After Awen's death, his former Gretchin became terrified.
Some wanted to run away, some wanted to cause trouble, and others were just observing; the atmosphere at the entire stronghold became somewhat eerie.
Toothy stood on the second floor, looking at the whispering underlings below, and already had a plan in mind.
It selected those core members who were closest to Awen and divided them into two groups.
It would always publicly criticize them, scold them, deduct their wages, and punish them by making them work on the dirtiest fences.
On the contrary, Toothy greeted another group of key members with a smile.
He received his full wages and all the rest time he was entitled to.
In this way, they first divided and then suppressed one group while winning over another.
It mastered this technique without any instruction, as if it were something it was born with.
Some of the suppressed group were resentful, wondering why those who had served Awen alongside them were now living so comfortably.
They started talking badly about Toothy behind his back, but when these words reached the ears of Xiangfu's core members, they were not happy.
Who told you to be so loyal to Awen before? Now that Master Ya has taken over, you still can't tell right from wrong.
This viewpoint thoroughly enraged the group of core members who had been suppressed, even though they had all agreed to resist Toothy.
How come you've been bought off by such paltry benefits?
The other group, of course, would not admit that they changed their minds because of Toothy's preferential treatment.
Neither group would back down, and the argument escalated into a fierce fight.
From then on, the two sides began to clash head-on, making things difficult for each other at every turn.
The conflict shifted from Toothy to the unequal treatment among them.
After dealing with these troublemakers and eliminating a few more troublemakers to establish authority, no one will dare to question Toothy's position anymore.
The heads of those troublemakers were hung at the entrance of the stronghold, stinking to high heaven.
Passersby covered their noses, but no one dared to take it off.
From then on, those Gretchin would bow their heads whenever they saw Toothy, calling him " Master Ya " louder than anyone else.
Some Gretchin have even started imitating its outfit, wearing the same denture necklace as Toothy around their necks.
The Orks Waaagh! Field also began to take effect.
His underlings "thought" that Toothy was the boss, so Toothy began to grow powerful.
His originally thin body grew to about 1.5 meters tall in a single day.
Muscles bulged from the shriveled skeleton, as solid as the Muscle Squig within the fence.
She walks with a confident stride, even the look in her eyes is different now.
No longer the timid and hesitant type, but rather a domineering "I'm in charge" attitude.
It stood in front of the mirror, looked at itself for a long time, and kept grinning.
"Am I very powerful now?" it asked Lynn.
Lynn looked at its 1.5-meter height, then at his own 1.8-meter height, and shook his head.
Toothy didn't mind and continued posing in front of the mirror.
It was no longer that little Gretchin that Pike mocked, but a real cadre.
Walking on the street, those Gretchin who used to harass it would all give it a wide berth.
Pike saw it, his smile was more like a grimace, and he bowed and scraped, calling out " Master Ya."
Toothy also calls it " Master Pi," in the exact same tone as when Pike showed off in front of it.
It was only after becoming a cadre that Toothy realized just how greedy Awen was.
It originally thought that Awen would at most embezzle half.
Who would have thought that the money allocated by the gang was equivalent to ten ordinary teeth for each of the Gretchin workers every day!
But initially, it only received two pills a day.
Awen pocketed 80% of it, and only distributed the rest to the workers.
Two teeth are just enough to keep a person from starving; otherwise, its appetite might be even greater.
Holding the ledger written by Awen himself, it grew angrier the more it looked at it, wishing it could dig Awen out and kill him again.
These workers toiled away every day, chased around by Squig, and scolded by Awen, only to receive 20% in the end.
Awen doesn't have to do anything; he can just lie down and get 80% of the profits.
What kind of bullshit logic is this?
"I want to raise my salary to five teeth a day!" It slammed its hand on the table, its eyes wide open, and it almost dropped its cannon.
"Let those kids know that following me is ten times better than following Awen!"
Lynn watched it from the side without saying a word.
He knew that Toothy was angry, and nothing he said would make a difference at this point.
It's not too late to speak after it calms down on its own.
After Toothy calmed down, Lynn finally spoke.
His voice wasn't loud, but it quickly cooled down Toothy's fever:
"They won't thank you for such a sudden price increase."
"On the contrary, they'll think you definitely earn more than Awen, and this is just charity."
Toothy was enlightened by its words.
It climbed up from the bottom and knows all too well what the lowly Gretchin are thinking.
Greedy, despicable, bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
If you give them too much, they won't be grateful; they'll just think you can afford to give even more.
If you can't afford to pay that amount later, they'll actually hate you.
"How much should it be raised?" Toothy asked.
"Three," Lynn said.
"Better than before is enough."
"Good!"
Toothy did as Lynn suggested, and the results were indeed excellent.
Those Gretchin got three teeth, and their eyes lit up. They worked even harder than before.
Some people even came to thank Toothy, saying they had never met such a good cadre in their lives.
Toothy was secretly delighted, but she pretended to be calm on the surface.
However, it also had some doubts in its mind, and finally couldn't help but ask.
"How did you come up with the idea of Seven-Smasha?"
Lynn was prepared for this.
"I once found a secret manual when I was scavenging."
"There's a lot written on it; the situation just now was described in the book."
Although Toothy was curious, she didn't ask any more questions.
In the world of Orks, all sorts of strange things happen.
It's not unusual to find a book that teaches people valuable lessons.
It nodded, putting the matter out of its mind, and continued to bury itself in the ledger.
Just as Toothy was busily building up his own territory...
The Xiaobudian was sitting in its chair, looking at Awen's already rotting head.
Several days later, the head began to smell bad, attracting insects that kept spinning around it.
However, the overall structure remains intact, and the wound is still clearly visible.
It looked at it over and over, and the more it looked, the more something seemed wrong.
This head wasn't chopped off with a knife; it was ripped off, violently torn off by terrifying force.
Where does a Gretchin get such strength?
The Xiaobudian lowered his head, leaned back in his chair, and squinted his eyes into slits.
It remembered the night that Toothy first came to find it.
It was a thin, short figure, trembling even as he walked. How could he possibly have done that?
And those rumors.
Those who escaped from the tavern were Gretchin saying that Awen was killed by a "purple shadow".
It was as fast as the wind and as fierce as lightning; you couldn't even see what it was.
Some say the shadow has four arms, some say it's covered in thorns, and some say it sprouted from the ground.
There are all sorts of opinions, but one thing is certain: that thing is definitely not Gretchin.
The Xiaobudian's eyes became playful. It stroked the few sparse whiskers on its chin and then looked at the rotting head on the table.
"Could it be... Orks?"