Chapter 228: Harvest and Exploration

Under Snorri Thorsson's instruction, the Dwarf army formation opened up gaps on both flanks to allow a portion of the Greenskins to escape. They thought they could go elsewhere to continue plundering and continue their Waaagh, little knowing that the Humans and Amazons were already sharpening their blades.

Snorri did this to disintegrate their will to fight; if he truly forced them into a desperate struggle around that Black Orc boss, they would still be able to inflict some losses on his own men.

After the other units collapsed, the Black Orcs' breakout also became feeble. Henlide commanded the Dwarfs not to clash head-on with these desperate men, focusing instead on defense to drag out their speed and leaving the damage output to the ranged units.

"That Black Orc boss, I love it to death!" Snorri stood on the Doom Anvil, shading his eyes with his hand, feeling quite moved as he watched it charge back and forth through the Dwarf formation, its heroic posture forcing even the Dwarfs to give way before its great axe.

"Do not hit the upper body! Aim for the legs for me, I want to capture it alive!" Snorri instructed the ranged units; if there was a chance, he really wanted to try and subdue this group of disciplined Greenskins. The Dwarfs naturally had no objections, and under focused fire, the Black Orc boss was shot down to the ground.

"If those Chaos-mutated abominations to the north—who disrespect the ancestors, have gray skin and red eyes, and grow horns on their heads—can be enslaved, can I, Snorri Thorsson, a dignified transmigrator, not enslave this Black Orc?"

During the peak of the Mountain Kingdom, the Dwarfs explored all the way north along the World's Edge Mountains. Further than the already fallen Red Eye Mountain, they discovered a land that seemed cursed, but due to its rich mineral deposits, many clansmen insisted on staying behind.

Following the Chaos invasion and the great earthquake, these clansmen lost contact with the Dwarfs of the Old World. Under the pressure of survival, they no longer worshipped the departed Ancestor Gods, turning instead to worship the Father of Darkness, Hashut—a Chaos minor god in the image of a blazing bull.

They learned Daemon-forging and gained spellcasting abilities—at the cost of their bodies gradually turning to stone. Relying on these new technologies, they opened up vast territories, and for effective management, they enslaved many races, though they were eventually severely weakened by a slave uprising led by Black Orcs.

Seeing that the battle was decided, Snorri's Anvil Guard carried his anvil from the rear to the front of the battlefield, and Snorri pondered to himself while weighing his hammer.

"Big black guy! What is your name?" Snorri opened his mouth.

"Bah!" The Black Orc raised its upper body and spat at Snorri, though Snorri was sitting high up and was not hit by the saliva.

"Quite a tough spirit!" Snorri smiled. "Ah, I am..." Having witnessed so many titles of Settra the Imperishable, Snorri also wanted to list his own from beginning to end.

"Hornless short-stack, stop spouting nonsense in front of me!" The Black Orc boss interrupted Snorri's self-introduction.

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!" Snorri was also angered; it seemed this Black Orc was very unappreciative! "Either submit to me, or die!" he said in a deep voice.

"Waaagh! Black Orcs never submit to slavery!" The Black Orc boss roared even louder.

"You are seeking your own death!" Snorri swung the Warhammer in his hand and shattered the Black Orc's head, which counted as one kill to his name.

"How could it be like this? Or was it always like this?" Snorri pondered while wiping the red and white off his hammer. He vaguely remembered that the Witch King Malekith had once supported Orc warlords; could it be the work of his magic?

With no relevant data or resources on hand, and no energy to engage in "seven captures and seven releases" or soft-pedaling, Snorri dealt the killing blow directly. In any case, there were plenty of Greenskins in this world; he could try again when he had time.

Snorri then used the Valaya Ritual to wash away the various erosions from the Karag-Hongyun Shan fortress that had accumulated over thousands of years, which saved his clansmen the time of cleaning.

However, over the long passage of time, this fortress had changed hands repeatedly between Tomb Kings, Vampires, and Greenskins, and it now urgently needed repairs to restore its basic defensive functions.

Among the Black Orc boss's personal items, one thing attracted Snorri's system: it was a gemstone circulating with warm blue light. This Spark Gem could be synthesized with the Dwarf collar previously captured from Salazar to create Latong's Beast Taming Collar.

Snorri was naturally not polite; he took the collar from his personal storage box, the system clicked, his hands pressed together, and a treasure combined from Rune Power, engineering technology, and enough luck was restored.

After putting away the collar, Snorri arranged the follow-up work. He decided to station and rest here for a short period, first scouting out the surrounding environment, resource points, potential enemy forces, and other information before heading into the mountains.

Combining the experience of his predecessors and the map, he optimistically estimated that it would be almost impossible for such a large force to reach Gaoyuanbao in less than a month, so a safe rear base was a must.

Under Snorri's coordination, the three-thousand-man force all went into action. Two Helicopters were grounded for personnel but not for maintenance, conducting aerial reconnaissance; Knights and Rangers were scattered to investigate on the ground; those with underground combat experience were responsible for exploring the abandoned parts of the fortress; and the other clansmen used cement to patch up the already utilized parts of the fortress.

North of Red Cloud Mountain was the Mist Mountain, an important stronghold for Greenskins in the World's Edge Mountains. It once belonged to Grom the Paunch, and although a new, sufficiently powerful Greenskin Warlord had not yet been born, Snorri still decided to seal off the Earth Vein Network leading north.

Not long after he finished engraving the runes used for sealing and warning, the clansmen exploring downward brought him good news. Protected by guards, Snorri headed all the way down along the newly opened, yet-to-be-cleared stairs.

After bypassing several abandoned halls, he saw a hall sealed by runes. Looking at the crossed Forging Hammer and iron tongs emblem on the gate, as well as the somewhat damaged statues of Grungni and Sidemunier on both sides of the gate, the Dwarfs confirmed that this was the Blacksmith Guild hall of Red Cloud Mountain.

The Master-class Protection Rune used to seal the gate had gradually failed over time due to lack of maintenance, and Snorri opened the gate easily. After a brief ventilation allowed the stagnant air inside to dissipate, everyone rushed in impatiently.

The first thing that caught their eyes was a set of massive forging equipment, which was also the symbol for which the Red Cloud Mountain Blacksmith Guild was famous during the Golden Age. This device directly channeled magma from an active volcano, capable of smelting meteorite or other materials at extremely high speeds by relying on high temperatures.

A set of chests was placed in front of the forging equipment, and with Snorri's permission, the Dwarfs opened them. Inside were one hundred sets of brand-new Meteorite Armor, among which ten sets had already completed the engraving of standard runes.