It was just dawn, and the mist in the Forest of Gloom hadn't fully dissipated when the Blackrock Clan's cave was awakened by a rapid horn blast.
Kurzadh stepped on the damp grass, kicking awake the dozing greenskins one by one—Orc Boyz rubbed their eyes as they emerged from their tents, hobgoblins yawned while clutching their weapons, and even the laziest goblin were whipped into action by Furball's tail.
Today was a special day; he was taking Guzhana, Scarface, and Gazlowe, leading the team to the mountain pass to the north, to witness the results of the tribe's half-year of hard work.
"Hurry up, all of you! Anyone who dilly-dallies won't get any roasted lamb tonight!" Kurzadh swung onto his mount's back.
This Arachnarok Queen had now grown to the size of a full-grown giant ox, her ink-black carapace gleaming with a metallic luster. Her eight thick spider legs left deep imprints on the ground, and a layer of cured animal hide on her back made sitting as stable as the ground.
Though not yet fully mature, she was already Kurzadh's most capable mount, Airachnid. Over the past two years, traveling between the mountain pass and Stonewatch, she had saved him considerable effort.
"Boss, how did this 'Little Spider' get so big? Last time I saw her, she wasn't even half this size!" Scarface followed alongside, marveling at the Queen Spider's size.
"Following me, there's meat to eat, so how could she not grow strong?" Kurzadh patted Airachnid's carapace, and the little one affectionately shook her head, moving her spider legs even faster.
The procession set off grandly—in front was Kurzadh riding Airachnid, with Guzhana, Scarface, and Gazlowe alongside him; in the middle were two hundred orc nobs and three hundred orc boyz, carrying giant axes and choppas, their steps disorderly; behind them were three hundred hobgoblin archers and spearmen, and five hundred hobgoblin laborers, carrying small bundles, chattering all the way.
Due to the large number of people, and the goblin's short legs moving slowly, by the time they reached the mountain pass, the sun was already setting, nearing dusk.
The afterglow of the setting sun cast upon the mountain pass, dyeing the city wall that stretched before them a darker shade.
The twenty-five-meter-high city wall was like a giant dragon, lying between two mountains. The bricks gleamed with a cold, hard light in the afterglow, the mortar between the bricks solidified like rock, the battlements on the wall were neatly arranged, and watchtowers stood at the corners, exuding a solemn and ruthless aura.
The previously boisterous greenskins all unconsciously fell silent, each craning their heads, eyes wide, even their breathing softened—they had never seen such a tall, such a regular building in their lives, and were completely captivated by this awe-inspiring sight.
Kurzadh's lips curved into a smile.
This was the awe he wanted—to let every greenskin who came to the Blackrock Clan understand that this place was different from other greenskin tribes; they had sturdy city walls, a home that could shelter them from wind and rain, and achievements to be proud of.
At the foot of the city wall, people were already waiting.
Orc troops stood in neat formations, hobgoblins carried newly forged iron bows, and the most striking were the hobgoblin Sappers—they were twice as strong as ordinary goblin, wearing coarse linen vests, carrying bulging satchels filled with small hammers, small saws, and newly made cement trowels.
It was with the help of these little fellows that the city wall was successfully completed within two years.
Kurzadh dismounted from Airachnid, walked up to the hobgoblin Sappers, and patted a little one's shoulder: "You've worked hard; you've had to move a lot of bricks these past years."
The goblin nodded repeatedly, their small eyes full of excitement—being praised by the chieftain was even happier than drinking mushroom ale.
Kurzadh looked at them, his heart full of emotion.
In the past two years, the goblin boyz had made tremendous contributions: from digging clay by the stream and making brick blanks, to grinding red bricks for mortar; from carrying Kurzadh materials up to the city wall, to squatting on scaffolding to lay bricks, their busy figures could be seen everywhere, and every step required their participation.
Without these hardworking little fellows, the city wall would never have been built so quickly.
And among them, the greatest credit belonged to Chief Engineer Guzhana.
Kurzadh turned to look at the Chaos dwarf woman beside him. Today, she uncharacteristically wasn't wearing her blacksmith's leather armor, but a clean linen dress. Her dark gray skin appeared particularly steadfast in the afterglow, though the dark circles under her eyes had not yet faded.
Over the past two years, she had revised the blueprints hundreds of times, from the initial brick-and-stone mixed structure, to later adjusting the wall's inclination, and then optimizing the position of the watchtowers, striving for perfection every time.
Even when Kurzadh frequently came up with new ideas—one moment wanting to add a watchtower to the city wall, the next wanting to dig a moat at the base of the wall—she would, despite her dark circles, calculate the data overnight and present reasonable solutions.
Without her, this city wall probably wouldn't even be straight, let alone built into its current sturdy form.
"Guzhana, thank you," Kurzadh said sincerely.
Guzhana paused, then grinned, revealing her sharp teeth: "Thank me for what? I also want to see how strong the iron I forged and the wall I designed truly are."
Scarface also leaned in, scratching his head: "We orcs didn't slack either! When clearing the forest, I led my brothers to chop trees for three months, and the calluses on my hands grew three layers thick! When compacting the foundation, to win the beer reward, we ran faster than goblins!"
Kurzadh smiled and nodded.
He certainly remembered that the orcs and hobgoblins had shed the most sweat.
