The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The nobles of the Riverlands and the vast majority of the courtiers and generals were seeing this giant, iron-cast 'Black Dragon' for the first time.

This was a modified version of an 'Iron Dragon' from the original Alchemists' Guild.

The prototype of this new Iron Dragon came from a fire-breathing dragon that Aegon IV had commissioned from the Alchemists' Guild.

After the extinction of real dragons, Aegon IV demanded that the Alchemists' Guild create fire-breathing dragons, hoping to conquer Dorne with them. The fire-breathing dragon was created, but it never made it to the battlefield. The dragon, which launched wildfire, was unstable and flammable. During a demonstration for Aegon IV, the wildfire prematurely incinerated the alchemist operating the dragon and his assistant.

From then on, the fire-breathing dragons that Aegon IV had ordered the Alchemists' Guild to create were left to gather dust in the guild's underground warehouse until the arrival of the Mountain King.

Based on Aegon IV's fire-breathing dragon, the Mountain King drew up new blueprints and, together with Weapons Master Tobho Mott, blacksmith Duke Gendry Baratheon, and the wise men of the Alchemists' Guild, created a new 'Iron Dragon' – a cannon.

This cannon was a unique piece of heavy thermal weaponry in the world.

The cannon's barrel was over three meters long, with a massive base. It was entirely black and gleaming, with a ferocious dragon's mouth as its muzzle, and a somber, majestic dragon body for its barrel, the surface covered in individually carved dragon scales.

The cannon was supported by two dragon claws extending from the barrel and the base, forming a stable triangle.

This was a near-perfect giant cannon.

The main designer was the Mountain.

The Great Sage, Tobho Mott, and Gendry were assistants.

The cannon's design was also completed single-handedly by the Mountain.

The Great Sage, Weapons Master Tobho, blacksmith Duke Gendry, and others who participated in the design and manufacture were not only deeply impressed by the Mountain but could only explain it by believing that the Mountain was a divine child who had received divine revelation and created such a giant Iron Dragon.

This Iron Dragon's base support, powder chamber, shell mouth, and barrel—reinforced with several iron hoops to withstand greater chamber pressure—also featured uniform rifling inside the barrel.

The rifling, shaped like a windmill, was designed to maintain a specific rotation frequency of the projectile as it left the barrel, ensuring it followed a predetermined trajectory and did not deviate from its target.

The purpose of the rifling was to improve the projectile's accuracy.

Every detail of this cannon's design was ahead of its time. The rifling design skipped a long period in the development of firearms, going directly to the final stage.

The powder chamber on the base, the manufacture of hollow iron shells, and the wooden hollow tubes filled with gunpowder as fuses were all remarkable and perfect designs.

Whether it was the shells designed by the Mountain, the Iron Dragon perfected by the Mountain, or the 'secret recipe' for gunpowder refining that the Mountain wrote for the Great Sage, each invention was a civilization-shattering innovation. In this semi-agricultural, semi-pastoral era, the Mountain's designs were truly epoch-making.

*

The viewing area was packed. People had long been tantalized by the high platform and the 'mysterious object' heavily concealed by canvas tarpaulins. Today, His Majesty led civil and military officials to gather here, and the unveiling of the canvas finally fulfilled the dreams of the people of King's Landing and the soldiers of the navy and army.

For some time now, whether noble or commoner, soldier or general, everyone had been filled with an irrepressible curiosity about this high platform and the mysterious object concealed upon it.

Daenerys, along with Arya Stark, Melisandre, Bronn, and several Kingsguard, had accompanied the Mountain to the Alchemists' Guild and seen a simplified version of the 'cannon' in the guild's underground warehouse. They were among the extremely limited number of people who had ever seen Aegon IV's fire-breathing dragon.

Today's perfect version of the Iron Dragon still gave them an absolute shock.

This Iron Dragon was polished to a crystalline sheen of black iron, every part extremely realistic and dragon-like in appearance. The barrel and base, the barrel and dragon scales, each element struck the heart and inspired awe.

