Chapter 312: Trials and Tribulations

Once, Daenerys' hatching of dragons had greatly shocked Volantis.

There was no shortage of pure Valyrian noble bloodlines here, so Volantis had been buying dragon eggs from all over the world, hoping to strike it rich.

However, dragon eggs were not as common as stones on the street and were not so easy to acquire.

Illyrio was once able to buy three ancient unhatched dragon eggs from distant Asshai because dragons had been extinct at that time, and no one had been able to hatch dragons for nearly a hundred years.

Therefore, dragon eggs gradually circulated and could be bought with money.

But now that dragon eggs could be hatched again, those who held dragon eggs wanted to try it themselves. Who knew, they might be the chosen ones.

Because of this, Volantis' journey to acquire dragon eggs was not so smooth, and many fearless fraudsters flocked to them.

They identified most of the fraudsters with poor counterfeiting skills and beheaded them, but some slipped through their fingers, and they ended up buying some beautiful stones.

Although the rulers of Volantis are elected annually, they can be re-elected indefinitely. The current old ruler of the Tiger Party, Malacho, has lost all his teeth and should have retired long ago.

However, there was a lack of capable young people in the party, so the Tiger Party spent a lot of money organizing this expedition in hopes of seizing the opportunity to find something to counter the Elephant Party.

In the end, it was still a party struggle.

...

Splash—

The huge warship, driven by the wind, broke through the roaring waves.

Viserys had just been listening to Mia talk about the party struggle in Volantis. Overall, Volantis was a system of two-party competition, which felt somewhat familiar.

Their goal was to conquer the world, with the Elephant Party hoping to do so through trade and the Tiger Party through force.

That was all.

The young man with silver-gold hair was now sitting on the deck, his hair tied into a braid, a long sword by his side, and a dagger tied around his waist. With his metal wrist guards and brown leather armor, he looked quite dashing, like a lone ranger.

Viserys had recently made an impressive move, dealing with his opponent cleanly and efficiently. A wealthy merchant took a liking to him and wanted to hire him as a bodyguard.

Several small mercenary groups also extended an olive branch to Viserys, but he did not accept.

At this moment, he sat on the deck with a jug in his hand, tilting his head back to drink the boiled water inside.

Then he looked up at the gray sky above.

"It's not a good day for sailing..."

Today's weather was somewhat gloomy, with howling winds and the sea becoming much more turbulent. Perhaps a storm would arrive soon.

"Indeed."

The girl with fiery red hair also seemed somewhat worried. She wasn't an excellent sailor, but it was clear that this terrible weather was not suitable for a long voyage.

Some sailors suggested to the commander of this expedition, Malacho's major-domo, to return to the port, but he refused and insisted on moving forward.

The sailors had no choice but to obey his orders and continue sailing towards the Smoking Sea.

Soon after, a small storm indeed arrived.

The weather at sea can change rapidly. The gray sky turned dark in an instant, and the weak sunlight completely disappeared.

The furious wind was howling, the sea was roaring, and a heavy rain fell without warning. The large raindrops hit the faces of the adventurers and slaves on the deck.

"Quick!"

"Tighten the ropes!"

The first mate on the ship was shouting

instructions to the sailors to control the ship, while the slaves and adventurers on board were also busy helping.

Everyone knew that the sea was merciless. If the ship capsized here, no one would survive.

Even in calm waters, they wouldn't be able to swim back, let alone in the turbulent sea.

Pitter-patter—

The raindrops crazily hit the deck and everyone's faces, and the towering waves slapped against the hull of the warship. Some unlucky ones were swept away by the waves, screaming as they disappeared from the deck.

But at this moment, everyone was too busy to save them.

"Where's the bucket?"

"Hurry up!"

"Block that area with a plank!"

Viserys and Mia were also among those helping, their clothes completely soaked, looking somewhat disheveled.

But fortunately, the storm didn't last long.

After an unknown amount of time, when everyone was almost exhausted, the raging waves around them finally began to calm down.

The heavy rain turned into a drizzle, until it finally stopped completely.

The dark clouds overhead also disappeared at some point, and the red glow of the setting sun broke through the gloom of the sky, illuminating the entire quiet sea.

The sparkling sea reflected the red glow of the sunset, and seagulls flew overhead, emitting crisp cries.

"Phew~"

"It's finally over."

The girl with red hair, somewhat exhausted, lay down on the deck, her chest rising and falling slightly.

She didn't care about the water on the deck that hadn't been wiped dry, as her whole body was already soaked.

Viserys, looking somewhat disheveled, also sat down next to her, but he seemed to be doing better than the girl.

The young man with silver hair looked at the beautiful scenery in the distance, then fell silent, lifting his jug for another drink.

Viserys didn't have many friends on this ship, after all, he was a newcomer to Volantis and tried to keep a low profile.

Mia had been in Volantis for a long time and was a well-known figure in the mercenary circle, but she also didn't have many friends.

"Are you okay, Mia?"

A tall, bald man covered in tattoos came over, followed by a few of his brothers, and greeted Mia.

"I'm fine."

The girl with red hair sat up and shook her head.

Slap—

Then she raised her hand and high-fived the man.

The man also nodded, and glanced warily at Viserys sitting next to her, but didn't greet him, then turned and left.

Viserys didn't mind, lifting his jug for another drink, and watching the man's retreating figure.

"His name is 'Iron Fist' Gus."

"He's a somewhat famous mercenary in Volantis, the leader of the Iron Brigade."

Mia, who had sat up from the deck, gently brushed her fiery red hair and introduced him.

"You don't have a title yet, Emon. For a powerful mercenary, a title is more important than strength."

"But I think with your strength, if you follow me, you'll soon make a name for yourself in Volantis."

The girl's face still had water droplets that hadn't been wiped off, but her chest was thumping with sincerity.

Mia's dream was to establish her own mercenary group, and befriending Viserys, who was using the alias 'Emon', was part of that plan.

Then, the remaining days of the voyage passed without any accidents.

And on the last morning, the sailor with the spyglass finally saw the sky-covering gray fog.

"We've reached the Smoking Sea!"