Stone Thrower

This was the first time Agum had gone so deep into Bloodfang Fort. Perhaps due to habits brought over from Blackstone, Bloodfang Fort followed the same pattern: the higher up one lived, the tougher the boss. Those bad-tempered big lads did not like others wandering around their doorsteps, so Agum rarely came up here. But today was different. A group of big lads in gray horned helmets had come for him, and Agum had no choice.

Big Mouth's teeth chattered, while Shorty muttered words no one could understand, just like that Weirdboyz friend of his. Agum felt the two were embarrassing him. There was nothing to be scared of—though he did not know why the ground felt a little soft today.

"Get in."

After roughly shoving the three Mekboyz inside, the big lads folded their arms and stood dutifully at the door, beginning to brag among themselves.

"Ah... mmph!"

Big Mouth had just opened his mouth when Shorty hurriedly covered it.

The bright hall was warmed by a massive fire pit blazing at its center. A Sand Lizard was skewered over the flames, and Snotlings carefully turned the spit. Several enormous Orks sat quietly in a circle. At the center was the largest of them all, a white Ork clutching a small metal can in one hand and sprinkling something over the golden-brown Sand Lizard.

"You're here."

Seemingly noticing them, the white beast slightly raised his head and pointed with his left arm, which held a dagger, toward a stone bench nearby.

"Sit."

"Yes, yes."

The three lads pressed tightly together and slowly shuffled over to the stone bench. Their knees bent, their backsides just about to touch it.

"Ahem."

Grak, covered in blood and reeking of gore, suddenly coughed twice. The three immediately straightened their backs and locked their legs rigid.

"Mm, not bad, not bad. Shame there's so little."

Guk sliced a piece of meat from the Sand Lizard with his dagger, chewed it a few times, and wore an expression of enjoyment. The bosses around him swallowed as well, while the spreading aroma made the mouths of those three lads run like breached dams.

"Eat."

Upon receiving permission, Grak was the first to reach out. Turok hurriedly grabbed a leg, while Crooked Mouth, who had been eyeing the tail for ages, pounced on it. The other White Helmets quickly joined the scramble.

But Guk had not forgotten the three lads. He cut off a large, tender piece from the belly and tossed it their way.

"I'm taking the first bite!"

"You idiot, you bit off too much!"

"That's my hand! Stop, stop, stop!"

The three Mekboyz instantly forgot everything around them and began fighting over it. The not-so-large piece of meat vanished in moments, leaving not even scraps behind.

Agum licked his fingers. He had never tasted anything like it before. It was not as tender as Squig meat, but it had a unique fragrance, one that made his appetite surge. He was starting to like the flavor.

"That thing—did you make it?"

"Boss Guk, we did."

Agum was thrilled. The opportunity he had waited so long for had finally come. The blazing fire of ambition made his tongue smoother, too. When the boss's guards had found him, he had only just come down from Bloodfang Fort. He had originally thought he might at most join the Blood Axe Group, but reality had given him a surprise big enough to stun him. When he had launched himself onto Bloodfang Fort with Big Throw-Throw, Guk had happened to arrive.

"How long to make one?"

When Guk had first seen that enormous wooden machine, he too had been surprised. He knew a thing or two about Mekboy work. Making such a thing move was no easy task. Leaving aside the problem of it falling apart, even getting the throwing arm to swing to the ideal angle was not something ordinary Mekboyz could manage. It required inspiration and calculation.

An excellent tool of war—that was Guk's immediate judgment. It could throw lads, which meant it could naturally throw rocks too, and Jumpy as well. Even Snotlings would do. Something that big smashing into anything was bound to hurt.

Guk had already sent Truf to scout for quite some time. What they knew so far was that Red-Eye Fortress was huge, with watchtowers all over its outer walls, firing slits, and Big Boom-Booms. This tribe had fought humans for a long time. Though the battles had not been large in scale, they had still given rise to many techniques. For instance, there was something similar to a Big Boom-Boom that fired rocks instead. Truf had seen with his own eyes that it could launch a rock bigger than a head a great distance.

On his path of expansion, Red-Eye was an obstacle that had to be removed. The more troublesome the enemy was, the more irritated Guk became. He desperately needed a way to peel Red-Eye out of its hard shell. He had never thought he would lose if they fought in the open. The only trouble was that damned fortress.

"Roughly... let me think. If it's just us Whiteface Gang, about thirty days."

Agum gave a very conservative number. He did not mention the bearings. Those things were troublesome to make, and Turok's expression had been poor the whole time. Agum could not guarantee he would walk out alive if he let something slip.

"More than that, surely. Don't try to fool me. I'm not someone who knows nothing. My head's full of stuff."

Guk did not believe his nonsense either. Many of the parts on that thing were probably scavenged from junk heaps. These unsupervised Mekboyz all did that. If they had to make every piece from scratch, it would take quite some effort.

"I-I didn't—"

"Quit babbling. I already know. You bring the lads you need and come back to Blackstone with me. I'll arrange hands and materials for you, and you make me these... Stone Throwers."

In Guk's view, the greatest value of this thing was throwing huge rocks to smash Red-Eye's shell apart. There was no better name than Stone Thrower. Agum still preferred Big Throw-Throw, but he had no say here.

