The change in sky was imperceptible in the dimly lit cellar, but it was actually not early, and there was not much time left for the Castle Black Night's Watch to vote.

More than 200 votes remained, and if the choice was not made at dinner, the owner of those votes would have been deemed to have abstained - in which case Jon Royce would have won the Commander-in-Chief in an alternative way by more than 500 votes over the "two-thirds" line.

Iger didn't want to rush back to Castle Black, and offended the conservative leaders to death with a bang, only to lose the fight because of lack of time.

He stopped arguing with Sir Mellister, approached Robb, and led them out of the hall on the pretext of showing them around Castle Black and settling them in, leaving the venue for the vote to take place.

Take it when you see it.

What should be said has been said, and what can be done is too late to do it before sunset today...... Leave the rest to Jon and Sam, who have been at Castle Black. As long as he leaves the hall, no matter what he says or does to the leaders, if he doesn't face him or get a response, he will turn into a defeated dog barking, and he will never be able to erase or even overpower the impression and influence left by his public roar.

＊＊＊

Robb went to the top of the Great Wall first.

The existence of ghouls is a fact of fact in the North, but it is shocking to see the lone one one that Commander Mormont has placed in a wooden cage and placed on a carriage through the railing...... Compared to the battlefield ruins that went to the top of the ice wall and overlooked the first time the ghouls attacked the Great Wall of Desperation for thousands of years, it was simply a place and a sky, and it was simply incomparable.

The movable ghouls were summoned by the strange spirits to return to the Ghost Shadow Forest early, and most of them were chasing and killing the only living people in the Ghost Shadow Forest. Although the north of the Great Wall is extremely cold, the climate is much drier than that of the south, and a few fine snows have not completely covered the traces of the great battle, and the corpses charred by wildfire and oil oil are dotted with normal or distorted human traces in the snow under the corners of the wall, and the wooden fence originally built by the night watchmen to temporarily contain the wild people was completely charred to ash under the dual effect of fire and magic, but the remaining traces are still clearly dark even if they are mixed with layers of thin snow and turned into mud, looking down from the top of the Great Wall, it seems that some huge being has marked the location of the entrance with a huge ink dot outside the passage of the ice wallto remind the attackers where the gate is.

......

This is Robb's first return to the Wall.

The shock of witnessing humanity's greatest creation and the thrill of seeing the traces of a life-and-death battle produce a far greater effect than one plus one.

For thousands of years, no Guardian of the North has faced such a situation. "Unprecedented crisis" suddenly changed from an emotion and a public cliché to a real challenge at hand. And the ethnic language of the Stark family also changed from a proverb reminding family members to maintain a sense of crisis at this moment, to an objective description of reality.

"Really...... Winter is coming. Robb's eyes became serious, and he realized that what Iger had reported to him before, without exaggeration or alarmism, might be worse than he had thought.

"No, my lord, winter has arrived. Iger shook his head, "Before we captured the ghouls alive and showed them to the king and the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms as proof of the crisis, the Cypriots had been fighting against these ghosts for probably more than a year...... They have gone through the whole process of the dead people from three to three by two, to tens of thousands, and they are very familiar with how to deal with the dead. Therefore, when organized in groups, even the strangers only dare to attack after dark. But on the day the ghouls stormed the city, the last of the savages to surrender into the city, and our enemies were clever enough to know that when humanity had a way out, they would lose the will to resist and flee for their lives. They took advantage of the right moment to attack, and almost rushed into the tunnel through Castle Black with the fleeing and defeated Cypriots, and it was Commander Mormont who decisively ordered the gate to be closed at the most thrilling moment, so as to avoid the continuation of the dangerous situation. ”

"I've heard about it, like...... The clan that attacked Commander Mormont must have been shut out of the wall by the iron gates. ”

Iger nodded: "I'm sorry for the loss of their loved ones, but that's not a reason why they've broken the law of land grants and caused us big trouble. I have ordered that the remaining tribes that were also locked out of the gates on that day be on heightened alert and supervised to ensure that they do not threaten the stability of the grant again. ”

That's good, Robb nodded, and pulled Arya back from the railing on the edge of the Wall, looking like she was going to be blown down by the wind at any moment.

The girl looked a little worried: "Is there anyone else outside the wall?" ”

"Theoretically, there are probably a few thousand to ten thousand savages who chose not to believe in the King of the Cypriots and the Night's Watch, and broke away from the army and went to their own lives. ”

"Aren't they dead?"

