Chapter 170: Euron’s Promise
Gilbert Farwin was the first applicant to walk up the hill with his three sons and assistants.
He promised that if he became king, he would lead the ironborn to build ten thousand longships like Nymeria did and sail to the promised land across the Sunset Sea.
The gifts he brought were sealskins, walrus tusks, whalebone armlets, and bronze warhorns.
After distributing the gifts to everyone, the reaction was mediocre, but Gilbert Farwyn was not disappointed at all. He just wanted to gain fame and never thought that he could really become the King of the Iron Islands.
Then Ali the Anvil Breaker was carried up the mountain in a carved driftwood sedan chair by his three grandsons.
His gifts were countless coins of silver, bronze, and iron, as well as armlets, collars, daggers, and throwing axes.
"Pfft, hahahaha, um, sorry, I couldn't help it, but if Master Ali can stand up, then I will be loyal to Master Ali."
Asha Greyjoy's words made everyone laugh.
Ali Aymek, also known as Ali the Just and Ali the Anvilbreaker, is a fearless raider of the ironborn and the elderly lord of House Aymek.
Ali weighed about twenty stone and was eighty-nine years old. He had snow-white hair and a long, thick, snow-white beard. He was carried on a chair, his weapon of choice being a terrifyingly large hammer.
But now that Ali is nearly ninety years old, let alone swinging a terrifyingly huge hammer, he probably wouldn't be able to lift it even if he was given a small wooden hammer.
Ali looked at the people laughing at him, and in anger he tried to struggle to sit up from the chair, but he was already 89 years old and no matter how hard he tried he had no intention of standing up.
"Lord Ali, I advise you not to try. Eighty-nine years old is considered a long life. Maybe you can live to be a hundred."
Asha's words once again caused everyone to laugh, and finally Ali sat down with a red face.
Dunstan Drummond was next up the mountain, assisted by Adric the Serious and his two sons, Donald and Dennis.
Zhuo Gu's incitement was quite convincing, but his eloquent speech gradually lost its appeal to everyone.
Moreover, the gift that Zhuo Gu brought was too stingy, even inferior to Gilbert Farwin's gift, and bronze could never buy a crown.
Victarion Greyjoy came up the steps next, along with his assistants Newt the Barber, Raff the Cripple, and Raff the Red.
He was well received, and the cascade of silver, gold, and gems he brought won him even more supporters.
This scene made Asha itch, originally these gold and silver belonged to her, she was going to use them to win the support of the captains, but they were all taken away by her uncle.
At that time, she was stationed in Deepwood Motte with a thousand men. When she received the news and returned with four hundred men, Balon Greyjoy's third brother Victarion had already emptied the warehouses in Peck's Castle, leaving nothing for Asha.
Knowing that they could wait no longer, Asha Greyjoy came among the group, assisted by "Maiden" Cole, Tristefan Botley, and Horus Harlowe.
Asha Gerejoy took out a pebble from her arms and opened the box behind her, which was full of pebbles.
Euron Greyjoy smiled evilly when he saw this, and this smile happened to catch the eyes of Asha Greyjoy, making her a little angry.
If Jack was present, he would find that Euron was not like the clown who kept jumping around as he was portrayed in the American TV series.
At this moment, Euron exuded an elegant madness, and his one eye flashed with a confident and crazy light, which put Asha Greyjoy under a lot of pressure.
"My dear niece, as your uncle, I have to ask you this because it concerns the reputation of our Greyjoy family. Do you really intend to use pebbles as gifts to entertain the captains?"
"If you don't have money, I can lend you some, but isn't it a bit perfunctory to use pebbles? There are so many of them in the Iron Islands."
Euron Greyjoy's words made everyone nod, and it was obvious that they were very dissatisfied with Asha Greyjoy's gift.
However, Asha Greyjoy did not panic, but said calmly:
"Everyone, this is the pebbles from the Stony Coast, which symbolize the "treasure" that the Ironborn exchanged their lives for in the battle with the North."
Asha had her assistant open several other boxes.
"Here are the pine cones of Deepwood Motte and the turnips of Winterfell. Deepwood Motte is in my hands, and the North is willing to exchange Sea Dragon Horn and the Stone Shore for Deepwood Motte.
As long as I become the King of the Iron Islands, I promise to give you rich land. You will no longer have to rely on the hard life of digging iron ore. You will have green land to cultivate and you can live by the sea and fish anytime and anywhere.
Whether you choose to go back to the old road to pay the iron money, or choose to live a stable life to farm and do business, you will receive my blessing. Land, peace and victory are my promises to you!"
Asha's words attracted the support of some people, while others chose to support him because of Asha Greyjoy's identity.
At this time, Victarion's supporters immediately mocked her, saying that a woman who couldn't even take out a box of gold and silver, who knew whether the pebbles, pine cones and turnips were real?
This immediately ignited the king selection meeting, and supporters of both sides began to push and insult each other, as if fans of the two idols were arguing over whose idol was more handsome.
The two sides were pushing and shoving, cursing at each other, and when a fight was about to start, suddenly a dull horn sounded.
Everyone suddenly fell silent. The heavy sound of the horn had an indescribable deterrent power that went straight into the depths of everyone's soul.
When everyone looked, they found that it was Euron Greyjoy's assistant Clegane who blew the horn, but everyone did not notice that there was something wrong with Clegane after he blew the horn.
All their attention was on Euron Greyjoy, who had stood in the center at some point.
"You disappoint me. I can't believe what you've been through all these years to make you so weak!
Look at these gifts. Look at what they promise you. A seashore? Peace? Or a victory as small as a pebble?"
Euron Greyjoy looked at the previous competitors with disdain, and then said loudly:
"I have traveled to every place in the world, including the mysterious and dangerous Valyrian ruins, where I obtained a dragon egg, a set of Valyrian full body armor, and this - the dragon horn."
"Any dragon that hears the horn will obey me, and I happen to know where the only four dragons in the world are.
I will blow the horn, ride four dragons, and give the whole of Westeros to you. The iron race will become the noblest race in Westeros, and the continent will prostrate at our feet!"
Then Euron Greyjoy asked his assistant to open the other boxes. The large amount of gold and gems blinded everyone's eyes. Not even any silver could be seen inside.
The Old Way is the term the ironborn use to refer to their tradition of raiding, taking loot from war instead of buying it, which they call "paying iron money."