Above the mage

Chapter 391 Nesting

The dumpling is highly intelligent; if it can handle things on its own, it won't come looking for you first.

Gaode is aware of this.

Without much hesitation, he walked to a secluded corner, immediately took off his clothes and placed them aside, leaving only his undergarments, and then jumped.

With a splash, Gao De glided into the water like a fish, barely making a splash; it was an extremely graceful dive.

Upon seeing Gao De enter the water, Tuanzi also submerged its head and entered the water, swaying its body from side to side in front of Gao De while fiddling with its short fins.

Gao De gently patted Tuanzi's head, both as encouragement and praise, and also to cast [Beast Link+] to establish a deeper connection with Tuanzi, making it easier to communicate and understand the specific situation.

As the connection was established, the overwhelming excitement and joy from Tuanzi were clearly transmitted over.

The situation is not complicated.

Tuanzi is naturally lively and active. Although Biboting is not small, it has been living in that area of ​​water since birth and has long lost its sense of novelty. Now that it has arrived in a new water system, it naturally swims freely, exploring here and there.

As a result of this drilling and probing, it made an unexpected discovery.

Tuanzi couldn't clearly express what kind of harvest it was.

Gao De wasn't in a hurry. He had Tuanzi lead the way, then cast Ocean Touch on himself and followed.

Pirated copies can never compare to genuine ones.

Even though he grew webbed feet through magic, his movement speed in the water was still far slower than Tuanzi's.

The dumpling was clearly very excited, swimming forward and stirring the water with its tail, creating a large string of bubbles.

After swimming more than 200 meters forward, and seeing that they were almost there, Gaode surfaced, took a deep breath of oxygen, and then sank down with the dumpling in one breath.

After sinking several meters, an enormous and strangely shaped rock appeared before them.

Looking out, you can't see the bottom at all; it looks like a small building built from the bottom of the water.

The dumpling was found in the middle of this huge rock.

Here, the rock suddenly cracked open, revealing a fissure more than two meters wide, through which light faintly peeked out.

In the water, or inside a large, enclosed rock, the light naturally doesn't come from outside sunlight.

There is no doubt that there must be something inside that can emit light.

In games, glowing objects are usually treasures, such as luminous pearls, which is a very classic design.

Reality may differ from games, but it's not far off and is by no means ordinary.

The dumpling swayed its body in front, "inviting" Gao De to come inside.

Full of curiosity, it had already gone inside to check and confirmed that there was no danger inside.

Without hesitation, Gao De gently swam towards the crevice with his legs in a whip-like motion.

The crack was a downward-sloping channel, and the surrounding water flow became rapid due to the narrow gap, constantly impacting Gao De's body.

However, after swimming only a short distance, it turned upwards at an obtuse angle.

The surging river abruptly stops at this obtuse angle.

It was like a cave hidden in the center of a rock, with no water flowing above it, only air locked in.

Gao De poked his head out of the water and looked around, no longer needing to hold his breath.

No wonder they couldn't handle the dough balls.

This guy swims like a dragon in the water, but once he's out of the water, he's completely in the dark.

It can't possibly climb up using its two hand-like pectoral fins, can it?

"You wait here." Gao De looked up and could vaguely see fireflies flickering above him, and gave Tuanzi a brief instruction.

Then, he quickly deactivated [Ocean Touch+] and instead cast [Cat Claw Technique].

The webbing between the fingers disappeared, and the nails began to lengthen at a visible speed, becoming sharp and pointed, like blades.

Gao De's fingers, like chisels, pierced into the stone wall and then pulled out, alternating between his hands as he climbed upwards little by little.

The interior space of the stone is not particularly large. After climbing up about six or seven meters, you are close to the top, where there is an inverted semi-circular platform.

Gao De grabbed the protruding rock wall, pushed off, and leaped onto the platform.

The platform was so small that he could spot the light source with just a glance.

It was an egg the size of a fist, its shell emitting a faint glow in the darkness, which was quite peculiar.

The egg of a certain ley line creature.

Gaode made a judgment instantly.

The next moment, he stepped forward, picked up the egg, and held it in his arms. The eggshell was warm to the touch and seemed to carry a faint life pulse.

However, Gaode didn't have time to think about it at the moment, and quickly slid back into the water from the platform.

"Hurry up!" Gao De whispered to Tuanzi.

He didn't know where the egg came from, but he knew that since the egg was here, its mother couldn't have gone too far, and was probably on her way back.

