Chapter Summaries

Cheng Mingrui gathered greenskins to repair Boss Slick's Ship and set off for Fertile III, but the damaged flagship was ambushed by a colossal Tyranid. The Ork fleet turned to face the creature and began shouting Waaagh!.

• Cheng Mingrui sent Crooked Mouth to recruit mekboyz and boyz to repair Boss Slick's Ship, and rumors brought back far more greenskins than expected.
• Cheng Mingrui guided the mekboyz as they repaired the ship to over 90 percent, then teleported it to Fengrao IV and set course for Fertile III.
• Boss Slick's Ship's engines exploded after three hours, so Cheng Mingrui and the mekboyz began repairs while Kidd's fleet caught up and helped tow the flagship.
• A colossal Tyranid emerged from stealth, struck Boss Slick's Ship with a blade, and caused several Ork warships to crash into it.
• The greenskins recognized the Tyranid as a worthy enemy, shouted Waaagh!, and turned their warships' cannons toward it.

The Tyranid Swarm Consciousness deployed a colossal World Devourer to destroy Boss Slick's Ship and the Ork Fleet, while Cheng Mingrui struggled to find a way to stop it. The World Devourer targeted Cheng Mingrui with a vast torrent of acid, leaving the Orks fearing that their Boss had been killed.

• The World Devourer emerged from concealment, launched a thousand Tyranid Bio-ships, and pinned Boss Slick's Ship while dissolving its hull with acid.
• The Ork Fleet fought the attacking Bio-ships, and its Dimensional Rumble Cannons pierced the World Devourer's armor but inflicted little damage.
• Cheng Mingrui killed a cruiser-class Tyranid Bio-ship with a single punch after it tried to swallow him.
• The Swarm Consciousness identified Cheng Mingrui as likely the Screw Clan's Boss and redirected the World Devourer's attack toward him.
• The World Devourer bathed Cheng Mingrui's position in acid for over ten minutes, dissolving everything in the area and leaving the Orks fearing Boss Slick had died.

Cheng Mingrui faced the World Devourer alone on the ruined keel of Boss Slick's Ship while the Orks rallied around him. He used the damaged Dimensional Rumble Cannon through his own body to shatter the Tyranid’s tail and destroy a fifth of its mass, surviving thanks to a Mechanical Heart Big Blade had secretly installed.

• Ork Boyz feared Boss Slick had died, but Cheng Mingrui appeared on the keel of Boss Slick's Ship and challenged the World Devourer.
• The Orks roared that Boss Slick was the toughest, baddest, and most Waaagh!, filling Cheng Mingrui with Waaagh energy.
• Boss Copperhead rammed the World Devourer with a battleship-class Gargant and blasted a massive wound into its armor and flesh.
• Cheng Mingrui told Kuka to stabilize the Waaagh field and stood his ground as the World Devourer’s tail struck toward him.
• Cheng Mingrui used his abilities to operate the damaged Dimensional Rumble Cannon through his body, shattering the World Devourer’s tail and a fifth of its mass.
• Cheng Mingrui survived the cannon’s damage because Big Blade had secretly installed a backup Mechanical Heart in him.

Cheng Mingrui was on the verge of death after firing the Dimensional Rumble Cannon, but the Greenskins’ Waaagh! energy restored him and empowered him to rebuild the weapon. He destroyed the World Devourer from inside its body and stood victorious on the wreckage of Boss Slick’s Ship.

• The swarm consciousness ordered the World Devourer to swallow Cheng Mingrui while he lay near death from the cannon’s energy.
• Kuka sent the stabilized Waaagh! energy into Cheng Mingrui, and the Greenskins’ belief in Boss Slick restored his body.
• Cheng Mingrui used the Waaagh! field to assemble a more powerful Dimensional Rumble Cannon as the World Devourer swallowed him and Boss Slick’s Ship.
• Cheng Mingrui fired the cannon inside the World Devourer, expanding an area of shattered space until it split the creature in two and killed it.
• Cheng Mingrui survived on the battered remains of Boss Slick’s Ship, while the World Devourer’s body was gone from the middle outward.

