The iron gate in the darkness gleamed with a cold light, and the damp air was mixed with the smell of rust and decay. Illyrio pressed against the door, his fingertips touching the cold metal, clearly feeling footsteps from the other side of the door—the Sons of the Harpy had discovered them and were reinforcing the bolt with heavy chains.
"My Lord, there are only two cans of explosives left," a Blood Rider behind him whispered, his torch casting long, narrow shadows of the group. The word "freedom," carved by slaves on the waterway wall, flickered in and out of view in the torchlight.
Illyrio nodded, his gaze sweeping over the stagnant water on the waterway floor—the surface glowed with an eerie green light, clearly poisoned. He crouched down, used his dagger to pick up a piece of gravel, and tentatively threw it toward the iron gate. Immediately, a dense rain of arrows followed, poisoned arrows piercing through the gaps in the door panel and embedding themselves in the opposite rock wall, black viscous liquid oozing from their tips.
"It's the Golden Company's 'Black Viper Arrows,'" Illyrio recognized the griffon crest on the arrow shafts. "The Slaver's Bay Alliance has indeed brought in foreign aid." He gritted his teeth, placed a can of explosives in a gap at the bottom of the iron gate, and said, "Retreat behind the stone pillar immediately after lighting the fuse; the poisoned arrows will spread with the smoke from the explosion."
The sizzling sound of the burning fuse was exceptionally harsh in the silent waterway. With a muffled bang, a gap was blown open at the bottom of the iron gate, and the whoosh of poisoned arrows indeed followed immediately. Illyrio seized the opportunity, leading the Blood Riders through the gap, their scimitars accurately striking the panicked guards—these Sons of the Harpy wore black leather armor with ferocious harpy claw patterns embroidered on their masks, but they were far less formidable than rumored, and three fell in moments.
"Retreat towards the slave camp!" Illyrio cut off a guard's arm and retrieved a torn map from his embrace, on which the locations of the "slave camp" and "armory" were marked in crimson ink. He suddenly remembered the bronze daggers on the chests of the slave soldiers during the night raid in Chapter 21—these guards' weapons were of the same material as the daggers, clearly from the same batch of blacksmiths.
The sound of dragging chains echoed from deep within the waterway, and more Sons of the Harpy swarmed from a side passage. Illyrio made a decisive move, throwing the last can of explosives into the side passage. Flames instantly engulfed the narrow passage, temporarily blocking the pursuers. "Follow me!" He led the way, turning to a hidden door on the left. The map showed this was a secret passage to the slave camp, and the door still bore sun patterns carved by slaves with their fingernails—their secret signal for communicating with the outside.
Suppressed sobs came from behind the hidden door. Illyrio pushed open the door and saw hundreds of slaves chained in stone cells, the old, weak, women, and children huddled in corners, while younger slaves were tied to torture racks, their back wounds still bleeding. An old, gray-haired slave saw them and suddenly struggled excitedly: "It's the liberators! I knew you would come!"
"We are Daenerys's people, here to help you break your chains," Illyrio cut the nearest chain with his dagger. "But we need your help—the guards at the South Gate are still resisting. Will you join us and open the gate to freedom?"
Light instantly ignited in the slaves' eyes. The young slave tied to the torture rack broke free from his ropes and picked up a piece of gravel from the ground: "My name is Kallen, and I used to be a blacksmith! I know the location of the armory; there are enough axes and spears inside!"
Led by Kallen, the group quickly found the armory. The slaves skillfully distributed weapons; the hammers once used to forge chains now became sharp tools to strike down their oppressors. Illyrio watched this scene and suddenly remembered the same light in the eyes of the slaves in Astapor when they first picked up weapons—the desire for freedom never needed to be deliberately incited.
Meanwhile, the feigned attack outside the city was raging. Daario led the Second Sons in a fierce assault on the East Gate, burning arrows raining down on the city walls, forcing the defenders to divert half their forces to reinforce the East Gate. Grey Worm, on the other hand, directed the Unsullied to operate modified catapults, stones whistling as they struck the main city wall. Although they failed to breach it, they made it impossible for the archers on the wall to stand their ground.
"Daenerys, look!" Kohol suddenly pointed towards the South Gate, from which faint cheers could be heard. Daenerys immediately urged Silver Wind forward, Drogon and Viserys following closely, dragonflame tracing red arcs in the air as they swooped towards the South Gate's defenders.
Inside the South Gate, Illyrio and Kallen were leading the slaves in an assault on the defenders' positions. Although the former slaves lacked combat experience, they had a desperate resolve—a young girl hugged a defender's leg, allowing Kallen's axe to strike cleanly; a white-haired slave used his body to block an incoming spear, buying time for his companions behind him. The defenders quickly collapsed under the pincer attack, some throwing down their weapons and fleeing, others kneeling in surrender.
