Square Face Appears

Although the Green Horn Tribe had been chased and beaten from the very start by the White Hand Tribe's superior numbers, Green Horn was no incompetent boss. During the retreat, he successfully organized a countercharge, leaving the overextended Grak utterly disoriented. Seven streams of green flame interwove into a killing zone, creating an opportunity for the Green Horn Tribe's main force to retreat.

The heads that had been within reach had flown away, and Guk was naturally unhappy about it. He quickly got hold of a war wagon in Biting Blade Fortress and led the boys in close pursuit. With him there, Green Horn did not dare stop and set fires anymore, only fleeing for his life with his boys.

One side fled while the other pursued, with scattered fighting continuing all the way. Corpses laid a green line across the wasteland. Just as Guk was about to catch those bastards, he realized that he had chased them into unfamiliar hills.

This was also Guk's first time seeing the towering Ridge Mountains.

"How high are those?"

Standing atop the wagon, Guk gazed into the distance. Rolling hills stretched between the earth and sky like a slumbering gray beast. The jagged peaks resembled barbs along its spine, and they were covered in a color he had never seen before—white, so very white, whiter even than him.

"What's that?"

He muttered as he stared at the mountain range, while the boys around him were equally fascinated by the sight.

"Damn, there sure are a lotta rocks here."

Aluba poked here and prodded there with an iron rod. Most rocks on the wasteland were rather small and broken, but the ones here were nearly as large as several boys.

"And grass too—ptooey! What's this stuff?"

Green Tooth stuffed anything he could grab into his mouth, and the thorn-covered plants on the ground nearly sliced his tongue off.

"Boss! We gotta chase 'em! Otherwise those bastards will get away!"

Grak had no mood to admire the scenery. He had lost a great deal of face and now wanted nothing more than to chop every one of those horned bastards into pieces.

Hearing him, Guk knew they had to deal with business first. But the ground here was full of pits and hollows. The wagon had nearly fallen apart shortly after entering, and the Squig cavalry could not move quickly either. So every boy, Guk included, had to proceed on foot, allowing the Green Horn Tribe to shake off their pursuit in one go.

"Truf, where did those cowards hide?"

Few could match the speed of these scouting boys. Truf and his lads were now the eyes and ears of the entire force.

"Boss!"

Truf came running over, panting heavily. Something had split open his head, and blood was still flowing, but he did not seem badly hurt.

"Found 'em! They hid in a camp!"

"Take me there!"

They passed through rugged fields of jagged rocks. The Green Horn Tribe had set many traps nearby, and quite a few boys stepped into deep pits, only to be half-killed by sharp stones at the bottom. Even Guk nearly fell for one, making him even more furious. He wanted to strangle those bastards immediately.

But this time, he was destined to be disappointed.

"My Gork, what do we do now?"

Aluba muttered under his breath. Green Tooth hurriedly nudged him, telling him to shut up.

Guk had never expected that although the enemy lacked a solid stone fortress, they had something even sturdier: a mountain!

On a slope more than a hundred meters above the ground stood a stockade built from stone, wood, and a small amount of bone. The whole camp stretched for miles and was enormous. There were only three access routes, all mountain roads carved into the slopes, but they had now been blocked by massive boulders.

In terms of sturdiness, this camp was laughably vulnerable. But in terms of terrain, Guk had to admit that it was harder to attack than any fortress he had ever seen. With that tremendous height difference alone, even catapults might not work well.

"If only Big Gun could be used."

Guk looked at the camp cradled among the mountains with deep regret. This time, he was clearly going to return empty-handed.

As the saying went, it was easy to act brave behind strong walls. The boys of the Green Horn Tribe, who had just been chased like Snotlings caught stealing, were now full of spirit. They opened their throats and cursed loudly, continuously throwing stones down and smashing the heads of the White Hand Tribe boys below as they shouted back.

"Fuck it! Get 'em!"

With nowhere to vent the fire in his belly, Grak grabbed his axe and rushed uphill. His Blood Axe Group immediately moved to follow their boss, but Guk lifted a leg and kicked the fool so hard that he rolled twice.

"Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em! You idiot, are you gonna get 'em with your arsehole? Can't you see those huge rocks!?"

The boys around them snickered. Grak scrambled up and glared viciously at them, and instantly no one dared make another sound.

"Forget it. We'll leave 'em alone this time!"

Guk had no intention of wasting time here. Who knew what was inside that camp? If they had dug through the mountain, then even dragging catapults over would be useless. But that did not mean he was simply letting the matter go.

"Don't spare a single tribe around here. Those willing to come, take 'em. Those unwilling... kill 'em!"

Guk turned his attention to the regions around Green Horn. Leading his army like a violent gale, he swept across the hills and foothills. Within only a few days, every tribe had been cleared out.

