Rhodes was showing rare mercy—he only helped the top talents. Among humans, he valued Belisarius Cawl; among Orks, this Big Mek who made the anti-Tyranid crown.
But instead, he just got a "why live so long?"
Classic Ork thinking!
Unlike other universes, Warhammer Orks love nothing more than WAAAGH!—than fighting!
"With the master, there's endless fighting! We're only fighting a small Tyranid force now—the real hive fleet hasn't come yet! You'll have plenty of chances.
And why should we Orks respect Gork and Mork?
They only have power in the Warp because of our worship. It's the Orks who made them, not the other way around," Gromm declared.
After his super-beast upgrade, Gromm was half a summoned monster for Rhodes, so he was highly resistant to Warp gods. Normally, Orks worship Gork and Mork. Claiming to be their prophet gets you respect from all Orks.
But Gromm and Rhodes's Orks didn't worship Gork and Mork. Super-beast upgrades even made them a bit atavistic, closer to the Krork—the Orks' ancestors, created by the Old Ones. The Krork didn't believe in Warp gods—they were peers of the Old Ones.
"You lie! Gork and Mork watch all Orks—big and small, Warbosses and all!
They even open their big mouths near the Eye of Terror, letting out daemons to make our lives more fun," the Big Mek said.
All Orks believe the Great Rift near the Eye of Terror is Gork and Mork's mouth, spitting out daemons for Orks to fight and play with.
"That Rift isn't from your gods—it's the work of Abaddon!
Don't blame everything on your gods—they're not as strong as you think," Rhodes snorted.
After spending time with the Emperor, Rhodes learned about Warp gods. The Emperor said you could bargain with the Chaos Four—they're nasty, but you can deal with them. The Emperor even got the gene-seed secret from them.
But Gork and Mork? They're the ultimate trolls—utter bastards, the Emperor despised them.
They're irrational, love causing trouble, only want to kick your ass, smash your head, tear off your clothes, and laugh.
Try to ally against the Chaos Four? They'll gleefully tell Chaos your plan, then loot Chaos's home for fun.
They screw over everyone!
They should be thrown in the trash—never to return. The Emperor had a massive grudge against the Ork gods.
Of course, you can't take just one side's word. The Emperor isn't exactly reliable either—he's a notorious liar.
When the Eldar goddess Isha was rescued by Rhodes, he also asked her opinion. She, too, hated Gork and Mork—if Rhodes wanted, she'd help take them down.
If both the Eldar gods and the Emperor say so, Rhodes knew what kind of beings they were!
To Orks, Gork and Mork are the mightiest gods—even the Four Chaos Gods are nothing compared to them!
Otherwise, you wouldn't get the joke about the galaxy-spanning Great Rift being Gork and Mork's smile.
"You lie! Our gods are the greatest! For shrimp like you, Gork and Mork could squash you with a finger! How dare you blaspheme our gods, I'll—ah!"
Rhodes unleashed a weak version of his Breaking Fist, beating the Big Mek half to death!
He flew through the air, bleeding, and collapsed like a dead dog.
Only after the beating did Rhodes feel satisfied.
He'd lost patience arguing with Orks. With his immense psychic might and powers, he hypnotized the Big Mek.
Ordinary beings can't resist—even many super lifeforms fall to Rhodes's hypnosis.
Trying to reason with an Ork is pointless—Rhodes had given up on that.
The only way is brute force—hypnotize, then as part of the super-beast transformation, engrave loyalty into his mind.
The poor Big Mek's eyes spun, and he went blank.
Beaten up, then mind-controlled!
"Nicely done, master! With Orks, you have to use brute force. Gentle words mean nothing to them," Gromm praised with a thumbs-up.
That's the Orky tradition—don't talk reason, talk fists!
For Orks, the most convincing thing is your fists—are they big and hard enough?
In his recent campaigns, after wiping out the Tyranids, Gromm would pick out the Warbosses and leaders, beat them all down, and the rest would follow him.
"Exactly. Bring him, we're going to modify him."
Gromm nodded, grabbed the Big Mek by the leg, and dragged him behind Rhodes like a dead body.
They soon arrived at Yapool's lab, where, thanks to Tartarus's time acceleration, Mefilas' flesh had been grown.
Smoothly, the Big Mek was placed in the super-beast machine, and Mefilas flesh was added.
The machine roared, energy waves spreading out—a 50-meter-tall, dark green, bone-spiked, hunched Ork wielding a staff, eyes glowing blue, appeared.
Zettn captured him with the Battlenizer, while Rhodes and Mefilas modified his memories—making him recognize Rhodes as master.
Tartarus's eyes flashed gold, unlocking the Ork's brain.
A blue light flashed, the old Ork shrank, and knelt before Rhodes.
"At your service, master!"
"From now on, your name is Gul'dan. You are one of my chief scientists. Your first task: build a stellar weapon—Attack Moon," Rhodes ordered.
"As you command, great master. But I'll need massive resources—at least a hundred Ork worlds supplying materials, billions of Ork laborers," Gul'dan said.
"Octarius is your base—the Orks and planets here are your resources," Rhodes said.
Having recruited Gul'dan, Rhodes's Ork armies attacked the Tyranids anew!
…
At the edge of Octarius, in a pitch-black star system, countless Tyranid hive ships poured biomass into a planet-sized cocoon. The vast purple cocoon throbbed with heartbeats—a colossal beast was sleeping inside.