31: Chapter 31 Greenskin Camp

"Whatever biochemical monster is hidden under the food factory isn't important for now."

Lin Li rubbed his aching brow.

That underground area could be safely left to that group of players who would risk their lives for triple points to slowly grind through.

The Shelter's true, imminent death warrant wasn't underground, but to the northwest!

"Orks..."

"I don't know the specific location, and I don't know the exact numbers. That is the guillotine hanging over our necks."

Although everyone could hide underground in a moment of danger,

Lin Li knew the cruel laws of the Warhammer universe all too well.

In this Galaxy of dancing demons, playing the turtle and shrinking into the Shelter whenever danger strikes is a guaranteed dead end.

Only by figuring out the enemy's details and mastering the ability to take the initiative to attack is the only true way to survive!

"I hope Ming Shen and the others can make it back alive with some useful intelligence."

...

Meanwhile.

Thirteen kilometers northwest of the Fire Seed Shelter.

Yellow sand raged across the arid wasteland, and the howling wind whipped up small pebbles, making a tooth-aching pitter-patter against the scrap metal.

Five dusty figures, using the terrain for cover, were cautiously feeling their way forward through the ruins like marmots.

It was the Niuma Squad, having set out on a reconnaissance mission once again!

"Phew... Old Liver, how far are we from the Shelter?"

Praise Ming Shen leaned against a weathered boulder and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Just over thirteen kilometers."

Liver Emperor glanced at the coordinate logs on his pv terminal and lowered his voice.

"This is already the furthest limit of our current exploration. Any further forward is complete Fog of War."

Beside him, Flash lay on high ground, holding a monocular and observing the surroundings with extreme caution.

"The situation doesn't look good, brothers."

Flash's voice was a bit tight as he pointed through the monocular in several directions ahead.

"There are traces of Ork activity everywhere nearby. Huge footprints, mutated beasts gnawed down to their skeletons, and that extremely disgusting dung. And..."

Flash took a deep breath: "All the tracks are converging toward those ancient architectural ruins over there!"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed.

At the end of the blowing sand, the faint outline of an extremely vast complex of buildings, resembling an old-era factory site, could be seen.

"Let's sneak over and take a look," Ming Shen ordered decisively.

Just as the group was about to move.

"Shh! Get down! Mobs!"

Slaanesh suddenly hissed, shoving the nearby Miracle Walker into the sand.

The five of them immediately pressed themselves against the protruding rocks like geckos, not even daring to breathe loudly.

On a reverse slope less than three hundred meters away from them.

A hunting party consisting of three Orc Boyzs and seven or eight Squigs was swaggering across the wilderness.

They waved bloody metal choppas in their hands and let out extremely unpleasant roars and strange cackles, clearly having just enjoyed a full meal.

Only when the patrol had completely disappeared into the wind and sand did the five of them let out a long sigh of relief.

"Damn, that scared the hell out of me."

Wanna Sleep with Slaanesh patted his chest and grumbled with lingering fear.

"Luckily we didn't bring Niu Zi on this recon mission! That guy is too big and hyperactive; bringing him would have been a one hundred percent guaranteed exposure!"

"Speaking of Niu Zi, I also find it strange."

Flash checked the weapon in his hand while wondering aloud.

"In reality, he's just a corporate slave who's submissive in the office, not even daring to speak loudly. How come as soon as he enters this game, his temper explodes like a terrorist? He just wants to rush in whenever he sees a mob?"

"Is that even a question? It must be an issue with that Beastman body."

Ming Shen pushed his glasses up, his brain with a high Intelligence of 7 points providing an extremely reasonable Warhammer-style explanation.

"This game claims 100% realistic feedback. A Minotaur's muscle density and endocrine system will definitely have a reverse effect on a player's neural synapses. Once the hormones and adrenaline surge, who remembers being a corporate slave in reality? They just act on instinct."

"Makes sense. Alright, the patrol is far away, let's continue!"

The five of them continued toward the massive ruins like ghosts.

Half an hour later.

They finally reached a high point less than five hundred meters from the ruins.

When the five of them lay on the ridge and saw the scene ahead through the monocular, everyone felt their breath hitch, and their scalps couldn't help but tingle!

That was no ordinary ruined settlement!

It was an extremely wild Ork military fortress exuding pure violent aesthetics!

The perimeter of the ruins had been crudely welded and pieced together from countless scrap metal shells, rusted steel plates, thick rebar, and even armor fragments from some giant starship into a massive metal wall over ten meters high!

The wall was covered in sharp spikes and dried, dark red bloodstains.

Several extremely strong Orks stood on simple watchtowers made of stacked scrap iron drums, boredly tapping the walls with large iron hammers salvaged from who-knows-where.

"This... this is the Ork camp?"

Liver Emperor swallowed hard, feeling his palms slick with cold sweat.

"The pressure from this wall is over a hundred times stronger than that Shangdi Settlement."

