Chapter 181: Surveillance

However, after Petyr Baelish's daring words fell, the room was indeed silent.

Littlefinger believed that his words should have hit the Sea Lord's concerns. After all, it was common knowledge that Braavos had secretly supported the Targaryens, even though there was no direct evidence to prove it.

Just as Dorne had secretly supported the development of Andalos, providing a large amount of materials.

Otherwise, with all the ability Viserys had, he couldn't have built such a vast foundation out of nothing when he had nothing at first. Even the craftsmen who built the castles were borrowed from Braavos and Dorne.

Braavos had a clear reason for doing this; the size of the Seven Kingdoms after unification was indeed too large.

The Targaryens once had deep-rooted rule, making it difficult for them to intervene. However, now Westeros has fallen into a changing situation, the Targaryen dynasty was overthrown and replaced by the Baratheon dynasty.

So Braavos naturally hoped to take advantage of this opportunity to extend their reach into Westeros.

At present, countless nobles in the Seven Kingdoms have faced bankruptcy and only barely survived due to secret loans from the Iron Bank.

Today they receive favors, and in the future, they must repay double.

Viserys was just a pawn for Braavos to disturb Westeros.

But now this pawn is gradually growing towards the chess player's direction, which will inevitably touch Braavos' bottom line.

This was what Petyr thought he had grasped.

The Sea Lord of Braavos, lying on his sickbed, stared at Petyr Baelish with a pair of dull eyes, devoid of any spirit.

He was silent for a long while, then took two deep breaths.

"Lord Baelish, why would Andalos be the greatest threat to Braavos right now?" Ferrego's tone was plain.

The young man from King's Landing, however, was slightly more spirited.

His greatest fear was that the Sea Lord of Braavos would deny it outright, unwilling to discuss the matter with him, or even drive him away.

In that case, Littlefinger, no matter how capable, would not be able to complete the task entrusted to him by King Robert.

As long as the Sea Lord was willing to continue the conversation on this topic, Petyr Baelish was confident he could persuade Braavos to turn against the Targaryens, forming the encirclement that Tywin Lannister had planned, and trapping the remnants of the Targaryen family in this land.

Andalos' growth had already reached its limit; with Braavos to the north and Pentos to the south, and the mountainous Norvos to the west, Andalos needed to break through to continue its development.

If the Iron Throne followed its original plan and launched an expedition like the War of the Ninepenny Kings to eliminate the Targaryen remnants, there would be no further problems.

But winter came at the wrong time.

Tywin and Robert had a long talk. Tywin wasn't afraid of the Targaryen dragons, as they wouldn't grow too large in just two or three years.

All they needed was to build more scorpions during this time, which would be enough to threaten the dragons in the sky.

Although it couldn't guarantee a hundred percent success in killing the dragons like the Dornish did with Meraxes in the past, it would at least prevent the dragons from attacking without restraint.

Although it couldn't guarantee a hundred percent success in killing the dragons like the Dornish did with Meraxes in the past, it would at least prevent the dragons from attacking without restraint.

As for the ground war, the vast Seven Kingdoms, even when fighting across the sea, would far surpass a small Andalos in terms of troops and armaments. The endless army would submerge this city-state.

This is the strength of a great nation; after all, the main force in war is still the army and not dragons.

Therefore, the Lord of Casterly Rock was most worried that during the difficult winter in the Seven Kingdoms, Andalos would once again take the opportunity to expand, even breaking through the encirclement formed by the trading city-states.

If the Targaryens truly became the hegemon on the continent of Essos, the Seven Kingdoms would no longer have the strength to eliminate them on their own.

Lord Tywin's strategy could be seen as one of alliance and balance. Andalos' rapid development would inevitably pose a threat to the surrounding free trade city-states.

As long as this apprehension is exploited properly, even if they cannot organize a united army to encircle Andalos, at least they can unite to suppress Andalos' development.

"Dragons!"

Littlefinger spread his hands and emphasized the word once again.

"Lord of the Sea, you must understand what kind of creatures dragons are."

"To my rough knowledge, dragons have no growth limit in their lifetime."

"Balerion."

"Queen Visenya, sister of Aegon the Conqueror, had a dragon that lived for 181 years when it died. It was the oldest and largest dragon in all of Westeros, almost comparable to Balerion the Black Dread. Its roar could make the Eyrie tremble."

"And so is human ambition."

Petyr's tone was heavy, as if he was truly worried about the future of Braavos.

A dragon with unlimited growth potential meant that within the next hundred years, the power of the Targaryens would expand infinitely with the growth of the dragons.

If the Targaryens' three dragons all grew to the size of their ancestors, it is likely that at that time, Viserys' descendants would swallow everything on the continent of Essos, and Braavos would not be spared.

"Lions do not walk with deer."

The smallest of the lords of the Fingers made a warning, seemingly hinting at something.

Lying weakly in bed, the Braavosi Sea Lord revealed a mysterious smile when he heard this sentence, and then calmly spoke.

"Your meaning, is Braavos a deer or a lion?"

However, before Baelish could explain, the Sea Lord shook his head slightly.

"Braavos is neither a deer nor a lion, but a titan."

"Titans do not fear dragons."

Afterward, Ferrego coughed violently a few times and directly closed the door to send off the guests.

"I understand your meaning, Lord Baelish."

"Please convey to King Robert that Braavos has no intention of intervening in the Iron Throne's struggle for power, whether it's Baratheon, Targaryen, true king, or pretender."

The Sea Lord of Braavos suddenly wanted to send him away, and Petyr was caught off guard, his handsome face filled with astonishment.

But since the Sea Lord had already spoken, he had no choice but to courteously bow slightly and leave the Sea Lord's bedroom.

Soon, the Sea Lord's bedroom fell into silence.

Ferrego Antaryon lay quietly in bed, his eyes half-closed, and no one knew what he was thinking. He then opened his eyes and spoke.

"Quiro, I need the help of the House of Black and White."

"Sea Lord?"

His chief swordsman was somewhat surprised, not expecting the Sea Lord to want to employ the power of the Faceless Men.

This power was not easily employed, and the Sea Lord rarely used it in normal times.

"I need to find out exactly what that child Viserys has done."

"Not just what's on the surface."

The Sea Lord's words revealed no attempt to hide that Braavos had always been monitoring Viserys.

"Understood."