Chapter 37: Intelligence of Both Sides

Very quickly, the Greenskins in the Shanbao gathered in the great hall and the square at the entrance. They shoved and pushed, making a noisy, chaotic mess with no order to speak of.

Warlord Lie-Axe stood before his chair, holding his axe in one hand, and roared: "I heard some lads don't accept my rule and want to replace me as the boss and sit in this chair! If you've got the guts, stand out! Come at me together!"

Hearing this roar, several Greenskin Big 'Uns, who were clearly a size larger, squeezed out. Without much talk, they charged directly at the Warlord on the platform.

Warlord Lie-Axe's skill had not weakened much due to the injury on his left hand. He swung his Battle Axe in a wide arc and fought the Big 'Uns who rushed up. A moment later, he had floored all the challengers.

Although he had added a wound to his leg and back each, he tilted his head back and let out a war cry: "Waaagh! Gork is above! I, Warlord Lie-Axe, am still the most waaagh Greenskin here!"

As he spoke, he swept a contemptuous gaze over the Greenskins below, "Who else!? Who else wants to challenge me?"

No one made a sound. After a brief silence, the audience also let out a "Waaagh" roar. As all the Greenskins in the hall roared, their waaagh energy converged together and was transmitted to Warlord Lie-Axe through the Warp.

His wounds began to heal rapidly, and his frame, already over two meters tall, seemed to have a trend of growing even larger.

Warlord Lie-Axe tore off his bandages and waved his left hand, feeling his body filled with strength once again. The Greenskins below cheered endlessly at the sight of such a miracle; they were excited that their boss had re-established his prestige.

Warlord Lie-Axe was also very satisfied with this. He dismissed the troops and called over his few original high-ranking subordinates to continue the meeting.

Dwarf Rangers on the surrounding mountains clearly saw this scene through their telescopes. Some stayed behind to continue monitoring, while others quickly slipped down the mountain.

Reseating themselves, after the display of strength, the two Goblins and one Orc who had originally sat in the lower seats looked significantly more respectful.

"Moving out, I think it's doable! There are Dwarfs below, rats underground, and the ore we dig up can't even be smelted, just used as scrap! We shouldn't stay in this dump! But where should we go?"

"Respected Boss, if you ask me, why don't we charge into the territory of the Humans and continue to follow King Gulu! It's said they've already taken the Human capital and even tore down the palace to build bouncy houses! Following King Gulu, we'll surely be able to kill to our heart's content! And loot everything!"

Warlord Lie-Axe nodded, noncommittal.

That Orc also spoke: "The Empire? How are we supposed to charge through just Black Fire Pass with the few of us? If you ask me, we should just waaagh back to the Badlands!"

"The Warlords who had some strength in the Badlands have all killed their way into the Empire of Man. With the Boss and his choppas, plus us brothers, isn't taking a piece of territory in the Badlands an easy task? When the time comes, we can annex a few other warbands, who knows..." The Orc began to look forward to a bright future.

"King Gulu is the greatest Greenskin in history! Following him..." the Goblin Shaman continued to state his reasons.

"Fart! When did it ever become a Goblin's turn to be the greatest Greenskin? Our Orc boss, Grimgor Ironhide, is the truly great one! Didn't you say he even has a seat under Gork and Mork?" Hearing this, Warlord Lie-Axe angrily interrupted.

"Hmph! That's it then. Notify the lads, we're going back to the Badlands! How can a great Orc be content to follow behind a Goblin!"

After passing down the order, Warlord Lie-Axe rose vigorously. "Tell the lads to sharpen their gear! Tomorrow morning, follow me down the mountain to smash the Dwarfs! Before we leave, we have to give those Dwarfs below a hard hit! Even if we don't smash them over, we have to beat them until they hide in their turtle shells and don't dare come out. Otherwise, that bunch will use their tunnels to chase us like mad dogs, and by the time we get back to the Badlands, I'm afraid more than half the lads will be gone, and the warband will be finished."

As the Rangers who went to scout for information returned, the Dwarf high-ranking officials in the outpost gathered in the conference room once again.

"You mean to say, the Greenskins on the mountain have started to assemble?" Grom tapped his fingers on the table and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Prince Grom, my men also saw that the Greenskin boss's arm, which you broke, recovered in a flash of green light!" the Ranger Captain reported next.

The Dwarfs present all gasped. Warlord Lie-Axe's ferocity had been displayed to the fullest in the previous battle.

"Don't worry! Don't worry, my kin. The Greenskins have their filthy savage gods, but don't we have the protection of the Ancestor Gods? Mother Valaya is watching over us! We have many troops and plenty of supplies, the city is strong and the ramparts are thick. The Greenskins lack supplies and are not united; how could they be our match?"

Grom used his charisma to boost morale. "Believe in us, the Grudge of Mountain Lake Fortress will surely be settled!"

"Uncle Qiangsen, is there any news from the underground rats?" Sinuoli asked his Anvil Guard Captain.

"We have indeed made quite a bit of progress! The rats are fighting with the Greenskins; they also want to occupy Karak-Varn and desecrate the land of our ancestors!" Qiangsen said through gritted teeth.

"Those rats are no match for the Greenskins head-on, hmph, but the cowardly vermin are quite good at schemes and tricks! They used Magic Stone Powder to pollute the Greenskins' mushroom fields. I think this is the reason for the Greenskins' unusual movements!"

Hearing this, the Sinuoli brothers were very satisfied with the reliability of the Anvil Guard. "Very good! My kin! Go to the quartermaster later and have your brothers each collect a large mug of ale!" Grom said.

"The Ranger brothers too!" Sinuoli added. Compared to Grom, who followed tradition and did not value Rangers—an anomaly among Dwarfs—Sinuoli deeply understood the importance of the intelligence team to the war.

Seeing the Ranger Captain's look of gratitude, Sinuoli knew he had done the right thing.

"Qiangsen, continue, do you know where they came from?" Grom had no extra reaction to Sinuoli's actions; he continued to ask about the topic he cared about.

"We took advantage of the chaos to capture a few live ones, Clan Rats, not those lowest-level Slave Rats. They know a bit more, but it's not exact." Qiangsen did not say it directly; he first built some suspense.

Clan Rats are the main component of the Skaven army. These Skaven belong to thousands of clans scattered across the underground tunnels, fortresses, and crowded cave cities that make up the Under-Empire.

Among the ratmen, only the number of Slave Rats at the very bottom is greater than that of Clan Rats. Clan Rats are slightly smaller than Humans, have slightly decent equipment, and have received some training.

When a ratman Warlord gathers his forces to wage war, the Clan Rats are at the front and center of the army, occupying the main part of the battle line. They form massive groups and overwhelm the enemy with their numbers and the fury of their attacks.

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