Cheng Mingrui and the Greenskins destroyed the World Devourer and drove the remaining Tyranids from the Fengrao Star System, while Rottooth Boss joined the Screw Clan. With the surviving Greenskins and abundant resources, Cheng Mingrui began planning the system’s rapid development as the Tyranids withdrew and vowed to return.

• The Greenskins celebrated Boss Slick’s victory, and Cheng Mingrui recognized that their belief had helped him kill the World Devourer before the Ork Fleet destroyed the remaining Tyranid Bio-ships.
• Rottooth Boss watched Cheng Mingrui’s battle, became convinced of his strength, and joined the Screw Clan with his Boyz.
• The Swarm Consciousness accepted the World Devourer’s defeat, withdrew from the Fengrao Star System, and planned to return with the Great Devourer’s wrath.
• Cheng Mingrui began planning development across the five habitable planets, organizing the Greenskins and Mekboys to rebuild workshops and shipyards.
• Cheng Mingrui promised the native Greenskins spaceships for a future Great Waaagh, and they eagerly studied the Work-Point Board and went to work.

Cheng Mingrui assigned plans to develop the Fengrao planets and had his Orks clear Fengrao III of Tyranids. He put Kidd in charge of rebuilding Boss Slick's Ship and developing Fengrao III, but Kidd said the work would take a year rather than half a year.

• Cheng Mingrui planned to turn Fengrao V into a Fortress World and Fengrao IV into a mining planet, assigning Rottooth and Copperhead to oversee their development.
• Cheng Mingrui ordered five Hollow Barrel-shaped shipyards built in orbit to repair the Ork Roks that Copperhead planned to teleport back into space.
• Cheng Mingrui had the Ork Gargants bombard Fengrao III for three days, then sent Boss Slick's Kill Team to hunt down the remaining Tyranids.
• Boss Slick's Kill Team slaughtered most of the Tyranids in about ten days, and Cheng Mingrui planned to make Fengrao III the system's command and production center under Kidd's care.
• Cheng Mingrui contacted Kidd, who complained that rebuilding Boss Slick's Ship and developing Fengrao III could not be finished in half a year and asked for a year.

Cheng Mingrui rushed to develop Fertile III and, while planning its construction with Kidd, conceived of turning Number 3 into a mobile Ork Battle Moon. The two began calculating how to make the planet move and travel faster than light, but had not settled on a viable method.

• Cheng Mingrui ordered Kidd to hand his current work to Crooked Mouth and take charge of building Fertile III while Cheng Mingrui planned to build a shipyard on Planet Four.
• Cheng Mingrui showed Kidd the large, high-capacity Mekboy Workshop he was building and outlined plans to replicate workshops, add anti-air defenses, and construct a Command Centre across the planet.
• After Kidd asked whether the extensive construction was meant to turn the planet into an Ork Rok, Cheng Mingrui realized they could make Number 3 into a mobile Ork Battle Moon.
• Cheng Mingrui and Kidd dismantled parts of an Engineering Gargant to calculate how to move the planet, considering engines, rotation systems, and faster-than-light travel.
• Cheng Mingrui proposed a Warp Engine, an Inertialess Drive, or teleportation, but they recognized that Warp travel risked attracting Daemons and Chaos Space Marines.

Cheng Mingrui assigned Kidd to oversee construction of the Ork Battle Star while he prepared to leave in six months. At the Unbroken Defensive Line, Inquisitor Sahansen confronted General Hanks about the conflicting reports from the Euronia System and silenced him before he could speak.

• Cheng Mingrui and Kidd concluded that building a planet-sized teleportation engine was beyond their current abilities, so they planned to build the Ork Battle Star's basic systems first.
• Cheng Mingrui told Kidd he would leave in six months and persuaded him to stay behind by giving the Clutch command of the Ork Battle Star and the right to name it.
• Kidd agreed to oversee construction and finish the Ork Battle Star before Boss Slick returned to install its engine.
• Cheng Mingrui turned to coordinating construction at the Shipyard on Number 4, the Fortress on Number 5, and Boss Slick's Ship on Number 3.
• Inquisitor Sahansen told General Hanks that reports from the Euronia System were muddled and contradictory, then shouted him down when he tried to respond.

