"The last time I reconnoitred the whereabouts of the dead, they had finished assembling a dozen miles north of Castle Black, but instead of heading towards the Wall, they dispersed into two groups, one to the east and one to the west. Among them, the group that headed for Seal Bay numbered five or six thousand, led by three strange ghosts, and was now lurking in the ghost forest outside the three fortresses of Beacon Tower, Green Guardian Fort, and East Sea Wang. And the batch that went to the Grand Canyon was full of heaven and sky, and it was difficult to calculate, because the reason why I couldn't get close to the reconnaissance because of the Night King leading the team, the specific situation is unknown. ”

Five or six thousand can be counted, it is difficult to calculate how many? Iger heard a chill behind his back, this is still under the condition that he has contained more than 30,000 savages, if he does not do this, it means that the enemy has 30,000 more, but his own side has 30,000 less......

His heart sank slightly, and he didn't speak, just quietly waited for the following.

"They don't even need to use their brains to make judgments, they are looking for a way to cross the Great Wall while waiting for the power that supports their existence to reach its peak...... In order to launch a decisive battle at the most favorable time. Bran's words began to staccato and pause, as if the previous successive words had exhausted his strength, "I don't want to boast or flatter, but the biggest reason why the dead have not attacked the Seven Kingdoms until now is the series of arrangements made by the Commander-in-Chief - whether it is the airtight defense along the Great Wall, the large-scale de-icing of Seal Bay, or the patrols along the Grand Canyon...... The Night's Watch has sealed off every path of the enemy, and I sometimes can't help but wonder if you are the prince who was prophesied to be sent to deal with the strangers. ”

"Thank you. I'm not a prince, I just put caution first and put me in my shoes...... Then plug all the loopholes you can find. "There's no denying it—everyone can be recognized for their earnestness and hard work, but Egg won't get so distracted as to get down to business," Bran, I'm not going to force you to risk your life to track down the Night King's exact location, but I hope you'll answer me a few questions about the enemy. After all, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent is the only way to survive a hundred battles: first, are strange spirits and dead people afraid of water, will they swim in the sea or step on the bottom of the sea?

"It's really a problem that deserves attention. "I can give you a clear answer, but it must be explained separately. First of all, the wraiths are afraid of water - although they are transformed from living people, they have been soaked in ice magic for many years, and little by little they have lost their bodies and turned to maintain their bodies with more and more pure magical power, and become stronger and stronger as they progress. The full-fledged alien shell is just a shape, and itself is held up entirely by magic. In the same way that humans must consume food to produce stable calories, and if their body temperature is too low or too high, they will die, and the Wraith also have an optimal temperature range for survival, and this temperature is extremely low for humans. If they come into contact with water, if they are small, they will be trapped in ice mounds and affect their mobility, and if they are thrown into the sea, for example, they will freeze to death, just like humans are frozen to death, because they lose their 'normal temperature' and die of heat. ”

......

Iger thought carefully about this possibility, but finally realized that it was not realistic: with the magic power of the strange ghost that can slay dragons, even if one or two buckets of water are splashed, it can break free immediately, and only by instantly drowning it with tons of water can the strange ghost be frozen in it, which is difficult to do with the current level of technology.

After a few rounds of thinking, he still asked about the more likely scenario: "Why didn't they cast a spell on the shore to freeze Seal Bay and come over?"

"They are strangers, not gods. Bran rolled his eyes—for the first time since Egg entered this room, he finally looked a little childlike: "There is a very powerful Red God priest by your side, and when she wants to take a hot bath, does she jump into the cold water and boil the water with her magic?

"So the strangers don't have this ability?"

"I'm not one of them, and I can't answer for them. Bran shook his head, "But what I do know is that it takes most of the strength of the Wraiths to keep their shells and body heat, and if you want to freeze a passage in Seal Bay that is strong enough to ignore the condescending destruction of the Great Wall defenders, you may have to sacrifice a dozen Wraiths to sacrifice themselves to fill in." ”

Let's hope that's true, Eglius breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, what about the ghouls, they don't have a low body temperature, what if the strange ghosts manipulate them to wade through the water?"

"It works in theory, but in practice it is unlikely to be put into practice. First of all, the ghouls can't get too far from the wraiths that control them, especially from the Wall—I'll tell you why—and secondly, the Night's Watch must have had many encounters with the wraiths, have you done any research: why are they afraid of fire?"

"Of course, the ghouls' bodies are filled with a special type of corpse oil that is flammable. ”

"That's right, have you ever wondered why the enemy wants to leave such a big weakness for yourself?"

yes, why?

