Rogge and his men, after a night of fighting, had taken control of all the merchant ships docked at Old Town Wharf, acquiring thousands of large and small vessels and countless treasures.
On the deck of an exquisite medium-sized sailing ship, Rogge lay half-reclined on a lounge chair draped with Shadow Mountain Cat fur, toying with the Valyrian steel scimitar in his hand while listening to his subordinate's report.
"Leader, all the valuables and goods have been transferred. All the warehouses on the wharf have been occupied and secured by our brothers!"
The mercenary, who had changed into a new set of armor and weapons, reported while having men carry boxes filled with gold coins into the ship's cabin.
"However, some ships have already sailed near Her Highness the Dragon Princess's Holy Flame fleet. Do we need to pursue them?"
Rogge waved his hand and said,
"Since they are smart enough to know who to pledge allegiance to, then we naturally don't need to make things difficult for them!"
"I know that after a night of fighting, everyone is already very tired. Arrange for everyone to rest in shifts, as it might not be peaceful from now on. We must guard the wharf and warehouses well, as the entire Oldtown is already in chaos. Who knows if those red-eyed bandits will also set their sights on us?"
"Yes, boss! I'll arrange for everyone to rest in shifts right away. As for the roads leading to the wharf, I've already had them all blocked with obstacles, so even if those bandits target us, it won't be that easy."
"Very good, brothers, you've worked hard!"
Rogge nodded in satisfaction, then waved his hand for his subordinates to leave, and he comfortably dozed off in the lounge chair.
Because Rogge and his men had been explicitly told by their superiors before they acted not to easily kill the owners of the merchant ships, almost all the merchant ship owners were unharmed, except for some slave soldiers and sailors who died or were injured during the capture of these merchant ships.
For convenience of supervision, Rogge conscripted the laborers kept on the merchant ships or hired by the merchants, having them move all the valuables from the small boats to the three-masted sailing ships or large flat-bottomed sailing ships.
And Rogge also, according to the instructions given to him by his superiors before departure, plundered the excellent shipwrights and laborers from the medium and small merchant ships onto the large sailing ships.
Of course, those powerful escorts and hired knights were almost all captured by them, numbering no less than a hundred. The combat power of these people was all excellent, and the top few were no less powerful than the Kingsguard of the Red Keep.
Among them, the most formidable was the Dothraki gladiator holding a Valyrian steel scimitar. A gladiator of his caliber could never be bought for less than tens of thousands of gold dragons.
After a night of busy work, over 300 large sailing ships fully loaded with goods were gathered by Rogge and his men and guarded by over 300 Unsullied.
Moreover, these heavily laden large sailing ships were all sailed to a location far from the wharf, making it almost impossible for any force on land to attempt a rescue.
The remaining medium and small merchant ships, along with their shipwrights and sailors, were locked at the wharf.
And Rogge's subordinate force had now expanded to over 3,500 people. However, because there were over 300 Unsullied and over 1,500 slave soldiers among them, plus their surviving original team of over 200, the team did not experience any major problems due to the surge in personnel.
Through continuous plundering, the equipment of these people had all reached a new level, and their armor and weapons were almost all replaced with new ones. Moreover, almost everyone, except the Unsullied and slave soldiers, had bulging waists, clearly having privately taken a lot of benefits.
And without exception, all the owners of those merchant ships were sent to a secret inn on the wharf to sign IOUs and a series of unequal treaties.
These merchants, after all, had experienced the ups and downs of the outside world and seen much, so despite their reluctance and heartache, they quickly regained their senses after leaving the inn and hid amidst the chaos.
Because now, large-scale smashing, burning, and looting have appeared in almost all the wealthy and bustling areas of Oldtown.
These merchants cleverly chose to hide in the poor communities or refugee gathering places. Although chaotic, this was currently the safest place in Oldtown.
Of course, among these merchants, there were many as intelligent as Lisandro. Based on limited clues, they quickly concluded that tonight's riot must be a game between the Hightower Family and the Dragon Princess.
And they had witnessed the shocking scene of the Dragon Princess commanding dragons, so they didn't think the Hightower Family could do anything to the Dragon Princess.
Furthermore, only the Hightower Family could organize such a large-scale armed force to raid merchant ships in Oldtown.
So if they wanted to preserve their lives and fortunes, they could only choose to see if they could obtain the protection of the Dragon Princess.
Therefore, by the time Roger's merchant fleet approached the Holy Flame fleet, the gathered three-masted sailing ships had already reached a scale of over 30, and all of them came from the Free Trade Cities.
Because the leaders of the merchant fleets from the native noble families of Westeros simply could not believe that the ones who plundered them would be the Hightower Family, with whom they had always been on good terms. Moreover, they believed that even if the Hightower Family had committed such an act, they could appeal to the King to reclaim their losses.
"I really don't understand, how did the Hightower Family, who has always been low-key and kind to others, suddenly break ties with the Targaryen Royal Family recently?"
"And they even disregarded years of friendship and directly attacked us. Are they afraid of retaliation from the House Targaryen and planning to seize our ships and wealth to flee?"
"I don't think they are that foolish, are they? Can a ship, no matter how fast, be faster than a dragon? Do they have some confidence that they can contend with the House Targaryen?"
"That's hard to say. Didn't the Dornish once slaughter an adult dragon? Perhaps the Hightower Family has also mastered that powerful ballista weapon?"
"Alas! I don't understand. Anyway, no matter why they started fighting or what the outcome is, we'll just wait until they decide the victor, and then we'll demand our losses back from the winning side."
"However, I really hope the Hightower Family can also recreate the dragon-slaying myth like the Dornish. Then we won't have to be so careful under the tyranny of the dragon, haha!"
"You're quite optimistic, but since it's already like this, why don't we relax and enjoy watching their battle? After all, the Seven Kingdoms have been peaceful for a long time, and we've never seen such an exciting battle before!"
These nobles, who were left with only a gold dragon and their luxurious clothes, had a good mindset.
It is evident that in the eyes of these nobles, the Hightower Family was their trustworthy friend, while the Targaryen Royal Family had become a political tool serving them.
Meanwhile, the wealthy and commercial districts of Oldtown were much more chaotic, as many ruffians who normally wouldn't dare to act had now taken advantage of the chaos to rise up.
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