Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

This place stretches as far as the eye can see. What was once a vast expanse of fertile land has now been turned into a sea of ​​water. Scattered houses float on the surface, but most have been washed away or collapsed. Nowadays, people need to row boats to move around freely.

The sky was overcast, and a light drizzle was still falling overhead. The rain had lessened considerably compared to the previous days, but it still hadn't stopped.

Meanwhile, the empire's eldest prince, Heros, stood on the hilltop, his long, soft brown hair damp with rain, and he wore a pale yellow cloak.

Rainwater slid down his forehead, across his nose, down to his chin, and dripped down, yet his eyes remained calm, revealing no emotion.

"Your Highness."

Hendry Brecken, the governor of the Riverlands, was somewhat apprehensive.

He had heard in Twin Rivers City that everyone claimed the eldest prince, Heros, was intolerant of any wrongdoing, but he still cautiously approached the eldest prince and spoke.

Chapter 976 Disaster Relief

"I was thinking, what if my uncle had defeated Robert Baratheon the Usurper here back then..."

What will this world become?

Rhaegar fought the usurper right beneath the hill where Heros Targaryen now stands on horseback; now, that place is a vast ocean.

Before the war broke out, no one knew the outcome, because although the royalists had suffered several defeats, the Targaryen family had ruled the Seven Kingdoms for nearly three hundred years and still had considerable influence.

At this point, the rebels led by Robert Baratheon and the royal army led by Dauphin Rhaegar Targaryen were actually evenly matched.

Then the war broke out, and Prince Rhaegar's sudden death became the turning point of the war.

With Prince Rhaegar dead, the royalists lost their motivation to continue fighting, because their involvement in the war was not to continue supporting the Mad King, but to put Prince Rhaegar on the Iron Throne after the war.

Therefore, after Rhaegar's death, the royal army quickly began to collapse, which later directly led to the downfall of the Targaryen dynasty.

Now, Rhaegar's brother, Prince Viserys, has reclaimed the Seven Kingdoms and established an even greater Valyrian Empire.

Viserys' eldest son, Heros Targaryen, stood on the hilltop, gazing at the battlefield where his ancestors had fought so fiercely, and suddenly asked a question, which was quite unexpected.

However, despite being born out of wedlock and serving as the Earl of the Twins and Governor of the Riverlands for so many years, Hendry became increasingly astute the closer he got to the common people.

"this..."

His mind raced, and then, quick-witted, he spoke up.

“Your Highness, if Prince Rhaegar had defeated the Usurper at the Battle of the Trident, then the Seven Kingdoms would still be the same... Seven Kingdoms.”

Hendry emphasized the last word, 'Seven Kingdoms,' and the eldest prince, who was sitting on horseback getting soaked in the rain, looked at him with slight surprise upon hearing his answer.

"Oh?"

In fact, with Heros's knowledge, he had thought about this question countless times. When he was studying at the academy, he broke some records set by Oberon and won bachelor's degrees in multiple disciplines.

He was simply expressing his feelings now that he had personally visited this land where heroic epics had once unfolded.

However, he did not expect that Hendry would actually answer the question.

indeed.

If Rhaegar had defeated the Usurper, the Seven Kingdoms would still be the same Seven Kingdoms. His renowned uncle might have become a wise king of House Targaryen, consolidating his rule, but he would never have broken the wheels of history and ushered in a new era like his father.

Some people compare Rega the Elder to his father Viserys.

Horos had heard this voice more than once: whenever a Targaryen was born, the gods would toss a coin into the air to choose between madness and greatness. The Mad King was utterly mad, while his two sons were utterly great.

Despite the abundance of such voices, Heros actually held them in utter contempt.

In his view, his uncle Rega was no match for his father.

When Heros read this history, he asked his teacher the same question: could Réga be compared to his father?

However, his academy teacher did not answer the question. Instead, he asked Heros a question in return: what if he were to one day become the king of this country...?

Would you rather be Rega or Viserys?

...

A light drizzle continued to fall from above. Heros stood on his horse atop the hill, with his Unsullied guards and servants standing in the rain behind him.

“Well said, Lord Hendry.”

Raindrops slid down his cheeks, and Heros snapped out of his reverie, then turned to look at the governor of the Riverlands.

"The Seven Kingdoms...it will still be the same Seven Kingdoms."

"The wheels of history keep turning and turning, and all the stories that have happened in history will be repeated."

Heros turned his horse around. A rocky beach where stories had taken place had now become a sea. He didn't want to look any further, but he still asked a question.

"If the rulers of the seven kingdoms were facing a flood in the Riverlands, what methods would they take?"

Hendry heard the Crown Prince's question, pondered for a moment, and then smiled wryly.

"Perhaps the only way is to save ourselves."

During the reign of the Seven Kingdoms, the king was the king, and the lord was the lord. The king's orders were not effective on the lord's land. If a lord suffered a disaster and asked the king for help, it was only to save himself if it might endanger him or if the lord and the king were allies.

"Fortunately, it's no longer the era of seven kingdoms."

Hendry then gave a wry smile and added a sentence.

