Chapter 104: Greenskins, Tortoise Shell X, and the Korsa
The process of making a Greenskin nunchaku—from raw material collection to hand-shaping, to air-drying—poured into Omega's mind, in its entirety, without a single omission. The little cog-head, thoroughly disgusted by the Greenskins' creativity and execution, was struck as if by lightning. He paled and leaned against a Battle Automata's leg, muttering to himself, "I shouldn't be here..."
Louis, not knowing what was wrong, thought Omega had been frightened by the bloody scene and quickly consoled him. "Omega, don't be afraid. There are hidden auto-cannons here, servo-skulls monitoring from above, and a squad of Automata and Skitarii on standby nearby. If there's any sign of things getting out of control, they'll be here in minutes."
"Hmm," Omega, who just wanted to throw up, replied weakly.
Feeling unwell, Omega had to wait for a while to recover before looking around. During this time, the Greenskin version of "cat and mouse" had also come to an end. A Greenskin, two heads taller than the others, appeared at the edge of the field and blew a large whistle, signaling the end. The other Greenskin jailers, upon receiving the signal, rushed into the still-chaotic scene with their clubs. Omega noticed that after the large Greenskin had blown the whistle, the Greenskin prisoners who had been ambushing from the sidelines had already started to walk back to the prison. The Greenskin prisoners who were still "fighting" were either brutes or had gotten a taste for blood and just wanted to fight. But these Greenskins were soon brought down by a flurry of clubs.
"That's the head of the jailers," Louis said. "He even demands that the other Greenskins call him 'Warden'."
After all the prisoners were back in the prison, the Warden gave the failed jailers a good beating, yelling and cursing. And these jailers, whether their heads were bleeding or their bones were broken, stood straight and took the Warden's beating and cursing, showing no sign of dissatisfaction or resistance, as if they also believed that failure deserved punishment.
After teaching his subordinates a lesson, the Warden trotted towards Omega. He stopped at a certain distance from the Automata and shouted, "Boss Louis, how come you ain't in da mushroom field today?"
Louis did not respond. He just had the Automata make way for the Greenskin to see Omega and him inside. After getting a clear look at the strange little shrimp, the Greenskin Warden's blood-red eyes narrowed. It was this little shrimp who had "opened a new world for him."
"Come over here."
Hearing Omega's words, the Greenskin did not hesitate and walked into the circle of Automata, stopping again at a certain distance from Omega.
Looking at the very un-Greenskin-like Greenskin not far away, Omega's expression was strange. He found that this Greenskin Warden was very clear about his situation and status. He knew that the humans did not trust the Greenskins, and he knew when to advance and when to retreat. Even though he had told him to come closer, this Greenskin had consciously left a safe distance.
"What's your name?" Omega asked, curious about this Greenskin.
"Report, Boss Cogboy! My name is 'Tough Beast'. You gave me this name."
"You're the Greenskin I electrocuted?" Omega asked, surprised to meet a familiar beast.
"That's right, Boss Cogboy. You hit me real hard that day."
Not纠結 the Greenskin's terrible name for him, and since he was indeed the boss of the Cogboy fleet, Omega looked at the Greenskin before him in disbelief, while recalling the Greenskin who had dared to perform a "comedy routine" for him. "Tough Beast, how did you become like this?"
"Err... I dunno. It was weird at first, but I got used to it. After I got used to it, I started to like it. And after I liked it, I wanted to sort out the Greenskins who didn't follow the rules."
Hearing Tough Beast's clear and articulate answer, if it weren't for his appearance, Omega would not have felt that the one opposite him was a Greenskin. He then asked, "Tough Beast, what are you thinking? You should be well aware of our purpose."
Tough Beast bared his fangs and grinned. "We all know you shrimps want us to help you fight the bugs, and you don't trust us."
"Don't you want to have a WAAAGH! with us?"
"Heh heh, Boss knows us well. We think about it every day, but we can't beat you."
"Aren't the bugs coming soon? There's a really good WAAAGH! waiting for us. So I think we should hold back for now, save up some more Boyz, and then have a good WAAAGH! with the bugs. Heh heh heh." After laughing, Tough Beast continued, "I also know that other Greenskins don't like Greenskins like us. The first thing they think of when they get a weapon is how to kill us. We're few in number, and we also need you shrimps' help. Boss Louis took me and a few of the good Boyz to see the big things you shrimps and the blue-skins are building. You weren't lying about the bugs. I also went to the forest to see those country bumpkins. So crude. We look down on them. It's more WAAAGH! to work with you."
