It had to be admitted, Akaphell acknowledged, that the support capabilities of the fellow called Sailor were rather useful. Without that extra three points of Strength augmentation, he likely wouldn't have achieved such mastery over this shield so quickly.

“Get lost!” Akaphell roared, sweeping the massive shield in a brutal arc, slamming it heavily against the body of a Viper Wolf that lunged in. The sharp shield spikes immediately left the beast with a deeply painful memory—if it dreamed at night, it would certainly have nightmares of falling into an endless cactus patch while in the ** state—it let out a shrill cry, immediately flying back, blood spraying from its hide.

But just then, another Elite Viper Wolf, which had been lurking nearby, instantly seized the opportunity and stealthily pounced. Akaphell bellowed a sharp command, utilizing the already raised Tower Shield and smashing it down toward the ground, then thrusting his shoulder forward, immediately forming a triangular fulcrum, bracing the shield firmly in place. Despite his insufficient raw strength, with this level of skilled maneuvering, it was exceedingly difficult for the shield to be forcibly broken open, thus preventing a breach crisis.

A muffled, resounding thump.

This Elite Viper Wolf could not halt its momentum and actively collided with the sharp shield spikes, letting out a pained cry as five or six bleeding holes instantly appeared on its body. The ensuing ranged fire barrage also hammered it backward repeatedly. Akaphell had successfully repelled two beasts, but the drawback of using this two-handed Tower Shield was also becoming apparent: while the defense was absolute, maneuvering and dodging inevitably exposed significant openings, requiring the team to close ranks and cover the deficiencies.

However, the advantage of wielding such a heavy shield was equally clear: relying on its terrifying defensive power often provided a formidable damage mitigation effect. To take a direct example: if Reef were to carry this shield in the Star River World to withstand the attack of that Queen's Tongue Stinger Tower, it might manage the encounter without even needing to exceed its critical thresholds. Of course, if faced with a swarm of bugs... survival would be exceedingly brief amidst the frantic efforts to cover all angles.

Although he managed to push back the Elite Viper Wolf again, Akaphell’s heart sank, for he had just witnessed his Deputy, who was supposed to be covering his flank, being bowled over by a Viper Wolf and instantly knocked into a critically wounded state from a bite tearing at the throat before using a team skill to flash away.

The beast, having just tasted the sweetness of flesh and blood, let out an enraged roar from its throat and stared directly at the nearest target, Akaphell, snapping and clawing as it lunged for his exposed nape.

Akaphell was at his wits' end; this was the inherent flaw of the Tower Shield. He inhaled deeply, and the area about to be struck on his back of the neck rapidly turned ashen-white, as if petrified into granite. Clearly, his defense had massively spiked! This was one of Akaphell’s trump cards! Stone Skin Technique! If the team alert hadn't sounded, preventing him from collapsing and retreating at this critical moment, Akaphell would never have resorted to deploying this skill.

But the expected furious attack and pain never materialized! A fist gleaming with metallic luster shot out and struck the Viper Wolf squarely on the head, knocking it flying through the air. Akaphell turned to see the fellow called Sailor had rushed in to plug the gap, successfully guarding his flank just in time. No one would dislike such a timely rescue, and Akaphell nodded, letting out a hearty laugh:

“Thanks, hold out for two minutes, Hak will be back to relieve you soon enough.”

As it turned out, Fang Senyan held the position for a full ten minutes! This wasn't because Hak failed to return; rather, it was Akaphell who didn't want Fang Senyan to leave.

For Akaphell, ever since discovering that Fang Senyan could toss potion vials that boosted basic Attributes by a full six points, he knew he and Sebul had underestimated the man. Yet, Akaphell never could have imagined that even after offering Sailor considerable praise afterward, partnering with this 'Sailor' revealed that he had still underestimated him!

In fact, Akaphell had partnered with Hak for four full worlds, and their coordination was reasonably smooth. But when ‘Sailor’ stepped in to fill Hak’s role, Akaphell immediately felt that Hak’s previous coordination could only be described as a lump of carbonaceous material emitting an indescribable odor—Hak usually stayed near Reef, and his role was merely to plug the gaps Akaphell created while swinging the shield. At heart, Hak was still an attacker, and upon spotting an enemy weakness, he couldn't resist launching an offensive strike.

