Chapter 301 Reputation

Renly was indeed not kept in the dark.

Not long after arriving at Pike and learning of Balon's disappearance, he already knew that Balon was still alive.

After all, although the ability to touch the mark and "read minds" was weakened and dispersed because of too many targets, it did not really disappear. Touch it a few more times and you will always be able to touch the target you want.

Renly just couldn't use this to "read minds" for a long time.

So he clearly knew that King Balon of the Iron Islands was still alive and was obviously hiding from him.

In addition, Renly also found that his arrival did not attract onlookers or too obvious movements. When he got off the ship and went to the Greyjoy family's castle to stay temporarily, he did not attract much attention from the public.

This proves that the letter from the Iron Throne was not known to the public.

Why is this so?

The two things mixed together made Renly understand a lot.

For example, Balon, or the noble forces represented by Balon, did not welcome his arrival.

But they could not influence the thoughts of ordinary ironmen, or rather, they were very afraid of their reputation as the son of the Drowned God.

This proved that the Drowned priests on the island seemed to have done a lot in the past ten years.

How much did they do?

Renly could not know.

Although there was a Drowned priest named Aeron in the fleet that greeted him, this Drowned priest who was once saved by Renly was even a little too pious, and could be said to have believed in God without a brain, and his words were not nutritious.

But it would not take long for him to understand, because with the return of the envoys, the nobles could not completely shut up the many sailors in the fleet, so the news of his coming here would inevitably be exposed.

However, Renly did not think much of this.

Even if ordinary people supported him, the Iron Islands could not join the war at all, because the resources and power were completely controlled by the lords and nobles.

So if you want to achieve your goals, you must get the support of the nobles.

Similarly, although Renly knew that Balon was deliberately avoiding him, he did not intend to expose this point - the purpose of this trip was to attract all the lords of the Iron Islands to join the war, not just Greyjoy alone.

Even if Balon was caught, even if he agreed to send troops because of his existence, without the support of other nobles, only the Greyjoy family would obey orders.

And it is hard to say what the Greyjoy family can do with its own strength.

As for asking Balon to order other nobles to join the war?

That is obviously impossible.

The lords are loyal to the lord, but they are not mindless loyalty. When the lord's orders are really detrimental to their own interests, they will not pay attention, and may even explicitly resist.

Just like when Robert started the rebellion, the vassals under the Stormlands and the Arryn family in the Vale all stood up to resist.

So if you want the Iron Islands to really join the battle, instead of perfunctorily or resisting, you must make everyone willing.

How can you make them willing?

Renly hadn't figured it out yet. In his opinion, if he encountered such a thing, he would choose to wait and see like the Iron Islands, and would not foolishly get involved.

Because this would not bring any benefits, but might greatly damage one's own strength.

So after arriving at the Iron Islands, Renly did not do anything related to the mission, did not take the initiative to visit anyone, and did not have a tough attitude. He even stayed in the Greyjoy family's castle, quietly watching the Greyjoy family members pretending or sincerely busy looking for their own King Balon.

In addition to thinking about countermeasures, Renly was also very concerned about the changes after the fusion of the two divinities on his wrist.

As time passed, the days passed, and he felt that the mark on his wrist became more and more obvious from confusion to clarity, which seemed to prove that the change was about to be completed.

There was no way to complete the task for the time being, so Renly's attention was attracted.

…

While Renly was quietly visiting the Greyjoy family, the news of his arrival on Pike Island was spreading from the mouths of many sailors who came to greet him, and then spread throughout the Iron Islands.

What followed was a turbulent turmoil!

The fastest to react were many Drowned priests. When they learned that Renly appeared in Pike City, most of the Drowned priests immediately put down their work and rowed their boats towards Pike City.

Although more than ten years have passed, the Drowned People have not forgotten what happened in the past, and they are even more united-

Over the years, the Drowned Priests have used the Son of the Drowned God to preach to the people, so that the original belief in the Seven Gods in the Iron Islands has been completely eliminated by them.

At the same time, the Drowned People have always believed that the Son of the Drowned God will definitely return to the Iron Islands and lead them, so the original scattered situation of the Drowned People in the Islands will naturally change.

After more than ten years of hard work, they are no longer different from the ancient Drowned People and the contemporary Drowned People.

The Drowned People are very united now, and the influence they have when they are united is naturally not comparable to that of acting alone.

This is also the main reason why the lords and nobles of the Iron Islands are afraid of Renly -

Although Renly has strange means, if there were no such a group of followers in the islands, they would not be so cautious.

…

The Drowned priests heard the news, but they did not go straight to Pike without stopping. In other words, except for some leading Drowned priests, ordinary Drowned people walked and stopped, and on the way, they publicized the return of the Son of the Drowned God, so that the entire Iron Islands were shocked.

After all, only a few people witnessed the power of the Son of the Drowned God, but the people were very convinced by many Drowned priests, and the priests had been preaching for many years and had great eloquence. Therefore, not only were the things done by the Son of the Drowned God more than ten years ago mentioned again, but the latest things that were reported, such as fighting against the "Storm God" and finally dispersing the storm, awakening the dead souls for revenge and letting them enter the Palace of Flowing Water, were thoroughly publicized by them.

The Drowned People did not see it with their own eyes, but their words were as convincing as if they were there.

So in addition to the priests, many ordinary Ironmen were attracted by these deeds and joined the "pilgrimage" to Pike Island, ready to witness the style of the Son of the Drowned God.

Those who didn't go also had expectations for this, and sincerely hoped that the great Son of the Drowned God would really bring the hope of "rebuilding glory" to the Iron Islands as the Drowned priests preached.

In contrast, the lords were very wary of this.

Before they learned that Renly was coming, they were not sure whether this was really the Son of the Drowned God, but now that they have confirmed it and heard more amazing deeds, they are more wary of it, and even quite awed.

So what surprised some people who knew was that although most lords were still staying in their castles, they sent envoys to visit.

A few nobles even had their heads of families rushing there in person, as if they wanted to surrender, which caused many lords to secretly call him a traitor.

For a time, the Iron Islands were in turmoil.

However, except for the first two days when Renly received some visitors in the castle, the people who came later did not see him again, which made many people secretly wonder, and some even suspected that the Son of the Drowned God had left quietly again like more than ten years ago.

It was obvious that Renly could not leave here before completing the mission, but the reason he refused to show up was not because he was being mysterious or had any scheme, but because the fusion changes on his wrist had reached a critical moment.