Reasonable, logical, with a clear purpose, and no concealment. Omega thought for a long time but could not find any loopholes or lies in Tough Beast's words. He was beginning to understand why Louis had given these Greenskins such lenient conditions. Since the Greenskins were being so cooperative, it was not right for him, as the boss of the Cogboy fleet, not to show some appreciation. Seeing that Tough Beast's other subordinates were still using ordinary large clubs, Omega had Tough Beast follow him to the Greenskin colosseum. He found the electric batons that had been淘汰, modified them, and made a large, special-effect electric baton. The most striking feature of this baton was that when the switch was turned on, dense electric sparks would flash on the front half of the baton. The sound of the sparks was also particularly loud. The light and shadow effects were very intimidating. It was just that the intensity of the electric shock was far less impressive than the special effects, only twice as strong as the original.
Tough Beast, having received his reward, couldn't wait to try it. He immediately declared that Omega knew Greenskins, that he was the most thoughtful Cogboy. Then he eagerly went into the nearest prison to let those backstabbing scum Greenskins know who the Greenskin boss was here.
After Tough Beast had left, Omega took the opportunity to tour the Greenskin colosseum, and was once again defiled by the management talents under Louis. He thought that if the object of their torment wasn't a Greenskin, they would surely have summoned Slaanesh. Who was the heretic who had come up with the idea of using a triangular horse and tortoise shell bondage on the Greenskins?
"These methods, which can both punish the disobedient Greenskins and not harm them, were all thought up by them, racking their brains. Thanks to them, the Greenskin farm would not be developing as well as it is now."
The old, naive boy Louis did not forget to praise the training and management staff in front of Omega, completely oblivious to his "my eyes are blind" expression.
Omega, who had been stimulated all day, returned to his room in a daze. He took out his long-unused, hand-copied Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer. The little cog-head needed to talk to someone.
"Emperor, do you know what I've been through today?"
(The Emperor: You haven't shown up for so long. How would I know? Hurry up and tell me where you are, so I can have someone find you. It's important!)
Omega recounted his day's experiences.
(The Emperor: My ears are dirty!!!)
Omega, who hadn't slept well all night, decided to go and see the Korsa people today. He believed that those primitive savages would surely give him a familiar feeling.
After asking the other priests and learning that the ordinary Korsa people were now undergoing military training, Omega once again began his inspection work. When he arrived at the Korsa people's training ground, the first thing he saw was a Skitarii on guard.
Although he was a former pirate, he was now a loyal believer who had cast aside his past and served the Omnissiah with all his heart. Considering that the Skitarii also had self-awareness, Omega, as the head of the fleet, felt that he needed to show his concern for these soldiers who were ready to die for him at any moment. So he walked up to the Skitarii and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Is there anything you're not used to in your life?"
And then he saw the Skitarii kneel before him and say in a fanatical and pious tone, "Great and merciful god, Maiga, we welcome your return from the sea of stars."
"Gah!" Omega, stimulated, let out a strange cry. This was a Korsa person.
"Who! Who did this!" Omega roared.
That a priest would dare to convert a person into a Skitarii without his permission was something Omega could not accept. This was not only a challenge to his authority, but also to his conscience.
Omega's furious appearance frightened the kneeling Korsa person. Even with his mechanically modified body, he couldn't help but tremble. But he still said in a pious and trembling voice, "Great god, Maiga, I have offended your divine majesty. As long as you can quell your anger, please punish me. Crush my body and soul."
In his rage, Omega heard something wrong in the Korsa person's words. This Korsa person did not seem to have been brainwashed. With yesterday's lesson, the Omega of today was no longer the Omega of yesterday.
"Answer me, what happened to your body? Did anyone force you to modify your body? Did anyone instill anything into your soul?"
"No, no, merciful god, Maiga! It was all my own will. I was originally too weak to be your warrior, so I begged the priest to replace my weak flesh with strong steel. And no priest has modified my soul. The priest told us that you are not incapable, you just don't like to do it, because you believe that a free and pure soul is the most precious treasure of humanity."
Omega was silent again. Because of the guards and the Automata around him, the little cog-head's actions had been seen by the other Korsa-Skitarii on guard. They were now all kneeling on the ground, which made Omega feel very awkward.
Pretending that it wasn't him who had been angry just now, Omega patted the shoulder of the person kneeling before him, signaling him to get up. He also had the others get up. Then he pretended to praise them for their hard work, that they were all good comrades, brave and dedicated people, that guard duty was a hard and great task, and so on. Finally, he walked towards the training ground, a little embarrassed.