Most tribes surrendered before the overwhelming force. Only a few particularly stubborn fools chose to resist. But no matter how hard their heads were, they could not compare to repeatedly forged cold steel. Guk let Dragon Tooth drink its fill of blood, while Grak collected more than enough heads.

Green Horn was deeply anxious about this, but there was nothing he could do. He did not dare face Guk directly. Their power was ineffective against Guk, and they were outnumbered. Thus, Green Horn stayed obediently tucked inside the camp these past few days.

"Next time I come, it'll be your death day."

Leading a force that had more than doubled in number past the Green Horn camp, Guk suppressed the killing intent in his heart. His operation had grown too large to allow him to remain outside for long. At least until he had swept aside everything and achieved Unity over the entire Ork Clan, he had to be wary of any challenger who might appear.

Seeing the White Hand army gradually depart, Green Horn finally let out a breath. They had survived this crisis, but what about later?

After leaving the hills, the force gradually picked up speed. Guk returned to the top of the wagon, which was piled full of strange spoils. They were all human things. According to the bosses who had surrendered, humans often used to appear in that region, but after the weather improved, they had become increasingly rare.

"So this is what I look like."

In the mirror, a large grayish-white face swayed from side to side, occasionally making all sorts of strange expressions.

This was the first time Guk had seen himself so clearly. It was somewhat unexpected. He had seen his reflection in water while drinking before, but had never thought much about it. For example, why did he not have large tusks? Why was his mouth so small?

"Maybe I should get two teeth?"

Putting down the round mirror, Guk rubbed his chin and considered whether he should alter his image and look a little more Orky. A boss without Bigtooth was clearly not tough enough.

Just as he stood atop the wagon lost in thought, a strange call drifted into his ears with the hot wind.

"Guk..."

The voice was as light as a feather, faintly present in the wind. Guk barely noticed it, assuming the boys nearby were talking about him again.

"Guk..."

The strange voice continued intermittently without end. Guk finally realized something was wrong. He stopped the wagon and looked around for a while, but found nothing unusual.

"Strange..."

"Boss, what are you looking for?"

Mangul, one of the guards, asked loyally. Guk shook his head without speaking.

Suddenly, he had a feeling. He could not explain it, but he seemed to have caught the location of that voice.

He jumped down from the wagon and walked toward a sand dune under the boys' puzzled gazes. The White-Helm Guards wanted to follow, but Guk raised a hand to signal that they should not.

Climbing the low dune alone, Guk listened to the whisper in the wind. An indescribable sense of familiarity drew him step by step toward what he believed to be its source. Behind the dune was something calling to him...

"Guk..."

"What?"

Crossing the dune, Guk froze. He rubbed his eyes hard, unable to believe what lay before him.

Stones of different sizes had been arranged on the ground in a strange pattern. Two bizarre creatures stood in the middle. Their skin was green as well, and incomprehensible markings covered their bodies. The reason he could not tell whether they were Orks was because both wore enormous square masks—one yellow and one blue, each a stiff, expressionless face.

Yet Guk found them extremely familiar. These Square Faces had appeared countless times in the Hazy Realm, but no boy could explain what they were.

"Square Face!?"

He did not approach the two creatures. Whether they meant harm was unknown, especially since they had appeared here so suddenly.

"Guk."

Blue Face spoke in a deep voice.

"Go find fire."

"What? Fire?"

His words left Guk utterly confused.

"War Fire."

Yellow Faces took over, his tone high-pitched.

"Burn this land."

"A true Waaagh!"

"We have waited too long."

"Take us to conquer."

"To slaughter."

"To destroy."

"All Orks will obey."

The two of them alternated between saying unreliable things. Guk could only half-guess as he said:

"You want to follow me? Go on a Waaagh! with me?"

"Fire!"

"Bring fire!"

"Without fire, there is no Waaagh!"

"What fire? You keep going on and on about it!"

Guk was getting impatient. He prepared to rush over and rip off the masks of those two things to see whether they were boys.

"Humans."

The instant Blue Face spoke those two words, Guk's eyelid twitched. He realized these two definitely knew something.

"Could it be..."

"Conquer. That is your mission."

"Wait."

Interrupting him, Guk thought for a while before asking uncertainly:

"Could it be... gunpowder?"

"War Fire."

"But I don't know how to make it. Do you?"

"Use your wisdom, your unique wisdom."

"Can you say something useful?"

"Black, white, yellow."

"The source of War Fire."

After saying that, the two creatures suddenly fell silent. They stood motionless, and their bodies seemed to grow increasingly blurry.

"Hey! Explain it properly!"

Sensing that something was wrong, Guk immediately rushed forward. But when he swung his hand, it passed straight through their bodies.

"...fire...go to...Twin Serpents...find...me..."

The last whisper sounded, and the two creatures vanished into thin air. Guk stood there in a daze, as though he had seen a ghost.

"That's... that's it?"