Just as they exchanged glances, preparing to get a little closer to figure out the troop deployment inside.

"BANG—!!!"

An extremely crisp, deafeningly loud gunshot suddenly erupted from inside that steel wall!

"Holy crap! Are we exposed?!"

The five players shuddered in fright, almost reflexively springing up from the ground!

"Grab your gear! Prepare for combat!"

Miracle Walker had the fastest reaction.

He snatched the 12.7mm Elephant Gun off his back!

After his modifications last night, this gun had changed completely.

The original simple single-shot bolt-action structure had been modified in a hardcore way with a long magazine, capable of holding a full 15 rounds of terrifying full-power ammunition at once!

And on his chest tactical harness hung five whole spare magazines!

"Don't panic!"

Walker cycled the bolt, chambering a round, and aimed the muzzle steadily forward, but his eyes were extremely calm.

"The gunshot sounds like it's far away and has an echo. It came from the very center of the Ork camp! They aren't shooting at us!"

"Phew..."

Hearing this professional judgment, the other four finally breathed a sigh of relief and lay back down behind cover.

"Not shooting at us? Then who are they shooting at?"

Flash's eyes widened as he suddenly realized an extremely terrifying problem.

"Wait... that was a gunshot just now?! The Orks have guns?!"

"I fink they were still using scrap iron and wooden sticks a few days ago. They couldn't have entered the firearms era that quickly, right?"

Slaanesh was also full of disbelief.

Ming Shen's expression darkened instantly, becoming somewhat grim.

"Hard to say. The Ork tech tree can't be deduced using Earth's common sense at all."

Ming Shen rubbed his chin and analyzed:

"They've been expanding their hunting range everywhere these past few days. They must have encountered human scavengers or other native settlements using firearms. As long as they've seen with their own eyes how a gun makes a noise..."

"Relying on that illogical WAAAGH 'I fink' field, it's entirely possible for them to hammer out a gun from a pile of scrap metal!"

"We can't go any further."

Ming Shen decisively issued the retreat order: "Roughly estimate the area of this camp and the number of Orks. We must go back immediately! Once they popularize firearms, the Shelter's current wooden walls will be hard to defend!"

...

Meanwhile.

Looking past that wild metal wall into the interior of the Ork camp.

This place was simply a massive colosseum filled with noise and the smell of blood.

Ork Boys were fighting each other everywhere over a piece of scrap metal or a chunk of meat.

Trampled Squigs and screaming Gretchin could be seen everywhere.

In the center of the camp, inside a broken shed built from giant metal shells.

A Mekboy, a size larger than a normal Ork and wearing a ridiculous welding helmet on his head, was squatting irritably amidst a pile of scrap metal.

The Mekboy's green right hand, thicker than a human thigh, was clutching an exploded automatic pistol scavenged from a human scavenger's corpse.

"Why'd it go bang once and den blow up?"

The Mekboy scratched his greasy chin, his crimson eyes flashing with a light called 'wisdom'.

He glanced at the pile of shattered parts on the ground, then at a nearby rusty, thick iron pipe salvaged from some sewage line.

"Oh! I fink I get it now!"

The Mekboy slapped his head, a sudden realization dawning on him.

"It must be missin' a handle down dere to hold onto! Not big enough, not heavy enough!"

He crudely grabbed that thick scrap metal pipe, completely ignoring whether the size matched, and forced it—using terrifying monstrous strength—into the base of the pistol's remains!

"Crrrk-crrrk-crrrk!"

The sound of metal snapping and being forced together was ear-piercing.

With just those few moves, an abstract, ugly oversized pipe gun—a complete insult to mechanical engineering—actually took shape in his hands!

Next, the Mekboy casually picked up a thumb-sized, jagged piece of scrap pig iron from the ground and, without even looking, shoved it directly down the thick barrel.

There was no primer, no gunpowder, no firing mechanism, and there were even huge gaps between the iron chunk and the barrel.

But in the Mekboy's mind,

only one strong, pure conviction was madly surging!

"WAAAGH!!!"

The Mekboy opened his bloody maw and let out a deafening roar, "I fink... dis'll shoot now!"

He excitedly raised this piece of scrap iron that should have been impossible to fire and, without even aiming, casually pulled the trigger that had long since been squeezed out of shape toward the outside of the shed.

Something bizarre happened.

Driven by that pure Ork "I fink" field (WAAAGH! Field).

"BANG—!!!"

A deafening gunshot.

A burst of hot orange-red fire actually spewed from the muzzle.

The piece of scrap iron he had shoved in whistled out with terrifying kinetic energy.

Pfft!

Outside the shed, an unlucky Gretchin gnawing on a bone dozens of meters away was instantly blasted into a rain of shredded meat and blood by the piece of pig iron!

"Hahaha, it went bang! I fought it'd go bang!"

The Mekboy watched the smoking iron pipe in his hand, dancing with excitement, and immediately turned back to the junk pile to look for more iron pipes.