For the team, this was a proactive move, but for Akaphell, this behavior was quite detrimental. Battlefields shifted in an instant, and no one could guarantee an unexpected event wouldn't occur. If an emergency arose and Hak wasn't at his post, it constituted a serious dereliction of duty.

Although Akaphell had spoken to Hak about this several times, Hak remained largely unchanged in his ways. Furthermore, few are genuinely willing to serve as a defensive Guardian's Deputy—doing the grunt work while the glory is overshadowed by the main tank’s brilliance. Simply put, they get none of the meat and only half-satiation from the soup broth—so Akaphell could only face reality with resignation.

Fang Senyan, however, was different. All his focus was dedicated to supporting Akaphell! He never engaged in extraneous actions, and his strategic awareness and reaction speed were both top-tier! Because of this, Fang Senyan appeared incredibly low-key, even seeming lazy or slippery at times—for example, ignoring low-health monsters right next to him, allowing monsters he could have intercepted to pass by, or sometimes just appearing spaced out.

Only Akaphell, who benefited directly, knew that since Fang Senyan moved into position, he had almost never been struck by enemies from the flanks. Whenever a flaw appeared during the sweeping motions of the Tower Shield, Fang Senyan always eliminated the hidden danger at the earliest moment. Moreover, whenever Akaphell needed a moment to catch his breath, he didn't even have to voice it; Sailor would automatically shift to cover him, guarding his back.

And when Fang Senyan seemed to be staring blankly, he was actually tallying the remaining monster counts, feeding Akaphell critical team data: predicting when someone would recover enough to rejoin the fight, estimating when someone needed a breather due to depleted Morale value, noting that the western ranged fire would be weaker for a few seconds while reloading—this allowed Akaphell, focused on defense with limited vision, to maintain a clear understanding of the overall situation.

In other words, only after partnering with Fang Senyan did Akaphell truly realize how immensely helpful a competent and dedicated Deputy could be to him.

Objectively speaking, Hak, as a supportive Deputy, had performed quite well, but comparing him to Fang Senyan was inherently a massive error.

There is an adage: only women truly understand women; similarly, only an MT truly understands another MT. Why was Fang Senyan's situational awareness so exquisite, always discerning what Akaphell needed most? Beyond his inherent qualities, it was because Fang Senyan's own self-positioning was not merely as a Deputy but as an MT himself!

Furthermore, someone like Reef, knowing that the two of them were destined to fight side-by-side and cover each other’s flaws during normal combat, had passed on all his hard-won experience and insights to Fang Senyan—all these factors combined meant Fang Senyan could naturally and smoothly grasp Akaphell’s various requirements.

To put it bluntly, for Akaphell to find a Deputy like Fang Senyan, he would have to seek out someone comparable to an MT, but how could someone possessing that caliber willingly settle for the role of a Deputy?

Thus, this was an inherently no-win proposition. Unless the team had decided from the very beginning to pursue a dual-core strategy, finding a suitable individual for that mindset was unlikely. Because at the current stage, MTs were still a scarce resource; most people favored being the head of a chicken over the tail of an ox. With the supply of MTs not yet saturated, forming a dual core unit, barring highly exceptional circumstances, was exceedingly difficult—the specific challenges were illustrated well enough by the fortunate coincidence when Fang Senyan recruited Reef initially.

As the battle progressively escalated into white-hot intensity, the other members of the Illuminati also began noticing an anomaly: Akaphell had managed to hold the front line for far too long today! Nearly all contractors who could enter the Spatial Battlefield were veterans, and having worked together for so long, they paid close attention to minute details.

Normally, by this stage of the fight, with Elites among the Viper Wolves appearing, the intensity of the assault was quite formidable. Akaphell had been rooted at the front since the start and should have been swapped out for a thirty-second rest already. Following standard procedure, this momentary gap was usually covered by Yuan Zhan and another core team member, Yaomeng, working in tandem, using summoned entities alongside high-intensity attacks to compensate for the absence.

But Akaphell never gave the signal for a rotation, so Yuan Zhan and the ready core member Yaomeng continued to serve as the team's insurance, observing developments. Their gaze was sharp, and they quickly discerned the key reason the current engagement was proceeding so smoothly: it was because of the outsider known as Sailor!

His potions caused a significant surge in the overall strength of all team members, and his coordination with Akaphell was exceptional. Moreover, any melee contractor positioned near Fang Senyan had also received timely emergency aid and support during moments of peril.