With a reputation of 70,000, one leader travels across countless worlds with his adventure team.

The martial arts tournament arrived, and to be honest, Little Finger was quite clever; he managed to scrape together all the money needed for the tournament in such a short time through swindling and deception.

King Robert couldn't wait to take Queen Cersei and the princes and princesses to watch the knightly contest.

Robert arrived and, after a long wait without the dueling knights entering, took a large gulp of his drink and began cursing at the crowd:

"I've been sitting here for so long, why haven't we started yet! I'm about to pee!"

Seeing King Robert, who was already quite drunk, Queen Cersei looked at her husband and felt that he was too rude and simply vulgar. She got up and left the stands.

Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain, has arrived. His massive frame, clad in all-black armor, and riding an incredibly robust black horse make him seem like a completely different person from the other. Looking at the Vale Knight opposite him, clad in new silver-white armor, and Shuff, a former squire of Jon Arryn, the two seem to belong to completely different worlds!

The two men bowed to the king, and Robert, impatient and cursing, urged them to start the duel immediately. Drunk, he didn't care about the size difference between them; he just wanted to see them fight!

After hearing Robert's curses, the two men spurred their horses to one end of the arena. Servants immediately brought them shields and lances, and at a command, they charged towards each other.

Neither of them fell off their horses on the first charge. They turned their horses around and got into position for the second charge! The two got closer and closer, and the sound of hooves and cheers echoed all around. Just as the two were about to meet, the knight Hugh suddenly felt dizzy and lost his aim with his lance.

In that instant, The Mountain pierced Hugh's neck with his spear. The spear shattered, and a fragment lodged in Hugh's neck, rupturing a blood vessel. Blood gushed from Hugh's mouth and the broken vein, and he soon died, lying motionless on the spot.

The women watching the match around the arena let out shrill screams, and the Three Idiots even screamed and closed their eyes in fright.

Everyone looked at this young and handsome knight, who died in his first match, and felt sorry for him. But Littlefinger Baelish, sitting on the sidelines, looked at the dead Hugh with a hint of smugness in his eyes.

Ned, who had not originally come to watch the match, rushed to the arena early the next morning upon hearing that someone had died on the first day of the tournament. He sent Jori, who was with him, to find his two daughters, while he took Viyampour to Ser Barristan, who was guarding Hugh's body.

Looking at Hugh's brand-new chainmail and the new plate armor that had been removed and placed aside, Sir Barristan asked, "This boy was only recently knighted. Where did he get the money to buy brand-new armor?"

“Perhaps it was left to him by Jon Arlene.” Barristan continued, looking at Hugh’s corpse, “What a poor boy. He only wore this armor once before he met the Mountain!”

Ned sent Viampur to find out who arranged the draw, as he simply didn't believe that Hugh and the Mountain's duel was drawn by lot.

A short while later, Vijanpour and Jori returned together. From Jori, Vijanpour learned that Littlefinger Berry had come out of the waiting area yesterday, and from Vijanpour, he learned that Littlefinger Berry had also arranged the draw.

Ned, who knew Littlefinger was suspicious before he arrived, understood what had happened and realized that Baelish had been guiding him to investigate Erin's death, intentionally or unintentionally leading him towards the Lannister family. He knew that this guy was up to something.

Ned did not attend the duel between Loras Tyrell and the Mountain in the arena. Loras Tyrell, known as the Knight of Flowers, was the youngest son of Mace Tyrell, Duke of Highgarden, and the younger brother of his heir, Velas Tyrell.

Most people knew about his ambiguous relationship with Renly, but no one cared.

Back at the Prime Minister's Tower, Ned inquired with Viyampour and Jori about the blacksmith's shop, which they had previously learned from the Grand Maester.

Viyamp replied, "I learned some details. It is said that Lady Irene went to a blacksmith's shop several times to look for a blacksmith apprentice, a young apprentice named Gendry, and also inquired about Gendry's mother!"

"What are the child's characteristics?" Ned asked, having already formed a guess.

“I went to see that apprentice. He had black hair, was very energetic, and didn’t have any particular features, but…” Viyamp didn’t finish his sentence.

"What's wrong? Is there something you're wondering about?" Ned knew that Viyamp had probably noticed something as well. "That child looks a lot like Robert when he was young, and he asked if his mother was blonde! He's black-haired!"

Ned looked at Viyampour, who nodded firmly. "I'm afraid this Gendry is Robert's illegitimate son!"

Jori and Viyamp looked at each other, somewhat puzzled as to what use it was for these Grand Ministers to guide Lord Ned to investigate a bastard.

In Westeros, bastards have no legal right of inheritance. Even if they grow up, if there are no heirs on their father's side, the inheritance will only be passed on to their father's brothers and sisters.