"Perhaps, but people have to take responsibility for their own choices. ”

......

The fate of tens of thousands of people is summed up in such a fluttering sentence. Arya is protected by countless people, and is not often exposed to the cruelty of this real world, and after listening to it, she was silent for a while, and then muttered: "The following ...... Can't you send someone to collect the bodies of those people?"

"Yes, but considering that the aliens have the magic to freeze and crack steel, a few gates are not safe. After the last living person passed through the Great Wall, we sealed the entrance to the passage. Iger replied calmly, not only to answer the girl's question, but also to say to Robb again: "I am a realistic person, and I care more about the people inside the walls who are still alive than those who have died tragically outside the walls, or who may still be struggling if they refuse to surrender." In the cold weather, where the remains do not decay and cause disease or stench, I believe that all the policies of the Night's Watch should be to defend the Wall, to protect our Night's Watch brothers and the land-givers, rather than collecting the bodies of our enemies under the Wall...... and the safety of the North as the first priority. ”

He thought for a moment, then added, "Commander Mormont also approved of my idea, and that's why we have a land grant and a loan contract with Braavos...... and even a series of arrangements along the Great Wall. ”

If someone other than himself is appointed commander-in-chief, these long-term arrangements for the defense of the north are likely to be overhauled or even overturned...... It's too revealing to say this, and it's best to make Robb himself aware of it.

"That's good, tell me a little bit more about the other defense arrangements you've made along the Great Wall. ”

＊＊＊

To the Night's Watch, the Guardian of the North is the true king. Although he was extremely jealous of the private relationship between Egg and the Stark family, he learned from the letter sent by Winterfell early that the chief affairs officer and other high-level officials of Castle Black were ready to receive the group...... After leading Robb to walk around Castle Black, and settling down the hundreds of people with the cooperation of Povin Marthy and Auxer, the results of the voting finally came out.

The first place was Jon Royce with 584 votes, the second place was Warner Bookwell with 210 votes, and the third place was Iger West with 163 votes.

Dozens of votes were not cast and were abstained.

Warner Buckwell's 200-odd votes came from staunch supporters of the reformers, who either genuinely wanted reform or had a stake in Iger's interests...... And Egger's own more than 100 votes are the neutral watchers he won after he showed up to say. As for the nearly 600 votes of his opponent Jon Royce, almost all of them came from Egger before he returned to Castle Black, he received nearly 450 votes directly in the morning, and then won the support of a large number of Castle Black soldiers at an average rate of twenty or thirty votes per hour...... All signs were that he was about to be elected commander-in-chief, but this good rhythm was completely interrupted when Iger appeared in surprise and questioned his abilities and the two commanders who supported him.

Jon didn't take advantage of the best chance of victory, and with Iger announcing his candidacy in a high-profile manner, it was foreseeable that he would never win tomorrow even if the two commanders still supported Jon Royce. Egger, on the other hand, is bound to get more votes than he did today.

The plan to prevent the birth of the commander-in-chief did not go bankrupt by several coincidences and many efforts, but there is still a way to go. After cleaning up Robb and the others and settling them down, Egg returned to the tower where he was staying, and gathered all the key people and thinkers in his camp to discuss the next plan until late at night...... The detailed arrangements were finalized.

The last to leave was Sam, who gave Egger some additions to the details before leaving, and when the fat man's broad back disappeared from view, Egger let out a long sigh into the cold night sky of Castle Black, and turned back into the house.

......

Before closing the door, a female voice suddenly sounded: "Your Excellency Chief Logistics Officer, your meeting is finally over." ”

Egger held his hand on the door and raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Lady Melisandre......?" Good evening. ”

It's a bit strange to say good evening, it's already the middle of the night, so it's time to say good night.

The red-robed woman nodded in response to the greeting, and then shrugged, "Let's talk here?"

"Oh, please come in. The night watchman hastened to get out of the way.

The woman smiled, tucked the hem of her red robe, and gracefully stepped over the threshold into the hot room, where there was still a large pile of men's smells.

In the middle of the night, lonely men and widows...... Egger's mind was confused for a few seconds and he closed the door.

He's not afraid of gossip.

Melisandre was not at all polite, and when Egg looked back, she was already seated in the chair across from her desk.

