[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-above-the-mage":3,"chapter-above-the-mage-above-the-mage-chapter-486":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Above the Mage!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2257490,4404,"Chapter 486: Luring the Trap","above-the-mage-chapter-486",486,"\u003Cp>The dumpling has extremely high sentience; if it could handle this on its own, it wouldn’t have come to find me first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De understood this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t hesitate, walked to a secluded corner, immediately stripped off his clothes and laid them aside, leaving only his undergarments, then leapt forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a splash, Gao De slid into the water like a fish, barely stirring any waves—truly an elegant dive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Gao De enter the water, the dumpling immediately dove back under, swaying its body left and right while flapping its short fins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De gently patted the dumpling’s head—not only to encourage and praise it, but also to activate [Beast Link+], forging a deeper connection to facilitate clearer communication and understanding of the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the link formed, the dumpling’s overwhelming excitement and joy surged clearly into his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The situation wasn’t complicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dumpling was naturally lively and energetic; though the Azure Courtyard wasn’t small, it had spent its entire life swimming in that same stretch of water and had long lost any sense of novelty. Now, in a new water system, it naturally swam wildly, darting here and probing there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the process of darting and probing, it stumbled upon an unexpected discovery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the dumpling couldn’t clearly express what exactly it had found.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De wasn’t in a rush—he let the dumpling lead the way, then cast [Ocean Touch+] on himself and followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pirated magic simply couldn’t match the real thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even with the spell-grown webbing, his movement speed underwater was far slower than the dumpling’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dumpling was clearly thrilled, swimming ahead, whipping its tail to stir the current and trailing a long string of bubbles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After swimming two hundred meters forward, just as they neared their destination, Gao De surfaced, took a deep breath of oxygen, then plunged down again with the dumpling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Descending over ten meters, a massive, bizarrely shaped rock appeared before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking around, he couldn’t see its bottom—it seemed like a small building rising from the seabed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dumpling’s discovery lay at the midsection of this enormous rock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, the rock suddenly split open, revealing a crack over two meters wide, from which faint light leaked out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the water, inside a sealed rock formation, the light couldn’t possibly come from sunlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Undoubtedly, something luminous lay inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In games, glowing objects are usually treasures—like luminous pearls—this is a classic trope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reality may differ from games, but not by much; this was certainly no ordinary object.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dumpling swayed its body ahead, “inviting” Gao De inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its boundless curiosity had already led it to peek inside, confirming no danger lurked within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De didn’t hesitate—he kicked his legs in a whip-like motion and swam toward the crack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crack was a sloping downward passage; the narrow gap made the surrounding currents turbulent, constantly battering Gao De’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after swimming just a short distance, it angled upward at a blunt angle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the raging river current abruptly ceased at that bend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a cave hidden within the rock’s core, above was no water at all—only trapped air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De lifted his head above the surface, looked around, and no longer needed to hold his breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder the dumpling couldn’t handle this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This thing swims like a dragon underwater, but out of water, it’s completely blind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You can’t expect it to climb up using those two hand-like front fins, can you?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait here,” Gao De said, looking up where faint glimmers shimmered above, and gave the dumpling instructions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he quickly dispelled [Ocean Touch+], and cast [Cat Claws].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The webbing between his fingers vanished; his nails lengthened visibly, sharpening into razor-edged blades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De’s fingers drove into the rock wall like chisels, then pulled out—he alternated hands, inching upward slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The interior space of the rock wasn’t particularly large; after climbing about six or seven meters upward, he neared the ceiling, where a small inverted semicircular platform existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De grabbed a protruding section of rock, pushed off, and leapt onto the platform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The platform was tiny; a single glance revealed the source of the light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a fist-sized egg, its shell emitting a faint, eerie glow in the darkness—unusual indeed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An egg of some subterranean creature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De instantly made his judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, he stepped forward, picked up the egg, cradled it in his arms—the shell felt warm to the touch, pulsing faintly with life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gao De had no time to ponder—he quickly slid back down from the platform into the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hurry!” Gao De whispered to the dumpling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know the egg’s origin, but he knew that if it was here, its mother likely wasn’t far away—perhaps even on her way back now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the egg’s unusual nature, its origin was clearly not ordinary; its mother was probably very powerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they met underwater, he’d be in serious trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the safest course would be to pretend he’d seen nothing and leave empty-handed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem was—he’d already come all this way. How could he leave without taking anything?