After driving Kuka away, Cheng Mingrui thought things over for a while. Kuka had actually been right about most of it. Cheng Mingrui had simply been frightened when that spell immobilized him, which had made him especially touchy.
Daemons were not that terrifying or invincible. The being that had cast the spell to trap him had merely taken advantage of him being alone and having very poor psychic talent.
If he had a crowd of boyz around him and a strong, resilient Waaagh! Field, how effective could psychic spells really be? Could that thing withstand a Weirdboy throwing out Gork's Fist again and again?
It all came back to the same thing: as an Ork, he couldn't be afraid or chicken out. Daemons? Just krump them! The next time he ran into a Greater Daemon or a Daemon Prince, he would have to go a few rounds with them!
Only by being the strongest, the most fearless, and the most Waaagh! could Orks keep growing stronger.
With his thinking straightened out, Cheng Mingrui decided to start following the divine instructions of Gork and Mork and dig underground.
"Kidd, have the boyz stop what they're working on. We've got a new job." Using the communicator on his Power Armour, Cheng Mingrui contacted the most talented Mekboy under his command.
"Huh? We're not buildin' the Stompa anymore? Boss, that ain't good. A Stompa's big, and it takes ages to build. Best to start early and keep at it without stoppin'." Kidd had just finished making statues of Gork and Mork and didn't want to switch jobs. "The statues of Gork and Mork I just built ain't even been blessed yet. It ain't right to switch jobs now."
His little eyes darted around, and Cheng Mingrui came up with a way to sweet-talk him. "Just building statues that can't move is boring. We're going to do something big! Like a statue of Mork that can move-a Morkanaut!"
"Uh..."
Seeing Kidd begin to waver, Cheng Mingrui immediately kept working on him. "Then we can mount the Morkanaut on the outside of the Stompa. It'll look flash and fight hard. So it won't hold anything up. Building the Morkanaut is building the Stompa."
"All right, but once I've finished the Morkanaut, don't give me any more jobs. We can't delay the Stompa any longer." Kidd finally gave in.
"No problem. I've always been honest and kept my word."
A few days later, as Kidd hammered away at the Morkanaut with his lonely little band of a hundred-odd Mekboyz, he watched Cheng Mingrui lead more than ten thousand Mekboyz in building the Mega Big Digga and sank into thought. Apparently, there was this way of keeping one's word, too.
"Don't worry, Kidd. Once the Mega Big Digga is finished, all the Mekboyz are yours. After you've built the Morkanaut, you can do whatever you want."
When Rambo found Cheng Mingrui, his equipment battered and tattered, Cheng Mingrui was busy selling Kidd more empty promises.
"Reporting, sir! Rambo, captain of the Kommandos, reporting for duty!" With a sharp snap, Rambo gave a textbook military salute.
"Uh, Rambo, you're actually not dead?" Cheng Mingrui was astonished. He had assumed Rambo had died several days ago, yet apart from looking a little bedraggled, Rambo barely had any visible injuries.
"Sorry, sir. I failed the mission this time and let the humie boss escape." Rambo lowered his head in shame.
Failing to take Pex's head left Rambo deeply ashamed. During their escape, he and his two subordinates hadn't been able to operate the Supply Ship properly, leaving their landing-or crash-site far off course. That was why it had taken them so long to get back.
It made the outcome of his reckless actions look even more pathetic. Compared with the Rambo in Cheng Mingrui's stories, who slaughtered everyone in his path and withdrew with ease, he still wasn't strong enough.
At that thought, Rambo felt even more ashamed, and his straight back slumped.
"It's good that you're not dead. It's good that you made it back. You didn't succeed this time, so just get it done next time." Cheng Mingrui patted Rambo's shoulder encouragingly.
He assumed the humie boss Rambo mentioned was the commander at Pioneer Base. He had no idea that Rambo had gone aboard the cruiser Guardian and nearly killed Pex, the commander of the Euronia System.
Otherwise, Cheng Mingrui would certainly have wondered whether the stories he had told Rambo were too exaggerated, causing this Kommando boss to set his sights too high.
"Yes, sir! I'll keep at it!"
Just as he finished talking to Rambo, Cheng Mingrui's communicator rang. He answered and heard Clever Git's shrill voice.
"Boss, the humies are comin' again!"
Huh? They still dare to come? Cheng Mingrui couldn't quite understand it. From interrogating human soldiers, he knew their expedition had only numbered three hundred thousand, and they had lost a hundred thousand in the first wave.
With such an obvious disparity in fighting strength, continuing the battle was pointless. Why were they still coming to throw their lives away?
Cheng Mingrui wasn't even interested in commanding anymore. Crushing weaklings wouldn't make him stronger or bigger. It would only bore him.
Then Cheng Mingrui spotted Rambo right in front of him. Rambo wasn't big enough yet and still had plenty of room to grow. He could take the experience Cheng Mingrui couldn't get.
"Rambo, look, I'm a little busy here. The Mega Big Digga and the Morkanaut both need me. So you command the boyz and go krump the humies. It doesn't matter if you don't have experience. Just have the boyz Waaagh! their way in and krump whatever they like."
Rambo pushed up his Goggles, his eyes widening. "Sir, I ain't the biggest of the boyz, or the strongest... I'm worried..."
"Don't worry!" Cheng Mingrui swiftly cut him off. "Remember, among Orks, the boss isn't necessarily the biggest, but the strongest and the most Waaagh! Only when you believe you can be the boss can you become stronger and more Waaagh!"
"Your size doesn't decide how high you can go. Your heart does! The bigger your heart, the bigger your stage!"
Seeing Rambo's blood fired up by his words, Cheng Mingrui felt that his Ork hoodwinking technique-Talk-no-Jutsu-was becoming ever more refined.
After handing command of the boyz to Rambo, Cheng Mingrui stopped worrying about it. Rambo was a good Kommando boss, but not necessarily a good commander. So what? He had enough boyz under him for Rambo to squander.
In space, after lingering in synchronous orbit for far too long, the Expeditionary Fleet finally decided to keep attacking the Orks to curb their growth, then wait for reinforcements from Euronia III.
In the message Pex sent to Cornwall, he wrote: "Your Excellency, whether as the Imperium's Planetary Governor or as my uncle, you have my apologies for my recklessness. The military expedition to Euronia IV can be considered a failure.
I overestimated myself and underestimated the Orks. In just one battle, those Ork monsters inflicted devastating losses on the Expeditionary Force. Out of responsibility for the lives of its soldiers, I will not launch another large-scale landing.
Fortunately, however, the Ork monsters' Warship was shot down. They have no means of threatening the fleet in synchronous orbit, so I intend to use our air superiority to continue striking the Ork monsters on Euronia IV and restrict their development."
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