The nobles in the inner circle whispered to each other, while the commoners in the outer circle clamored loudly, inquiring what this Black Dragon was for. Many believed it was a sculpture for a dragon, just as the Great Sept of Baelor had erected a statue of Baelor I in the square.

*

The Mountain raised his hand.

The Master of Ships and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Waggener, walked to the base of the high platform and stood on the shore, raising a small flag.

Immediately, soldiers in the naval port blew their horns.

A warship left the port at a steady speed, with a huge tow rope behind it, pulling another warship. The towed warship was an empty vessel, with only ten oarsmen on one level, rowing to reduce the pressure on the warship in front.

The two warships left the port one after the other and finally stopped in the turbulent waters of the Blackwater Rush.

Even in winter, the Blackwater Rush was turbulent upstream from the Water Gate.

The twenty sailors on the second warship dropped anchor and then lowered a small boat. They descended the rope ladder into the small boat, which rowed to the side of the first warship and were received by the soldiers on deck.

At this point, the second warship became an empty vessel.

On the dock, Waggener waved the flag vigorously, and on the water, the first warship began to return.

The empty warship was about three hundred meters from the shore. Even with the anchor down, it was still undulating on the water and slowly drifting outward.

Beside the Mountain, Daenerys, Arianne, Jeyne Westerling, Arya Stark, Eddard Stark, Catelyn Tully, Hand of the King Jon Connington, Duke Renly, Lady Sansa... and so on, dozens of important figures of the court were watching all this, most with puzzled expressions, not understanding what would happen next, their hearts filled with anticipation.

The commoners on the outside crowded the docks, a sea of people, all watching this scene and discussing it.

Waggener waved the flag, and the horns on the flagship in the port changed again. Several small longboats sped out of the port like arrows, blowing horns and shouting, beginning to clear the waters of all ships, large and small, whether fishing boats, merchant ships, or rafts. All ships and people were driven away and forced into the port, with the ships moored at the docks.

At the same time, more than a dozen patrol longboats set out, dividing into two groups, one going to the Water Gate to block ships entering from the estuary, and the other going upstream to block any ships coming down the Blackwater Rush.

The waters hundreds of meters away from the dock, down to the Water Gate and up to the Blackwater Rush dock, were all under surveillance, and no ships were allowed to enter or exit.

*

With everything ready, the horn blower on the flagship's bridge blew the horn. Waggener heard the horn and came to the Mountain's side: "Your Majesty, the waters are secure, and all ships have been cleared."

The Mountain nodded and looked up at the high platform: "Great Sage, Duke Gendry, Master Tobho, begin!"

Then, Gendry Clegane opened the lid of a wooden box and took out a black sphere with a small hole in it, into which was inserted a small wooden tube filled with gunpowder. A small rope was attached to the wooden tube, which was the shell's fuse.

Gendry loaded the shell into the cannon.

Master Tobho Mott checked every part of the cannon. He adjusted the direction of the muzzle and aimed at the empty warship hundreds of meters away.

After he confirmed that everything was correct, the Great Sage began to chant. Without ignition, the Great Sage's flame magic power had returned. The gunpowder in the powder chamber began to burn violently, and with a loud bang, a force propelled the shell out of the barrel. The cannon body shook violently, causing the high platform to tremble as well.

The loud noise was like thunder, sudden and unexpected, frightening many noble ladies. Some commoners and soldiers were also startled.

The black shell rushed into the air and shot towards the warship hundreds of meters away.

Crack!

With a loud crash, the black iron ball struck the warship, shattering the ship's bulwarks and sending splinters flying, like a round stone launched by a trebuchet.

Boom!

With a loud crash, the shell exploded upon impact. A flash of fire, like a bolt of lightning, struck the warship. Before everyone could react to the flash of fire, the iron ball exploded, blowing the entire warship in two, a cloud of dust and fire rose, and countless planks were blasted into fragments, with wood chips and fire flying into the air.

There were hundreds of docks on the Blackwater Rush, each crowded with people. Thousands upon thousands of people witnessed this scene. People were shocked, and the docks, walls, shores, and riverside avenues were silent.

Beside the high platform, Duke Eddard Stark's eyes widened!

Hand of the King Jon Connington was incredulous, his mouth open and unable to close!

