Casting Cannons Is a Technical Job

Now that they had gunpowder, they naturally needed weapons to use it. Guk wasn't particularly interested in things like guns. He had seen human armies use them in battle. They looked flashy, but their actual effect was blindingly bad, at least for Orks. Reloading was troublesome too. Giving Boyz weapons like that was less suitable than handing them sticks, so despite having a few guns on hand, Guk had no intention of copying them.

His focus was on cannons, and they at least looked simpler to make. They were nothing more than big tubes, though they did require a great deal of iron.

To that end, Guk began frantically scavenging scrap metal throughout his territory. He sent his guards to every camp and had them bring back every piece of metal they could find. As for the original smelting workshops, their pitiful output was only enough to meet the most basic weapon-making needs. Guk had no intention of making the Boyz fight barehanded just for the sake of cannons.

After gaining control of five strongholds, Guk had become the true overlord of the Sinister Wasteland. His territory occupied a third of the entire wasteland, and the resulting effect of sheer numbers was terrifying. Every day, countless Boyz joined his kingdom, either willingly or otherwise. The Ork population was exploding at a geometric rate.

After only two simple rounds of selection, Guk's White-Helm Guards had grown from just over three thousand to nearly twenty thousand Boyz, and they were still growing. These strongest and hardest-fighting Boyz formed the Ork Kingdom's elite force. To house them, Guk had to drive most of the Boyz out of Blackstone Fort, because Blackstone Fort was also known among the Boyz as White-Helm Fort.

Being allowed to live there was something worth bragging loudly about.

As his territory grew, so did his troubles. Guk had to worry about casting cannons while also resolving internal matters. Usually, he did not concern himself with such things; Ork society had its own rules. But when Grak went looking for trouble with Beluf, or Naz spent all day fighting Green Tooth to the death—Guk had no idea how those two had even gotten involved—he still had to step in. Otherwise, if either one got killed, finding a replacement would be troublesome.

The days passed like that. Guk spent most of his time buried in the workshop, and the Boyz began arguing over whether their boss was a master mechanic or a warlord. Fortunately, not many knew he was a Freak Boy. Otherwise, the argument would have been even fiercer.

For the first cannon, Agum used a mud mold. The result was terrible. It was certainly big enough, with a muzzle wide enough to fit a Boy's head, but the barrel was warped and twisted, covered in holes. Guk seriously doubted what would happen when this thing fired.

The first test shot unexpectedly caused no problems, but when Guk ordered a second shot, something went wrong.

The cannon named Boombreaker decisively burst apart, nearly taking Agum's life. Fragments of iron were found hundreds of meters away. Without a doubt, Agum's method had a problem.

"Boss, what if we make it in sections, then put them together?"

Idea Guy came up with another idea. Quite a few Boyz thought it sounded workable. Guk considered it. Human cannons were not made that way, but it might still work.

"Do it."

The Boyz immediately got busy, melting scrap metal and pouring segmented cannon parts with molds. This time, they still used mud molds.

Guk and Agum carefully measured the dimensions to make sure the pieces would fit together afterward. Once the molds dried and cracked enough to be peeled away, they took out the cast barrel sections, polished them, and drilled touch holes.

After more than ten days of effort, they finally made a fairly convincing cannon. This huge thing, named the Big Hammer Cannon, was three times larger than its prototype. The barrel alone was nearly four meters long, so cumbersome that even Guk felt it was excessive.

"Not bad."

Guk carefully inspected the Big Hammer Cannon all over. At least it did not have so many holes, and its barrel was smoother. It did not look quite so likely to burst.

"Try it."

At his command, the Boyz moved the cannon outside, then stuffed in a full load of Guk gunpowder and a newly made cannonball.

Boom~!

The result disappointed Guk greatly. The cannonball flew like a hungry Snotling, limply sailing two or three hundred meters before plunging into the sand. It had no power whatsoever.

"Add more powder!"

This time, more Guk gunpowder was stuffed into the barrel. The Boyz all hid far away, afraid the thing would blow them up.

Boom!

With a deafening blast, thick green smoke covered the whole cannon. A pile of bones nearby was smashed apart by the huge cannonball, scattering everywhere, but the distance did not seem to have improved much.

Guk walked over for a look. It had not burst as expected, but huge cracks had appeared at every joint between the barrel sections. This method clearly would not work either.

"The seal isn't good enough. Too much gas is leaking."

After spitting out a few mechanic words no one understood, Guk shook his head and returned to the workshop. The Boyz scratched their heads and began thinking of new methods.

Until one day.

"I reckon we need iron."

After pondering for a long time, Guk suddenly proposed a new plan, an idea he had seized from the whirlpool of his thoughts.

He had the Boyz cast several iron molds, each divided into three pieces. They joined the mold sections together one after another, narrow in front and thick in back, inserted a core, then poured in molten iron. Once it had taken shape slightly, the molds could be removed.

"Good!"

Looking at the massive cannon, whose barrel was still red-hot yet smooth and even, Guk nodded in satisfaction. Then, ignoring the heat, he grabbed a drill and began drilling a touch hole into the barrel.

