Chapter 349
2021-01-06
Chapter 349 know yourself and know your enemy (Part 1)"The last time I checked the whereabouts of the dead , they had finished the assembly at a dozen or more li north of Castle Black, but instead of heading to Wall, they split into two groups, one to the east and one to the west. The group that went to the Bay of Seals was five-six Thousand , led by three Others, is now lurking in the Haunted Forest in Torches, Greenguard and Eastwatch, which is going to go beyond the wall. And the group that goes to Gorge is full of sky and hard to count, because Night King leads the team The reason why I can't get close to the investigation is unknown."
You can count five-six thousand, but it's hard to calculate how many? Igor felt chills behind his back. This is still under the circumstance that oneself has contained more than 30,000 wildlings. If there is no such action, it means that the enemy will have 30,000 more, but his side will be 30,000 less...
He thought a little bit. Shen didn't speak, just waited quietly for the next paragraph.
"Even if they don't need to use their brains to make judgments, they are looking for a way to get past the Wall, while waiting for the forces that support the existence of oneself to reach their peak...in order to launch a decisive battle at the most favorable point in time. "Bran's words began to break and pause, as if the previous words had exhausted his strength. "I don't want to flatter or flatter, but the biggest reason why the dead people haven't attacked Seven Kingdoms until now is that Lord A series of arrangements made by Lord Commander - whether it is the airtight deployment along the Wall, the large-scale de-icing of the Bay of Seals, or the patrols carried out along the Gorge... Night's Watch sealed every path of the enemy, Sometimes I can't help but think, maybe you are the Prince who was prophesied to deal with the Others."
"Thank you. I'm not Prince, I just put caution first and think in a different position. ...then just plug all the loopholes you can find." There's no denying it -- the results of earnestness and hard work are recognized by everyone, but Igor won't be so frivolous that he forgets the business, "Bran, I won't force you Take the risk to track the exact location of the Night King, but I hope you can answer me a few questions about the enemy. After all, know yourself and know your enemy, you can fight every battle without defeat: First, Others and the dead are afraid of water Will they swim out of the sea or walk on seabeds?"
"It's really a question worth paying attention to." Bran nodded, "I can give you a clear answer, but it has to be explained separately. First of all, Others are afraid of water - although they are transformed from living people, but after being soaked in Ice Magic for many years, they gradually lose their flesh and maintain their bodies with more and more pure magic power, and as the process progresses A little bit stronger. Mature Others' body is just a shape, and it is fully supported by magic power. Just as humans must consume food to generate a steady heat, and their body temperature is too low or too high, they will die, Others also have a maintenance The optimal temperature range, and this temperature is extremely low for humans. When they encounter water, if it is a small amount, it will be sealed in the ice lump and affect their ability to move; Just like humans were frozen to death, they were killed by heat because of the loss of 'normal temperature'."
...
If this is the case, doesn't that mean that it can be caught alive with water? Others? Igor thought about this possibility carefully, but finally realized that it was not realistic: With the dive power of Others that can slay dragons, one or two buckets of water can be freed immediately even if it freezes, and it can only be submerged with tons of water in an instant. It can freeze Others in it, which is difficult to achieve at the current level of technology.
After thinking a few times, he still asked the more likely situation: "Why didn't they cast a spell on the shore to freeze the Bay of Seals and come over?"
"They are Others, not gods." Bran rolled the eyes - for the first time since Igor entered this room, he finally looked like a child: "You have a very powerful Red God priest by your side, and she wants to wash in hot water. When taking a bath, did you jump into cold water and use magic power to boil the water? In this world with thin energy, magic power is precious. Compared with ordinary human individuals, Others are indeed powerful, but in nature In front of them, they're just ants!"
"That means the Others don't have this ability?"
"I'm not a member of them, so I can't answer for them." Bran shook his head, "But What I can confirm is that the Others spend most of their strength in maintaining oneself's body and body temperature. If you want to freeze a passage in the Bay of Seals that is strong enough to ignore the condescending destruction of Wall's defenders, you may have to sacrifice it. A dozen Others self-sacrifice and fill it in."
Hopefully this is true, Igor breathed a sigh of relief: "Well, ghouls, they don't have hypothermia, if Others control them to swim How about coming here?"
"Theoretically possible, but practically unlikely to be implemented. First, the ghouls can't be too far away from the Others who control them, especially the Wall - the reason I'll tell you later; secondly, Night's Watch must have encountered Others many times, has it been studied: why are they afraid of fire?"
"Of course, ghouls are full of A special kind of flammable corpse oil."
"Yes, then have you ever wondered why the enemy left such a big weakness for oneself?"
Yes, why?