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luck still held—he clutched the glowing egg, sped up, and safely exited the waters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The passenger ship hadn’t stopped to wait for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De didn’t have that kind of influence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it didn’t matter—he’d already anticipated this when he dove in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De first surfaced for a breath, then activated Mandora’s Eye to locate the ship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water’s surface had no obstructions, and he’d moved swiftly—the ship hadn’t gone far.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through Mandora’s Eye’s long-range vision, Gao De instantly confirmed the ship’s position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the dumpling also surfaced beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De patted the dumpling’s head and murmured, “You’ll have to work hard for me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dumpling said nothing, merely drawing its two front fins inward—imitating a human clasping hands in greeting, though its tiny “short hands” couldn’t quite bring the fins together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dumpling dove beneath the water, positioned itself under Gao De, then pushed upward slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De cleanly spread his legs, straddling the dumpling, tightened them, then bent forward, hugging the egg tightly against its back, his body nearly folding in half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Gao De was securely seated, the dumpling released a stream of bubbles, twisted its body, and instantly surged forward, cutting through the waves at high speed to chase the departing ship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>White water split to either side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At such speed, the wind whipped past, giving Gao De a faint sense of riding a speedboat from his past life—utterly delightful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In moments, Gao De caught up to the ship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using the dumpling’s back as a launch point, combined with a [Jump Spell], he landed safely on the ship’s deck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he cast the spell [Dancing Wind], summoning a small whirlwind to wrap around his body, acting as a hairdryer to remove water from his skin and hair, before pulling on his discarded clothes—as if nothing had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only proof of what had occurred was the egg now tucked inside his outer coat pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, no further incidents occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After five hours and fifteen minutes of sailing, the passenger ship docked at Mont Town’s pier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De was the first to disembark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t that he was impatient—he simply disliked the common drama trope of “disguising as a commoner while secretly noble.” Since he was on official duty, he’d firmly chosen to wear his Sea Sentinel uniform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This avoided many potential troubles and granted him certain conveniences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s like a police officer on duty—wearing a uniform versus not makes a world of difference in efficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless the mission required plainclothes, Gao De always wore his Sea Sentinel uniform on duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, now—other passengers, seeing his uniform, willingly let him go first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t a big deal, but it was certainly convenient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the pier, Gao De headed straight for the town’s constabulary office in the center of Mont Town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t even need to show his identification badge; merely by wearing his uniform, he smoothly obtained the collected data on Shell Thief crab activity in Mont Town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The town’s constable and guards weren’t useless—they’d already used this data to preliminarily map several activity zones for the Shell Thief crabs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But these zones were too vast; under the crabs’ cautious behavior, they couldn’t launch a cleanup based on this alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Magician, we rely on you,” the constable said, handing over the files to Gao De in a solemn tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De smiled faintly and reassured him: “I’ll resolve this quickly. Don’t worry too much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Theoretically, offshore areas fall under the jurisdiction of high-tier Sea Sentinel magicians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But theory is just theory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As organizations grow, responsibilities naturally blur toward practicality—it’s perfectly normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tasks like the crab infestation—low-level, nearshore, requiring no sea voyage—are usually assigned to low-tier magicians like Gao De.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You wouldn’t send a “senior official” to dismantle a pig farm in the countryside, would you?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s the job of grassroots personnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nearshore shallow waters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was evening; the sea shimmered with light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The waves gently lapped against the shore’s rocks, producing a rhythmic splash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the shore, many oddly shaped rocks stood tall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The coastline of Montezhen is mostly like this—rugged and strewn with jagged rocks, offering no suitable spot for a port.