Affection Level: Heartbeat

A sense of urgency arose, and Bai Pu took a deep breath. "It seems we need to take down Blood Hand Colen quickly. I'm curious, since the Duke has such great strength, why didn't he defeat Blood Hand Colen before returning?"

"Because we don't know Blood Hand Colen's exact location. If we knew his precise location, it would be no problem for the Duke to stay here for a day or two to deal with Colen before leaving... But searching aimlessly will only waste his precious time in assembling his army!"

Qin said, "The coastline on the north shore of the Baltic Sea is too long. Although the militia have formed search parties, they won't be able to find Colen in a short time."

Bai Pu raised his hand. "Where are the secret orders found in the three Blood Ring strongholds that have already been wiped out? May I see them?"

Qin looked at Bai Pu with some surprise. She felt that Bai Pu's demeanor had changed somewhat, like a newly sharpened sword, its edge gleaming.

"Zweig Lieutenant, please let Mr. Dio see the secret orders. He is trustworthy," Qin said, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart and helping to speak.

If Qin's favorability towards Bai Pu was very low, she wouldn't have paid attention to him at all, let alone spoken up to help. But her favorability level with Bai Pu was now "Friend," so it was normal for her to offer assistance.

Zweig Lieutenant, standing beside Duke William, nodded in agreement and handed three secret orders to Bai Pu.

On them were a series of obscure symbols, followed by a Latin translation written in elegant handwriting.

"These are the secret orders from the Blood Ring Fortress. Even if the enemy captured them, they wouldn't be able to read them without the cipher book. Fortunately, Ms. Yvette helped us decipher them," Qin leaned close to Bai Pu, her breath carrying a faint sweet scent.

"Judging by the wording, these three secret orders were likely issued by Blood Hand Colen at the same time, immediately after successfully landing in the Brandenburg Territory!"

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

Duke William seemed interested. He gestured for Zweig Lieutenant to bring out a map and hang it up. He personally marked three locations with an "X."

Bai Pu's eyes swept over the map. Mountains, hills, basins, villages... various terrains flashed through his mind, transforming into parameters.

The difficulty of traversing complex terrain like mountains, hills, and basins, the possibility of detours, the extra time cost...

Bai Pu again requested the daily military intelligence reports from the militia organizations of various villages in the area. He flipped through the thick stacks of reports, his speed so fast it was like counting banknotes, making one doubt if he was even reading the text carefully.

The credibility of the military intelligence reports, the probability of encounters between village militia and Blood Ring soldiers, the time cost...

A large amount of information converged in Bai Pu's mind, transforming into dry, cold numbers that his brain rapidly calculated.

Finally, Bai Pu's finger pointed to a coordinate.

"Since Blood Hand Colen came by sea, this is the most likely place he would have landed."

Several high-ranking natives gathered around.

"Borheim?" Qin exclaimed a place name, a hint of surprise on her face. "Is it this close to us?"

Zweig Lieutenant shook his head. "Impossible. Borheim is very close to Stettin. Ever since the Duke arrived here, Borheim's militia has reported daily military intelligence, and there have been no signs of Blood Ring invasion."

"Everyone, please take a look at the military intelligence reports from Borheim village. These few reports are very interesting..."

Bai Pu spread a few pages on the table, and Duke William and the others gathered around.

After carefully examining the reports, the high-ranking natives all frowned.

They had also noticed something amiss.

It wasn't that the military intelligence reports from Borheim village had flaws.

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

The data was detailed, the patrols comprehensive, the wording professional... like a fake flower with perfect color, shape, and layers. There was nothing wrong with any aspect, except for a lack of authenticity.

If these military intelligence reports were submitted one by one each day and filed with the reports from other villages, they would indeed be difficult to arouse suspicion. But now, taken out individually, the high-ranking natives, upon careful consideration, immediately saw the flaw.

"It seems Dio's judgment was correct. Borheim is very likely the hiding place of the Blood Ring Vanguard command. From a pessimistic perspective, that village may have already been... controlled by the Blood Ring," Qin said with a heavy tone.

"Controlled" was a euphemism. Given the Blood Ring monsters' bloodthirsty nature, the villagers of Borheim might have long since become food for the Plague Dead army.

"Since Qin's judgment is also the same, it is worth my delaying for a day," Duke William said forcefully. "Without further ado, let's set off now!"

As soon as Duke William finished speaking, Bai Pu received an update notification from the Spirit Realm Will.

[Main Quest II: Sever Blood Hand difficulty has been adjusted to D-Rank (downgraded from S-Rank).]

[As your analysis is 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. Although he had anticipated that Duke William's participation would cause the Main Quest's difficulty to plummet, he hadn't expected such a drastic decrease. It seemed the strength of Duke William and his entourage far exceeded expectations! Truly worthy of being the main boss of the Brandenburg faction.

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

Following a brief reconnaissance, it was confirmed that Blood Hand Colen's command post was indeed located in Borheim. More precisely, it was a sailing warship over 50 meters long!

This warship was named "Pioneer," and it was Blood Hand Colen's flagship, anchored by the sea at the entrance of Borheim village.

