Affection Level: Heart Stirred

A sense of urgency rose within Bai Pu. He took a deep breath. "It seems we need to eliminate Blood Hand Colen as soon as possible. I'm curious—since Duke William possesses such formidable strength, why not kill Blood Hand Colen before returning?"

"Because we don't know Blood Hand Colen's exact location. If we did, Duke William could stay here for a day or two, deal with Colen, and leave afterward... But a purposeless search would only waste the precious time he needs to assemble his army!"

Qin said, "The coastline along the northern shore of the Baltic Sea is too long. Although the militia has formed search parties, they simply cannot find Colen in such a short time."

Bai Pu raised a hand. "Where are the secret orders recovered from the three Blood Ring strongholds we destroyed? May I take a look?"

Qin gave Bai Pu a somewhat strange glance. She felt that his bearing had changed slightly, like a sword newly ground free of rust, its sharp edge fully revealed.

"Zweig Lieutenant, please let Mr. Dio examine the secret orders. He is trustworthy." Qin suppressed the strange feeling in her heart and spoke up for him.

If Qin's Favorability toward Bai Pu had been very low, she would not have paid him any attention, much less offered to help. But their Favorability had already reached the "Friend" level, so speaking up for him was only natural.

Zweig Lieutenant, standing at Duke William's side, nodded and handed the three secret orders to Bai Pu.

They bore a string of obscure symbols, with Latin translations written below in delicate handwriting.

"These are coded orders from Blood Ring Fortress. Even if enemies captured them, they could not read them without the codebook. Fortunately, Ms. Yvette helped decipher them." Qin leaned closer to Bai Pu, her breath carrying a faintly sweet fragrance.

"Judging from the phrasing and wording, these three secret orders should have been issued by Blood Hand Colen at the same time—right after successfully landing in Brandenburg Territory!"

Bai Pu looked up at Zweig. "Is there a map? Could you mark the locations of these three Blood Ring strongholds on it?"

Duke William grew somewhat interested. He gestured for Zweig Lieutenant to bring over a map and hang it up, then personally marked the three locations with X's.

Bai Pu swept his eyes across the map. Mountains, hills, basins, village settlements... every stretch of terrain passed through his mind, turning into parameters.

The difficulty of crossing complicated terrain such as mountains, hills, and basins, the possibility of detours, the time consumed by additional travel...

Bai Pu requested the daily military reports from the militia organizations in every local village. He flipped through the thick stacks of reports page by page, as quickly as counting money, making people wonder whether he had truly read the words on them.

The reliability of the military reports, the likelihood of encounters between village militias and Blood Ring soldiers, the time involved...

A vast amount of information converged in Bai Pu's mind, turning into dry, cold numbers that raced through calculations in his brain.

At last, Bai Pu pointed to a coordinate.

"Since Blood Hand Colen crossed the sea, this is the place where he was most likely to have come ashore."

Several native higher-ups gathered around.

"Borheim?" Qin called out the place name, surprise on her face. "It's so close to us?"

Zweig Lieutenant shook his head. "Impossible. Borheim is very close to Stettin. Ever since Duke William arrived here, Borheim's militia has reported military developments every day. There have been no signs of a Blood Ring invasion."

"Everyone, please look at Borheim Village's military reports. These reports are quite interesting..."

Bai Pu spread several sheets of paper across the table, and Duke William's group gathered around them.

After carefully reading the reports, several native higher-ups frowned.

They had spotted the issue as well.

It was not that Borheim Village's military reports contained any obvious flaws.

On the contrary, these reports were too professional—too perfect!

The data was detailed, the patrols comprehensive, the terminology professional... They were like artificial flowers with perfect color, shape, and layers. Nothing about them could be faulted, except that they lacked any sense of authenticity.

If these military reports had arrived one per day and been filed away alongside reports from other villages, they would indeed have been difficult to suspect. But now that they had been singled out, the native higher-ups immediately noticed the problem after studying them carefully.

"It seems Dio's judgment was correct. Borheim is very likely the hiding place of the Blood Ring Vanguard's headquarters. From a pessimistic perspective, that village may already be under Blood Ring... control." Qin's tone was grave.

Control was a euphemistic word. Given the bloodthirstiness of the Blood Ring monsters, Borheim's villagers might have long since become food for the army of Plague Dead.

"Since Qin has reached the same conclusion, it is worth delaying my departure by a day." Duke William spoke with ringing resolve. "No time to lose. We depart at once!"

The moment Duke William finished speaking, Bai Pu received an update from the Spirit Realm Will.

[Main Quest II: Sever Blood Hand's difficulty has been adjusted to D-rank (reduced from S-rank).]

[Because your analysis was the main reason for the quest difficulty reduction, the predetermined rewards for Main Quest II remain unchanged.]

Bai Pu looked at Duke William in surprise. Though he had expected Duke William's participation to drastically lower the difficulty of the Main Quest, he had not expected such an exaggerated reduction. Duke William's party was far stronger than anticipated! As expected of the Brandenburg faction's final boss.

After several hours of trekking through the snow, the group finally reached Borheim.

Following a brief reconnaissance, they confirmed that Blood Hand Colen's headquarters was indeed located in Borheim. More precisely, it was on a fifty-meter-long sailing battleship!

This warship was called the Pioneer. It was Blood Hand Colen's flagship and had been anchored by the shore at the entrance to Borheim Village.

