Without waiting for a single second, Ravager immediately raised the lid of the chest, exposing the contents of the treasure chest.
Placed inside the chest were less than ten items, but each object was so distinctive and famous that any one of them could lead to a small war, and each had the capability of single-handedly raising a dirt-poor family into a rich noble one.
The simplest thing inside was a big intricate key laying on a small piece of paper written on which was a unique 12-digit number.
This key and paper were the entry pass to a security vault in the Bravoosi bank, which had a deposit of almost 300,000 gold dragons according to the last count.
This was one of those secret vaults that anyone could make without having to give any name or identity which also meant that anyone with this key and the number could get access to all the gold inside no matter whether it was theirs or not.
This meant that it was quite a risky endeavour, but as a pirate, this was one of the best ways he could store his gold.
But this key was just a part of his wealth and was not even the most expensive item in there.
On the leftmost side of the chest were two daggers the size of an adult's forearm placed inside intricate sheaths adorned with small gems.
But these were not just normal daggers, as their blade was made from one of the rarest and most expensive materials in this world— Valyrian steel.
You could take these daggers to any noble in Essos or Westeros and easily sell them for thousands of gold dragons, without any problem.
Other than the daggers, there was a specially treated oil cloth, filled with at least ten pieces of paper, each of which corresponded to a piece of property such as a shop, house, or even an inn.
Some of them were in Pentos, some in Lys, and even a few in Tyrosh, but the one thing common among them was that each was situated in a prime location with their prices exceeding at least a thousand dragons each and these prices were only increasing every single year.
Alongside these property papers were identity papers belonging to a made-up name under whose name these properties were.
There was one other such oilcloth placed on the right side, and this one was filled with an old leather-bound diary.
This was the most simplistic-looking thing in this chest, but it still cost Ravager a very hefty sum. Not many people knew about it and there were only three such copies in the whole world, the other two belonging to his fellow pirate kings.
There were a few other expensive trinkets like a bag filled with emerald jewellery, a Valyrian glass candle that the citadel would sell half of their acolytes to buy, and even a magical ruby choker that Ravager had been told belonged to a red priest of R'hllor, though he had never been able to verify that.
Converted into gold, any of these items could buy one an army of slaves, the most beautiful prostitute of Lys, and even a rank of nobility in Westeros... one would be set for a lifetime with these.
But even among these precious items, there was one item that was in a league of its own...
Lying in the very centre on a plush cushion made of silk, was an oval-shaped rock the size of a child's head. Its surface was covered in hardened black iridescent scales that shimmered like polished gemstones with each scale overlapping slightly, creating a natural armour.
It was an object that was wanted everywhere in this world, from Shadowbinders of Asshai to the Red priests of Rhollor', from Old Blood of Volantis to Nobles of Westeros, but there was no more supply.
It was a legacy belonging to history's most powerful kingdom, it was fire and magic... it was a Dragon Egg.
This chest contained the essence of all the wealth Ravager had managed to accumulate over his decade-long life as a pirate, it contained all the blood and sweat he had spilt of countless men, women and children across Essos.
And he had gotten none of these items by luck, each of them had been carefully searched for and then bought from both willing and unwilling Nobles, Merchants, and Warriors from all across the world.
Whenever he felt that he had accumulated enough gold, Ravager would turn it all into the smallest but most expensive piece of item that he could find, and he did all for this day... so that he could carry this small chest and make an escape at any time.
And now his prudence was coming through for him in his dark dark times...
After being satisfied with checking the state of his treasure, Ravager closed the chest and locked it once again.
"Whiteworm! Do you remember where that backup boat is stowed away? Good, I want you to row it here and remember to be on the lookout for—"
Thuck!!
Ravager's words abruptly halted in his throat as he heard a dying cry that immediately made his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach.
His head turned slowly and mechanically, only for his eyes to bulge out as he saw the scene he dreaded the most.
His loyal unsullied slave, the one who had served him for a decade, the man who would follow any of his orders even if it meant death... now had a sharp arrow sticking out of his chest, gurgling and failing with a stunned look on his face.
With his face deadly pale and his eyes trembling, Ravager followed the direction the arrow came from and what he saw there left him in complete despair.
There, standing at the very edge of the forest, were four men who had come for his head...
Three of them were warriors, each carrying a different weapon, one had a spear, one a long sword and the third one was a young man with a bow in his hand which he had used to shoot the arrow.
The last one, standing behind the three, was the man Ravager hated the most in this world—the accursed Advisor.
In the next moment, Ravger's eye caught the young man reaching for another arrow and, almost immediately it jolted him out of his stupor.
'Run! Run! RUN!!' his mind screamed at his body as he stumbled up to dash up the hill while holding the chest in his arms.
"Cover me with your body!!" he roared at his other guard who was just standing there dumbly with his spear raised as if that was supposed to somehow deter the attackers.
'How the fuck did they even find me!!'
...