When clearing the forest at the mountain pass, the Orc Boyz chopped trees under the scorching sun, piling tree trunks like small mountains; when compacting the foundation, the hobgoblins and orcs together used Kurzadh rams to pound, making the ground harder than iron; during the two years of building the wall, they also maintained a twenty-four-hour vigil outside, ensuring that neither beastmen raids nor passing human caravans affected the construction site—and the motivation for all this, besides the tribe's glory, was the beer and roasted lamb Kurzadh had promised.
There were also Gazlowe and the other leaders; while they were busy building the city wall, Gazlowe led the hobgoblins in inventorying supplies and distributing food , Skarsnik sent squig Hoppers to patrol, and Bone Tree oversaw the training of captives, all of which stabilized the tribe's operations and allowed them to focus on construction.
Just as Kurzadh's thoughts were wandering, a familiar "Ding" sound suddenly echoed in his mind—it was the system notification!
[Special building "Stone City Wall" detected as established, meeting greenskin city development standards.]
[Congratulations, host, you have received "Watchdog" Retainer slot × 1 (can designate any greenskin within the tribe to be promoted to an exclusive defensive retainer).]
[Bluestone City Wall is judged as a Level 5 greenskin City Core Building. host's current tribe level is Level 3. Early unlock of a Level 5 building completes the "Cross-Level Construction" achievement.]
[Energy fluctuations of "Will of Gork and Mork" detected within the building's core, triggering a special reward—unlocking special building "Wolf Den" (can train greenskin Wolf Riders).]
Kurzadh was instantly stunned.
He stopped, frozen in place, not even hearing Guzhana call out to him from beside him.
A Level 3 tribe building a Level 5 structure? And it triggered a special reward? He quickly asked the system in his mind: "What does that mean? Isn't this city wall a Level 4 building? How did it suddenly become Level 5? And the 'Will of Gork and Mork', wasn't that an item rewarded from the last main quest?"
[To the host, a normal greenskin city wall is a Level 4 building, but the Stone City Wall built by the host integrates human brick and stone craftsmanship with greenskin WAAAGH! energy, and the strength of the mortar far exceeds ordinary binders, meeting the standards of a Level 5 City Core Building. Because the host completed it two levels early, it triggered the attention of Gork and Mork, thus unlocking a special reward.]
["Will of Gork and Mork" is a key item for establishing a greenskin Province. The establishment of this city wall activated the item's energy, and subsequently, this item can be used to integrate surrounding greenskin forces and establish the Blackrock Province.]
Kurzadh then realized.
It turned out that by a stroke of luck, he had combined human brick and cement technology with greenskin characteristics to build a Level 5 city wall that even the system recognized! This was like others still building wooden shacks while he directly built a castle, no wonder it triggered the attention of Gork and Mork.
As he was thinking, a pale green light suddenly shot down from the top of the city wall, landing in Kurzadh's hand.
After the light dissipated, a fist-sized yellow-green orb of light appeared in his palm—the light within the orb was like a confined tornado, spinning wildly, and in its center, two tiny greenskin figures could vaguely be seen, one wielding a giant axe, the other a long spear, happily beating each other.
"This is... the Will of Gork and Mork?" Kurzadh stared at the orb, his heart filled with shock.
This was precisely the item rewarded by the system when he completed the main quest "Unify the greenskins of the Forest of Gloom" last time. He had never understood how to use it, and hadn't expected it to be activated by the city wall today.
The orb felt warm in his hand, and he could feel the violent energy contained within, as if countless greenskin battle-wills were compressed inside.
"Boss, what's that in your hand?" Scarface leaned over, curiously staring at the orb, "Why is it spinning by itself?"
Kurzadh gripped the orb tightly, putting it into his In my arms—this item was too important to let too many people know about.
He smiled and patted Scarface's shoulder: "Nothing, it's a blessing from Gork and Mork! Come on, I'll take you up to see the top of the city wall!"
With that, he led the way towards the city wall's steps. Guzhana, Gazlowe, and Scarface followed behind, and the greenskins also reacted, cheering and following suit.
The steps were made of granite, two meters wide, wide enough for two orcs to walk side by side.
When they reached the top of the city wall, the evening breeze blew, carrying the dampness of the forest and the smell of distant swamps.
Looking down from the battlement, the scene of the mountain pass was fully visible—the Khyprian road was like a ribbon, stretching from south to north; the distant forest was lush and green, the afterglow of the sunset casting a golden light on the leaves; in the direction of the tribe, smoke curled upwards, and the outline of the mushroom garden could be vaguely seen.
"From now on, this will be the gateway to our Blackrock Clan!" Kurzadh spread his arms, shouting to the greenskins behind him, "With this city wall, neither humans nor Chaos will easily set foot on our territory!"
"WAAAGH!!" The greenskins roared in agreement, their voices making the city wall tremble slightly.
The Orc Boyz raised their giant axes, howling at the sky; the hobgoblins waved their bows, jumping excitedly; the goblin also shouted along, their small fists clenched tightly.
Guzhana walked to Kurzadh's side, looking at the distant sunset, her blood-red eyes full of emotion: "I never thought we would actually build it."
"Yes, we actually built it."
Kurzadh nodded, but in his heart, he was calculating the uses of the system's rewards—the special building "Wolf Den" could be built next to the city wall to train Wolf Riders, enhancing mobility; and the "Will of Gork and Mork" was key to establishing the Blackrock Province in the future.