"Open the city gate!" Illyrio cut the city gate's bolt, and the massive wooden gate slowly opened. Daenerys led the Dothraki Riders into the city, Drogon's dragonflame sweeping over the Harpy banners on the city walls, burning them to ashes. Seeing that the tide had turned, the Sons of the Harpy tore off their masks and fled, mixing with the commoners, leaving behind only bronze daggers with harpy claw patterns scattered on the ground.
After securing the South Gate, Illyrio immediately assigned tasks: Grey Worm would lead the Unsullied to take over the armory to prevent a counterattack; Daario would lead the Second Sons to patrol the streets and maintain order; and Kohol would accompany Daenerys to the Central Plaza, which was the Great Masters' last stronghold.
In the Central Plaza, dozens of Great Masters hid in a fortress, using commoners as hostages. The leader of the Great Masters, Grinnak (whom Illyrio had learned about through intelligence in Chapter 21), stood at the top of the fortress, holding a torch and threatening, "Take one more step, and I'll ignite the wildfire next to the commoners!"
Daenerys reined in her horse, her gaze sweeping over the commoners tied next to wildfire barrels, many of them elderly and children. "Grinnak, do you think you can threaten me with commoners?" Her voice was cold. "But you forgot, these commoners were once your slaves; they desire freedom more than anyone."
No sooner had she spoken than a commotion erupted inside the fortress. Kallen, leading several slaves, burst in through the back door of the fortress. They smashed the chains of the wildfire barrels with hammers, and the commoners seized the opportunity to scatter and flee. Seeing this, Grinnak tried to light his torch but was stabbed in the shoulder by an Unsullied who rushed forward. The torch fell to the ground, igniting a nearby pile of dry grass.
The battle quickly ended. Grinnak was captured; the other Great Masters either died in battle or were beaten to death by the slaves. Daenerys stood in the center of the plaza, watching the cheering slaves, and suddenly frowned—the shops on both sides of the street were closed, the furnaces in the workshops had long since cooled, and the once prosperous Meereen now looked like an empty city.
"My Lord, things are not looking good," Kallen approached Illyrio, his face grim. "Before the Great Masters fled, they burned most of the food reserves and took all the craftsmen—they said that without slaves, Meereen would become a ruin."
Illyrio walked to the workshop, looking at the scattered chains on the ground, and suddenly remembered the problem he had foreseen in the outline—slaves were Meereen's main labor force, and after freeing them, the economy would inevitably stagnate. He turned and walked towards Daenerys, "We need to formulate a strategy immediately: First, inventory the remaining food and implement rationing; second, find the hidden craftsmen and promise them double wages; third, organize the slaves to cultivate the wasteland outside the city to ensure next year's harvest."
Daenerys nodded, her gaze sweeping over the slaves in the plaza: "Kallen, will you help us? You understand Meereen and the needs of the slaves."
Kallen immediately knelt on one knee: "I am willing to serve Daenerys, for freedom, and so that no one else will ever be bound by chains as we were."
That night, the temporary council hall in Meereen was brightly lit. Illyrio and Kallen together organized Meereen's resource list, Grey Worm reported on the city's defenses, and Daario brought bad news: "We found Golden Company letters in the Great Masters' manor; they promised to send three thousand elite troops as reinforcements, expected to arrive in ten days."
Daenerys picked up the letter, her fingertips white from gripping it tightly. "It seems the Slaver's Bay Alliance will not give up easily." She looked at Illyrio, "We must stabilize Meereen's order before the Golden Company arrives."
Illyrio nodded, circling the wasteland outside the city on the map: "Tomorrow, we will have the slaves begin cultivation, and at the same time, send envoys to nearby Free Cities to trade Meereen's spices for food and tools. As long as we can hold out for these two months until the new crops mature, Meereen will truly stabilize."
Outside the window, moonlight spilled onto the streets of Meereen. The chains once used to shackle slaves were now piled in the center of the plaza, waiting to be reforged into farming tools. Illyrio stood by the window, watching the distant Unsullied on patrol and commoners nodding to each other in greeting, and suddenly understood—liberating a city might only require one battle, but for freedom to truly take root, it required countless days and nights of effort.
The next morning, the sound of hoes striking the earth echoed outside Meereen. Kallen led the slaves in cultivating the wasteland, while Daenerys personally visited the workshops, encouraging the found craftsmen to relight their furnaces. Illyrio stood on the city wall, watching this scene, and suddenly remembered his early days in the slums of Pentos when he first transmigrated—back then, he only wanted to survive; now, he was fighting alongside Daenerys for the freedom of countless people.