Chapter 116: Omega, the Greenskin Arms Dealer
"Roar! Little shrimp, I'm gonna kill ya!"
The bruised and battered Snakebite leader roared at Omega's projection. But his body was not only broken in multiple places, but also pinned to the ground by several Battle Automata. Besides roaring, he could do nothing.
Omega sized up the prone Savage-fang, feeling a little speechless. He had thought that anyone who could make it to the position of a Warboss, if not cunning, was at least a Greenskin with a brain. Who would have thought he was a pure brute, charging his shop with just himself and his beast? If he hadn't received the report and had the Automata hold back in time, this Greenskin's story would have ended today, just like his mount's.
"Tsk, tsk. You're a far cry from Tough Beast."
"Bah! Tough Beast is a coward, a softy! A coward who doesn't dare to face me!" Savage-fang roared, panting. Even in this situation, he still hadn't given up struggling, still trying to flip over the Automata pinning him down.
"Tough Beast just left my place, completely unharmed. When he comes back with the teef, you see that power armor over there? It'll be his. I hope you'll still be as arrogant then," Omega said, and had the Automata adjust Savage-fang's direction.
Savage-fang's eyes, upon seeing the ferocious power armor with its violent aesthetic and a touch of Greenskin style, were immediately captivated. As if he had seen some rare treasure, he just stared at it, no longer struggling. After a moment of silence, he suddenly turned his head to Omega and said, "You're the little shrimp that Tough Beast's Boyz are always talkin' about, the one who's the best at thinkin'?"
"Heh heh, so you've heard of me. Let me tell you another thing. The axe you're using was also made by me. Is it any good?"
"You're full of scrap! Wasn't it a gift from Gorkamorka?"
Omega didn't know how to respond to that. He was just now realizing that the Blood Axe Greenskins were disliked because their brains were relatively normal. The thought processes of other Greenskins were just insane. A normal beast being ostracized by a mental beast.
Looking at the Greenskin's "who the hell are you trying to fool" expression, Omega, after a moment of silence, could only go along with him. "Gorkamorka asked me to give it to you. If you don't believe me, then let me ask you, is there an 'OMG' mark on the handle of your axe?"
"..." Savage-fang was silent. Because there was. He had originally wanted to file it off, but he was quite fond of the treasure that could chop through anything so cleanly. The Gretchin in his tribe were too stupid, and he was afraid they would break it, so he had just wrapped it in a piece of animal hide. Only he knew about this. The other Greenskins who knew were already with Gorkamorka.
"Now look at the chest plate of the power armor in front of you. Is there the same mark?"
Savage-fang turned his head and saw that there was indeed one. Now he knew the little shrimp wasn't lying. Omega, seeing him silent and no longer struggling, had the Automata let him go. Then he said to the Ork, who was sitting up and baring his teeth, "I'm sure you've heard from the Blood Axe Boyz that there's going to be a super big WAAAGH! soon. But with your current state, you're not qualified to participate. You're too weak. But you're lucky to have grown here. Gorkamorka doesn't want you lucky Greenskins to go and see them before you've had your fill of WAAAGH! They think it's a great loss of face, because you guys can't even take one hit from the bugs. So they asked me to get you some powerful gear."
Savage-fang was still a little skeptical. "I heard from the Blood Axe Boyz that you want to use us to help you fight the bugs."
"Is there a difference? You want a WAAAGH!, I'll give you a WAAAGH! Gorkamorka thinks you're not WAAAGH! enough, so I'll help you become more WAAAGH! Just as I told Tough Beast, you're not WAAAGH!-ing for me, you're WAAAGH!-ing for yourselves!"
The brain of a brutish Greenskin is smooth. He couldn't quite understand Omega's words. But Omega's "WAAAGH! this" and "WAAAGH! that" made Savage-fang feel that this little shrimp was a little shrimp who understood WAAAGH! A shrimp who understood WAAAGH! was a good shrimp.
"Hmm. You're a good shrimp who understands WAAAGH!," Savage-fang said with an appreciative tone.
"..." Omega, who was recognized by the Greenskin, opened his mouth, having forgotten what he was going to say next. He had just wanted to fool this not-so-bright Greenskin. It wasn't time to kill him yet. If Savage-fang died, Tough Beast would have no opponent. And a Greenskin with no opponent is a Greenskin who will find his own opponent. A unified Greenskin under Tough Beast would be a big problem.
"Ahem, yes. There are too few creatures in this world who understand WAAAGH! You understand me," Omega could only say, biting the bullet.
"Hahaha, it's just that the Boyz only know how to follow the WAAAGH! They don't understand WAAAGH! at all," the Greenskin said with a "wise" expression. Then, his tone changed. "Since you're a shrimp who understands WAAAGH!, why did you sell Tough Beast such a not-WAAAGH! coward's weapon?"
The little cog-head couldn't tell if this Savage-fang was really stupid or just pretending. Was he testing him, or was he really discussing WAAAGH! with him? But at this point, Omega could only continue. "The ways of WAAAGH! are different. Just like some Boyz like big shootas, some like big choppas, and some like to ride Squigs. WAAAGH! is a mysterious thing. How you WAAAGH! is not important. Finding the WAAAGH! you like is the most important thing."
