Just as Zeke was preparing to fight the orks in this area, Warboss Kaptin Badrukk, one of the current ork warlords, was receiving a guest who had traveled a long distance.
"Abaddon? Isn't that the Warmaster of chaos? Why is he in our territory now?"
"I see you're quite Waaagh! Would you like to have a Waaagh! with us?"
Upon seeing Abaddon, the ork Warboss Kaptin Badrukk invited him to a fight.
Abaddon's mouth twitched at the invitation.
If it weren't for the fact that the armies of the Imperium of Man had almost completely overwhelmed his Black Legion, and the Sekai Expedition had brought a large number of Space Marines, just like the Great Crusade of old...
Abaddon would swear to the Four Chaos Gods and his father that he would never contact these damnable orks.
But he had no choice; he was on the brink of collapse, so he had to seek out these orks.
In this galaxy, there were only a few powerful factions. One was chaos, which was the faction he represented.
However, the chaos hordes had long been overwhelmed by the Imperium of Man's attacks.
He once thought the power of the Four Gods was immense, but now... the Four Gods were indeed still powerful, but their strength could no longer inflict significant losses or harm on the Imperium of Man.
As for the other factions, there were the necrons. He had considered contacting them to jointly target the Imperium of Man, but... not only did he fail to contact the necrons, he was driven away by one of their Overlords just by trying to approach them. Those necrons disdained cooperation with him.
Among the remaining options was the T'au Empire, another powerful force in the galaxy, but... Abaddon could confidently say that the T'au Empire's forces were so weak that even his Black Legion could crush them.
Thus, they weren't considered a truly powerful faction. That left two choices: the orks and the Aeldari.
He had tried to find the long-ears, but as soon as they heard it was about opposing humanity, they immediately refused any further discussion with him.
Furthermore, as the Warmaster chosen by the Chaos Gods, the long-ears harbored a deep hatred for Slaanesh.
Not only did he fail to secure cooperation with the long-ears, but they even ambushed him on the way.
After failing to win over any of these factions, Abaddon had no choice but to turn his attention to the most difficult and absurd beings to win over: the orks.
The happiest race in the galaxy, the race that only knew how to WAAAGH! all day long. If Abaddon had any other choice, he would absolutely not come to these guys for an alliance.
But he had no choice now, so he patiently communicated with the ork Warboss Kaptin Badrukk across from him.
Abaddon: "I know a place where there's a very WAAAGH! fight. Want to go?"
ork Warboss Kaptin Badrukk: "Yeah, but you gotta fight me first..."
Abaddon: "The place I know is very Waaagh! Can we not fight?"
ork Warboss Kaptin Badrukk: "No."
The above was the brief conversation between Abaddon and the orks.
Kaptin Badrukk's massive claw slammed onto the rusted iron throne, emitting a deafening clang. He bared his fanged maw, green saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The surrounding orks began to stomp their feet and roar rhythmically, shaking the entire lair.
Abaddon's fingers involuntarily tightened around Drach'nyen. He suppressed the urge to tear all these barbaric creatures to shreds.
His voice squeezed through gritted teeth: "If you beat me, will you take your lads to the most WAAAGH! fight?"
"Of course!" Kaptin Badrukk excitedly jumped off his throne, grabbing a power claw larger than a man. "My word is my bond!"
The other orks quickly formed a circle, banging their various weapons on the ground and letting out frenzied war cries. The air was thick with the pungent smell of fungus beer and engine oil.
Abaddon took a deep breath, suppressing the contempt he felt for the orks.
He knew, of course, that the orks' rule was that only by proving oneself "tough" enough could one negotiate with them.
So, this fight was unavoidable.
However, such a situation also saved him a lot of effort; after all, once he defeated his opponent, he could drag the orks to cause trouble for the Imperium of Man.
Abaddon consoled himself thus; he genuinely did not want to fight these orks.
Abaddon removed his helmet, revealing his scarred face, and the chaos runes on his black armor began to glow faintly.
"Then let's go!" Abaddon roared, launching the first attack.
Drach'nyen, wreathed in chaos energy, slashed at the ork warlord, but was firmly parried by the massive power claw. The shockwave generated by the clash of the two forces knocked the nearest orks to the ground.
