

The secret intelligence system that Lord Mountain had ordered to be established would be completely destroyed.

Thinking through this point, Bernie's back was soaked with cold sweat.

The other ten brothers were even more stupid than Bernie and hadn't thought as deeply as Bernie.

They just felt that if they couldn't use any weapons, it would be difficult for them to subdue these hooligans.

"Bernie, if you don't allow us to use these weapons, then we can only go down and admit defeat, we might be beaten to death by them," one of the brothers said.

"I don't want to be beaten to death like this," one of the brothers said.

He took out a short crossbow, "Then I'll use a short crossbow."

Short crossbows can even break through armor, and it's even easier to shoot these hooligans at close range.

"Then we'll all use short crossbows," the brothers said.

"As long as we kill a few of the leaders, the rest of the hooligans will be afraid."

They looked at Bernie, waiting for Bernie to give the order.

If they didn't make a decision, the hooligans would take action.

The surrounding residential buildings also hated Bernie of the orphanage.

One window after another opened with a bang, and one head after another poked out from the windows, gloating at the hooligans crowding the orphanage.

On this morning with good air, the hooligans became heroes in the residents' hearts who punished Bernie the demon.

Donna on the third floor even shouted: "Kill the bastards in the orphanage, especially that dwarf, he's too hateful!"

"Hide all the weapons," Bernie decided.

His ten brothers wore astonished expressions, but still obeyed his order. They already possessed the qualities of professional soldiers: obedience!

“Someone go downstairs and ask them to send a representative up to negotiate, we’ll pay them!” Bernie said.

His brilliant decision stunned his brothers!

*

ps: Recently, it's the New Year, so I'm busy with guests coming and going, visiting relatives back home, etc. I plan to update once a day with more than 4,000 characters. I will update more when I have time. Happy New Year to everyone in advance!

Thank you to [典一老神棍] for the reward, thank you, Happy New Year in advance, and Happy New Year!