It took Qingque, March 7th, and Tingyun all their strength to barely drag Zeig back.
"Zeig, you bastard, you came here just to cause trouble, didn't you?!"
"So what if I did? Handing this kind of hard work over to Fu Xuan would settle everything. Why the hell are we fixing this shit ourselves?"
"…"
March 7th held up her phone so that Herta on the screen could see the current situation more clearly.
"Oh ho, you're still on the Xianzhou?" Herta muttered.
"Ms. Herta, we're only missing those three crystals now. Do you have a way?"
"A way… I do, actually."
Hearing Herta's words, March 7th and Qingque perked up their ears.
"These crystals have dimmed, but that's just a sign that the energy inside has dissipated. Have Ms. Zeig input her own energy into them and it should be fine."
"That… simple?" Qingque looked at the three crystals on the ground and hesitated. "But the surfaces of these stones are already damaged. Will this really work?"
"It's fine. Crystals are just stones to begin with. They're not precision instruments. What's this talk about damaged or not damaged?"
On the phone, Herta continued speaking eloquently:
"As for the array base below, you can just paste it with glue or cement. As long as energy can flow through, it's fine."
"…I see."
March 7th slowly raised her head and looked at Zeig:
"Hurry up and try what Herta said. Whether it works or not all depends on this now."
"?"
Upon hearing this.
Zeig took out that bowl of rice grains again.
"If glue and cement can stick the array base, then rice grains should work too, right?"
From the other end of the phone came Herta's impatient voice:
"If you insist on using rice grains, then use rice grains."
"It really works?!" March 7th and Qingque were greatly shocked.
Good lord, rice grains work too?
"Isn't this a bit too casual?"
In March 7th's impression, the various formations on the Xianzhou should be very complicated things. In the end, could they really be repaired so sloppily with rice grains?
Herta said in a deep voice:
"Are you questioning me?"
"Take a good look at the only crystal on the array base that's still lit. Since it can be activated, it means the root of the formation can still operate. Forget rice grains—even if you just piece it together without gluing anything, as long as the outer shape is intact, it would still work."
"Shō ga~"
After understanding, March 7th politely hung up the phone.
"That's great. As expected, Ms. Herta is reliable!"
"What's the difference between this and what I was doing from the beginning?" Zeig frowned. "These rice grains are for you. Glue them carefully. I'll go fix those three crystals."
"Got it!"
…
While the three each held a bowl of rice grains and carefully glued the broken pieces.
Zeig stood to the side, picked up a crystal, and poured energy into it.
Soon.
Golden light flickered!
"It really works."
Zeig looked at the crystal in his hand in surprise. After injecting energy, he seemed to have formed a connection with this crystal.
"I think I can control it now."
To verify the idea in his heart, Zeig directly threw that golden crystal into the array.
"Plop——!!"
After a dull sound, a red bump slowly rose on Tingyun's head.
"…"
She covered her head, looked up with a resentful expression, and pouted:
"What is the meaning of this, Benefactor?"
"Just testing it out. I wanted to try that stone, but it seems it didn't work."
"Stone? Can it already be used?"
"I don't know. Pick it up and try it."
Tingyun bent down, picked up that golden crystal, and examined its appearance:
"But… this formation's original crystals were blue. Will this really be okay?"
"Sigh." Zeig waved his hand.
"Herta already said it's fine, so it's definitely fine. Just place it on and try."
"This humble one understands."
After Tingyun nodded, she placed the golden crystal onto the formation.
"Buzz——!!"
A wave of energy rippled through the entire array base.
Between the golden crystal and the blue crystal that was originally above, an invisible line connected.
"See? It works, right?"
Zeig smiled and reached out from afar to flick the large formation.
Everyone only heard a "Buzz——!!" sound. That crystal actually moved on its own, constantly changing positions within the array base.
"?"
March 7th saw this scene and widened her eyes. "How did you do that? Did you ascend?"
"Forget it." Zeig pursed his lips.
"The energy inside is mine. Isn't it only natural that I can control it?"
"That… actually makes some sense."
Immediately after.
Zeig threw the other two repaired crystals into the array base as well.
Qingque and March 7th, with quick eyes and hands, each caught one and placed them properly.
Then the three picked up their bowls and walked out of the array base, silently turning back to watch.
March 7th said excitedly:
"Now it's fixed, right? Next is to arrange the pattern."
"Watch carefully!" Zeig shouted loudly. The three crystals began moving within the array base, so fast that only afterimages could be seen.
After about 1.2 seconds.
"Ding——!!"
The formation was fully activated.
"How is it? Isn't this faster than Qingque's time?" Zeig laughed proudly toward the sky.
"No choice. I don't have anything else, but I excel at being quick-witted!"
"You weren't already thinking about how to arrange these crystals on your way here, were you?" March 7th asked suspiciously.
"…"
Qingque looked at the glowing large formation in front of her and finally let out a sigh of relief:
"It was a close call, but the three array bases are finally activated. I was almost about to become a security guard."
Tingyun smiled faintly:
"We still have to thank that young lady from the phone call earlier."
At this point.
The mission was perfectly completed.
Qingque: "Let's head back to the heart of the formation~ to report to the Master Diviner!"
…
Below the Divination Commission.
On a broken stone block quietly floating in the air.
The long-haired man looked up at the large hole above and gritted his teeth:
"Bastard… you'd better not end up alone. Otherwise, I'll definitely beat you until you're searching for your teeth all over the ground!"
…
After the three array bases were repaired.
Everyone returned once again to the heart of the Matrix of Prescience Ultima.
Seeing the four of them, Fu Xuan said approvingly:
"You did very well. I can already sense that the talismans of the Matrix of Prescience Ultima have been relit."
"However… what exactly were you doing earlier? Why did it take so much time?"
Just as Zeig was about to complain about what March 7th and Qingque had done, a man patted his shoulder.
"Brother Zeig, we meet again."
"?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Zeig suddenly turned around.
He came face to face with a blond, blue-eyed man.
The other party smiled:
"I received an emergency commission through my registered account at the Interastral Peace Corporation. I heard… that a lady here has had her mental illness worsen, so I came to take a look."
"Wait?!"
Before Zeig could reply, Fu Xuan behind him became displeased.
"The Xianzhou is currently under martial law. Who are you? And how did you locate the position of the Divination Commission's cave heaven?!"