"Good hit!" Kaptin Badrukk roared excitedly, swinging his claw back and leaving three deep gouges on Abaddon's chest plate.
Abaddon staggered backward, feeling the intense pain from his wound.
He realized he had underestimated the strength of this ork leader; this guy was even more dangerous than he appeared.
Soon, his body recovered once again; after all, he was the chosen of the Four Chaos Gods, and the power of Nurgle also acted upon him.
For the next few minutes, the lair echoed with the clang of metal and the frenzied shouts of the orks.
Abaddon gradually discovered that Kaptin Badrukk's fighting style was chaotic yet incredibly effective, a savage approach based purely on instinct and experience.
However, such a fighting style was ultimately inferior to his. In addition to the great axe in his hand, the Talon of Horus instantly appeared in his other hand, and he swung it fiercely at his opponent.
With this sudden sneak attack, the ork Warboss Kaptin Badrukk was directly hit by Abaddon, tearing several gashes in his flesh.
"You lost. If I hadn't held back, that attack would have been enough to cleave your body into three pieces!"
Abaddon retracted his weapon and spoke to Kaptin Badrukk.
Kaptin Badrukk, who was about to attack Abaddon, had no choice but to stop his advance.
He had to admit that Abaddon's statement was correct; if Abaddon had used that weapon at the time, his body might indeed have been split into three.
Did Abaddon's sudden use of this weapon violate the rules of the duel? Kaptin Badrukk had no objections on this point.
After all, he relied on his own strength, and there were no rules before the fight stating he couldn't use weapons. There was nothing else to say about that.
"I lost!"
"Since you want to cooperate, let's talk about cooperation."
Kaptin Badrukk was not a sore loser; he retracted his power claw and sat back down on his throne.
A smile appeared on Abaddon's face. Good, he had successfully managed to talk to these orks.
Abaddon put away his weapons and looked around at the still restless orks. He could feel countless pairs of battle-hungry green eyes fixed on him, and the air was thick with a bestial, agitated aura.
"The Emperor of Mankind is gathering a massive army in the Calixis Sector," Abaddon's voice echoed through the lair. "More than any filthy xenos you've ever seen, and more WAAAGH!"
Badrukk's eyes immediately lit up. "How many?"
"Enough for you to fight for a lifetime," Abaddon exaggeratedly spread his arms. "planets across an entire star system are packed with golden-armored filthy xenos. They have the shiniest big ships and the hardest big guns."
The surrounding orks let out excited howls, already starting to shove each other, eager to set off immediately.
"But this isn't an ordinary WAAAGH," Abaddon lowered his voice and leaned closer to Badrukk. "We need a plan."
Badrukk scoffed. "A plan? We don't need a plan! Just charge at the filthy xenos and bash 'em!"
"This time it's different," Abaddon insisted. "The new Emperor of Mankind, the one who was broadcast across the entire galaxy and sits on the golden throne, has come himself. He personally leads his army here.
If you charge in directly, he'll swat your fleet like flies."
At the mention of "the Emperor of the Imperium of Man who was once broadcast across the entire galaxy," Badrukk's expression became slightly more serious.
He had seen that broadcast. He had personally witnessed the new Emperor of the Imperium of Man; that powerful strength was indeed tough, indeed WAAAGH.
From the orks' perspective, Zeke and the Emperor of Mankind were both extremely Waaagh.
These orks saw them as being just like Gork and Mork.
The Emperor of Mankind is cunning and brutal.
Zeke is brutal and cunning.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" When speaking of the powerful strength Zeke had displayed, Badrukk indicated that he still needed to be cautious.
"The Emperor of Mankind on the golden throne does not require too much of your energy and effort to deal with.
Even the new Emperor of the Imperium of Man does not need us to handle him.
I have already signed an alliance with the four Chaos Gods, and they will hold him back for us!"
"The only thing we need to do is destroy this army of the Imperium of Man and make the Emperor of Mankind lose face!"
Abaddon didn't dare to dream of eliminating Zeke, but besides that dream, he still dared to do other things, such as making Zeke lose a bit of face.
This idea was not only his own; the Chaos Gods also thought so.