Asked by Bran like this, Iger immediately had conspiracy theories in his mind...... Could it be that this is a trap, and when the night watchmen think that the ghouls are afraid of fire, they will suddenly become invincible in the final battle and wipe out the main human force?

If this is the case, wouldn't all the wildfires that had been prepared in the early stage be useless? Egger was startled at first, but quickly suppressed the chaotic thoughts - this is not logical, if the ghouls are not afraid of fire, then the enemy's horror level will instantly increase by an order of magnitude, in that case, they only need to push head-on, and the Seven Nations are not opponents, and there is no need for any conspiracy at all.

"I guess that corpse oil is like blood to humans, and it's an indispensable component to ghouls, so even if it's a weakness, you can't get rid of it?"

"You guessed it...... Corpse oil has at least three functions: first, it stores the ice magic cast by the stranger and "awakens" the ghoul, which is the key to its difference from the corpse, second, it becomes a medium, it becomes the power that the ghoul can absorb magic from the air to maintain its own existence, and third, it acts as a lubricant for muscles and bones...... At the same time, it delays the natural decay and drying of the ghouls' bodies. Bran gasped and said intermittently, showing that after a swim outside the plug, his body was weakened to a certain extent, "It is irreplaceable, and the ghouls without corpse oil will be stiff and fragile, although they are no longer afraid of fire...... However, they can be killed by swords and clubs, and they can fall even a few steps away from the stranger. ”

It turns out that corpse oil is so crucial to ghouls, and Egger had nervously considered what to do if he encountered a ghoul who was not afraid of fire, but now it seemed that he was completely overwhelmed.

"But that only explains why ghouls are afraid of fire, and I'm most concerned about whether ghouls are afraid of water...... Could it be that this corpse oil dissolves in water?"

"No, ghouls aren't theoretically afraid of water, they're afraid of ice. Bran shook his head and explained with a smirk, "I know it's counterintuitive - how can ghouls controlled by ice magic be afraid of ice? The reason lies in a small misconception: the first appearance of the strange ghost in the long night gives the impression of cold and biting, so the chronicler conveniently named the power used by the strange ghosts as 'ice magic', but in fact, cold is the favorable condition and collateral effect of ice magic, not the purpose, and ice is formed by water frozen at low temperatures - the arrival of strange spirits is always accompanied by cooling and freezing, so people mistakenly think that they have a causal relationship with each other, but in fact, it is not. ”

The boy gasped again before continuing, "A more accurate word to describe ice magic would be 'cold magic' or 'necromancy', ice made of water seems to be a good match for ice magic, but in fact it is a very poor carrier of mana. In this regard...... You should be aware that neither the bodies of the wraiths nor the weapons they hold that appear to be made of ice are not a substance at all. After the ghouls cross the water, although the water has no effect on them, the ice frozen in the low temperature environment not only affects the ghouls themselves, but also hinders the operation of necromantic magic, making it extremely difficult for the strangers to control the ghouls. To make matters worse, ice magic can't be used to de-ice...... And that's why the ghosts would never drive the ghouls around the Great Wall!"

......

Iger sat quietly in his chair, trying to digest the secrets of the strange spirits that the Green Prophet had revealed to him.

The first thing he grasped was the part of Bran that he "should have experience" - the Green Prophet had apparently become interested in himself and had discovered his experience of fighting the Strangers in the Shadow Forest by looking back at it. He carefully recalled the specific process before and after killing the stranger three years ago, and remembered the details that Bran wanted to pay attention to himself: that day, whether it was the magic sword of the stranger that looked like it was made of ice and shattered when it slashed itself, or its milky white body after it was killed, the process of disappearing was completely inconsistent with the physical properties of ice: it did not melt into water and become a puddle, but melted and boiled simultaneously, and after the process was over, there was no trace except for a chill.

It's more like a gas with a higher freezing point than water...... The appearance of rapid sublimation in the heat!

Theories that are logically consistent and consistent with practical observations are either correct or elaborate lies or fallacies, and the Green Prophet has no reason to lie to the Night's Watch about the enemy, which is most likely the truth.

Bran looked at Egger's thoughtful expression, and reminded him: "I don't know what the Commander-in-Chief is thinking, but don't be careless and reduce the number of garrisons in Donghaiwang because of this, one force of nature can fight against another force of nature - the strange spirit can't freeze Seal Bay, but the cold winter can." ”

Egg nodded, even if Bran didn't warn, he wouldn't take such a needless risk, and now the Night's Watch was not short of manpower.

"Got it, the deployment over there in Seal Bay maintains the status quo. After pondering on his knees for a while, he threw out a second concern, "Why did the builders stop abruptly when they reached the Grand Canyon when they had built the 700-foot-high Great Wall, instead of continuing west to Cold Ice Bay, leaving a gap?"

——