"'The ways of WAAAGH!', 'finding the WAAAGH! you like is the most important thing'... Hmm, although I don't quite understand, I think you're right!" the Greenskin said to Omega with an appreciative tone again.
Omega didn't know if it was his imagination, but he was now getting a feel for communicating with the Greenskins. If it weren't for his immunity to psychic powers, Omega would have even suspected that he was being influenced by this Snakebite leader's WAAAGH! field. After thinking about it, he decided to go with the feeling. "I'm helping Gorkamorka by giving you some more WAAAGH! gear. Who knew I would accidentally kill your big Squig? How about this? You take this suit of power armor. Consider it my compensation to you."
"Really? You're a really good shrimp!" The instantly-revived Savage-fang, ignoring his injuries, dragged his creaking body to the power armor. Without anyone's help, he crammed himself into it, activated it, and wanted to smash something to test its power. Omega stopped him and told him to try it outside.
The Greenskin who had received a gift was as easy to talk to as a human who had received a gift. After a good round of smashing outside, the returned Savage-fang said to Omega, "I never believed them when they said you were the most thoughtful. Now I believe it."
"As long as you're satisfied. I have countless good things here that are even more WAAAGH! than this. But a Greenskin who is not WAAAGH! enough is not worthy of them. Go and WAAAGH! When you become more WAAAGH!, come back to me with more teef." Omega, now a Greenskin dreamer, continued, "But Savage-fang, in my place, you have to follow my rules. Do you understand?"
"Don't worry. I'll go back and warn the Boyz to be honest when they come here in the future."
After the Snakebite leader had left, Omega had the Automata bring out another suit of power armor with a similar style. To be able to wear a suit of power armor hand-crafted by Magos Omega himself, Savage-fang's life was worth it.
In the following days, Omega, who had established a relationship with both Greenskin warbosses, could be said to be doing a roaring trade. "Treasuries" were built one after another. Unfortunately, Omega was not a Greenskin. Looking at these teef, he was not happy at all. It was a pure money-losing business. This made Omega, who had never lost money since he had opened his shop, very unhappy. He went to the humans and the T'au and asked them to contribute as well. He couldn't be the only one losing money. The T'au were quite smart. They just glanced at Omega's bill and agreed, sending a message to the nearest Sept to send a batch of rare materials.
But the Imperial side had angered Omega to death. At first, they were extremely enthusiastic. But after Omega had stated his intentions, they all became mute. They looked at the ceiling, at the floor, and some even closed their eyes and prayed to the Emperor. The person in charge, who couldn't avoid it, started to cry poor, saying that the grunts hadn't been paid, that he was still wearing patched underwear. In the end, Omega got an IOU, telling him to go to the Far East Command for reimbursement.
"Bah! So shameless! If you hadn't come, would I have been able to get it?"
"I'll just give these IOUs to Calgar and have the Ultramarines get it for me!"
Fortunately, the little cog-head had a professional business team under him, each of whom was a master of creative accounting. The fake tax returns and虚報 bills they made were even more real than the real thing. With just the compensation from the T'au, they could break even, and even have a "little" surplus. But the principle of "not making money is losing money" was something all businessmen understood.
Omega had to once again gather his business team to discuss countermeasures. But faced with the Greenskins' "teef-based" economy, even the experts were at a loss. They racked their brains but could not come up with a satisfactory method for Omega.
In the end, with no other choice, Omega, who did not want his teef to rot in the treasury, had to start a "teef" spending spree. He offered a heavy price for any strange and wonderful things. He also used the teef to hire Greenskins to tell the Mekboyz in their clans to "think" hard, to build hard, and to bring their creations to him to exchange for teef.
Many of the Mekboyz who had taken the plunge had made a fortune from Omega. These successful role models had stimulated the teef-less Greenskins, and more and more of them had started to "think." Under Omega's stimulation, the entire Greenskin society could be said to be thriving, its GDP growing day by day. Every day, an unknown number of Greenskins would come to the arms camp to buy and sell goods.
But not all Greenskins could succeed. The cruelty of the market economy still applied in the "teef-based economy." Omega only offered a high price for creative Greenskin creations. For ordinary items, he only gave a very low price. This had caused many Greenskin Mekboyz who had invested all their assets in building weapons to lose everything. But they could do nothing, because Omega had told them, "If you don't sell, there are plenty of Greenskins who will!"
For these low-priced Greenskin weapons, Omega didn't just throw them into the warehouse. He expanded the camp and opened another Greenskin weapon shop, with a 100% markup, becoming a second-hand dealer. But the price was still very friendly compared to the weapons he had made. This Greenskin weapon shop was the holy land of countless poor Greenskin Boyz, the place where their WAAAGH! began. But it wasn't long before the Mekboyz discovered how black the heart of the black-hearted little cog-head was. They began to unite to boycott Omega.
But which Mekboy could have thought that this Greenskin weapon shop had shares from both warbosses? The warbosses, who were counting their teef in their dreams and laughing, could imagine their anger when the little cog-head told them that their subordinates were trying to ruin their business.
Under the joint suppression of the three parties, the Mekboyz alliance, which had been formed for profit, immediately dissolved. But the disappearance of the alliance did not represent the compromise of the Mekboyz. When it came to teef, even the warboss couldn't do anything. They would fight against the "monopoly" to the end