He waved to summon a subordinate.
"Go and gather some information for me, information about the Drowned God."
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Chapter 267 "Criminal Law" will thank you.
Euron had been feeling unwell lately. An unease that came from the spiritual realm. He vaguely knew that the Drowned God was giving him some kind of hint. But divine hints were always so ambiguous, or perhaps the Drowned God was simply too far removed from this world. Therefore, he couldn't accurately grasp the specific meaning of this hint (a classic tactic in the A Song of Ice and Fire world: the priest misinterprets the divine message).
After much deliberation, Euron made a decision: he would go ashore and rest for a while. Since he spent most of his time at sea, and now that he was facing problems, a change of scenery, perhaps hiding away at sea for a while, shouldn't be a problem.
Astapor was a good choice. Although there were no slaves here, and all sorts of rules had been added, Euron still keenly noticed the differences in the city. Under the protection and restrictions of these rules, the city had actually become safer.
Despite his dissolute nature, his belief in the 'Ancient Way' (the Way of the Drowned Gods) and his ruthless acts of rape, plunder, and other atrocities, even preferring to roam in such chaotic places, whenever he needed rest, he would invariably choose a place with the most rules. Because in such places, as long as you followed the rules, you wouldn't encounter someone on the street suddenly wanting to draw their sword and kill you, only to be told, "He's in a bad mood..."
The Serenity was allowed to dock in port, and the crew was given a vacation. Euron decided to rest for a while, at least until his discomfort subsided before setting sail again.
When Lu Xuan received this message, he was stunned for a moment, as it was indeed quite fantastical. He had just been preparing to find You Lun, and the other party had delivered himself to his doorstep? However, considering that this was a fantasy world, it wasn't entirely unacceptable.
Throughout the entire story of A Song of Ice and Fire, there are often instances where villains, or characters with whom the audience has little empathy, win, while those who seem like protagonists die. However, if you look closer, you'll notice a problem. In this world, anyone who breaks an oath will inevitably face retribution. The more powerful and arrogant a character is, the more absurd their death will be. The story is definitely not a wish-fulfillment novel, but it's not exactly a tragic one either.
Instead, it uses a condescending tone to try and create a world where killing, betrayal, and chaos are all justified. This strong tendency is present in both the series and the original work. "Whoever you think is a good person, I'll kill them. Whoever you think shouldn't die, I'll make sure they die even more." The whole story feels somewhat contrived.
Euron is a terrifying man when he gets serious. He strictly adheres to all the rules of the city. He doesn't drink excessively, doesn't dine and dash, and doesn't engage in fights. He's even polite to the tavern staff. He perfectly masks the madness deep within him. No wonder he's known as the most villainous man in A Song of Ice and Fire; this very pretense is chilling.
"My lord, shall we take action now and arrest Euron?"
"How can we take action against such a law-abiding customer who contributes so much to the city's consumption?
"But he could leave at any time. The Tranquility is very fast, and our navy is still under construction, so it's not suitable to surround and kill him now."
"..." Lu Xuan was speechless. This subordinate was clearly not up to the task. Helpless, he could only explain it more clearly.
"We can't touch him because he abides by the law. But we can deal with him after he breaks the law."
...........
Two days later, Euron was arrested and thrown into jail. The charge was causing death in a street fight. In truth, Euron had a bad feeling the moment he saw his opponent fall. The unease in his heart instantly intensified.
His first instinct was to get back on his ship and escape. But the appearance of more than twenty Unsullied made him instantly abandon that idea. As a seasoned pirate and adventurer, Euron knew how formidable the Unsullied were. Simply put, on this flat ground, face-to-face, two at a time would be a headache, three would be deadly, and four would mean certain death.
The crucial point was that there were tens of thousands of Unsullied people in this city, leaving him no room for resistance. At the moment of his capture, he suddenly had a new interpretation of the Drowning God's warning. Perhaps the Drowning God's warning wasn't to let him rest and seek refuge, but rather to tell him not to go ashore...
Euron wasn't in despair; he still had plenty of leverage. In fact, his choice of this city was based on considerable calculation. He knew that his resources held immense allure for Daenerys, the city's ruler, so no matter what went wrong, he always had a chance of survival.
Three days after his arrest, someone came to Euron's door. Three people appeared before Euron: a beautiful young girl with long golden and silver hair, a tall old man in white armor, and a young man in plain clothes with black hair and black eyes.
Lu Xuan, Daenerys, and Barristan were the three men. Upon seeing Barristan, Euron's eyes flashed with hope. After all, this old knight was renowned and valued his reputation above all else; if used wisely, he might be able to escape.
"Euron Greyjoy, you are sentenced to death for violating the Astapor City Public Administration Ordinance and the Astapor Criminal Code. Now, do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"Heh, just say what you want. I don't believe that a prisoner like me deserves the Dragon Queen's personal sentencing." Euron tried to take the initiative in the conversation. But Lu Xuan responded from the side.
“You’re right, but your situation is special. We only just finalized the penal code of Astapor a few days ago. And you are the first person sentenced to death after the penal code was completed, which makes you highly significant. Therefore, Her Majesty the Queen has decided to personally pronounce your death sentence. Euron Greyjoy, the people of Astapor will remember your death.”
Euron: "...Tell me what you want? I have countless treasures, Valyrian steel swords, unforged Valyrian steel ingots, even Valyrian steel armor. It's all yours to buy my life. I swear I will never set foot in this city again."
Lu Xuan paused for a moment, then spoke to Daenerys beside him.
“It seems that our criminal law still has some loopholes. We should add a clause that all personal property of those sentenced to death will be confiscated by the Queen.”
Daenerys was very accommodating.
“Very well, it seems we need to thank Mr. Euron even more. He made outstanding contributions to improving the legal provisions in the city. After his death, let his name be written into the Criminal Code.”
Euren: "......"
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Chapter 268 Dragon Soul
Euron Greyjoy truly was the world's 'greatest' explorer. After searching the entire Serenity, Lu Xuan found a vast amount of priceless treasures within.
Leaving aside the gold, silver, jewels, and various coins, the truly priceless items are a Valyrian steel longsword, a short sword, and several unforged Valyrian steel ingots.
When the Valyrian full armor appeared, almost everyone present forgot to breathe.
It was a suit of armor, entirely black with some kind of gold-red lace trim. Overall, it looked both majestic and possessed an understated luxury.
Throughout the entire A Song of Ice and Fire storyline, this should be the only Vulcan armor.
Lu Xuan picked up the armor casually and said to Daenerys.
"The armor is a bit too big. We can have the craftsmen alter it to fit your size. This may take some time."
"It's alright, I can wait. Haven't you found it yet?"
Compared to the Vulcan armor, Daenerys was actually more interested in that thing. At that moment, Ser Jorah emerged from the lower deck, carrying a huge horn.
This is a twisted horn. It is nearly two meters long from head to toe (1.83 meters in the original text). It shimmers with black light and is covered with stripes of red gold and Valyrian black steel. The horn is as warm and smooth as a woman's thigh. Its surface shines so brightly that one can see their own distorted reflection in it. Strange ancient runes are inscribed on the stripes that wrap around the horn.
Lu Xuan and Daenerys, who had studied some Valyrian meditation techniques, could confirm that those were Valyrian runes. However, they didn't have a way to interpret them specifically at the moment.