“Erm, Hi. I am going to make this a little informal, so you may stand at ease. If you want to, please feel free to have a seat. All you got to do is listen to what I have to say for the next five minutes or so.” Jin started off by telling them to relax… though none of them did as the Orcs remained in full attention. It made him slightly nervous when he looked down at the large number of orcs having their eyes focused on his every little move.
“Okay, I will be straightforward with you guys. I have gathered all of you here to inform you about our future plans. We are building a city from scratch and I need you orcs as the pioneer builders for this particular city.” Jin said and instead of the expected questions or anxiety on their faces, the orcs were somehow elated…? Jin couldn’t understand why but he decided to go with the mood here.
“Also, we are going to make you guys work full force 24 hours, of course in rotation.” Jin continued and the Orcs got even more hyped up. Some were cheering like crazy and Jin felt like he needed an explanation from anyone on their behaviour. Was it the Loyalty Enforcement Orders at work? Or was he missing something crucial?
Fortunately, Ayse was around as well when Jin did tell Nubwort to bring every orc to the town hall. She had voluntarily allowed the System to search through her memories and asked the System to transmit it to JIn since the Hall was too noisy for him to notice her. (Even though the System already had access to being with.)
Answering Jin’s confusion, the System stated that construction was in the blood of the Orcs and it was even a delegated honour for them, like a rite of passage when they were a teenager.
True, they loved to kill, destroy and conquer… because they wanted to build more stuff. That’s one of the reasons why they were so obsessed with the Lost Technology artefacts because it gave them the opportunity to create something so extraordinary, making their ancestors proud.
“I always thought that it was the dwarves who loved building, not the orcs.” Jin thought and the System replied that the fantasy tropes their world used, were after all fantasy and not facts.
However, it did add that his orcs possessed a few genes and possible traits that hinted at them having the dwarves bloodline. The System elaborated, that to put it simply, goblins, orcs and elves were all distant descendants of the dwarves in that particular world which Jin had visited.
Jin found it an oddly weird coincidence but decided to accept it. He couldn’t help but wonder if some of those fantasy authors hadn’t been World Travelers, for the lore of these worlds to be so identically close. Or perhaps there was some hidden proof for the existence of these sub races in Jin’s world historical timeline of monsters and magic.
“In any case, more details will be given in the next 48 hours or so. You will all be working closely with some of my other monsters and even goblins. Please try to get along.” That last line suddenly made everyone stop in their tracks for a moment. Goblins? Orcs working with Goblins? They all stared at Jin, not sure if they heard correctly, to which he nodded his head.
“Yeah, goblins. The Goblin Kingdom is sending me a battalion of troops to help with the city building as well as a group of craftsman. I expect you guys to get along well. In case you don’t, you will be ordered to comply, even if you hate the goblins to the core.” Jin warned the Orcs.
However, I’d prefer not forcing you that way. I don’t pretend to understand why you have a feud with them, and frankly I don’t really care. If you are working under me, you better jolly well try to work together, eat together and sleep together. They are now to be treated the same as your comrade in arms, and I expect no less from those goblins. Should any of you disobey the orders repeatedly by causing the System to enact the Loyalty Enforcement Orders on you, I will make sure that the guilty be placed in solitary confinement with meagre food and be re-educated by Kraft himself.” Jin was giving no quarters for the Orcs to make up any excuses. His word was ironclad, and the Orcs knew that from day one.
“You also know how Kraft loves to have more candidates for his experiments. So I repeat, do not force my hand to do such a thing. Other than that, you all will be provided with a supply of delicious hot piping food courtesy of Lynn, our Head Chef. Yes, you are hearing right, three meals a day, every day. You will be able to eat what she and her penguin chefs cook. (with meat being back on the menu).” The Orcs suddenly cheered up again upon hearing that they do not have to eat the standard food that the System provided on a daily basis.
“Apart from that, you guys will also be compensated with System points, on top of the ones you gain from fighting. I’d advise you to save some up for future purposes such as buying a house in the new city or having access to better facilities or equipment in your future Home Instance.” Jin revealed to entice the Orcs even though he technically did not need to do any of this.
Jin wanted to treat them as humanely as possible while meeting the mission’s deadline set by the System. That was the only few ways he could think of balancing the carrot and the stick (Since death was not an issue to them.)
“Master, if our future home instance can fit us all, why would we need to buy a house of our own in the new city? Can’t we just live in the Home Instance?” An Ice Orc Officer brought up a valid point.
“Yes, you can, but do note that the home instance for you orcs will be shared among all of you. Space wise it might be limited so you might want to save up the points to buy a house of your own. Or feel free to collectively put it in a pool and upgrade the home instance. Else, you can also use those points to purchase some items made in the Dungeon City Fortress in the future.” Jin answered and everyone got all excited again.
“Oh Yes, speaking about craftsman, are any of you good at certain professions?” Jin suddenly thought about it and decided to ask the crowd. If there were thousands of orc soldiers, chances are there might be a couple few who could have worked in a skilled profession before becoming a soldier.
Ayse had previously informed Jin that the Orcs had to draft people from towns and villages to boost their military manpower. To his utter shock, nearly everyone in the crowd raised their hand up and they all had some sort of profession.
Questioning Nubwort, he learned that all the Orcs required to be battle ready and thus, military training was a module for them in schools since young (A fact not in Ayse memories, as she had been taught personally under the Former Head Researcher). That was why all of them had a working profession since being a soldier was second nature to all of them.
