Inside Castle Black, as drones outside the Wall monitored the army of ghouls getting closer, the atmosphere in the entire barracks became tense and chilling.
A team of fully armed soldiers began to enter the empty city built just outside the Wall. Barrels of simple gasoline incendiary bombs were piled along the four walls. Over five thousand soldiers carrying flamethrowers practiced the technique of burning ghouls. This exercise was intended to prevent them from being paralyzed by fear when faced with a tide of charging ghouls.
The quickly constructed empty city outside the Wall was already filled with tents, and most of the soldiers from Castle Black moved into the city to prepare for battle. Jason also moved his command camp into this empty city to facilitate close command.
When Stannis arrived at Castle Black with his team of more than two thousand men, Jason was still in the empty city outside the Wall, creating detailed battle plans with the Northern lords. Hearing his soldiers report that Stannis Baratheon had arrived, Jason ended the meeting.
"Let's go meet this Lord Stannis!" Jason smiled slightly, mounted his horse, and led the Northern lords back to Castle Black inside the Wall.
Stannis saw Jason approaching from a distance, surrounded by the Northern lords like the moon surrounded by stars. His already serious face became even colder. Judging by the attitude of the Northern lords towards the Earl of Starfire City, Stannis knew that if he wanted to gain the support of the North and the Riverlands, he had to start with this young man.
It was also Jason's first time meeting Stannis Baratheon, a man rumored to be extremely strict and rigid. Jason had heard that when Stannis served as Master of Laws, his punishments were so severe that the dignitaries in King's Landing grew extremely wary of him, leading Robert to drive him away to Dragonstone to unify the naval fleet. It seemed the rumors were accurate. Although he hadn't spoken to him yet, Jason felt that just by looking at Stannis's cold, rigid face, he could guess a bit of his character.
"Lord Stannis, it's a pleasure to meet you at this time!" Jason smiled, offering a greeting that was polite, at least on the surface. "The North is facing an unprecedented crisis. We need more strength to fight against those monsters, and the North is honored by your presence!"
Stannis frowned because this foreign count, whose face was completely different from a Westerosi, used the word "Lord" instead of "Your Majesty" when addressing him. This clearly indicated the other party had no intention of honoring him as king.
"You should call me Your Majesty, Lord Jason!" He was angry, but Stannis's face remained serious, his tone cold and hard as he corrected the address.
As Stannis's cold voice fell, the atmosphere immediately dropped to freezing point. Everyone present held their breath, looking at Stannis and Lord Jason with various emotions, including amusement, anxiety, and confusion.
The smile on Jason's face slightly froze. He hadn't expected Stannis to be such a stubborn man. Stannis had confronted him directly and acted with the confidence of a king, as if he wasn't the one who had been defeated and fled North seeking help.
Slowly putting away his smile, Jason looked past Stannis and glanced at the Queen and the little Princess, who were leaning together nervously behind him, and the "Onion Knight," Lord Davos. There was also the woman in the red robe, with a fair, delicate face and a fiery ruby at her throat. She must be the Scarlet Witch, Melisandre.
Davos was truly taken aback, not expecting the two sides to clash immediately upon meeting. Worrying that the young Lord of Starfire City might, in a fit of rage, arrest them all, Davos glanced at the powerful soldiers in strange military uniforms surrounding them. He was sure that if Lord Jason gave the word, these soldiers would tie them up and throw them into the dungeon without hesitation. The two sides could not afford to break diplomatic ties, or the situation would be highly unfavorable for them.
Thinking quickly, Lord Davos forced a smile onto his face, breaking the suffocating silence. "Your Majesty, we came to the North to help the people resist those ghoul monsters. Why don't we all sit down together and discuss the next steps to destroy those horrible things? What do you think?"
Saying this, Davos secretly winked at Stannis.
Stannis, of course, saw Davos's look and understood his meaning. Although he was angry that Jason did not treat him as king, the situation demanded prudence, and Stannis would not let anger rule him.
Thus, Stannis's stiff face twitched slightly, and he briefly pursed his lips. He said coldly, "Lord Jason, can you tell me about those ghouls? Melisandre has been speaking in my ear about how dangerous these monsters are. I hope what she said is not true."
Seeing that Stannis was no longer dwelling on the issue of the name, Jason didn't want to be distracted by a fight with Stannis right before the battle with the ghouls. "No, I'm afraid Lady Melisandre's statement is entirely correct. If we lose to these monsters, all of Westeros will become a cold and silent realm—"
Stannis was about to say something, but was interrupted by Melisandre's words from behind him, which made Stannis's face turn gloomy again.
However, Melisandre didn't care about Stannis's anger at this moment. She had come to the Wall and had seen with her own eyes the continuous camps and the mighty army commanded by Lord Jason East at Castle Black. She understood that defeating the Night King required relying on him, who commanded tens of thousands of troops.
So, ignoring Stannis's gloomy face, Melisandre hurriedly asked, "Lord Jason, I am R'hllor's servant, Melisandre from the Red Temple of Essos. Do you know how much longer it will take for the ghouls you speak of to get here?"
"My subordinates tell me we will be able to stand on the Wall and see those monsters in three days," Jason replied. He looked at the Red Woman, who had a face like a beautiful young woman in her thirties but could actually be a hundred-year-old witch, and couldn't help but feel curious about the magic of this world.
"I brought you some Dragonglass from Dragonstone, I hope I can help you!" Melisandre said, gesturing to her followers in Stannis's army, who carried a wooden box. The box held several black-red spar stones, which were obsidian known as Dragonglass.
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