Mork's divine revelation

Bluffing was an art, and Cheng Mingrui felt he was getting better and better at bluffing the Ork Boyz.

The Slugga Boyz gradually came to believe that they had a natural gift for being Mekboys, but had forgotten their old manufacturing talents because they were so obsessed with shooting.

What they really preferred was making shootas and complex machinery. They only needed to remember the relevant knowledge, and all that took was thinking, thinking, and more thinking.

For the sake of their own bigger, more Waaagh!, more vicious shootas, the Slugga Boyz would keep thinking.

Of course, Cheng Mingrui wasn't simply feeding them nonsense. Orks had enormous potential to begin with. Almost every Ork Warboss whose infamy spread across the galaxy had risen from the ranks of the most ordinary Ork Boyz.

They relied on thinking and confidence. Gork and Mork bestowed their favor equally on every Ork.

Even Ghazghkull Thraka, the legendary boss currently making the biggest name for himself among the Orks, had started out as an ordinary member of the Goff Clan's Choppa Boyz. In one battle, a Space Marine had blasted away half his skull.

After performing an extremely horrific, bloody operation, a Painboy had patched up his brain and used half a slab of iron for his skull.

A mortal would never have survived that treatment, but Orks were resilient. Even missing half their brain, they could still think once they were patched up.

Ghazghkull Thraka had changed afterward. As far as Cheng Mingrui was concerned, he had gone mad. Ghazghkull Thraka believed he could hear Gork and Mork speaking, that he was the chosen Ork, destined to unite all Orks and sweep across the galaxy.

Whether he really could hear them, or his damaged brain was feeding him hallucinations and noise, Ghazghkull Thraka himself believed it without a shred of doubt. And so he became a legend, challenging stronger bosses again and again, defeating them, and growing stronger with every step.

More and more Boyz also believed that Ghazghkull Thraka was chosen by Gork and Mork, an Ork certain to accomplish great things, and willingly followed him.

The story was absurdly dependent on belief, but it also proved that as long as an Ork Boy's conviction was strong enough, his Ork genes would make him stronger and stronger. The Waaagh! Field and the Orks' Ork Knowledge would make him stronger as well.

Bluffing meant strengthening the Boyz's convictions. Cheng Mingrui rubbed his chin. Personally bluffing them one at a time, as he had done today, wasted far too much time.

He needed someone to help him bluff the Boyz. A name came to mind: Kuka the Weirdboy.

After sending the newly bluffed "Mekboys" off to tighten screws at the Mekboy Factory, Cheng Mingrui adjusted his Power Armour's positioning system and activated the Krakka Teleporter.

Yellow arcs of electricity surged from the generator on Cheng Mingrui's back, instantly enveloped him, then compressed into a tiny point and vanished.

Kuka was dancing before a bonfire. Ever since hearing Cheng Mingrui's words last time, he had become increasingly convinced that he was Gork and Mork's Divine Messenger, and that his dancing was a special ritual that allowed him to communicate better with his gods.

The other Orks no longer looked down on his deranged behavior. Some Boyz with a gift for psychic power had even begun following him around. These Boyz regarded dancing as a form of cultivation that could improve their psychic power.

A dozen or so Ork Boyz followed Kuka in a bizarre dance around the bonfire. The sight was so gloriously awful that, when Cheng Mingrui teleported in, he almost thought he had stumbled into some cult gathering, where Warp Entities had possessed these Ork Boyz.

Since he needed Kuka's help, Cheng Mingrui patiently waited for him to finish dancing. That wait turned out to be an entire hour. What an eyesore, and what mental torture!

"Kuka, here's the thing..." Cheng Mingrui explained his idea of bluffing the gun-loving Slugga Boyz and speed-loving Warbike Boyz into becoming Mekboys.

"That's right. Just tell these Boyz that, in Gork and Mork's eyes, shooting and racing are only their hobbies. Their real talents lie in machinery and manufacturing."

Cheng Mingrui grew more excited as he spoke. "Look, as long as they join the Mekboy Factory, we'll be able to make more and better equipment. Everything will be looking up for our development. What do you think?"

"I reckon you're a rotten git full of nasty schemes." Kuka's mask hid his expression.

Anger welled up in Cheng Mingrui's chest. He swung his hand to give Kuka a mighty slap... and gently rested it on Kuka's bald head instead.

Weirdboys were too valuable for him to bear hitting one. Besides, he had come to ask Kuka for help, not make an enemy of him. Cheng Mingrui also placed great value on technical talent.

Kuka was stubborn and unyielding, too. Trying to force him would never work.

Cheng Mingrui's little red eyes darted furiously. Just as Kuka had said, he was full of nasty schemes.

"Kuka, you know I'm Mork's chosen, so it's perfectly normal for me to hear Mork's divine revelations." Cheng Mingrui began spinning a story.

Kuka remembered the scene aboard the Glory Knight when Cheng Mingrui had fought the human Commissar. Back then, he really hadn't believed Cheng Mingrui was Mork's chosen.

But after everything they had been through, Cheng Mingrui's performance had been outstanding, both cunning and savage. Almost all the Orks believed Cheng Mingrui was Mork's chosen, and now Kuka no longer doubted it either.

"Yes, Boss Slick. You're Mork's chosen." Kuka nodded.

"Mork taught me a language that lets me communicate better with Gork and Mork. I can teach it to you. This language is very powerful. Almost anything you say in it can come true. That effect is called Word of Power." When Cheng Mingrui said "Word of Power," he used Chinese.

"Of course, everything comes with conditions. If the person speaking this language isn't sincere, or the people being affected aren't sincere, its ability to make things come true will be greatly weakened. It might not work at all. So, sincerity makes miracles happen." Cheng Mingrui used Chinese again for "sincerity makes miracles happen."

"Is... is that true? That's... that's unbelievable." Kuka was taken in. He genuinely wanted to believe Cheng Mingrui. Although he truly considered Cheng Mingrui a cunning fellow full of nasty schemes, Cheng Mingrui was also indisputably Mork's chosen.

Cheng Mingrui kept a solemn face while inwardly bursting with delight. Back when he had been human, he had never known he possessed such a talent for the sort of bluffing used in pyramid schemes. Now, whenever he wanted an idea, one came to him. Perhaps Mork really was blessing him.

His lie was airtight. If something came true, it meant the speaker had been sincere. If it didn't, it meant either the speaker or the people being affected hadn't been sincere.

"The language that carries Word of Power is called-Chinese." Suppressing his laughter, Cheng Mingrui continued solemnly, "The divine revelation Mork gave me is carved into my machine tool's worktable. I can even take you there."

The Krakka Teleporter really was handy. Before long, Cheng Mingrui was watching Kuka tremble as he touched the Chinese characters carved into the machine tool. He was so excited that he could barely speak, tracing them over and over, not even caring when the grooves cut his fingers.

"Gork and Mork above! I've actually seen a real divine revelation!" Only after a long while did Kuka finally calm down.