Judging from the unusual nature of this egg, its origin is not simple, so it is highly likely that its mother was very powerful.

If they were to collide, especially in the water, they would inevitably suffer severe injuries.

Of course, the safest way is to pretend you didn't see anything and leave empty-handed.

But the problem is, since we've already come all this way, why should we leave empty-handed?

With good luck still on his side, Gaode sped up, clutching the glowing egg, and safely left the waters.

The passenger ship did not stop to wait for him after he went into the water.

Gaode doesn't have that much influence.

But it doesn't matter, he had already considered this when he went into the water.

Gao De first surfaced to catch his breath, then opened Mandora's Eye to search for the passenger ship.

There were no obstacles on the water, and he moved very nimbly, so the passenger ship did not go very far.

With the far-sightedness of Mandora's Magic Eye, Gao De instantly confirmed the passenger ship's location.

puff!

At this moment, Tuanzi also popped up next to Gaode.

Gao De patted Tuanzi's head and said softly, "I'm afraid you'll have to work hard for me."

Tuanzi remained silent, simply tucking its two front fins inward, mimicking the gesture of a human clasping their hands. Unfortunately, its "short arms" did not allow it to bring its fins together.

"Go on."

The dumpling plunged into the water, came to Gao De's side, and then slightly pushed upwards.

Gao Deli spread his legs and straddled Tuanzi, then squeezed his legs together, and then bent down with his arms around the egg, pressing tightly against Tuanzi's back, his body almost folded in half.

After confirming that Gaode was seated, Tuanzi gurgled out a string of bubbles, swayed its body, and instantly started moving, carrying Gaode through the waves, chasing after the departing passenger ship at an extremely high speed.

The white water flowed apart to both sides.

At high speed, with strong winds blowing, Gao De felt a bit like he was riding a speedboat in his previous life, which was incredibly pleasant.

In just a moment, Gaode had caught up with the passenger ship.

Using the ball's back as a point of leverage, and with the help of a [jump], he safely returned to the deck of the ship.

Then, he used the magic trick "Dancing Wind" to summon a small whirlwind that enveloped his entire body, acting as a "hair dryer" to remove the water droplets from his body and hair. After putting on the clothes he had just taken off, it was as if nothing had happened.

Only the egg, which he had already put into his coat pocket, proved what had just happened.

Nothing unexpected happened after that.

After a five-hour and fifteen-minute voyage, the passenger ship docked at the pier in Monteville.

Gao De was the first person to disembark.

It wasn't that he was in a hurry; it was mainly because he didn't like doing things like "wearing white dragon fish clothes and traveling in the dark" as often seen in TV dramas. Since he was on official duty, he decisively wore the Shanghai Sentinel uniform when he went out.

This can save you from many potential troubles and also bring some convenience.

It's like a police officer going out on official business; whether he's wearing a uniform or not makes a world of difference in his work efficiency.

Unless it is a situation that requires "plainclothes" clothing, Gao De always wears the Sea Sentinel uniform when performing missions.

For example, right now, the other passengers on the ship are letting him go first, just because of his uniform.

Although it's not a big deal, it does make things a bit more convenient.

After entering Monte from the dock, Gao De headed straight for the sheriff's office located in the center of the town.

Without even showing his identification badge, he easily obtained the information on the activity of shell-stealing crabs that had been discovered and collected in Monte Town during this period, simply by using his uniform.

The sheriff and guards of Monte aren't just sitting idly by; using this information, they've already preliminarily delineated several activity ranges for the shell-stealing crabs.

However, this area is indeed quite large, and given the cautious nature of the shell-stealing crabs, it is not possible to carry out a complete eradication operation based on this alone.

"Master, I'll leave it to you then," the sheriff who had been receiving Gao De said in a deep voice after handing over the documents.

Gao De smiled slightly and reassured them, "I will resolve this as soon as possible, so you don't need to worry too much."

Theoretically, the sea domain is the area under the jurisdiction of the High Ring Sea Sentinel Mage.

However, theory is just theory.

As an organization develops, the division of responsibilities becomes blurred, and it's quite normal for it to change in order to make things easier.

Low-level missions like the Crab Plague Threat, which are located in the near sea and do not require sailing, are mostly assigned to low-level mages like Gaode.

Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?

You can't expect someone in charge to go to the countryside and demolish a pig farm, can you?

This kind of thing is naturally done at the grassroots level.

Shallow waters near the coast.

