The Gretchin veteran leading the squad looked at those "brothers" who shared his origins yet were utterly different from him, and a flicker of conflicted emotion crossed his eyes. But absolute loyalty soon replaced it.
He recalled the Big Boss's teachings: "Orks are the natural enemies of Gretchin, the source of our suffering. Their very existence is the greatest threat to our liberation. Any Ork you find must be eliminated immediately."
"For the Big Boss's pure realm," the veteran murmured.
He raised the Flames of Purification in his hands.
A searing dragon of fire engulfed the entire sewer.
When the flames died out, their terrified companions dug the newborn Gretchin out of the ashes. Though blackened with soot, they were otherwise unharmed. The few unusually robust Ork Boyz hatchlings, however, had been reduced to charcoal.
From that day onward, "prioritize Gretchin survival and selectively eliminate Ork hatchlings" became the unwritten rule of every purification squad.
Under this combination of measures, a strange system took shape, one that completely distorted the ecology of Ork society: with no natural predators, the Gretchin population began to explode, while Orks were systematically and precisely erased almost as soon as they sprouted.
Irreversibly, this planet was changing from an "Ork world" into a purely "Gretchin world."
With internal order and population issues provisionally resolved, Liu Zhipeng turned his attention to a more distant objective: the sky.
He knew better than anyone that in the grim universe of Warhammer 40K, having no fleet capable of interstellar travel meant having no future. Cowering on a single planet, however well developed, only made them lambs awaiting slaughter. Sooner or later, a Tyranid swarm, a Chaos fleet, or an Expeditionary Force from the Imperium would pass through and wipe them out as an afterthought.
He had to venture out.