“Black hair, mother’s hair is blonde…!” Suddenly remembering something, Ned picked up the book he had received from the Grand Scholar earlier—the genealogy and history of the major noble families of the Seven Kingdoms.

Thinking of his own children and his own hair color, as well as the hair color of Robert and Queen Cersei's children, Ned felt extremely uneasy.

Turning to the Stannis family genealogy, Ned saw that Robert's ancestors for generations had all had black hair, and there were almost no direct descendants with different hair colors. He then looked at the hair colors of the Lannister family members and stood there, feeling uncomfortable.

Both Viyampour and Jori noticed that Ned's expression was off. Viyampour whispered, "Sir! Have you noticed something wrong?"

Ned said helplessly, "Perhaps our King Robert only has 'bastards'!" He then covered his face with his hands in anguish. The two retainers could hardly believe it. Queen Cersei had given birth to three children, none of whom were King Robert's. This absurd thing was hard for them to believe.

The troublemakers, including the Lord Chancellor and Littlefinger Baelish, achieved their goal: Ned Stark finally understood how Jon Arlene died. He had likely discovered Cersei's affair and found out from the genealogy that Robert's child was not his. Before he could tell Robert what he had found out, Arlene died in the Northwest, carrying these secrets with her.

Littlefinger Baelish clearly wants to stir up this conflict, letting Ned continue to be the sucker and fight against the Lannisters who have something to hide, while he reaps the benefits from behind the scenes.

If Ned Stark knew Littlefinger Baelish's famous quote, "Chaos is the ladder to ascent," he would definitely strangle him the moment he heard it!

Ned pondered for a moment and said to the two, "Don't tell anyone about this yet. We need to find a suitable time to tell Robert, but we can't attract the attention of the Lannisters. They have minions all over King's Landing, and there are many Red Robes. The King's personal Golden Robe Guard is simply not enough to suppress a large-scale rebellion. We need to find a way to leave King's Landing first, and we also need to get Robert to find a way to leave King's Landing. At the very least, we need to return to the Baratheon family's fiefdoms to have any chance of defeating a possible Lannister rebellion!"

Both men nodded after hearing Ned's words. Viyamp said, "The fleet from White Harbor has reached the vicinity of Blackwater Bay. Now, as long as we guard the tunnel from the basement to Blackwater Bay, our retreat is safe."

“That’s good. Jori has arranged for people to guard the entrance at all times. We need to be ready to leave King’s Landing at any time in case the Lannisters turn against us!” Ned said with a serious expression.

Bran was rescued by me, and Catelyn didn't leave Winterfell, nor did she come south to King's Landing to find Ned Stark. This left Littlefinger Baelish with no outlet for his power, only able to cause trouble for Ned in King's Landing.

 …

Just as Ned Stark was feeling extremely frustrated in King's Landing, Bai Ze, Benjen, and a group of rangers returned to Castle Black beneath the Wall with the corpses of the wights they had captured.

Commander-in-Chief Georgio Mormont, accompanied by Maester Aemon Targaryen, Allissa Thorne, and others, greeted us.

The group arrived at the Weirwood Forest outside the Great Wall. Those who came out to watch the ghouls were all veterans of the Great Wall who had served for more than a year, and the Rangers led by Banyan. The new recruits and the newly arrived prisoners and thieves were all sent to the top of the Great Wall to stand guard.

The two rangers who had gone to capture the ghouls together carried a large box off a horse. The sound of the box hitting the ground caused the half-eaten ghoul inside to surge up, and a roar came from inside the box. The noise made the people around instinctively take two steps back.

The two rangers who had captured the ghouls stepped on the crate containing them and burst into laughter at the people around them. One of them looked at the Black Castle soldiers who had retreated upon hearing the noise and said, "That's it?"

Several soldiers who knew him were furious, but dared not step forward. The sudden appearance of this monster, which had disappeared for thousands of years, still made everyone somewhat apprehensive.

Bai Ze walked to the box and explained to Commander-in-Chief Xiong Laojie Mormont and the others:

"There has indeed been a change outside the Wall. The White Walkers have been resurrected and have begun their actions. They have started to massacre the wildling tribes outside the Wall!"

There are now two types of White Walkers. One type consists of the First Men, with fair skin and blue eyes. They are the leaders of the White Walker army, and their numbers are not large. What we found were only wights transformed by them!

Seeing everyone's reaction, Bai Ze continued, "The White Walkers can't move during the day now. They mainly attack wildling tribes at night. We haven't seen the White Walker leader yet. The ones we captured are wights, which are transformed from corpses after death. Wights don't rot after being transformed. To eliminate them, we must completely destroy them or burn them completely."