Inquisitor Sahansen confronted General Hanks and Chapter Master Lawrence over the defeat at Euronia, then heard Lawrence’s warning that a new Ork Warboss rivaling the Beast had emerged. The meeting ended with Sahansen assigning Hanks to the Unbroken Defensive Line, while the Imperium’s lack of troops to face its many enemies remained unresolved.

• Sahansen rebuked Hanks for failing to hold the Euronia System, then acknowledged the bravery and losses of the Astra Militarum, Navy, and Xenos Slayers.
• Lawrence explained that his Librarian and two ancient Dreadnoughts had died to bring him back with a warning about the Ork threat.
• Lawrence described a powerful Ork Warboss on Euronia 3, whose strength reminded him of the Beast.
• Sahansen suggested Lawrence take his warning to the Lord Regent and questioned how the Imperium could spare forces to fight a new Beast.
• Sahansen ended the meeting, granted Hanks his formal commission, and assigned him to the Unbroken Defensive Line.

Inquisitor Sahansen discussed the defense of Eustali and his plan to counterattack north from the Unbroken Defensive Line while Tyranids and Orks were bogged down in war. Fabricator-General Plex warned that the plan was risky, but Sahansen argued it could buy humanity more time.

• Sahansen sent Hanks to the front and arranged for Lawrence to seek out the Imperial Regent.
• Plex received Sahansen's transmission and requested more troops to defend Eustali, which was overcrowded with refugees and facing food shortages.
• Plex said he had already dispatched Kill Teams and a fleet to investigate the strange reports from the Euronia System.
• Sahansen told Plex that Tyranid and Ork raids had decreased and proposed organizing refugees into units for a counteroffensive north from Eustali.
• Plex judged the plan statistically likely to succeed but urged Sahansen to keep fortifying Eustali instead.
• Sahansen insisted the counteroffensive was worth the risk because it could buy humanity time before a larger Tyranid or Ork threat emerged.

Grom's Snakebites attacked Goldtooth's forces at Capello, where the Screw Clan struggled to withstand the larger Orks and their giant Squig Beasts. As Grom's forces broke through the defenses, Goldtooth chose to rely on his Sneaky Boyz and prepare to challenge him rather than surrender.

• Grom led his fleet into the Euronia System and demanded that its Orks submit, starting a war against Goldtooth's forces on Number 3 and Planet Four.
• Goldtooth had strengthened his position after Cheng Mingrui left by recruiting powerful rivals into the departing fleet and equipping the remaining Orks.
• After a month of inconclusive fighting at Capello, Grom personally led a charge with more than a dozen giant Squig Beasts.
• Grom's mount smashed through Goldtooth's defensive line, allowing the Snakebites to overwhelm the Screw Clan in close combat.
• Goldtooth considered surrendering but refused to recognize any Boss other than Boss Slick, and began preparing his Sneaky Boyz to turn the battle around.

Goldtooth and his Gretchin launched a surprise attack on Grom, using Deffkoptas, explosives, and Sneaky Boyz to disrupt the Snakebites. After Grom overcame Goldtooth’s fighters, Goldtooth caught him off guard with a Squig and stabbed him with Phase Daggers.

• Goldtooth sent Deffkoptas, Flying Squigs, and Sneaky Boyz against the Snakebites to attack Grom’s position.
• Grom destroyed Deffkoptas with his axe, while Goldtooth’s aircraft crashed and Grom pursued him through the smoke.
• Goldtooth blocked Grom’s Great Axe with daggers from Boss Slick, and Sneaky Boyz surrounded Grom with powered weapons.
• Grom killed most of the Sneaky Boyz and severed Goldtooth’s leg, but Goldtooth’s winged Squig bit Grom’s shoulder.
• Goldtooth sprang up and drove his Phase Daggers into Grom’s belly.

