Another deeply impressive figure to Fang Senyan was the woman who spoke first, Tulip. Her looks were average, but every gesture and word she uttered radiated a sharp, capable aura, reminiscent of a hyper-efficient HR manager at a multinational corporation. Her charm stat hovered around 25, making her an indispensable liaison for dealing with plot-critical NPCs within the team. Her summon was a giant Alaskan bear, and she could also provide ranged fire support.
When Moga Sha introduced me, Fang Senyan noticed Joel and the frenzied Hanick both frown. As the saying goes, your greatest enemies understand you best; clearly, Moga Sha’s presence here caused them significant shock and pressure. The frenzied Hanick couldn't help but interject:
“Moga Sha, having betrayed the Covenant, aren't you afraid the Metal Tutor will hunt you to extinction?”
Frenzied Hanick’s intention was clearly to use this moment to undermine Moga Sha’s standing among the other team members, but Moga Sha didn’t wish to volunteer more intelligence at this juncture, so he simply slumped back into his chair, gun held stiffly, his expression blank.
At this point, only Fang Senyan and one other individual remained. This person hadn't spoken since entering the cabin, keeping his head bowed, seemingly crushed by some immense blow, utterly dejected. Fang Senyan had resolved to speak last, so he calmly gazed towards the sky, while this downcast man stood motionless for a moment before slowly walking forward. He moved with the heavy momentum of a tank rumbling into motion, and spoke in an empty voice:
“I am Reef. Team Role: Melee Defense.”
The utterance of “Melee Defense” immediately drew sharp intakes of breath! In this world, anyone who dared claim those four words was akin to the Covenant’s crowbar—it meant they had to anchor the very front line once the fighting began! There could be no deception; lying was flirting with death.
The faces of the frenzied Hanick and Joel grew even uglier. The Contractors present, having experienced several worlds, understood the profound importance of a Melee Defender. This meant that if Reef stepped forward to contest the leadership position, they were already at an absolute disadvantage!
Yet, what Reef did next sent the frenzied Hanick and Joel spiraling into despair! Because the ability Reef revealed was his innate Talent!
An A-rank Innate Talent!!!!
Iron Skin: Reduces physical damage taken by the owner by 22% and decreases the duration of abnormal status effects on the owner by 50%.
He was another powerful Contractor, just like Fang Senyan, possessing a defensive talent!
Upon seeing this Talent, the frenzied Hanick and Joel discarded all peripheral thoughts and began calculating how to increase their own influence within the team. A Contractor with this profile was undeniably the core Main Tank, destined to be the nucleus of the team, unless he voluntarily relinquished that power. But how many would surrender the largest slice of the pie—the Team Leader position—so easily?
“An A-rank Talent!!” An indescribable emotion surged through Fang Senyan’s heart—a complex mix of jealousy, disappointment, and gloom. However, he immediately suppressed it. Moga Sha, observing Fang Senyan closely, silently admired his composure under pressure. He then sent a message via the Nightmare Mark:
“Sailor, do not belittle yourself. In fact, judging purely by your Talent, you are already far superior to him.”
Fang Senyan was taken aback by Moga Sha’s statement. “How is that possible?”
Moga Sha, who possessed broad knowledge, smiled faintly. “Talent ratings aren't a simple measure of strength. Reef’s Talent looks potent, but his rating is already A-. The potential for further increases might be extremely low. Forget promoting from A-; even advancing from B to A requires impossibly stringent prerequisites. Advancement demands not just effort and risk, but vast amounts of time, and perhaps luck! To use a simple analogy: if Metal Tutor’s difficulty in stealing a Magic Stone is 1, then the difficulty for Reef’s Talent to advance past A- is at least 2.5 or higher!”
Hearing this, Fang Senyan grasped Moga Sha’s meaning, but continued listening. “For you, first, your Talent hasn't awakened in the real world yet. Once it awakens, your Talent will receive one immediate enhancement while retaining its rating. Furthermore, you still have two full opportunities to upgrade your Talent: from C+ to B+, and then from B+ to A+. That’s a terrifying total of three upgrade chances!! By the time you reach Reef’s level, your Talent will inevitably far surpass his! And for someone like you who managed to take down both Metal Tutor and Nu working together, I am certain reaching Reef’s height is only a matter of time.”