"Yes, it's no longer the era of the seven kingdoms."

Heros, seated on horseback, seemed slightly dazed. He recalled the time his teacher asked him if he wanted to be Rhaegar or Viserys, and his answer...

Just then, a soldier from the Imperial Navy, who had brought relief supplies from King's Landing, rushed over.

"Your Highness!"

"Something's happened! Please come and see!"

Upon hearing this, Heros's expression changed slightly. He then exchanged a glance with Hendry beside him, before urging his warhorse, soaked by the rain, towards the direction the soldier had indicated.

...

"It should be understood that when faced with natural disasters and man-made calamities, the gods in the sky do not extend a helping hand to save all living beings. Instead, we are saving ourselves. For example, this grain of rice comes from an old farmer in the river bend. He sows three times a year, works hard, and faces the yellow earth with his back to the sky."

"Have the gods ever grown a single grain of rice? Have they ever given us a full meal?"

"And His Majesty the Emperor, as the leader of all living beings, guides us onto the path of self-salvation, overthrowing the blood-sucking monsters and demons. His Majesty has never grown a single grain of food, but he can ensure that the grain grown by the old farmers of the river bend is delivered to our hands in this time of crisis..."

The eldest prince, Herod Targaryen, led his army to the Reach to provide disaster relief and set up camp on higher ground to help all the rescued, displaced, hungry, and cold refugees.

The army commander's powerful voice rang out in the square in the center of the soup kitchen, attracting many ragged refugees to gather around.

Some refugees, who were holding rice porridge and meat soup that had just been cooked in a large pot not far away and were about to offer their usual prayers and thank the gods for their protection, fell into deep thought as they looked at the meat soup in their hands.

However, Heros ignored them and went straight into a tent.

"Your Highness, be careful."

Cover your mouth and nose.

Coughing sounds came from inside the tent, while the soldiers on duty outside looked tense. When they saw Heros approaching, they quickly spoke up to warn him.

Chapter 977 Plague

"Ah."

In fact, Heros knew without the guards' reminder and dared not be negligent. He listened to the coughing inside the tent, his expression solemn. He covered his mouth and nose with one hand and then lifted the tent flap with the other and walked in.

However, before he could even step inside, a pungent smell wafted over, and he could still smell it even with his mouth and nose covered.

The tent was filled with smoke; it turned out that the army's physician had been summoned before the guards notified Heros.

The doctors, all graduates of the Imperial Medical Academy with bachelor's degrees in the Silver Chain, were burning a plant that was said to produce smoke that could kill viruses and purify the air. As a result, the tent was now filled with smoke.

"Your Highness."

"It's too dangerous here, how did you get in?"

Meanwhile, a guard who was also covering his mouth and nose while watching inside the tent saw the First Prince Herros and the Governor of the Riverlands, Hendry Brecken, enter. He quickly stopped them and spoke in a hurried voice.

However, Heros did not rush to leave after hearing the guard's words. He covered his mouth and nose, tried to hold his breath, and his gaze swept over the scene inside the tent. Then, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

At this moment, straw mats were laid out on the ground inside the tent, and seven or eight patients lay on the mats. Their faces were sallow, their eyes were lifeless, and they were coughing incessantly. They were on the verge of death.

Meanwhile, the accompanying doctors were busy around them, bringing them prepared medicinal soup to drink, while burning herbs that could expel viruses.

"what happened?"

Heros then left without disturbing the physicians, and the governor of the Riverlands, Young Brecken, followed him out.

Upon seeing the scene inside the tent, Heros's expression turned serious, and he then asked the guard standing at the door for a question.

"Your Highness, these are disaster victims we rescued yesterday morning from a village not far away."

"They were lying on the roof of their own house. That's how they looked when we first found them, but we didn't think much of it at the time, assuming they were just starving..."

The guards standing watch outside the tent heard the Crown Prince's question and quickly answered.

"But who would have thought that after bringing them back, they wouldn't eat or drink, they would vomit as soon as they ate, and they would lie on the ground coughing."

"Then we brought them here."

The guard outside the tent recounted what had happened, a word that reached his lips but he swallowed it back and didn't say it.

"plague."

The First Prince Heros's brow remained furrowed throughout, and he then turned to look at Hendry, whose expression was not good either.

The Hejian region is truly a place fraught with hardship. Since ancient times, it has been the core area of ​​conflict between the North and the South. Northerners who wanted to go south had to pass through the Hejian region, which itself was a battleground, a flat plain surrounded by powerful enemies.

Therefore, Hejian has historically been a place of misfortune and hardship.

If it really is a plague, then that's troublesome.

Because plagues are devastating weapons in this era, people are almost helpless in the face of this terrible enemy and can only stop the spread of the virus by directly and physically eliminating infected people through powerful means.

Is it a plague?

However, the army doctor then came out, his face etched with exhaustion, but he brought good news.

"It cannot be determined at this time, Your Highness."

"They have indeed been hungry for several days."

The army doctors were unable to diagnose whether these patients were truly suffering from the plague, nor did they know whether the disease was contagious.