He clearly recalled the system's explanation regarding mission dispatch levels:
System Mission Levels and Dispatch Requirements:
S-Rank Mission: Requires First Class Spiritual Pressure to lead. Mission point reward: Starting from 100,000.
A-Rank Mission: Requires Second Class Spiritual Pressure (Veteran Captain-level) to lead. Mission point reward: Starting from 30,000.
B-Rank Mission: Requires Third-Class Spiritual Pressure (Standard Captain-level) to lead. Mission point reward: Starting from 10,000.
C-Rank Mission: Requires 4th-5th Class Spiritual Pressure (Lieutenant-level) to lead. Mission point reward: Starting from 5,000.
D-Rank Mission: Requires 6th-9th Class Spiritual Pressure (Lieutenant-level) to lead. Mission point reward: Starting from 1,000.
E-Rank Mission: Requires 10th-20th Class Spiritual Pressure (Regular Squad Member-level). Mission point reward: Starting from 100.
"So, the system missions I completed before were at most equivalent to B-Rank? Because they required Third-Class Spiritual Pressure (Captain-level) to lead."
Hiroki laughed at himself, recalling the endless accidents and soaring difficulty in those missions.
"No wonder the employers voluntarily increased the payment later... It seems the system initially judged the base difficulty, and I bore the risks of the upgrades caused by unexpected situations myself."
This further strengthened his idea to make good use of the system's new function and use team operations to share the risks.
Looking at these Kidō Corps Squad Members before him, who mostly had 10th-20th Class Spiritual Pressure and loyalty generally between 60-80, a shrewd light flashed in Hiroki's eyes.
Their strength was at the bottom of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads' main combat sequence, and they were even more like cannon fodder in Hueco Mundo exploration.
But now, the system's updated dispatch function had tailored a "safe zone" for them—E-Rank missions! These missions only required 10th-20th Class Spiritual Pressure to participate.
Although the mission content might be complex and trivial (such as clearing low-level monsters in specific areas, finding specific materials, escorting low-value items, investigating low-level abnormal events, etc.), the risk was relatively controllable (compared to Hollows or rebellions within the Soul Reaper World).
More importantly, the reward was stable points—starting from 100 points per mission!
Thinking of loyalty, Hiroki's thoughts couldn't help but turn to the other forces under his command. By comparison, the loyalty of this batch of "recruits" from the Kidō Corps was already at a "good" level.
He had used the Eye of Insight to observe the old retainers and family Shinigami of the Shihōin Clan.
Their data made him calmly realize the deep-rooted concept of allegiance among the nobility:
Loyalty was generally between 50-70. They would respectfully execute the orders issued by Hiroki in his capacity as the head of the family, but the core object of that loyalty was first the behemoth that was the "Shihōin Clan," and only secondarily him, the "acting head of the family."
Their loyalty values reflected recognition of the family's continuation and maintenance of interests, not absolute obedience to him, Hiroki, personally.
If one day his orders conflicted with the fundamental interests of the family (or what they perceived as their interests), these loyalty values would plummet rapidly.
Among them, the data of Kurahashi Maki, whom he had "persuaded," left a particularly deep impression on him:
Name: Kurahashi Maki | Identity: Former Kuchiki Clan retainer / Current Shihōin Clan retainer | Spiritual Pressure: 3rd Class (Captain-level) | Loyalty: 10
This number was coldly glaring, almost synonymous with "forced by circumstances, ready to rebel at any time."
A cold arc curled at the corner of Hiroki's mouth: "10... Heh, as expected of someone 'persuaded' by knowing the current times. Loyalty? Not counting on it for now, as long as she can be used, but she must be strictly monitored."
In this "lowland" of loyalty data, there was an existence like a brilliant pearl, making Hiroki feel a trace of relief and even warmth whenever he thought of it:
Name: Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck | Identity: Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar | Spiritual Pressure: 1st Class | Loyalty: 95
That loyalty as high as 95 was actually higher than Soi Fon!!!
And it was achieved naturally without Hiroki deliberately trying to "capture" her.
This pure, almost unconditional trust and reliance.
"This silly girl, her mind is simple... It's actually quite easy to 'trick'." Hiroki felt a rare sense of softness and satisfaction rise in his heart.