Fang Senyan’s lips curved upward slightly, the last vestiges of inner conflict dissolving due to Moga Sha’s words. At this moment, the memory of facing the Flying Magic Key in the Harry Potter world surged into his mind:
“The Flying Magic Key’s attack ignores all defenses; this attribute has Domain Priority…”
“Data conflict, prioritizing sequence….”
“Judgment confirmed: Your hidden Talent: Tenacity is taking effect!!!”
“A Talent that cannot be suppressed even by Domain Priority… and it still has three full upgrade chances. I genuinely look forward to the surprises you will bring me.”
Simultaneously, while everyone else was still reeling from the shock of Reef’s reveal, Tulip exclaimed:
“Reef???? Why would you abandon your team? I heard your Domain team even cleared the Pirates of the Caribbean historical scenario! Your team expanded to forty members!”
Reef shook his head, bitter and vacant. “There is no Domain anymore in this world.” He then returned to his silent stupor. A flash of wild elation crossed Joel’s eyes. Clearly, no matter how powerful Reef was, his utterly despondent fighting spirit rendered him useless. Joel took the initiative:
“Excellent. Our temporary team is incredibly fortunate to have a Tank join us. Since everyone has introduced themselves, let’s plan our next steps.”
Tulip spoke first: “I can try to communicate with the plot characters to see if we can glean any hidden intelligence.”
The frenzied Hanick nodded. “Based on my experience, the Quartermaster usually sells some specific single-use items or weapons. However, the base commander seems unfriendly towards us, so we must raise the base reputation from ‘Indifferent’ to ‘Friendly’ before we can view the purchase list.”
The remaining individuals began chiming in with suggestions.
Suddenly, Reef, sitting isolated on the side, spoke coldly:
“One person has not introduced himself.”
Although Reef appeared disheartened and uninterested in joining the management core, his words carried the weight of finality, impossible to ignore! Those who had been speaking paused in astonishment, then registered awkward expressions. In their excitement over securing the powerful Melee Defender Reef, they had completely overlooked the still-unintroduced Fang Senyan… This showed just how low-profile and indistinct Fang Senyan had kept himself within the team.
At this moment, even Moga Sha was curious how Fang Senyan would present himself to everyone. He was certain that the man known as ‘Sailor’ operated under a cloak of extreme modesty—a master of playing weak to achieve overwhelming effect. It was highly likely that the powerful Metal Tutor and Nu had fallen precisely due to this misjudgment. Therefore, revealing his status upfront was not something Sailor would do. But hiding his strength too effectively might relegate him to the bottom tier of the team, potentially leading to abandonment. Overstating his strength, however, would violate his established operational principles. Faced with this dilemma, how would ‘Sailor’ resolve it?
At this, Fang Senyan calmly stepped forward and spoke with perfect composure:
“My name is Sailor. Hello everyone. My team role is: Combat Support, plus Strength-based Melee Attack Output.”
“Support?”
Everyone present was considerably astonished by Fang Senyan’s introduction, including Moga Sha. In their view, those capable of providing strong battlefield support were generally Contractors who specialized in Intelligence or Spirit—Hanick was a typical example. A Contractor like Fang Senyan, claiming to be a strength-based melee output specialist who could also provide support, was truly unprecedented, one of a kind.
Under a barrage of suspicious gazes, Fang Senyan calmly displayed the three strains of Beastman Genetic Fluid he was currently able to synthesize. An audible gasp swept through the group. These Contractors had mostly remained within established teams—a choice that significantly lowered the world's difficulty, but resulted in the obvious drawback of lacking adequate equipment!
The Blood Bear Strength Fang Senyan could now concoct increased Strength by a full three points, an augmentation nearly equivalent to what a deep-blue item provided in base attributes! Fang Senyan’s Ring of Decaying Bone only offered Strength +1 and Stamina +1, yet this was considered top-tier equipment, providing a 10% boost even for a Contractor with 30 Strength—and how many Contractors currently possessed 30 Strength?