He then instructed the two rangers standing on the crates to hold onto the chains binding the ghouls, and opened the crates.

A ranger gripped the chains binding the ghouls, took a few steps back, and nodded to another ranger standing next to a crate. The ranger next to the crate kicked it over, and the ghouls inside suddenly rushed out, crawling forward with their hands, but were pulled back by the chains behind them after only a few steps.

The group facing the ghouls were all startled. Some of them bumped into people behind them as they backed up, and the group fell over in a pile like bowling balls.

Hahaha...hahaha...hahaha

The rangers who had captured the ghouls with Bai Ze laughed so hard they almost fell over.

Bai Ze stepped forward and stomped on the back of the head of a ghoul that was crawling forward and trying to attack the group, making it swallow a mouthful of snow. He continued:

"That's how it is. The ghouls have lost their self-awareness and only know how to attack. Even if you cut them down, they will continue to attack as long as their heads are still connected to their bodies. It seems that once their heads are separated from their bodies, they lose their ability to move."

But! Don't take any chances when facing them. Being bitten to death now guarantees you'll become a ghoul, but we don't know if being bitten or scratched will. If anyone gets injured, remember, if they become a ghoul, don't hesitate; they're no longer your brothers or friends!

Everyone swallowed hard; what they were seeing today was quite a challenge to their senses.

"From now on, whenever a body is found, collect it and burn it during the day. We can no longer leave it to hold a ceremony!" Bai Ze looked at everyone and reminded them.

Bai Ze turned to Xiong Lao and said, "Commander-in-Chief, we can equip everyone with Molotov cocktails now!"

Commander-in-Chief George Mormont glanced at the wraith still writhing under his foot, and said, "Thorne, take your men to the warehouse and bring out a few boxes of those brown-black bottles. Bring them here!"

"Yes, sir."

Elisa Thorne led a few people to the warehouse, where Bai Ze explained to them how to deal with ghouls. The people around were still afraid because the thing under Bai Ze's feet never stopped roaring and moving around.

A short while later, Elisa Thorne arrived with a carriage pulled by her men. Bai Ze had someone hand him a bottle of Molotov cocktail. Bai Ze uncorked the bottle, found some scraps of cloth and stuffed them into the mouth of the bottle. He then turned the bottle upside down so that the liquid inside would soak into the scraps of cloth at the mouth of the bottle.

Bai Ze took a torch and said, "Look carefully. It's very simple to use. Light it and throw it towards the direction of the ghoul. Remember to seal the bottle opening tightly. Don't be nervous and spill the contents before you even throw the bottle."

As he spoke, Bai Ze stepped away and lit the tattered cloth at the mouth of the bottle with a torch. The corpse demon that had climbed up tried to attack Bai Ze again, using its two hands to support its upper body as it crawled toward Bai Ze.

Bai Ze forcefully threw the Molotov cocktail at the wight. The bottle hit the wight's head, and the oil immediately splattered out, igniting the wight instantly. Before the wight could even struggle, it was burned to ashes.

"Fire has a remarkable effect on ghouls, so don't be afraid when you encounter them. Just try to light the bottle in your hand and throw it. Once you see the fire, the ghoul will basically stop moving towards the fire."

If...we encounter a White Walker-led army of wights! Then we'd better pray for good fortune. Until we find a way to kill the White Walkers on a large scale, the larger the wight army we encounter, the more disadvantaged we'll be. So we must do everything we can to prevent the wight army from growing in size!

The quest to summon my own account character hasn't arrived yet. If I could summon a character with a wide-area attack, that would be great. Otherwise, when Daenerys returns with her dragons, I can't just give one to the White Walkers, right? Wouldn't that make Bai Ze's trip pointless? I'd rather just get a Barbie Q!

I remember when Jon Snow went out of the Wall to find Benjen, he encountered a lone White Walker. If we knew the location, we could have tested the waters by encountering a White Walker first. If we could have led him out of the quest, things would have been much easier!

Bai Ze planned to go to the Great Wall again to try his luck. He would ask Jon Snow to accompany him, hoping to borrow the luck of the Chosen One!

Old Man George Mormont breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the creature could be killed. If it couldn't be killed, the more of our men died, the more they would have, and the battle would be impossible to fight.

Maester Aemon Targaryen looked at Bai Ze and said, "Lord Bai Ze has brought us both bad and good news. Send a message to Winterfell. This matter is no longer something that the Wall alone can resolve. If all the wildlings outside the Wall are wiped out, then it will probably be our turn!"

Although the scholar's words were unpleasant, everyone could still sense the seriousness of his words.