After all, Zeke's emergence had dealt them too great a blow; they should at least make Zeke lose some face.
Badrukk's green eyes narrowed, and his thick fingers rubbed his chin. "Making the golden filthy xenos lose face? That sounds like a WAAAGH idea!"
He suddenly stood up and roared to the entire lair, "Listen up, lads! We're going to give that golden filthy xenos who was on broadcast a big surprise!"
The orks erupted in deafening cheers, but Badrukk suddenly raised his massive claw, signaling for silence.
"But—" He turned to Abaddon, a sly grin on his face. "How do I know you're telling the truth? What if you trick me into going head-to-head with the Emperor of Mankind and then sneak away yourself?"
Abaddon cursed inwardly, finding this ork more cunning than expected, but maintained his composure. "My Black Legion will fight alongside you. If I lie, you can tear me apart at any time."
"Prove it to me!" Badrukk slammed his hand on the table. "Let your filthy xenos fleet rendezvous with us now! Let me see if your ships are WAAAGH enough!"
This demand caught Abaddon off guard. He had originally planned for the chaos fleet to lie in wait at the rear, letting the orks take the lead as cannon fodder.
Seeing Abaddon hesitate, Badrukk sneered, "What's wrong? Scared? Then get out! orks don't cooperate with cowards!"
The surrounding orks let out mocking roars, and a few even started throwing empty beer cans at Abaddon.
Abaddon gritted his teeth.
This was a critical moment; if he backed down now, all would be lost.
"Fine!" He suddenly looked up. "My fleet is already on standby in The Warp.
Give me coordinates, and within three days, the Black Legion will rendezvous with you."
Badrukk grinned with satisfaction, revealing a mouth full of fangs. "That's more like it! That's WAAAGH enough!"
He turned and yelled at the Mek-boyz, "Give the black filthy xenos a rendezvous point! Pick a place far enough away, so they don't try any tricks!"
Abaddon secretly rejoiced—the orks were indeed careless, giving him an opportunity to set a trap.
However, just as he was calculating how to use this opportunity, Badrukk suddenly leaned in and whispered:
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, black filthy xenos."
The ork warlord's eyes gleamed with unexpected cunning. "I've looked into you, and I know you're as cunning as your master."
Abaddon's heart tightened, but he remained outwardly calm.
Badrukk laughed heartily, slapping Abaddon's back forcefully. "But it doesn't matter! Cunning enough is WAAAGH enough! As long as there's a good fight to be had, I don't care if you play little tricks!"
He stood up and announced to all the orks, "Prepare the most WAAAGH ships! We're going to give the golden filthy xenos a surprise they'll never forget!"
Amidst the deafening cheers, Abaddon quietly retreated to the side.
Although the cooperation now achieved differed slightly from what he had imagined, it was cooperation nonetheless, wasn't it?
Although it deviated from his expectations, it was ultimately good. At least he didn't have to confront the Imperium of Man alone; if he were still alone, he wouldn't dare.
The alliance between chaos and the orks was officially established, and a conspiracy against the Imperium of Man was unfolding.
In fact, when this conspiracy began to unfold, the chaos side had already made very obvious moves, which directly attracted Zeke's attention.
Tzeentch: "Zeke, you're bad..." He had originally wanted to curse Zeke furiously, but in the end, he only managed to utter these two words.
Tzeentch's words made Zeke get goosebumps, but they truly succeeded.
Zeke once again entered The Warp, but this time, a "familiar face" appeared in The Warp.
A massive ring appeared before Zeke. Who was this guy? Zeke knew him all too well.
The End of Reincarnation!
"Zeke! Emperor of the Terran Dominion, isn't it time you repaid your debt to me!"
The End of Reincarnation gnashed his teeth and roared at Zeke, completely devoid of his previous calm in The Warp.
Of course, his combat power was also no longer as strong as it had been during his time in The Warp.
After all, the Terran Dominion had siphoned off most of The Warp's energy, which meant that the current Warp gods were not as powerful as they once were.
Zeke's mouth twitched at the sight of this old acquaintance, and then his gaze towards Tzeentch and the others became unfriendly.
No wonder these guys dared to call him directly and even speak so arrogantly; it turned out they had an ally.