Bai Pu's deduction proved to be accurate. He received a notification from the Spirit Realm Will: Brandenburg faction reputation +200, and the favorability of several high-ranking officials towards him increased.

The most valuable favorability was from Duke William, which surprisingly increased by 100 points—this was the favorability of the faction's main boss, worth a thousand pieces of gold.

It is worth mentioning that after Qin's favorability increased again, Bai Pu unexpectedly received another piece of additional information:

[Brandenburg Court Advisor: Qin's favorability towards you has increased.]

[Your favorability with a female Spirit Realm figure (Brandenburg Court Advisor: Qin) has surpassed the level of ordinary friends. You can now view the 'Affection Level' rating between you and her.]

[Current Brandenburg Court Advisor: Qin's Affection Level towards you is: Heartbeat.]

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

Affection Level generally refers to the relationship between individuals of the opposite sex and is divided into 5 levels. The normal Affection Level is "Ordinary," with higher levels in sequence being "Appreciation," "Heartbeat," "Adoration," and "Deep Love." The Spirit Realm Will only provides notifications when the "Heartbeat" relationship is reached.

Bai Pu was a bit flustered. In the real world, he had never experienced a romantic relationship and lacked experience in this area.

Now was not the time to consider this matter. The Sting Squad, the Awakening quest, the Superpower Corporation... Bai Pu's survival was still under severe threat.

Taking a deep breath, Bai Pu chose to approach the situation rationally.

Qin was a very important high-ranking native. Her words held influence even with Duke William. Her increased favorability and affection level towards him gave Bai Pu more confidence in his upcoming plan.

The group infiltrated the warship, sabotaged the rudder, and cut the sails before revealing themselves and wreaking havoc.

Qin chanted a spell and scattered a bottle of blood-red liquid. Before it even hit the ground, it evaporated into a light red mist, spreading throughout most of the Pioneer.

This was "Blood Magic" cast using a spellcasting medium – the Curse Blood Mist, which could weaken enemies over a wide area.

The effect was very noticeable. The Blood Ring Aberrant soldiers on the ship began coughing and sputtering. Even the modified elite soldiers like the Blood Ring Hammer Knights were significantly affected, with their combat power conservatively estimated to be reduced by one-third!

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

His adjutant, Zweig, was already quite formidable. His attacks were like a destructive force, and even the Blood Ring Hammer Knights couldn't withstand two moves against him. Although Qin's Curse Blood Mist had weakened them, Zweig's strength was still evident.

The Court Wizard Galan, skilled in Blood Magic, could directly extract blood from an enemy's body, making her both eerie and powerful.

Bai Pu knew that spirit realm powerhouses were classified into different tiers based on their strength growth templates, such as Normal, Elite, Reinforced Elite, Leader, and so on. He estimated that Zweig and Galan were likely Reinforced Elite level powerhouses, a tier above the Blood Ring Hammer Knights.

Yvette should be at the Elite level, with strength comparable to the Blood Ring Hammer Knights.

The group fought their way to Blood Hand Colen's captain's cabin. As the Curse Blood Mist gradually dissipated, they finally encountered resistance.

A mutated individual with a greatly enlarged right arm and bulging muscles appeared before them. This Aberrant wielded a bronze pillar, and as he attacked, a fierce wind surged. His first strike sent Adjutant Zweig flying, straight into the sea.

Of course, Zweig was not injured. He climbed back onto the ship with a dark expression and re-entered the battle.

However, this Aberrant was truly unsolvable on the narrow deck passage. His mutated right arm possessed a powerful strength bonus beyond his current level, and the bronze pillar he wielded was too massive, leaving the group with no room to dodge or evade!

Zweig was knocked into the sea for the second time, and Duke William finally couldn't sit still any longer.

"All of you, stand down."

Duke William seemed disdainful of a group attack, even stopping Wizard Galan when she tried to cast Blood Magic. The Duke slowly stepped forward and drew the sword at his waist, which was engraved with an eagle crest.

Swish!

Duke William drew his sword and slashed. A blood-colored light several meters long shot from the blade. With a single strike, he cleanly severed the enlarged right arm that the Aberrant prided himself on!

Afterward, Duke William elegantly wiped his sword with a handkerchief, sheathed it, and disdained to deliver a finishing blow.

Everyone surged forward.

Bai Pu didn't hold back either, rushing up to beat the fallen dog and smashing it with his Bone Hammer.

The Aberrant died, and a deep blue treasure chest floated out from his corpse.

Judging by its color alone, it was superior to the blue treasure chest dropped by the Blood Ring Hammer Knights. Bai Pu mused that this Aberrant must also have been a "Reinforced Elite" level powerhouse.

Another piece of good news was that Bai Pu's Basic Weaponry (one-handed hammer) branch, after continuous combat, had integrated the newly learned skills and improved to Basic Level 3.

"Who dares to intrude upon my flagship!"

A roar sounded, and the thick wooden door of the captain's cabin was kicked open with brute force!

A giant over two meters tall, clad in black heavy armor, charged out from within.

This giant's right arm was peculiar. It was broken off at the wrist, and a blood-red great axe was attached where the arm had been! The axe handle was covered in blood-red patterns, like veins, connecting to the giant's severed arm through a blood connection.