Gork's Fist

Ever since an oracle from Gork and Mork, written in Chinese characters, had appeared on his desk, Cheng Mingrui had not prayed to them again.

Surviving this latest disaster had made Cheng Mingrui a little more devout. Trading faith for safety was a pretty good deal.

"Keep diggin' down. We've got high hopes for ya, lad!"

A familiar yet indistinct concept projected itself into Cheng Mingrui's mind, and he instinctively used the Magnetic Explosion Coil to carve it into the floor.

Once the conceptual message vanished from his mind, Cheng Mingrui silently stared at the words he had carved into the floor. This scene was all too familiar. He felt he would get used to it after another couple of times.

To stop Kuka from learning the writing, Cheng Mingrui slapped his large hand onto the floor, then swept it across the surface, gouging a deep hollow into the metal.

"Gork and Mork told me to dig down? The Warp Entity said he was giving me a gift? Is there some connection between the two? Should I listen?" Cheng Mingrui scratched his bald head in frustration.

In truth, he was not even sure what sort of Warp Entity he had encountered. There were more than five Chaos Gods in the Warp; those five were simply the most famous and powerful.

Surely Tzeentch hasn't set his sights on me. Right? Nobody could be that unlucky, right? Cheng Mingrui kept reassuring himself.

Tzeentch, one of the Warp's original three Chaos Gods, held dominion over fate, wisdom, lies, magic, and other powers. Formidably powerful, Tzeentch acted in strange, unpredictable ways.

Also known as the Lord of Change, Tzeentch had many avatars of different forms. The one possessing that human shell might have been no more than an avatar sent to probe him, or merely some unknown Warp Entity.

But even if it was not Tzeentch in person, it was still trouble. Supernatural power required supernatural power to counter it. As Uncle had said, only magic could defeat magic.

And his own talent for Psychic Power... was not particularly good. He wondered whether his extraordinary Mechanical Talent was suppressing its development.

Cheng Mingrui pressed his right hand against his temple and frowned, rubbing it for so long he nearly bored a hole through it before finally managing to establish psychic communication.

"Kuka, why's your line always busy? I've pressed my head so much it hurts," Cheng Mingrui could not help complaining.

"Who're you?... Oh, Boss Slick. Your psychic communication's all static. I'm dancin' here. Need somethin'? If not, I'm hangin' up." Kuka's voice was as punchable as ever.

Really, if Kuka had not been so strong and so useful, Cheng Mingrui's fists would long since have stopped indulging a subordinate who showed his boss so little respect.

"Kuka, have you ever fought Daemons?" Cheng Mingrui asked, holding his temper in check.

"I haven't, but I heard fightin' Daemons is a real blast. Every lad who's fought 'em says he wants another go. There was a boss once who took his lads into that Big Eye in the middle of the galaxy and fought Daemons for ages." Kuka seemed to be recalling some stories.

"Boss, why're you suddenly askin' about this? Daemons are only thick on the ground inside the Big Eye." Kuka sounded puzzled. "Gork and Mork are really active today. I think Gork gave me a slap. Could that be a sign? Hang on, boss. I'll be right over!"

Kuka abruptly cut off the psychic communication. The connection was like a rubber band stretched taut: the instant Kuka hung up, the other end snapped back and struck Cheng Mingrui's forehead. It hurt like a needle stabbing into his brain.

"Fuck***!" Cheng Mingrui could not help swearing again. He had only wanted to ask about using Psychic Power against Daemons. Who knew what was going through that Weirdboy Kuka's head!

A speck of green light appeared out of thin air in front of Cheng Mingrui. It grew steadily larger, green arcs of electricity flashing outward.

With a bang, the green mass exploded once it had grown large enough. Kuka had successfully teleported over and landed on his backside.

Cheng Mingrui's fist was waiting to greet him. The punch struck Kuka in the face, sending him spinning through the air several times before he came down. When Kuka hit the floor, half his teeth fell out.

"Hmph. That felt better." Having vented his frustration, Cheng Mingrui happily shook out his wrist.

Kuka lay face down on the floor for quite a while before sitting up. He did not seem quite sure whether to be angry, either, and muttered to himself, "I thought somethin' wasn't right about only Gork slappin' me. Mork's slap was missin'. Turns out the other slap was here. So it really was an oracle."

Kuka's words left Cheng Mingrui speechless. Understanding a Weirdboy's train of thought was genuinely difficult.

Since Kuka was already here, Cheng Mingrui still felt they should discuss it: should they obey Gork and Mork and dig down, or take the cautious approach, identify the Warp Entity possessing the Humie, and make preparations before digging?

Cheng Mingrui had barely finished explaining the situation when Kuka thrust his large hand out in front of him. "Dig. We gotta dig first. Get all the lads diggin' together. I'm Gork and Mork's messenger. How could their oracle be wrong?"

This time, Cheng Mingrui was even more speechless. Was he mad himself for wanting a Madboy's opinion? Kuka did not even know where to dig, yet he was already insisting on it! He was not considering the Warp Entity at all.

"Don't get excited yet. We haven't figured out which direction to dig. Besides, Warp Entities and Daemons are troublesome. We have to take precautions," Cheng Mingrui patiently explained.

"Who cares about Daemons or Warp Entities? They're nothin' next to Gork and Mork. Fine if they don't show up, but if they dare come out, I'll pound 'em to death with Gork's Fist and stomp 'em flat with Gork's Big Foot! As for where to dig, that's even easier. Anywhere's fine as long as it's down. Gork and Mork wouldn't screw us over, would they?" Kuka said carelessly.

As the gods of that merry race, the Orks, whether Gork and Mork were reliable was genuinely hard to say. No, he had better not entertain such impious thoughts.

"You know Gork's Fist and Gork's Big Foot?" Cheng Mingrui asked in surprise.

Unlike lightning generated with Waaagh! energy, Gork's Fist and Gork's Big Foot were the most powerful psychic spells Ork Weirdboys could cast, limited as they were by the Orks' imagination.

Both were immensely destructive, but their strength varied. At its weakest, Gork's Fist could smash a single Leman Russ Tank; at its strongest, it could even punch a hole in a space warship. It all depended on how powerful the Weirdboy was, how many Orks were nearby, and how worked up their Waaagh! was.

Gork's Big Foot performed much like Gork's Fist. The only difference was that one stomped and the other punched.

Cheng Mingrui coveted those two spells badly. Unfortunately, all he could use at present was psychic communication.

"Course I do. It ain't hard. Just imagine a gigantic Gork and pour Waaagh! energy into him, and Gork'll stomp and smash the enemy to bits," Kuka said casually.

Cheng Mingrui's palm was starting to itch again. He dearly wanted to introduce it to Kuka's face once more, then watch this humblebragging bastard put his mask back on in disgrace.