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to benefit from the ocean, this is one reason they remain relatively poor despite living near the sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bases of these rocks are riddled with deep crevices and pits, providing perfect shelter for many marine creatures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, a dark brown crab-beast, its hard shell speckled with moss-like patterns, lay quietly curled in the darkest corner beneath one of the large rocks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its slender crab legs clung tightly to its sides, motionless, as if part of the rock itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, the crab-beast’s red eyes emerged from beneath its shell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its eyes moved with extraordinary flexibility, swiftly scanning the surroundings, missing not a single subtle movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it began to shift its legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it walked sideways like an ordinary crab, its speed was astonishingly fast, rapidly extending and retracting, stirring up a string of fine bubbles in the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the blink of an eye, it shot away from the rock’s edge like an arrow released from a bow, speeding toward a specific direction in the sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, several vivid, plump, emerald-green spherical objects floated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as it neared, a swift shadow suddenly lunged from the side, straight toward the crab-beast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the churning currents, the crab-beast was instantly stunned and disoriented.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shadow did not miss its chance; seizing the crab-beast’s confusion, it opened a massive mouth like a “blood-dripping maw,” biting down with clean, decisive motion—crushing the crab-beast whole, shell and all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, it surfaced with the crab-beast in its mouth, turning back to gaze at the nearby beach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Look!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good job, Tuanzi,” Gao De, who had witnessed this firsthand on the beach, did not withhold his praise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shadow was none other than Tuanzi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dead crab in its mouth was precisely Gao De’s target: the Shell-Stealing Crab.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tuanzi swam to shore with the Shell-Stealing Crab it had killed, shook its head forcefully, and flung the corpse onto the sand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De stared at the dead Shell-Stealing Crab before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not large—even fully grown, it was no bigger than a fist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet its danger was significant; its claws and legs were covered in dense, sharp spines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These spines contained potent poison; even a light touch could pierce a prey’s skin and inject the toxin directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was their primary method of attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, it sounds weak—at least in a world endowed with extraordinary power, this method seems pitiful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, they are indeed pitiful; among first-rank earth-pulse creatures, they are the weakest of the weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Tuanzi, also a first-rank creature, had not even needed three moves to easily take down this Shell-Stealing Crab.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet precisely because they are weak, they have developed an extremely cautious nature—this is how they survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, they possess astonishing reproductive capacity, which is why they have never gone extinct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their eyes glowed like two small rubies—even now, as dead crabs, they still shone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And these eyes were the proof required to claim the bounty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De removed both eyes and placed them into the cloth bag in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside, there were already forty or fifty eyes, glowing like rubies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant Gao De had already slain twenty to thirty Shell-Stealing Crabs—creatures famed for their caution and elusiveness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he had only arrived in Montezhen a few hours ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such efficiency—even second- or third-ring mages might not match it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this rate, he wouldn’t need half a month—just two or three days at most—to clear all the Shell-Stealing Crabs from the beaches near Montezhen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The greatest credit for all this naturally belonged to the emerald-green spherical objects that lured the Shell-Stealing Crabs out of their hiding places—or rather, the Gem Berries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Divine Berry Art+】:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Additional: The berries created by this technique possess a powerful attraction to animals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shell-Stealing Crabs are animals, so they too are irresistibly drawn to the Gem Berries created by 【Divine Berry Art+】.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the confidence that allowed Gao De to accept this “difficult task” without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary Sea Sentinel mages performing this task could only patiently wait, sitting idle like a farmer hoping for a rabbit to run into a stump.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gao De could actively bait the crabs with Gem Berries, luring them out of their hidden shelters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This solved the most difficult part of the 【Crab Infestation Threat】 task, increasing hunting efficiency tenfold or even a hundredfold, allowing him to complete the task easily and swiftly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2280,"2026-06-19T14:28:50.414Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6b7b5cda4d430bf0c4f3554dae57e1f433c0366096c5481035ff0968292e1b32","above-the-mage-chapter-487","above-the-mage-chapter-485",529,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabove-the-mage-cover.jpg"]