Rod saw Lannis’s face suddenly twist into that of a sour lemon and laughed aloud, "Cilly, idols are meant to be worshipped, but becoming a fanboy isn’t... cough cough, what I mean is, the situation is still critical. The battle is not over yet, and we need to stay sharp and defend our warriors’ hard-won accomplishments with all our might."
"You never cease to impress."
"Not like a certain big liar, who is both incompetent and selfish."
Lannis ignored her, his brief jealousy already vanishing into thin air.
He suddenly realized that as soon as Rod learned about the characteristics of the Ancient Sun God’s Divine Envoy, he rushed forward.
In such a short time, he’d thought of that tactic.
This ability was definitely more than just "restraint" as he claimed.
On the way back, Lannis kept silent, thinking deeply.
In the following days, he confirmed his thoughts.
Rod possessed a born instinct for combat.
He might appear to be nothing special ordinarily, but at crucial moments, he always made the right choices in the shortest time possible.
This was an exceedingly rare capability.
It stemmed from an extraordinary combat intuition and understanding, where even in the moment of decision-making, he himself might not realize why he acted as he did.
This was a true warrior by nature.
Lannis no longer harbored any jealousy; his mind buzzed with how he could utilize this ability to achieve greater victories.
After several trials, he managed to grasp this method and adjusted his tactical strategy accordingly, with the twentieth Lighthouse’s combatants and non-combatants alike revolving around Rod as the core.
The new tactic had immediately impressive effects.
The twentieth Lighthouse not only wiped out all the monsters in sight, but they did it more effortlessly, with less pressure, and the warriors even had spare time to rotate and rest.
A few more days passed.
Commander Tyrion from the eastern sector of Trident River suddenly arrived at the twentieth Lighthouse.
By that time, they had already gone several days without receiving external information.
This hinted at a potentially grim situation in the war, implying that even the Spiritual Energy needed for messaging was being conserved.
Tyrion was a large, burly middle-aged man with a square face and a full beard.
He had met Rod once before in Byron Old City. At that time, Tyrion was a Second Level Commander, who, after heavy losses in battle, requested a demotion and was made a Third Level Commander.
He brought some very unpleasant news.
The mission to hunt the Insect Queen had failed, including several severe injuries among the High Rank Combatants, leaving only Guardian Chucher.
But even he had exhausted a great deal of his Spiritual Energy and suffered from the Insect Queen’s Spiritual Energy curse, considerably weakening his combat ability.
At the same time, an unexplained collapse occurred in the Underworld, greatly enlarging the entrance and allowing more Demonized Ants to swarm out, making the battlefield situation extremely severe. The main forces, due to some undisclosed reasons, were delayed for days, and would arrive later than anticipated.
They needed to hold out for a longer period.
This sudden onslaught of bad news plunged the once smiling members of the Lighthouse back into gloom.
Tyrion said, "I’ve already withdrawn the lighthouses ahead of you. We’re preparing to make the twentieth Lighthouse the frontline, to block the Demonized Ants on the entire eastern side of the battlefield."
He raised his hand, and his deputy handed him a large Spiritual Ability Sensor.
"This is the new Spiritual Ability Sensor, which has a double the visual range of the old one."
Lannis and Cilly exchanged glances, each noting a trace of worry in the other’s eyes.
"I’ve brought reinforcements as well; the combatants from the previous lighthouses will all be consolidated here. I myself am a Fourth Level Combatant, skilled in rear support and long-range fire support, and my deputy and accompanying personnel are also middle layer combatants."
Lannis asked, "What about the Hall Level Warriors from the forward lighthouses?"
Tyrion was silent for a few seconds before responding, "They have been dispatched to assist other lighthouses."
The room fell silent, expecting discontent from Tyrion’s assignment, as everyone knew that the main force comprised the Hall Warriors, and yet the Commander had tasked them with a more significant battle duty but didn’t bring the main forces.
Surprisingly, however, both Cilly and Lannis looked solemn but displayed no signs of panic, fear, or protest against the unfair treatment.
Rod appeared thoughtful on one side.
They seemed to regard taking on greater responsibilities as a natural duty.
Tyrion thought to himself.
It was no surprise that they had created, in the twentieth Lighthouse, the only bright spot on the battlefield. If Rod could achieve remarkable effects in battles like those in Laisuo City, he could certainly do so here.
He coughed and said, "I apologize for suddenly placing such significant responsibility on you, but we have no other choice now. If we do not do this, we will face massive casualties."
"The outer clean-up Battle Groups are in a tough situation, with several Demonized Ants slipping through, causing considerable casualties to our logistics personnel. The battle power of the Royal City has been stretched to its limit; they can no longer mobilize more forces to ."
Tyrion paused, sweeping his gaze over everyone before it rested on Rod’s face, a fiery light burning in his eyes.
"I have seen all your battle reports and believe you have the capacity. This is the best choice. The expansion of the Royal City must not be hindered. The fire must illuminate more areas; I want to see the day we hold torches with the Dark Monsters beneath our feet."