What is she doing here?, Egger was a little confused, but walked back to the table with a normal face and sat down again.

"Lady Melisandre, how are you from the injuries you sustained the other day?"

The ice spear that the stranger threw at her only scratched a little of the skin, but wounded Melisandre in a way that Egger couldn't understand, so much so that she didn't reappear for a long time after being sent back to her room, so Egg asked.

"Thanks to the blessings of adults, it's all right. Melisandre smiled softly, looking very good, "Speaking of which, my lord, you really saved my life that day, but I didn't express my gratitude in person until you left Castle Black and went south. ”

"Again, Lady Melisandre is a man of strange arts, and she is concerned about fighting the enemies of humanity, and having you at Castle Black is a blessing to all the Night's Watch, and anyone else will choose to save you. ”

It's weird that a man and a woman are alone in a room late at night, but they just say things that are not nutritious. Probably sensing this as well, Melisandre chuckled: "Okay, speaking of which, the logistics officer and I should be old friends, don't look like this, don't be casual." ”

Iger didn't know anything about Melisandre's origins, but the woman of mysterious age appeared to be in her twenties, approaching her thirties, fully mature, but not yet aging. And she knows very well how to show the charm of a mature woman, her manners are charming and not debauched, and she is decent but full of charm, this smile is really glamorous, bright and beautiful.

Could it be that she is here to be with herself tonight...... Iger knew it couldn't be, but honestly, in a boring place like the Great Wall, it would be hard for a normal man to be in the same room with such a woman late at night.

He pressed Qi Nian and smiled: "Since you say so, then I will not be out of sight - what can I do at such a late hour?"

"The demeanor of the two commanders in the cellar in the afternoon is really admirable. However, you are so happy to scold, Sir Mellister and Master Carter, the two commanders, but it is absolutely impossible to vote for you again, I noticed that there is also a meeting in this room for a short time, I wonder if you and your friends can discuss the next step?"

In terms of the simplicity of their motives, there are few people in the world who are more distracted than the followers of the Red God, and it is normal for Melisandre to be concerned about the affairs of the Great Wall.

It stands to reason that Egger shouldn't have told outsiders what she had just discussed with her supporters, but considering that the witch in front of her was probably suspecting that she was the Child of Prophecy, she probably wouldn't do anything against herself.

"Tomorrow, Warner Bookwell will withdraw from the election, and the votes that belonged to him will be cast for me...... In this way, I would be conservatively estimated to get between 400 and 500 votes. Even if one of the two commanders succeeds in convincing the other to support him, I am confident that he will not be chosen. ”

"From what I've observed in Castle Black, it's hard for the situation you assume to happen, and the length of time the grudge between the two commanders has been accumulating, I'm afraid it's not younger than yours, and it's unlikely that they will turn in favor of the other because of your presence. Melisandre nodded, "But what I want to ask is, what about after that? The Night's Watch Legion has been slow to elect a commander-in-chief, and the dragons have no leader, and the Great Wall defenses are in a very rigid and dangerous state...... It's a good thing that the enemy didn't take advantage of the opportunity during this time, but it's not a long-term solution, you have to take the position of commander-in-chief quickly and think about everyone!"

"You have to take the position of Commander-in-Chief quickly", not "Someone has to take the position of Commander-in-Chief quickly", Egger glared at Melisandre with some interest, wondering when the witch would become his supporter, nodded, and continued his next plan.

"I'd love to see which of the two commanders would suddenly come to their senses and vote for me, but that's unlikely. Now, the first thing I count on is Robb Stark agreeing to universal suffrage in all the forts along the Wall, which will give me a slight advantage, but unfortunately I can't go to the Shadow Tower and the East Sea to scold their commanders one by one...... Therefore, there will not be too many people in these two forts who will vote for me instead. So, I'm ready to have four hundred votes that I'll never get. ”

"There's a good chance that the one-vote proposal will be accepted, but there's no reason for Stark to change the two-thirds rule for being elected, so what are you going to do without those four hundred votes?"

"Think backwards. Iger smiled mysteriously: "Isn't getting two-thirds of the votes from another point of view 'suppressing the number of votes that don't vote for oneself to less than one-third'? we can do this by reducing the number of opponents, but in fact there is another way to go - to increase the total number of voters and make the proportion of these 400 votes smaller!"

——