The fearless Kingsguard Barristan Selmy stood with his hand on his sword hilt, as stiff as a wooden chicken!

Daenerys, although mentally prepared, was still shocked by this scene.

It was a true Royal Navy warship, yet it could not withstand a single blow from the cannon designed by the Mountain.

If there had been soldiers on the warship, all of them would have been either blown to pieces or fallen into the water, dragged into the depths by the whirlpool created by the warship being cut in two and sinking.

Daenerys knew that the exploding iron ball was filled with gunpowder, which the Mountain had once told her about. She had once tried to 'seduce' the Mountain in hopes of obtaining the Mountain's gunpowder formula.

The Mountain wrote the secret formula for refining gunpowder to the Great Sage.

The Great Sage was the head of the Alchemists' Guild, and he was the most proficient and knowledgeable about flames.

Arianne Martell, Jeyne Westerling, and Lady Donella Qyck were equally shocked!

Arya Stark was gone. She was often in a state of occasional appearances. She went to the shore to observe the scene after the explosion up close. She never knew that the power of an explosion after gunpowder was loaded into an iron ball could be so amazing.

A warship, with just one iron ball, could be broken in two if it hit a vital spot. She refused to believe it and was filled with shock.

Such a powerful iron ball, even one from the Faceless Men, could only end in death, with no way to dodge it.

The Mountain shouted: "Continue!"

Then, in the woods of the Blackwater Rush docks, Royal Guard cavalry appeared. They pulled open a huge defense, revealing a stone fortress that had been built.

This stone fortress was not high, but it could be seen that it had recently been built in the dockside woods, all made of giant rocks.

On the high platform, Master Tobho Mott began to turn the machinery, and the giant cannon began to turn, slowly turning, with the muzzle pointing at the dockside woods.

A flag flew above the stone fortress, which was the sign to guide Tobho's aim.

A team of cavalry came along the riverside avenue, driving all the people on the riverside avenue away.

When the people heard that the iron ball spit out by the Black Iron Dragon would shoot towards them, everyone ran faster than rabbits up the mountain.

The Mountain said: "My lords, follow me to see if the stone fortress is strong enough?"

His Majesty took the lead, and no one dared to neglect it.

The power of the iron ball that the Black Iron Dragon had just spewed out had already shocked everyone.

They had never seen this Black Iron Dragon that could spew exploding iron balls.

Dukes, marquises, barons, knights, generals, grand scholars, and others all mounted their horses and followed the King to inspect the stone fortress in the Blackwater Rush dockside woods to see if it was strong enough.

The former citizens of King's Landing, nobles, soldiers, and generals all thought that the fortress built in the Blackwater dockside woods was to defend the dockside crossing.

Now they knew that the stone fortress was to be blown up, just as His Majesty had ordered a warship to be blown up for everyone to see.

On horseback, Littlefinger Petyr Baelish's trademark sly smile was nowhere to be seen. He stole glances at the tall, mountain-like figure of the Mountain in front of him, completely shocked by this man.

The Mountain, the Seven Kingdoms' chief villain, a brute who couldn't even read before, had now invented that terrifying thing on the high platform. The power of the exploding iron ball also gave Littlefinger an incredible shock.

He couldn't believe that these things were designed by the Mountain.

However, Littlefinger had to believe it.

The Mountain was the Red God's messenger of light, a divine child. This was the only answer Littlefinger could find.

Littlefinger made a decision in the crowd: without His Majesty ordering him to move out of Harrenhal, he decided to move out of Harrenhal in advance and return the territory of Harrenhal and jurisdiction over the God's Eye to Lord Edmure Tully of the Riverlands.

Littlefinger had learned that His Majesty had promised Edmure that he would return the ownership of Harrenhal and the God's Eye to the Tully family. These two places had always been owned by nobles under the Tully family, but in the later civil war, Harrenhal was owned by Littlefinger Petyr Baelish.

Littlefinger decided to change his strategy, to be a Hand of the King, a minister of finance, to obey obediently, not to flaunt his cleverness and power, and those little thoughts had to be restrained, perhaps never to be released again.