"Drogon, what's wrong? Drogon!" As soon as they left the room, Daenerys sensed something was wrong with Drogon. She could clearly feel a sense of madness and violence emanating from him, and she patted him hard in a panic.
"Hmm?" Feeling Daenerys's patting, Drogon turned his head. A pair of bloodshot, fierce eyes stared at her, causing her to instinctively lean back to avoid his malevolent gaze.
"Drogon, what happened to you?" Daenerys was both shocked and afraid. Drogon had never treated her like this; only Rhaegal and Viserion would occasionally be so fierce toward her when fighting over food.
Seeing that Daenerys was frightened, Drogon quickly restrained his aura and turned to survey his surroundings.
The doors had all been opened, revealing a staircase leading upward. Seeing Drogon gradually calm down, Daenerys raised her torch and walked up the steps.
At the end of the spiral staircase was a hall. Inside the hall was only a single grey stone table, upon which sat a heart that had long since rotted but was still beating. Swollen and bloated, its purplish-blue veins continued to pump blood, though it was unclear where the blood was being sent.
Through the heart, Drogon seemed to see many figures—men, women, old hags, and children. Without exception, they all had dull, vacant expressions.
Drogon did not know that Daenerys saw far more than he did. Murmured whispers echoed in her ears from time to time, and illusions similar to the ones before reappeared, making it impossible for her to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Drogon watched Daenerys's flickering expressions with great concern. Unlike in the room earlier, Drogon had not fallen into an illusion like her, and he had no idea what she was experiencing.
Just as he was at a loss for what to do, he saw Daenerys looking around in terror, her hands frantically clawing at her body as if she were covered in maggots.
This world held too many eerie methods. Drogon didn't know if this hall had the means to kill a human on a mental level, and he didn't dare take the risk.
Flying beside the rotting heart, he breathed out black-red Dragonfire. As soon as the flames touched the heart, Drogon heard various screams emanating from it—male voices, female voices, and the voices of children.
Burning a single heart cost more Dragonfire than burning several people. As he watched the heart slowly turn to ash, Drogon was surprised to see specks of white light floating up from above it.
He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and blinked his dragon eyes to see more clearly; the points of light actually drifted toward him.
What is this? He quickly dodged backward, but the light points seemed to have eyes, flying straight at him at several times their previous speed and instantly sinking into his body.
[Fuck] Drogon couldn't help but swear.
What kind of good thing could possibly come out of such an eerie heart?
However, as the light points entered his body, he felt incredibly comfortable, as relaxed as if he were soaking in a hot spring.
He also clearly felt that the toughness of his flesh and bones, as well as his magical power, had increased by two or three times.
Such a hideous thing actually contained such good stuff? Only then did Drogon realize that he had just absorbed the purest energy from the rotting heart, and it also contained something he couldn't quite describe.
Carefully sensing the changes in his body, he vaguely perceived what seemed to be a white sphere of light in his mind, about the size of a soybean, resting there quietly.
What is this now? It must have been formed by those light points. He couldn't touch it, but he hoped there were no ill effects. Since his body had grown stronger because of the light, Drogon wasn't too worried about it.
With the heart burned, Daenerys immediately snapped out of it. She looked at the pile of ash on the table with lingering fear; if not for Drogon, she suspected she would never have woken up.
She only wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. Picking up her torch from the ground, she hurried down the spiral stairs. The doors she had opened earlier had all disappeared, and only the far front was covered in a sheet of white light.
Just as she ran to the white light, she saw Pyat Pree rushing toward her with a dagger, shouting as he ran: "What have you done to The Immortals? I will kill you!" His movements were stiff like a puppet, no longer possessing his former agility and composure.
Before he could reach Daenerys, he was hit by a blast of Drogon's Dragonfire. He fell to the ground screaming with his dagger held high. The air did not smell of charred meat, but was filled with a foul stench of rot. Daenerys did not linger, rushing past the Sorcerer and out the main gate.
Rakharo, who had been anxiously searching for Daenerys outside, saw her and Drogon and hurried over to meet them.
"Go! We must return quickly." As the Sorcerer was one of the Thirteen, and Drogon had not only killed him but also burned The Immortals to death, Daenerys didn't know how the Pureborn and the other members of the Thirteen would deal with them. She needed to get back as soon as possible.
Half an hour later, Daenerys saw Jorah and the others safe and sound, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Pack your things, we're leaving here as soon as possible," Daenerys said to Jorah.
"Where are we going?"
"To find Zaro!"
Jorah looked at Daenerys in surprise, then quickly ordered the Dothraki to pack their bags.
Fifteen minutes later, as the sky grew dark, Daenerys split the people into two groups. The women and children were escorted to the docks by several Dothraki warriors, while Daenerys led the three dragons, Jorah, and over twenty others to storm the estate where Zaro lived.
With Drogon as the vanguard and Dragonfire clearing the way, they quickly fought their way into Zaro's residence. Most of Zaro's men dropped their weapons and surrendered out of fear of the dragon's might; those who resisted were killed outright, and Zaro was captured alive.
Daenerys had originally had a good impression of Zaro. Although she knew he had ulterior motives when he used Xaro to bring them into the city and she had almost married him, she never expected that he would turn to murder and robbery when his proposal failed. If not for Drogon, she might have nothing left by now.
"Daenerys, spare my life, I will give you all the ships I have." Zaro, dressed in his pajamas, had long since lost his former elegance and had turned into a wretched creature begging for his life.
"blood of my blood!"
Rakharo stepped forward and drew his dagger, plunging it into Zaro's chest. Zaro opened his mouth, and finally slumped powerlessly to the ground.
"Take all the gold, jewelry, and prisoners!" Jorah shouted. The Dothraki cheered, scavenging everywhere for the wealth Zaro had left behind; this was what they were best at and loved doing most.
There were simply too many things in Zaro's mansion—gold and silver utensils, bronze artifacts—the Dothraki wanted to take everything. Unfortunately, time was limited and some items were just too large, so they could only painfully use their daggers to pry off valuable gemstones to take with them.
As the looting drew to a close, Daenerys received word from the Pureborn of Qarth, telling them to leave Qarth as soon as possible, as they were no longer welcome.
The Tourmaline Brotherhood was also plotting to intercept and kill them, but they had not yet gained the consent of the remaining eleven of the Thirteen. If Zaro and the Sorcerer Pyat Pree hadn't moved against Daenerys first, they wouldn't have been able to leave Qarth at all.
Qarth was a commercial city, and as members of the Thirteen, they all strove to maintain a facade of credibility. Zaro and the Sorcerer had been the first to strike in plain sight and had failed; this in itself violated the rules of exchange. If the Pureborn and the remaining eleven of the Thirteen were to move against Daenerys now, the credibility of their city would be greatly affected.
Of course, a major reason for the concession by the Pureborn and the eleven was the three dragons; their terrifying destructive power already threatened them and the city.
When Jorah explained this point to Daenerys, she was suddenly very excited. The young dragons had already become a major part of her combat strength.
However, she also knew that the leaders of Qarth had limited patience and they couldn't stay long. She led the Dothraki, driving the prisoners toward the docks.