A course-record 63 from Andy Sullivan handed him a share of the lead alongside Freddy Schott and Richard Mansell heading into the weekend at the Porsche Singapore Classic.
In a round when scoring was generally more difficult than on day one at Laguna National Golf Resort Club, Sullivan bucked the trend to come home in 28 and get to nine under alongside fellow Englishman Mansell and German Schott, who both fired rounds of 69.
Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat had shared the first-round lead but a 72 dropped him into a tie for second, with 34 players within five shots of the lead.
French duo Matthieu Pavon and Romain Langasque and English pair Sam Bairstow and Paul Waring were alongside Aphibarnrat at eight under.
Sullivan has enjoyed a productive 2024 season so far, making eight of ten cuts with two top tens, already surpassing his total for last term.
Starting on the tenth, he took advantage of two of the three par fives on the back nine but came to life from the first, picking up five shots in four holes before adding further gains on the sixth and eighth to get to nine under.
That meant he played holes one to nine in nine shots fewer than on day one and the four-time DP World Tour winner was happy to get a reward for his solid play.
"It was unreal, I just caught fire," said Sullivan, whose 63 was the lowest round of the day by four shots. "Knocked it close on one and holed a good one on two and then literally three feet for eagle on three.
"I felt like I played well yesterday without the score being there but golf being the crazy game that it is, it has a way of rewarding you sometimes."
A 2022 European Challenge Tour graduate, Schott lost his card in his rookie season but regained it in some style by winning the Final Stage of the Qualifying School in November.
He arrived in the Far East off the back of a tie for 11th at the Jonsson Workwear Open - his best result of the season so far - and continued that form with an opening 66.
Birdies on the eighth, 13th and 16th in round two saw him hit the summit and he was delighted to keep moving in the right direction.
"It feels good to see the trend coming up again," he said. "It was a very very solid two days and I'm looking forward to the weekend.
"It's not that difficult if you put yourself in good positions and that's what I executed very well and what makes the course enjoyable for me.
"I'm just going to keep doing what I do and hopefully it will work out the same way it did the first two days."
Mansell has been a picture of consistency in the 2024 season so far, finishing no lower than 25th in six events, and had a top ten here last year.
He carded five birdies on day two, with a double-bogey at the ninth the only blemish, a hole where he had a double last season and which he bogeyed in round one.
"I played quite nice on the front today," he said. "I started to hit some good shots towards the end again but in the middle of the round I really had to grind a little bit, I was getting frustrated.
"I really felt like a score was there to be shot, I feel really good with my game but my short game and putter got me out of jail a little bit in the middle of the round.
"For me that's really good because in the past that's what's let me down and I've worked really hard in that area and today it showed."
World Number 27 Pavon carded a 68 with the help of a huge double-breaking putt for eagle on the 13th, a score matched by Bairstow, while Langasque signed for a 67 and Waring recorded a 69.
Scot Ewen Ferguson, Swede Simon Forsström, Dane Rasmus Højgaard, Australian David Micheluzzi, India's Shubhankar Sharma and Englishman Jordan Smith were at seven under.
