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Braavos.
The wind howled, and the soldiers stood in rows.
Viserys's army of thirteen thousand, combined with the four thousand troops from Lorath, had arrived at the gates of Braavos. They set up camp on the last stretch of solid land, separated from the city by a marsh.
Honestly, Viserys hadn't expected Braavos to be so defensible.
The city was surrounded by water on all sides. The main entrance from the sea was guarded by a mountainous island, leaving only a natural channel wide enough for ocean-going merchant ships to pass.
This entrance was protected not only by the Braavosi fleet but also by a massive combat fortress carved in the shape of a Titan.
Without dragon riders, it was almost impossible for any army in the world to assault Braavos head-on.
Fortunately, aside from the frontal sea approach, the bay was fragmented by hundreds of small islands into many narrow channels. Beyond these channels, numerous stone arch bridges connected the entire city.
Viserys's army could take small boats along the channels to seize the stone bridges, then march into Braavos like an armed parade. The invincible First Fleet would either have to watch helplessly from the sea or disembark their sailors to fight the Dragon Army on land.
However, while Braavos had no city walls, the hundreds of islands formed natural fortresses. Taking them one by one would be a arduous task.
"Charge!"
"Don't push! There's no room!"
"Swim for it!"
While Viserys was still fretting over the "Hundred Islands" of Braavos, three hundred brave players, sent out to feign an attack and test the enemy's firepower, had already boarded small boats—stolen from who knows where—and begun their assault on the nearest island.
"Long live the free people of Braavos!"
"Once the Black Dragon's army breaks the city, you'll all be slaves!"
"Fight for freedom, not for Braavos!"
Flags fluttered on the small island, and shouts rang out. As a forward outpost against land-based enemies, it was clearly well-manned and prepared for defense.
Before the three hundred players could even row their boats close, a rain of arrows poured from the island, instantly causing countless casualties among the players on the water.
"The water isn't deep! Swim across!"
Some "geniuses" leaped from their boats, completely forgetting they were wearing armor, and never surfaced again.
The first tentative attack ended in failure almost as soon as it began. Of the three hundred players, only a meager twenty or thirty made it to shore. But instead of infantry, they were met by a line of charging lancers.
The players were skewered like kebabs, pierced and trampled by the cavalry.
"Retreat!"
Seeing this, Viserys could only wave his hand to order a withdrawal.
"Braavos is a cluster of islands. If every island is this well-defended, won't we be fighting until the day a real dragon hatches?"
"And with so many islands, we can't just drive straight through, or our rear will be cut off."
Inside the command tent, Viserys paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.
"Doesn't our Intelligence Assistant... your Secret Police... have people in Braavos? Can they coordinate with the main army to take the city from the inside?"
Minister of Revenue Teflon, the Guild Leader of the Pyromancers and Commander of the Grenadier Corps, rested his chin on his hand and asked Pointing-Rat-Calling-It-Duck.
Bro! We're spies, not special forces!
Do you think we're Navy SEALs or Delta Force? You think we can just kidnap their boss in the middle of the night on their own turf?
Wait...
Pointing-Rat-Calling-It-Duck initially wanted to dismiss the stupid question, but a lightbulb went off in his head. He felt like he had grasped something, but the thought flashed by too quickly to catch.
Viserys also felt a similar spark. Coordinate from the inside... bloom from the center...
Hey, System, is there a way for me to instantly spawn troops inside Braavos?
Like building a barracks or something?
"Everyone, go rest for now. Our army's (the players') morale is high. Keep up the attacks tonight; maybe some capable players can take down this outpost in front of us."
After dismissing his subordinates and the players, Viserys pulled the little fire creature out of his mind.
"System, is there a way for players to build respawn points? That way, every time we take an island, players can build a barracks right there.
If a barracks gets attacked, other players can just kill themselves and respawn there to give the enemy a surprise.
That way, the main army won't need to conquer every single island. We can just drive straight for the heart of the city. With barracks protecting the islands along the route, we won't have to worry about losing our supply line or getting cut off.
And there are players inside Braavos too. If they could build a barracks on the spot, wouldn't that save the army a lot of trouble?"
Viserys got more excited as he spoke, ignoring the anthropomorphic "I can't do that, concubine" expression on the little fire creature's face.
"My Great King, I can enable the permission for player guilds to build respawn points in conquered territories. However, I cannot establish respawn points in unconquered areas to achieve your strategic goal of 'blooming from the center.'"
The little fire creature floated in front of Viserys, interrupting the King's ramblings with a blunt refusal.
"Fine. As long as we can build barracks."
Although he was disappointed that he couldn't just spawn an army in the Sealord's Palace, being able to build barracks along the way was already a cheat code for the army.
Think about it... this will be great for dealing with those horse lords on the Dothraki Sea later. I just need to find your main camp, build barracks all the way to your doorstep, squeeze your living space, and force you into a head-on infantry clash instead of letting you harass us.
As a large group of unwilling players launched a suicidal pig-rush attack in the night, their great King "Brother Wei" announced a server-wide hotfix update:
[Guild Barracks System Enabled: Every player guild and legion can now build respawn points in captured territories. Players respawning at a Barracks receive a 50% discount on respawn fees.]
[Fixed certain in-game bugs.]
[Another 1,000 lucky players selected to join the Closed Beta.]
[This is an online update. Players currently in-game do not need to log out.]
"Old... Director, will this work? I feel like it's a bit too imaginative. We have fewer than thirty brothers undercover in Braavos. Even if we get the guy out, how do we bring him back? Can we just kill him?"
Flying Bat looked at his Guild Leader speechlessly.
"We can't kill him. The Sealord doesn't have a clear second or third in command. If he dies, his subordinates might not start infighting for power. They might unite in hatred and fight us to the death. Then we'd really be shooting ourselves in the foot."
Pointing-Rat-Calling-It-Duck imitated Viserys, pacing back and forth in his tent with his hands behind his back.
"My plan is this: split these thirty men into two teams. One team kidnaps the Sealord. The other team causes chaos in the city. Remember, don't touch the merchants, and definitely don't touch that bank called the Iron Bank. Just hit military targets!"