Bai Pu's deduction was proven completely correct. He received a notification from the Spirit Realm Will: his reputation with the Brandenburg faction had increased by 200, and several higher-ups had improved their Favorability toward him.

The most precious gain was Duke William's Favorability, which had actually increased by 100 points—this was the Favorability of the faction's final boss, worth a fortune.

It was worth mentioning that after Qin's Favorability increased again, Bai Pu received another additional notification:

[Brandenburg Court Advisor: Qin's Favorability toward you has increased.]

[Your Favorability with an opposite-sex Spirit Realm character (Brandenburg Court Advisor: Qin) has surpassed the level of ordinary friends. You may now view the "Affection Level" between you and her.]

[Current Affection Level of Brandenburg Court Advisor: Qin toward you: Heart Stirred.]

Bai Pu checked the relevant information, and the Spirit Realm Will provided an explanation:

Affection Level generally referred to relationships between members of the opposite sex, divided into five levels. The normal Affection Level was "Ordinary." The higher levels, in order, were "Appreciation," "Heart Stirred," "Admiration," and "Devotion." Only upon reaching the "Heart Stirred" relationship would the Spirit Realm Will issue a notification.

Bai Pu was somewhat at a loss. In the real world, he had never experienced a relationship between a man and a woman, so he lacked experience in such matters.

Now was not the time to think about this, either. The Sting Squad, his Awakening Quest, the Superpower Corporation... Bai Pu's survival still faced grave threats.

Taking a deep breath, Bai Pu chose to handle it rationally.

Qin was an important native higher-up. Even Duke William was influenced by her words. Her increased Favorability and Affection Level toward him gave Bai Pu greater confidence in the plan ahead.

After the group infiltrated the warship, destroyed its rudder, and cut apart its sails, they revealed themselves and began wreaking havoc.

Qin chanted an incantation and scattered a bottle of blood-red liquid. Before it could hit the ground, it evaporated into a pale red mist that spread through most of the Pioneer.

This was Blood Magic cast with the aid of a spellcasting medium—Curse Blood Mist. It could weaken enemies over a wide area.

The effect was extremely obvious. The Blood Ring Aberrant soldiers aboard the ship began coughing violently. Even elite troops modified like the Blood Ring Hammer Knights were clearly affected; conservatively speaking, their combat strength had been reduced by one-third!

Throughout this, Duke William maintained his dignity and did not participate in the battle.

His guard officer, Zweig, was already immensely formidable. He tore through the enemy ranks like rotten wood, and even Blood Ring Hammer Knights could not last two exchanges against him. Though Qin's Curse Blood Mist had weakened them, Zweig's strength was still plain to see.

Court Wizard Galan specialized in Blood Magic and could directly extract the blood from an enemy's body. Her methods were bizarre and powerful.

Bai Pu knew that Spirit Realm powerhouses were categorized according to their growth templates, with ranks such as ordinary, elite, Reinforced Elite, leader, and so on. He estimated that Zweig and Galan might be Reinforced Elite-level powerhouses, a tier above Blood Ring Hammer Knights.

Yvette should have been elite-level, with strength comparable to a Blood Ring Hammer Knight.

The group fought all the way to Blood Hand Colen's captain's cabin. As the Curse Blood Mist gradually dispersed, they finally encountered an obstacle.

Before them appeared an Aberrant with an enormous right arm covered in knotted muscles. Wielding a bronze pillar, he sent a fierce wind rushing at them with every swing. His first strike blasted Zweig Lieutenant away and sent him straight into the sea.

Of course, Zweig was not injured. He climbed back aboard with a dark expression and rejoined the battle.

However, this Aberrant was practically unbeatable in the narrow deck passage. His deformed right arm granted him a terrifying strength bonus beyond his current level, while the bronze pillar he wielded was simply too massive. There was no room for anyone to dodge!

Zweig was knocked into the sea for the second time, and Duke William finally could not remain seated.

"Fall back."

Duke William seemed to disdain ganging up on an opponent. He even stopped Galan Witch when she tried to cast Blood Magic. The Duke slowly stepped forward and drew the sword at his waist, engraved with an eagle crest.

Slash!

Duke William drew his sword and struck. A blood-colored light several meters long shot from the blade. With a single blow, he forcibly severed the Aberrant's enormous right arm—the arm he had been so proud of!

Then Duke William elegantly wiped his sword with a handkerchief and sheathed it, completely disdaining to finish the enemy himself.

Everyone rushed forward.

Bai Pu did not hold back either. He charged in to beat the fallen dog, wildly smashing it with his bone hammer.

The Aberrant died, and a dark blue treasure chest floated above his corpse.

Judging by its color alone, it was a grade higher than the Blue Treasure Chest dropped by Blood Ring Hammer Knights. Bai Pu thought that this Aberrant should also have been a Reinforced Elite-level powerhouse.

Another piece of good news was that Bai Pu's Basic Weaponry branch, one-handed hammers, had integrated the techniques he had newly grasped through the consecutive battles and advanced to Basic Level 3.

"Who dares invade my flagship!"

A roar rang out as the heavy wooden door of the captain's cabin was kicked apart!

A massive man over two meters tall, clad in heavy black armor, charged out.

The giant's right arm was unusual. It had been severed at the wrist, and a blood-red battle axe had been grafted onto the stump! The axe handle was covered in blood-red patterns like blood vessels, connected to the giant's severed arm through blood connection.