The next day, early in the morning.
In the council hall of White Stone Town's castle, Arthur, Matthew, Lucas, and the other core subordinates were urgently summoned.
They originally thought their lord was about to announce so important military deploynt or construction plan. After all, following the great victory at White Ridge Pass, the territory was in a critical phase of rapid developnt.
However, Luke's very first sentence left everyone dumbfounded.
"From today onward, this lord is placing a bounty on the Three-Eyed Crow."
Arthur blinked, thinking he had heard wrong. "My lord, you an… crows? Three-eyed crows?"
"Correct." Luke sat on the main seat, his expression deadly serious as if declaring war. "Regardless of n, won, old or young, regardless of their status—anyone who turns in the corpse of a Three-Eyed Crow will receive one silver coin."
"No matter where these Three-Eyed Crows co from—the North, the Westerlands, the Riverlands, the Crownlands… I don't care. Any crow with three eyes can be exchanged for one silver coin!"
"Quantity is unlimited. We'll pay for as many as they bring!"
The council hall fell silent for a few seconds.
Matthew asked cautiously, "My lord, is there anything special about these Three-Eyed Crows?"
"Yes." Luke replied succinctly. "This lord finds them extrely unpleasant to look at."
Everyone: "…"
A very powerful reason.
Luke continued, "Additionally, select a few sharp-minded captains from the family guard. I want to establish a special departnt called the 'Three-Eyed Crow Concentration Camp'!"
"This camp will be dedicated to combating the Three-Eyed Crows. Arthur, have Finance allocate 10,000 gold dragons imdiately as operating funds. Record this expense under 'War Budget'!"
The corner of Arthur's mouth twitched. "My lord, the actual responsibilities of this departnt are…"
"Hunting Three-Eyed Crows, gathering intelligence on Three-Eyed Crows, studying the habits of Three-Eyed Crows… There will not be a single Three-Eyed Crow in Draco, not even one feather!"
Luke revealed a aningful smile. "If 10,000 gold dragons isn't enough, just ask for more. This lord lacks many things, but money is not one of them."
After the eting ended, this bizarre decree quickly spread throughout the entire territory and surrounding towns. rchants and bards would soon carry it even farther!
Everyone was talking about it: Three-eyed crows? One silver coin per bird? What on earth was the lord trying to do?
So said it was so mysterious magical ritual. Others claid it was a transaction between the lord and the Old Gods. So simply called it another eccentric hobby unique to Celestial Dragons!
Regardless, the temptation of one silver coin was enormous—that was nearly half a month's living expenses for an ordinary family.
Thus, in the forests and wilds along the southern shore of the God's Eye, people were everywhere staring up at the sky.
Hunters put down their bows, farrs temporarily abandoned their hoes, and even bands of children rushed into the woods, chasing after any crow they saw.
Many regular ravens and ordinary crows suffered collateral damage. "Three-Eyed Crow, I fucking thank you!"
For a long ti afterward, raven communication around the God's Eye region would be heavily disrupted.
Upon hearing these reports, the smile on Luke's face grew even wider.
However, he wasn't without concerns.
Not long ago, while scrolling Douyin on Earth, Luke had co across an interesting story: During British colonial rule in India, the authorities offered bounties on cobras to eliminate venomous snakes. Locals then began breeding cobras to claim the rewards. When the governnt eventually canceled the bounty, the breeders released the snakes, causing an even worse infestation.
This was the famous "Cobra Effect."
To avoid a similar situation, Luke had specifically returned to Earth and posted on a Q&A forum: "How to effectively mobilize the public to combat a harmful species? Urgent, waiting online."
The netizens were very enthusiastic.
"Pesticide! Spray once and wipe them out!" "Introduce natural predators. Biological control is the most reliable." "What kind of harmful species is OP talking about? Rats? Cockroaches? Mosquitoes?" "No matter what it is, just offer a bounty and it's settled. Generous rewards always bring forth brave n!"
Luke thought for a mont and added: "But we must prevent artificial breeding."
"That's easy. Require proof that they are wild-caught. Bred ones don't count." "Or conduct random inspections and heavily punish anyone caught breeding them." "Actually, OP doesn't need to worry too much. Not every species can be artificially bred easily. Look up how difficult it is for that creature to reproduce."
Luke suddenly saw the light.
Three-Eyed Crows? Artificial breeding?
Setting aside the fact that these things weren't ordinary crows to begin with… even if they were, would that old bastard Brynden Rivers tolerate people raising his "avatars" like livestock?
Just imagining the scene made Luke want to laugh.
These Three-Eyed Crows were most likely magical creatures. Artificial reproduction should be impossible!
At worst, he could add an expiration date to the bounty later. He just wondered whether Brynden Rivers could create other kinds of biological avatars!
As for the heart trees (weirwoods)… Luke had originally considered offering a bounty for chopping them down, but eventually abandoned the idea.
Outside the North, heart trees were already rare. This species had long been decimated by the Faith of the Seven and was nearly extinct in the south.
More importantly, it touched upon religious issues. Although the Old Gods had declined after the Andal invasion, they remained the mainstream faith in the North and still had many believers in the Riverlands and the Vale.
Rashly offering a bounty to cut down heart trees could easily trigger religious conflict—the cost would far outweigh the benefit.
So he would focus on making the Three-Eyed Crows miserable!
Luke stood by the window, gazing toward the north with a brilliant smile.
Old thing, aren't you supposed to be able to see through all of history?
You like spying on people, don't you? Treating all living beings as chess pieces?
Well, did you foresee that today, tens of thousands of people would be chasing your avatars all over the world?
Go ahead and enjoy the power of the masses!
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