Not only did Nelliel possess top-tier First Class Spiritual Pressure, but this loyalty was an invaluable treasure.
She was currently the most reliable and powerful personal combat force, aside from the core members of the Uchiha Clan (system-summoned, loyalty guaranteed).
"Sigh..." Hiroki sighed silently in his heart. "In the current situation, the ones I can truly trust absolutely, and whose strength is sufficient to be dispatched to execute mid-to-high-level missions, are almost only left with... the Uchiha Clan."
This was his core, most reliable trump card.
System summoning bestowed upon them default loyalty (though not a specific value, the system guaranteed that "summoned units are qualified by default"), and the strength of the Uchiha Clan was obvious to all.
He needed points, a massive amount of points! Whether it was to resurrect subordinates who might have fallen in battle, or to exchange for resources in the system to strengthen himself, points were hard currency.
He sank his consciousness into the system interface, quickly browsing the task list.
E-Rank missions were indeed endless like a tide, but the efficiency of point accumulation was too low.
C-Rank (starting from 5,000) and B-Rank (starting from 10,000) were the ranges with higher cost-effectiveness.
He locked onto one B-Rank mission marked [Investigate the source of abnormal energy in the "Shadow Forest" and eliminate the threat].
The description mentioned that some plants and low-level monsters strengthened by polluted energy had bred in the forest, and the energy source was suspected to be some kind of otherworldly fragment or a fragment of an ancient sealed device.
The difficulty was assessed as B-Rank, meaning there were individuals or special environments that required Captain-level (Third-Class Spiritual Pressure) strength to confront.
"Itachi." Hiroki issued a summoning order to Itachi, who was far away in Hueco Mundo, through the system. "Stop searching for Vasto Lorde and return to the Soul Society immediately. There is a new mission for you, B-Rank, the target world coordinates have been sent."
Hiroki's order was clear.
Above the vast white desert of Hueco Mundo, Uchiha Itachi, who was investigating near a huge Hollow hole, paused slightly.
In his scarlet Sharingan, the Three-Tomoe slowly rotated, receiving and confirming the order and mission information from Hiroki.
His expression remained as calm as a deep pool, showing no ripples, only the sharp killing intent around him instantly receded.
A moment ago, he was still tracking the aura of a few Arrancar-class Menos Grande (though Hiroki believed Menos Grande were ineffective as Hollowfication batteries, Itachi was still dutifully capturing them as research samples), and the next moment he had to cross the world barrier to execute another unknown mission.
Itachi had no complaints about this.
As a Ninja, obeying orders was his duty; as an existence summoned (or "resurrected" in a sense) by Hiroki and given a new goal, he knew the mission he shouldered.
It was just that thinking about the progress of the search in Hueco Mundo—he had indeed caught a few Menos Grande, but the experimental value was not high;
Vasto Lorde traces were hard to find, as if only Baraggan and Nelliel existed in the vast Hueco Mundo... It was not a bad thing that the mission was temporarily shelved. And Baraggan now belonged to Aizen, so he could not be moved for the time being.
Hiroki's caution was correct; first send top combat power to execute the relatively safe B-Rank mission to test the waters, and figure out the specific process, risk factor, and reward stability of the system mission dispatch.
Hiroki watched Itachi's status change from "Exploring Hueco Mundo" to "Returning," and temporarily closed the system communication.
He recalled the report Itachi sent back from Hueco Mundo.
The soul essence of the captured Menos Grande was forcibly extracted and refined before being injected into the body as an energy source. The resulting Hollowfication effect was indeed similar to the "Hollowfication" generated by that Hōgyoku of Urahara Kisuke:
The power was significantly improved, but it was not enough, and the potential limit seemed to be locked.
The soul quality of Menos Grande was clearly not qualified as high-level "fuel."
Only the soul essence of a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow, concentrated to the extreme and approaching the realm of "Shinigami," could possibly break through Hollowfication and reach First Class Spiritual Pressure.
On the training ground, there was another burst of intense spiritual pressure fluctuation. Several Squad Members jointly completed a small Bakudo joint technique, successfully trapping a training target.
Although the light was a bit flickering and unstable, it succeeded! A burst of exhausted but excited cheers rang out from the surroundings.
Hiroki withdrew his gaze from the void and refocused on the bustling Kidō Corps training ground before him.