After being asked by Bran, conspiracy theories floated in Igor's mind immediately... Could it be that this is a trap, when the Night's Watch people think that ghouls are afraid of fire, they will suddenly become neither water in the final battle nor fire can approach, wipe out the main force of mankind?
If this is the case, wouldn't the large amount of Wildfire prepared in the early stage be turned into useless effort? Igor was startled at first, but quickly suppressed the messy thoughts - this is illogical, if the ghouls are not afraid of fire, the enemy's horror level will instantly increase by an order of magnitude, in that case, they only need to face the Pushed over, the Seven Kingdoms alliance is not an opponent, and there is no need for any conspiracy.
"I guess that kind of corpse oil is just like blood to humans, it's an indispensable part of ghouls, so even if it becomes a weakness, it can't be thrown away?"
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"You guessed it right... Corpse oil has at least three functions: one is to store the Ice Magic cast by Others to "awaken" the ghoul, which is the key to its difference from the corpse; The ghoul can absorb magic power from the air to maintain the power of its own existence; the third is to act as a lubricating oil for the muscles and skeleton... At the same time, it delays the natural decay of the ghoul's body." After a swim in the wall, his body was weakened to a certain extent, "It is irreplaceable, a corpse Ghost General without corpse oil will be stiff and fragile, although it is no longer afraid of fire... but it can be killed by swords and sticks, and even A few steps away from Others may fall.”
It turns out that corpse oil is so crucial to ghouls, and Igor had nervously considered what to do if he encountered a ghoul who was not afraid of fire. It seems to be completely overthinking.
"But this just explains why ghouls are afraid of fire. What I care most about now is whether ghouls are afraid of water... Could it be that this kind of corpse oil dissolves in water?"
"No, ghouls are not afraid of water in theory, they are afraid of ice." Bran shook his head and explained with afaint smile, "I know this is counter-intuitive - how can a ghoul controlled by Ice Magic be afraid of ice? Even if It was me, and it took me a while to figure out why. The reason lies in a little misunderstanding in naming: the first appearance of Long Night by Others gave people the impression of being cold and biting, so the recorder casually used the others' The power is named 'Ice Magic', but in reality, the cold is an advantage and a side effect of Ice Magic's operation, not the purpose, and ice is the freezing of water at low temperatures - the arrival of Others is always accompanied by cooling and freezing. Ice, so people mistakenly think that they have a causal relationship with each other, but they are not."
The boy took a breath and continued: "A more accurate word to describe Ice Magic would be 'cold Magic' or 'Necromancer', water ice that looks like a good match for Ice Magic, is actually a terrible carrier of magic power. In this...you should have experience: both in the bodies of the Others, and in their hands It looks like a weapon made of ice, but in fact it is not the same substance as ice. After the ghouls pass through the water, although the water has no effect on them, the ice formed in the low temperature environment does not only affect the ghouls themselves. It also hinders the operation of the Necronomicon Magic, making it extremely difficult for Others to control the ghouls. To make matters worse, Ice Magic cannot be used to remove ice... And this is what Others will never drive The reason why the ghouls are wading around the Wall!"
...
Igor sat quietly in his chair, trying his best to digest the secret of the Others that Greenseer revealed to oneself.
The first thing he grasped was the part of Bran that oneself "should have experience" - Greenseer apparently found that oneself was desperately fighting with Others in the Haunted Forest by retrospecting after becoming interested in oneself. experience. He carefully recalled the specific process before and after killing Others three years ago, and remembered the details that Bran wanted oneself to pay attention to: that day, whether it was Others' Magic sword that looked a lot like it was made of ice and shattered when it slashed oneself. , or its milky white body after it was killed, the disappearance process is completely inconsistent with the physical properties of ice: it does not melt into water and becomes a pool, but melts and boils synchronously. After the process is over, except for a chill. , leaving no trace.
It's more like a gas with a higher freezing point than water... It looks like it sublimates rapidly when heated!
A theory that is logically self-consistent and conforms to practical observation is either true or a well-crafted lie or fallacy, and Greenseer has no reason to lie to Night's Watch about the enemy's situation, so this is probably the truth.
Bran looked at Igor's thinking, and said, "I don't know what Lord Commander is thinking, but don't make it easy to underestimate the enemy and reduce the number of Eastwatch garrisons, a natural force can Against the other nature—Others can’t freeze the Bay of Seals, but Winter can.”
Igor doesn’t nod, even if Bran reminded him, he wouldn’t take such a futile risk, and now Night’s Watch has no shortage of staff.
"Understood, the deployment on the Bay of Seals remains the status quo." He pondered on his knees for a while, and then posed a second concern, "The Builder's seven-hundred-foot-tall The Wall was built, why did it stop abruptly at Gorge, instead of continuing westward to the Bay of Ice, leaving a gap?"
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(End of this chapter )