“System, please consolidate the skilled professions and send the list to Qiu Yue, I’m sure she might find it useful,” Jin asked as he dismissed all Orcs except for Nubwort, who had a few questions of his own.
“Is it really necessary to work with the Goblins?” The Black Disaster asked. He could not help but treat them as his lesser, even though he was beaten by Piercestriker.
It also did not help a bit, that most of his compatriots thought the same. The Orc schools had heavily emphasised that in the majority of their glorious history, Goblins used to be their slaves. A fact only strengthened by the perception that most goblins Orcs came in contact with, were the slaves of other orcs. In his opinion, it would just reduce the efficiency of the work the Orcs could do if the Goblins interfered with them.
“How about giving them a chance to prove that they are not as useless as you might think? While I would like the city to be built overnight, it is impossible. Hence, every hand available is useful in meeting the deadline.” Jin replied and Nubwort could only sigh at his master’s direct orders.
“Alright. Just one chance. Any screw up and I ask you to allow us to end the cooperation. Let us orcs work in different places and you will be able to see our superiority be the results.” Nubwort was giving no space for negotiations even though he knew that his new master could overwrite his decisions.
“Then what happens if the screw ups happen at your side?” Jin folded his arms and challenged him. Nubwort scoffed at it and told him that orcs didn’t make mistakes.
“Yea right, in that case, you guys wouldn’t be here serving me.” Jin remarked and the Black Disaster kept his silence for once.
“Fine, if …and a very big IF. If we screw up, I will ensure that the others will give them an additional chance in cooperating with us should they inevitably make a mistake. Happy now?” Nubwort snorted and walked away back to his guest instance.
“Orcs and their pride issues.” Jin shook his head as he headed towards the Terrace House where he believed Peppers to be. He needed her to start terraforming the land in the Dungeon City Fortress as soon as possible to get everything ready.
“Peppers, you in there?” Jin knocked on her door, and there were a bit of clashing noises heard from behind the door. “You okay in there?!” Jin asked once more, ready to break down the door to help her. Suddenly, she opened the door and Jin was surprised that she was not in usual pyjamas.
“Master, I am all ready to work!” Peppers was in her full battle gear that he had never seen before. As well as multiple large vials of life potions created by Milk to allow for fast recovery against the body strains she was bound to suffer after using a large amount of Mana.
Apparently, the new battle gear she acquired was from all the fragments she earnt on a daily basis and figured it would help her to cast efficiently and quickly, causing less strain on her body.
“…How did you know that I was looking for you?” Jin asked and Peppers pointed at his phone.
“To ensure a quick start for the terraforming, System has informed Bellator Peppers in advance. It should be noted, however, that she ended up ditching her previous assignment of researching the manual cultivations as fast a student hearing the school bell.” The System took the initiative for the first time in a long while.
Jin was astonished but delighted to know that the actions taken meant that the System approved of Jin’s city concept. It tattling on Peppers was met with just a slight grin.
In no time, Jin and Peppers reached the massive empty plot of land which the dungeon core provided for the construction of the Dungeon City Fortress. Moloch accompanied them since he was partially the owner of this City Fortress after all.
“Just wondering, where exactly is the core? All I see is empty land with no one in sight except for your minotaurs camping right here.” Jin wondered as the Cosplaying Minotaurs all greeted him the moment he arrived.
“Ah, that.” Lord Moloch showed Jin a deck of opened cards, and with a flip of his hand, the cards turned into a miniature version of the dungeon core Jin remembered seeing as he made the System and Moloch activate it.
“As one of the Lords, I was able to carry this with me before the Dungeon City Fortress began its construction. Since you seem ready, we will need to put the core in a centralised place to provide ‘life’ to the city.” Moloch explained.
“Like erm electricity and water supplies?” Jin asked and Moloch shook his head and his finger at his master.
“Most importantly, resources. Raw Materials and the likes. Sure, it could produce water from the core itself, perhaps electricity too, though I think we will need to tinkle with it a little to make it understand the concept of electricity. In this Dungeon World, it does not necessarily have what Master’s World had. While we do have the concept, it is more so catered to turn enemies into ashes.” Moloch said.
” ‘Understand the concept?’ You mean like the System, the Dungeon Core can learn stuff too?” Jin asked as this revelation opened up a lot more possibilities.
“Affirmative, System had already inserted information vital to our city layout as well as the concept of basic modern necessities. The core will need time to modify its materials and uses based on the concepts System had inserted. In the meantime, Bellator Peppers can start with the Terraforming procedure.” System stated but Peppers was already gathering magic in her hands, transferring them into her wooden staff.
“I will take some time to do this in order to modulate the amount of Mana passing through me, but you should be able to see visible results very soon. Do not worry, I won’t kill ourselves, I am pretty sure of it.” Peppers smirked as she smashed her wooden staff into the ground.
Instantly, the ground started to crack and the Minotaurs who were camping in the area had begun evacuating the camping grounds, taking what was necessary and running towards Moloch while looking at the miracles the Demonic Sage Queen was doing.
“Feed the ground with savage intent and not even Mother Nature will be able to hold it back.” Peppers placed her hands on the staff and called out her spell name out loud.
“EARTHHHHHH SHATTTTTERRRRR – *cough cough* QUAKE!” Peppers screamed a little too loud that it strained her throat
“You sure we won’t die?!?!!” Moloch had serious doubts about Peppers’ vouch and Jin could only cross his fingers when they were all been shaken violently by the ground under them.