Grom’s attack on Capello failed after Goldtooth escaped with help from his pet Squig and was fitted with powerful mechanical legs. Grem then discovered the Screw Clan’s unusually talented builders and ordered his Snakebites to recruit them.

• Goldtooth nearly killed Grom with his Phase Dagger, but Snakebites Nobz intervened and his pet Squig carried him to safety.
• Grom retreated from Capello with his belly badly wounded, leaving the Ork civil war unresolved.
• A master Mekboy and a Painboy fitted Goldtooth with mechanical legs ending in Power Klaws.
• Grem questioned a captured Screw Clan Boy and watched him build several weapons and a wheeled engine from scrap.
• Grem ordered his Snakebites to gather Screw Clan Boyz and put them to work building equipment for his army.

Fabricator-General Plex learned that the Euronia System held a Machine God relic and planned to retake it with Inquisitor Sahansen’s help. Meanwhile, the Great Devourer sought a way to kill Slick without triggering Ork waaagh energy.

• Grem sent Screw Clan Boys to infiltrate the Snakebites, spreading the Screw Clan’s customs and Kuka’s praise of Orks with mechanical talent.
• An Astra Militarum Kill Team delivered a religiously ornamented box to Priest Kater aboard a cloaked Adeptus Mechanicus ship.
• Fabricator-General Plex received confirmation that machine spirits in the Euronia System were unusually active and concluded that it contained a sacred Machine God relic.
• Plex planned to trade weapons and equipment with Inquisitor Sahansen for troops and request more warships to reclaim the Euronia System.
• The Great Devourer learned that Screw Clan Bosses had reversed Tyranid advances across dozens of systems and that Slick had turned the battle in the Fengrao Star System.
• The Great Devourer decided that the best chance to kill Slick was to attack quietly, before other Orks could empower him with waaagh energy.

The Great Devourer prepared a final assault against the Ork Demon King as the Screw Clan disrupted the Tyranids’ southern advance. Unaware of the wider impact of his plans, Cheng Mingrui completed shipyard construction on Fengrao IV and checked progress on the Boss Slick's Ship above Fertile III.

• The Great Devourer learned that Slick’s Screw Clan could conquer the southern Octarius Sector and prepared to kill the Ork Demon King before the war turned against the Tyranids.
• Cheng Mingrui finished the last shipyard on Fengrao IV by awakening its machine spirit with Hols’s psychic power, promising Hols six juicy Squigs in return.
• Cheng Mingrui handed Fengrao IV’s construction work to Boss Copperhead, who would manage mining and repair Ork Roks for the next expedition.
• Cheng Mingrui flew to the shipbuilding platform above Fertile III, where Ork warships were being built, repaired, and refitted with Dimensional Rumble Cannons.
• Cheng Mingrui found Crooked Mouth overseeing construction of the Boss Slick's Ship and considered promoting him to Big Mek if he earned recognition from the other clans.

Cheng Mingrui and Crooked Mouth developed an active defense system for Boss Slick's Ship after its Force Fields failed against the World Devourer. Cheng Mingrui also planned to protect the bridge by moving it into folded space.

• Cheng Mingrui asked Crooked Mouth about construction progress, and Crooked Mouth identified power allocation and the Force Field upgrade as problems.
• Crooked Mouth proposed adapting a Life-Saving Orb to defend the ship, but explained that scaling it up would require too much energy and be difficult to manufacture.
• Crooked Mouth suggested using attacks to cancel incoming attacks, inspiring Cheng Mingrui to devise an active defense system using miniature Dimensional Rumble Cannons.
• Cheng Mingrui named Crooked Mouth the next Big Mek and sent him the new defense system plans to review for construction difficulties.
• Cheng Mingrui designed a way to move Boss Slick's Ship's bridge into folded space so it could be protected during attacks while retaining control of the ship.