By the time the touch hole was finished, the entire cannon had mostly cooled. The mechanic Boyz crowded around to inspect this brand-new cannon.

"I reckon it'll work!"

Agum touched the barrel and immediately jerked his hand back from the heat, but he did not hide his praise for it at all.

The entire cannon was shaped like a bottle, narrow at the mouth and wide at the rear. Its caliber was nearly twice that of a human twelve-pound field cannon, and it was more than three meters long. Guk had spent a great deal of iron casting it. To prevent bursting, he had deliberately increased the barrel's thickness. The price was a sharp rise in weight, but with beasts of burden as strong as Squiggoths, he did not need to worry about it being too heavy.

"Once it cools, we'll try it."

Guk casually found a spot and lay down. The past few days had exhausted him. The other mechanic Boyz also found places to sleep, and the busy workshop suddenly became quiet again. Only Snotlings occasionally snuck up from underground to carry off some things.

He did not wake until the sun was low in the west. By then, the new cannon had completely cooled.

"Good stuff. Let's see what you've got."

He lightly flicked the sturdy barrel with a finger. The crisp ring of metal made Guk especially happy. He had the Boyz mount the huge thing on a gun carriage, attach two wheels, and push it out to the testing ground.

"So much."

Guk personally prepared the powder charge and handed it to the mechanic Boy who would fire the cannon.

"Ready!"

Every step was completed in order. The instant the Boy operating the cannon grabbed the rope, every Ork's heart rose into their throat.

"Let her rip!"

Boom~!

The cannon let out a roar full of power. Flames and green smoke burst from its muzzle. The immense recoil pushed the entire gun carriage back half a meter, and every Ork present felt as if a hammer had violently yanked at their eardrums.

Before the Boyz could recover, a cloud of dust suddenly rose from a sand dune over a thousand meters away. That range far exceeded the previous two cannons.

"Again! Add more powder!"

Guk did not get carried away by the first success. He calmly issued a new command, and the Boyz quickly packed more Guk gunpowder into the powder charge.

Boom!

Another thunderous blast rang out. This time, the cannonball flew farther, but the cannon shook much more violently as well.

"Add more!"

Guk decided to test exactly where this cannon's limit lay.

They tested it again and again, pouring water over the cannon between shots to speed its cooling. Once they increased the powder charge to twice the original amount, the cannon finally could not take it anymore. With a piercing crack, a huge gap burst open in its barrel. By then, its maximum range had nearly reached two thousand meters.

"It worked! Hahahaha!"

Having finally gained the heavy firepower he had dreamed of, Guk laughed happily. His gray-white skin had been smoked into a patchwork of colors, but the joy of making something good felt even better than winning a fight. Perhaps that was why master mechanics would rather squat in workshops than go brawling.

Perhaps in human eyes, this cannon cast from scrap iron was primitive and crude. But like every Ork weapon, anyone facing it would pay a terrible price.

"Make them like this from now on."

Guk decided to mass-produce this kind of cannon. The iron molds could be used repeatedly, making them far more efficient than mud molds.

But reality gave him a hard blow.

"Boss, um..."

Idea Guy stammered for ages without managing to say anything.

"Boss, we're almost out of iron."

Agum was much more straightforward, though he failed to notice that Guk's expression had already changed.

"How could it run out so fast?!"

Guk grabbed the unlucky mechanic Boy and shook him hard.

"B-Boss... you forgot."

Agum began explaining with a stutter.

"A few days ago, Grak wanted to make some armor for the Boyz and took some. Beluf was short on weapons and took some too, and there was also..."

Before he could finish, Guk let go, sending him plopping back onto the ground.

"Those bastards..."

Guk had not forgotten, but at the time he had been busy figuring out how to cast cannons. He had not paid attention to what those thieves were saying and had merely nodded along.

"Mangul!"

"Here, Boss!"

The chief guard came running over with a roasted sand lizard leg in hand.

"From now on, without my order, nobody touches the iron here! Or anything else! No matter who it is, if they touch it, chop them down!"

"Yes!"

After estimating things, the remaining metal could probably make only two or three more cannons. Guk intended to expand the smelting workshop a little, but he felt that would not mean much. It would take too long to show results.

"Boss, I know where there's lots of iron."

A mechanic Boy stepped forward. He came from the Blood Skull Tribe.

"Talk."

"There's a guy called Gold Tooth. He used to trade things with Naz a lot. He's got everything there."

"Gold Tooth?"

Guk did not remember anyone by that name. He clearly was not a famous boss.

"What tribe?"

"I remember they called themselves Poison Water. They're from... the seaside."

"The seaside..."

Guk had heard of something called the sea. Supposedly, it lay west of Blood Skull. It looked like water but could not be drunk.

"Where's Naz now?"

"Boss, he returned to Blackstone Fort yesterday."

Mangul knew every movement within the fort. Hearing that Naz was there, Guk had a White Helmet go find him. He wanted to see him immediately.