"Boss, when are we gonna have another go at those Red-Eye bastards?"

Grak had held it in for a long time. He was about to idle himself into a Weirdboyz here. He wanted a fight—a big one—and he wanted to beat up those foolish idiots.

"Soon. Truf says Red-Eye has started acting up again. I reckon their hides are itching. Take your lads back to Blackstone. Turok, you too. What? The vehicle broke down? Get One-Ear to fix it. Quit causing me all these stupid problems! I'll have Flatface and Mangul come over here."

After making some adjustments, Guk remembered something else. He had the Snotlings bring over those yellow crystals, crushed a little, and scattered them into the fire.

Whoosh!

Blue flames shot up at once, frightening the surrounding bosses badly. Crooked Mouth fell straight onto the ground.

A sharp, pungent smell quickly spread through the air. Guk then had the Snotlings take the rest to Agum.

"Ever seen this before?"

"No, Boss."

Agum carefully picked up a little, crushed and rubbed it between his fingers, then held it beneath his nose and sniffed. He had no memory whatsoever of such a thing. Big Mouth and Shorty were the same.

"I saw it among the humans. Don't ask what humans are. Anyway, I saw it inside an iron tube. It could shoot an iron ball out, with a lot of force. Enough to punch through iron plates. Then it would smell like this."

After Guk roughly described it, Agum did not fully understand what he meant, but he understood at least part of it.

"Boss, you mean this stuff can push an iron ball out of a tube? This... I'll have to think about it."

"I tried lighting it. This is what happened. Blue fire, but it was useless."

"Could there be something else involved?"

"I don't know. Don't waste time on it. Just think it over properly."

Guk did not plan to stay in Bloodfang Fort for long. Over more than ten days, he gathered half the lads who had remained here. Those wildly excited fellows were all willing to follow the boss into battle. As usual, Guk screened them, sorted them into groups, and made sure there were at least enough to count clearly.

In the blink of an eye, twenty days had passed since the battle at Blackstone Fort. Guk had just led a huge, noisy crowd of lads through the gates when One-Ear, the even noisier Snotling boss, came running over. Bits and pieces all over him clattered as he moved, and a bunch of noisy little black-skinned creatures trailed behind him.

"Boss! Boss! You've gotta see this!"

That was what he said before leading Guk down to the lowest level of the fortress.

"Where did these lot come from?"

Guk saw a huge group of Black Snotlings. These black little creatures had practically made the place their home, and the camp they had built looked fairly decent. But Guk remembered there had not been this many black Snotlings before he left.

"Could they be from that hole?"

He suddenly remembered the cave One-Ear had discovered before. These little Coal Balls had most likely come from there.

"That's right, Boss. It's that one. After you left, one guy came over. He got lost and ran into our place. Then he slipped away again. Then his boss came too. He thought this place was nice, with a boss and all, so he wanted to follow you."

The matter was not complicated. Guk called all the Black Snotling leaders over. These tall ones among the Shorties were not particularly afraid of him, though they were certainly curious. Their shifty eyes constantly sized up the big fellow as they whispered about crooked schemes.

Even dyed black, Snotlings were still Snotlings. Given the chance, these crafty creatures would slack off and cut corners. What Guk needed was a group of obedient servants.

"What can you do?"

Guk pointed at one of them, a strange smile on his face.

"I-I can... raise Jumpy! The Jumpy I raise are fat and strong! Their bites hurt like crazy."

"And you?"

Guk pointed at another.

"I can build houses. Big and tall ones!"

"I can shoot poison darts. From here to there, never crooked."

"There's nothing I can't steal. If there is, it's only because I didn't see it."

Finally, there was the last one. He was the biggest and looked somewhat arrogant, which was rare among Snotlings. He looked down on the fellows around him with great disdain.

"I'm the best fighter! My tribe is the greatest—"

Without a word, Guk grabbed him from the ground. Holding his thin little body in both hands, he gave it a light bend. With a crack, the still-struggling Snotling went limp, like a lump of rotten Squig meat.

Every Snotling leader shook with fright, and not one dared make a sound.

"You need to understand what you are."

Guk tossed that lump to the ground, the smile gone from his face. He swept a rough glance over the Snotlings, then picked another one up off the ground. The Snotling screamed wildly, its voice shrill and piercing.

"Shut up!"

Guk could not stand that sound, like sharp tools scraping together. He shook the Snotling in his hand hard and roared.

"Y-yes..."

Under that ferocious gaze, the little fellow quickly learned to behave.

"How deep down did you come from?"

"How deep?"

The Snotling scratched its head, uncertain.

"It takes one barrel of oil to climb from our place to here."

There was no concept of day or night underground, so time could only be judged by other things. These Snotlings relied on burning torches, measuring time in barrels.

"Boss, one barrel of oil burns for ten days before it runs out."

One-Ear explained.

"Why don't you have any lads?"

Guk raised another question, one that had puzzled him for a long time. He had wondered if it was because there was no sunlight, but since there were Snotlings, there should not have been no lads.

"I don't know either. I've never seen any green ones."

"Strange."

Guk set the fellow down and looked toward the cave entrance. After days of effort, the originally tiny opening had become much larger—large enough for Guk to crawl into.

"Go in? Maybe that's not a bad idea."

That thought arose in Guk's mind.