It was dusk, and the sea was sparkling.

The seawater gently lapped against the rocks on the shore, making a rhythmic splashing sound.

Along the shore, many oddly shaped rocks stand.

The coastline of Monteville is mostly like this, rugged and rocky, with no suitable place to build a port.

The inability to access marine resources is one of the reasons why their economy is relatively poor despite being near the coast.

The bottoms of these reefs are filled with deep crevices and pits, providing an excellent habitat for many marine creatures.

At this moment, a dark brown crab-like creature, its hard shell adorned with moss-like patterns, was quietly curled up in the darkest corner at the bottom of one of the huge reefs.

Its slender crab legs are tightly attached to its sides, motionless, like part of the reef.

Suddenly, the red eyes of the motionless crab-beast peeked out from under its shell.

Its eyes moved with extreme agility, quickly scanning its surroundings and not missing a single subtle movement.

Then it began to move its crab legs.

Although it walks sideways like a regular crab with eight legs, it moves incredibly fast, rapidly expanding and contracting, creating strings of tiny bubbles in the water.

In the blink of an eye, it shot off from the edge of the reef like an arrow and swam swiftly in a specific direction in the sea.

There, several brightly colored, round, and plump emerald green objects floated.

But just as it was about to get close, a swift shadow suddenly darted out from the side and headed straight for the crab beast.

As the water surged, the crab-like beast was instantly thrown into a daze.

The shadow wouldn't miss a chance. Taking advantage of the crab beast's confusion, it immediately opened its enormous mouth, which resembled a "blood-red maw," and bit down swiftly and cleanly, tearing the crab beast through its shell and all.

Then, carrying the crab beast in its mouth, it broke through the water's surface and turned to look at the beach not far away.

To claim credit!

"Well done, Tuanzi." Gao De, who witnessed this scene on the beach, did not hold back his praise.

That shadow was the dumpling.

As for the dead crab it was carrying in its mouth, that was precisely the target of Gaode's trip: the shell-stealing crab.

Tuanzi swam to the shore with the shell thief crab that it had bitten to death in its mouth, and with a forceful shake of its head, flung the shell thief's carcass onto the bank.

Gao De stared at the carcass of the shell-stealing crab in front of him.

It's not very big; even when fully grown, it's only about the size of a fist.

However, it is quite dangerous, as its claws and legs are covered with dense, sharp spines.

It contains a potent toxin; a mere touch can puncture the skin of its prey, injecting the venom into its cells.

This is their primary method of attack.

It sounds rather weak, at least in a world with superhuman powers, this method is rather weak.

The truth is, they are indeed very weak, among first-tier ley line creatures, they are the weakest of the weak.

The two creatures, both of the same rank, easily defeated the shell-stealing crab without even using their three main attacks.

But it is precisely because they are weak that they have developed an extremely vigilant personality, which is the only way to save their lives as much as possible.

They also possess an astonishing reproductive capacity, which is a major reason why they have never gone extinct.

The eyes of the shell-stealing crab shine like two small rubies, even when it is dead.

These are the credentials for settling accounts.

Gao De removed its two eyes and put them into the cloth bag in his hand.

Inside, there were already forty or fifty ruby-like eyes.

This means that Gaode has already killed twenty or thirty shell-stealing crabs, which are known for their caution and elusiveness.

Only a few hours had passed since he arrived in Monte.

Even second- or third-ring mages might not possess this level of efficiency.

At this rate of efficiency, it wouldn't take half a month, at most two or three days, for Gaode Maps to completely eradicate the shell-stealing crabs on the beaches near Monte Town.

The greatest credit for all of this naturally comes from the emerald green, round object that attracts the shell-stealing crabs to leave their nests, or perhaps it should be called a gem berry.

[Divine Berry Technique+]:

Additional: Berries created by this spell will have a strong attraction to animals.

Shell thieves are also animals, so they are also deeply attracted to the gem-like sweet berries created by [Divine Berry Technique+].

This is the source of Gaode's confidence in taking on this "tricky task" without hesitation.

For ordinary sea sentinel mages to do this task, they can only honestly keep camping out, waiting for the shell-stealing crabs to appear.

However, Gaode can actively create nests using gem berries to lure shell thieves out of their hidden hiding places.

This solved the most difficult part of the [Crab Plague Hazard] mission, increasing hunting efficiency tenfold or even a hundredfold, allowing him to complete the mission easily and quickly.

(End of this chapter)