Cheng Mingrui planned the Boss Slick's Ship's weapons and a colossal Gorkanaut, then spent over two months overseeing construction. While Hols wandered the busy shipyard, he transformed into a giant Squig to scare Daft after the Ork stepped on his foot.

• Cheng Mingrui considered replacing the destroyed C'tan Shard Cannon with a Dimensional Rumble Cannon and adding Gauss Weapons, while Crooked Mouth handled secondary weapons.
• After reviewing Kidd's proposal, Cheng Mingrui planned a giant Morkanaut Statue that would become a Gorkanaut over ten kilometers tall, but crushed his tablet when he realized how much work remained.
• Cheng Mingrui entered workaholic mode with five Engineering Gargants and three engineering Gargant vessels, directing construction for more than two months while Hols grew bored.
• Hols wandered through the busy shipyard after Cheng Mingrui ignored his stories about Ork entertainment and Daft's misfortunes.
• Daft stepped on Hols's foot and challenged him, so Hols transformed into a giant Squig and frightened him into offering juicy Squigs instead of himself.

Hols befriended Daft, and they formed an Ork gang that won teeth at Blood Bowl Squigball. As Cheng Mingrui prepared to leave the Fengrao Star System with his fleet, he entrusted the unfinished Ork Battle Star to Kidd and set course through the Warp using a method he had found to travel safely.

• Daft treated Hols to a Squig, and Hols offered to get him transferred to Boss Slick's work crew in exchange for a flight to the planet.
• Daft flew Hols to Fertile III, where they watched Blood Bowl Squigball and Hols transformed into a war beast to carry Daft around and win teeth.
• Hols and Daft attracted Gretchin followers and formed a gang, while Cheng Mingrui learned why Hols was gaining weight and let their friendship continue.
• Cheng Mingrui told Kidd he was leaving ten bosses behind to help finish the Ork Battle Star and left him five hundred Gargants.
• Cheng Mingrui departed the Fengrao Star System with five thousand Ork warships, using Warp Engines and a way to conceal the fleet's souls with Gellar Fields.

Cheng Mingrui relied on Gork and Mork to guide his Ork fleet through the Warp toward the Tarrok System, where he hoped to reinforce the Octaria war effort. The fleet survived Warp turbulence, but Cheng Mingrui sensed a terrible presence approaching and called on Kuka to help him see it.

• Cheng Mingrui asked Rottooth how to reach the Tarrok System, but Rottooth advised him to shout for Gork and Mork and charge into the Warp.
• Cheng Mingrui prayed to Gork and Mork and received the assurance that they could take the fleet wherever he wanted.
• Daft led the five-thousand-strong Ork fleet into the Warp, where Cheng Mingrui saw green threads guiding the ships and forming a Waaagh! Field around them.
• Warp turbulence struck the fleet, but the Waaagh! Energy dispersed most of it, leaving only a few poorly built Ork Roks affected.
• The Orks cheered at the prospect of fighting Daemons, while Cheng Mingrui sensed something terrifying approaching and asked Kuka to connect him to the collective Waaagh! Field.

Cheng Mingrui guided the Ork fleet through the Warp, where the Waaagh! field withstood the powers of the Chaos Gods and a mysterious golden radiance. The fleet continued safely onward, and Cheng Mingrui confronted a colossal Daemon that recognized his soul’s ascent.

• Cheng Mingrui saw currents representing Khorne, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch attack the Ork fleet, but the Waaagh! field shattered them.
• A vast green Ork head unleashed a Waaagh!, and a golden radiance briefly appeared, dissipating the three currents before vanishing.
• Cheng Mingrui found that Kuka had perceived none of the divine clash, and the fleet continued through the Warp with only minor disturbances and Daemons for the Boys to fight.
• Cheng Mingrui spotted a colossal Daemon watching the fleet but refrained from attacking it because the Waaagh! field kept it at bay.
• The Daemon called Cheng Mingrui a soul ascending to daemonhood, and Cheng Mingrui threatened to beat it.