In the port of Volantis, the air was filled with a strong smell of fish, flowers, excrement, and decay.
The girl Mia with the fiery red ponytail still had two daggers tied to her thighs. After seeing him, she took the initiative to come over to Viserys and said hello.
The expedition is naturally not compulsory. Many mercenaries join and still have the right to regret it before signing the contract.
After all, everyone knows that exploring the ruins of Valyria is very dangerous and can lead to a narrow escape. No one would choose such a path if they were not forced to a dead end.
But it's a pity...
There are not a few people in this world who are driven to a dead end.
"I'm not sure I'm happy to see you, Mia."
Viserys, who was wearing leather armor, heard Mia's voice, turned to look at the girl in front of him, shook his head and said.
Mia was the first Volantis he met, and it was also the first time Viserys put aside his pretensions as a king and made a friend as an ordinary person after coming to this world.
In fact, compared to being a high-ranking king whose every word and deed is watched by countless people, Viserys's freedom in Volantis these days seems to be more in line with his inner yearning, because he was an ordinary person in his previous life.
This is a dangerous idea.
Robert thought so too, and later he died.
Since becoming a king is like a canary trapped in a cage, of course he cannot act arbitrarily, so Viserys cherishes this opportunity to go out alone.
But precisely because of this, Viserys joked that he did not want to see the girl, because the Valyrian ruins and his party were in danger.
As for Mia's lively and straightforward personality, she naturally understood that it wasn't that Viserys didn't want to see her as a friend, but that he was worried about her being in danger.
"It's okay, it's enough that I'm happy to see you."
The girl looked very optimistic, squinting her beautiful eyes, and said with a smile.
Mia's appearance may be flawed and she is not a beautiful girl, but her eyes are very beautiful and full of sunshine.
"I believe the gods will bless me."
"If He wanted me to die, I would have died many years ago."
When Viserys heard Mia's words, his brows relaxed slightly and he smiled a little.
It felt really good to chat freely, instead of facing all kinds of uniformly respectful faces every day, and Mia's optimistic attitude also affected him, and he felt much more comfortable.
"Do you know our route this time?"
"No, how are we qualified to know such a secret?"
And Mia's head shook her head like a rattle.
"These are secrets that only the big shots can know."
"Too."
Viserys thought for a moment and nodded in approval, but did not continue to ask further questions.
In his hand, he holds a road map that Jillian drew back then. This route can theoretically pass through the obstacles in the sea of smoke and finally reach this lost civilization.
It's just that so many years have passed, and now that the gray mist is rioting, what kind of things and changes must have happened within the sea of smoke. Viserys doesn't know whether this road map is still effective.
However, he did not expect to be able to successfully explore the secret in one go. He mainly followed the large army and let them explore the path. If he failed this time, he could also summon Balerion to take him out and look for another opportunity.
However, while Viserys was chatting with Mia.
Woo——
The melodious sound of horns came from the port of Volantis, and twenty warships of various sizes were ready.
There were thousands of explorers standing on the coast, most of whom were slaves.
The power of Volantis' consuls is overwhelming, and the Tiger Party has lost its status as a dominant party in the nearly three hundred years since the defeat in the Bloody Century war.
The Elephant Party has always firmly controlled the Volantis government and maintained the status of consul with more than two seats.
Viserys and Mia stood inconspicuously in the huge crowd. He saw the 'boss' who organized this operation, the only governor of the Tiger Party, Malachor Meguya.
This is an old man who has lost all his teeth and has not much hair left. However, he is still wearing military uniform while riding on the back of an elephant. His eyes are bright and lively, living up to the reputation of a fierce tiger.
"This is an old tiger. It's best not to mess with him unless necessary."
"Eamonn."
Mia explained quietly in Viserys' ear.
Viserys claimed to be an adventurer from Tyrosh during the expedition.
Tyrosh is not far from Volantis but not too close, and Tyrosh also has many people with silver hair and purple eyes like Viserys, so it is not a strange thing.
Moreover, Tyroshi is very close to Westeros, so some residents on the island know the common language of Westeros, and Viserys happens to be able to switch between the two languages seamlessly, so there is no doubt about it.
Viserys nodded slightly when he heard the girl's words.
"Well, I know."
Immediately, they felt the stern eyes of the bodyguard of Malachor's consul glance over, and the two of them shut their mouths, not wanting to cause trouble for themselves.
The ‘Late Tiger’ Malachor Meguia, who was wearing military uniform, was sitting on the back of the elephant, with his back straight and speaking in a loud voice, while Viserys below was showing no interest.
He had heard this same morale-boosting formula countless times, and he had always played the role of a speaker before.
He had thought that his impassioned speech had brought excitement and high morale to the soldiers.
Now among the crowd, Viserys could only hear the low sneers and discussions of whether this old thing could still be 'lifted'.
"It turns out that this is what it feels like to listen to a lecture down there."
Viserys had not listened to a lecture for so long that he had forgotten this feeling, and now it seemed that he would spend less time talking in the future.
And when Viserys was a little distracted.
The old consul Malachor finally finished his speech, and then the old man rode an elephant and left the scene surrounded by guards.
Of course he won't go by himself.
Everyone knows that exploring the ruins of Valyria is a near-death experience, and Volantis has failed several times before.
History has proven that the probability of survival increases a lot when there are more people, but no one can guarantee that they will be the lucky ones.
This expedition is just a counterattack by the Tiger Party, hoping to find some ancient Valyrian technology, precious treasures, even magic, dragon eggs, etc. from the ruins.