A Song of Ice and Fire: Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

Meanwhile, in the imperial capital of King's Landing...

Inside a mysterious laboratory within the Imperial Academy of Medicine, a merman monster covered in scales and smooth skin lay on the operating table, emitting a spine-chilling growl from his mouth.

His crimson eyes fixed upon the face of a six or seven-year-old 'boy' standing nearby. The child's complexion instantly turned deathly pale, his hands trembling slightly as he held the surgical tray. However, he controlled his fear remarkably well, ultimately managing to suppress the terror within.

"Hemostatic forceps," a calm, aged voice emanated from above the boy's head. Though the child couldn't hear clearly, he understood the old man's gesture. With a shudder, he quickly responded by handing over a small clamp from the tray.

The speaker was none other than Qyburn, a man once expelled from the Citadel for conducting human experiments, who later joined the Brave Companions. When the sellsword company was annihilated by Viserys, Qyburn gained the king's recognition and was granted his own laboratory in King's Landing.

The 'boy' at his side was actually a girl, an orphan Qyburn had adopted. She wore boy's clothing and sported short hair, making her gender indiscernible. Since being taken in by Qyburn, she had followed her 'grandfather' everywhere, learning the dark arts of medicine.

After some time, the monster's wounds were finally dressed, and it sat up on the operating table, its crimson eyes still fixed intently on the girl.

"Lord Victarion," Qyburn spoke in a raspy voice, positioning himself between the merman and his foster daughter. "Please don't frighten little May."

Mesaliah, or May for short, was the girl's name. Qyburn had once mentioned that although her name was inauspicious, it had a pleasant ring to it. Thus, he hadn't changed it after adopting her.

Only then did the merman monster avert his gaze, glaring at Qyburn with extreme disgust before snorting coldly. Anyone subjected to regular blood extractions would feel irritated. If not for the emperor's orders, Victarion would have snapped the old man's neck long ago.

However, he dared not do so. Ever since Viserys restored his sanity, Victarion had sensed that he was somehow under the king's control. Even if he fled into the depths of the sea, Viserys would likely find him.

Victarion then left Qyburn's laboratory, not daring to walk openly through the districts of King's Landing. Instead, he swam through the city's sewage system, reaching the open sea. Victarion had grown increasingly fond of life in the ocean, despising his time on land.

After Victarion's departure, the kind-hearted, deaf-mute girl breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to her grandfather with a grateful look, but Qyburn wasn't looking at her, instead focusing intently on the results of the experiment.

"Ghost Dance Grass," Qyburn muttered, referring to a potent poison. He had ground the toxic grass into a powder, extracting a mixture of leaves and granules, which he then added to the blood drawn from Victarion.

The merman's blood indeed possessed immense power, a fact Qyburn had confirmed. Victarion had been infected with this curse after being attacked by a monster. Qyburn could see that the blood contained magical energy.

However, when this magically-infused blood was introduced into a human body, most individuals with weak willpower or frail physiques would instantly convulse and die.

Qyburn concluded that the magical power within the blood was too strong for ordinary people to withstand. Thus, he began extensive experiments, hoping to find something in nature that could be combined with the blood to slightly suppress its magical potency.

Yet, when the Ghost Dance Grass powder was added to Victarion's blood, there was no reaction. Qyburn's keen eyes flickered with a glimmer of light.

Fortunately, he had another sample to test.

"Manticore venom," Qyburn said, referring to an extremely rare and valuable poison from the East, allegedly derived from the venom of a monster called the manticore, native to the Grey Waste. Each drop was worth hundreds of gold dragons.

If not for the imperial treasury's funding, Qyburn could never afford such a precious toxin.

However, when Qyburn added a drop of manticore venom to another sample of the merman's blood, the liquid in the test tube underwent a dramatic change, bubbling as if it were boiling.

"Hmm?" Qyburn's eyes narrowed. This was the first time since the start of his experiments that something had caused a reaction in the merman's blood.

"The eastern manticore?" he mused. "Could it be that merfolk also originate from the East?"

Qyburn's mind raced, even daring to consider this possibility. Beside him, the deaf-mute girl, Mesaliah, couldn't help but approach, gazing at the violently reacting test tube with curiosity in her eyes.

"Little May," Qyburn gestured. Mesaliah's face revealed a look of reluctance, but she bowed slightly in deference before turning to leave.

Qyburn then took the two vials of blood and hurried towards the dungeon beneath the laboratory.

Qyburn's Menagerie.

This place was the ultimate nightmare for all criminals in King's Landing. Rumors about this dark dungeon had gradually spread among the prisoners. They knew that if a group of masked men in black ever took them for interrogation, there was almost no chance of returning alive.

Currently, two fresh bodies, recently delivered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, were strapped to beds in the underground cells. Two black-clad guards stood watch outside the door.

"Maester Qyburn," they greeted him. Although Qyburn no longer held the title of maester, he didn't care, and the ministry's men still addressed him as such.

"Who are these two?" Qyburn asked, glancing at the two prisoners inside. One was strong and robust, while the other was relatively frail.

"A robber and murderer," the masked agent replied, then turned to look at the scrawny criminal. "The other one... a rapist."

Qyburn's expression showed a flicker of understanding. Although he didn't care whom he killed, ending the lives of those who deserved to die still allowed him to maintain a clear conscience.

Mesaliah then opened the cell door, and Qyburn entered with the two vials of blood. He looked at the two men lying on the beds, tightly bound and gagged, their eyes filled with terror.

After a moment of contemplation, Qyburn injected the blood mixed with Ghost Dance Grass into the muscular man, while the blood combined with manticore venom was administered to the rapist. He then turned and left the cell, locking the door behind him, quietly observing the changes in the two men.