Pieces of metal components suspended in mid-air through telekinetic power joined together seamlessly, finally forming a massive metal platform with a surface covered in fine intricate lines. It landed with a heavy thud into the sunken foundation that had been prepared below.
Although they were working without Eric's magnetic abilities to help, with the close collaboration of Sebastian and Jean working together, the metal components carefully crafted by Hank were easily assembled and placed into the pre-prepared foundation with precision.
For this massive teleportation array, the foundation is absolutely paramount. Constructed from a special alloy that mimics the unique structure of the Cosmic Cube fragments, it perfectly complements the Space Stone's immense power and smoothly and perfectly carries out its teleportation function across dimensions.
With the foundation properly embedded, Sebastian waved his wand once again, and the remaining alloy stored nearby levitated once more into the air. However, this time, Sebastian did not immediately join the alloy pieces together. Instead, he unleashed a concentrated stream of hellfire from his wand, rapidly melting the alloy into molten iron. He then carefully poured it all over the sunken foundation, forming a smooth, flat metal surface that covered everything evenly.
After completing this crucial step, Sebastian immediately directed Jean and Scott, having them use their telekinesis and optic beams to carve minute patterns into the metal floor according to pre-prepared drawings, while the metal was still not fully solidified and easier to work with.
When the metal finally solidified completely, Sebastian took out two bottles of an unknown potion, tilted the bottles carefully, and poured out the viscous potion. Using his wand with practiced skill, he perfectly spread it to cover the metal floor, creating a protective layer preventing the patterns from being worn away or damaged by other factors over time.
At this point, Sebastian and Jean nodded to each other, and the final six metal pillars, each one carved with intricate magical patterns and resembling wolf fangs in their shape, floated up through the air and were driven into the ground one by one, forming a three-dimensional hexagram pattern.
Finally, Hank, along with Colossus and several others, arrived carrying various scientific instruments and began installing the technological equipment, filling in the surrounding wiring and carefully burying the sensitive instruments.
Once the final marble slabs were laid and the six wolf fang metal pillars were completely encased in protective marble, a small temple in the classical style of a Greek temple appeared before everyone gathered. This was the purpose of Sebastian's visit to this world; the portal had been successfully constructed!
"Sebastian, your teleportation array is complete, but what if someone deliberately attempts to sabotage it?"
"Do not worry about that. Barring a sustained barrage of high-powered missiles or a combined attack by five energy-releasing mutants as powerful as you and Eric working together, this thing will not sustain any significant damage. If you do not believe me, you can give it a try yourself."
"Scott, please try attacking it."
Upon hearing Charles' words, Scott immediately adjusted his visor and fired a beam of red optic energy at its lowest power setting. However, before the red light could reach the Greek temple-like teleportation array, it disintegrated near the array's defensive perimeter, transforming into primitive light particles that were absorbed harmlessly into the array.
Scott, slightly surprised but reassured, gradually increased his energy output. However, even with his final, all-out effort at maximum power, his beam, just like before, disintegrated into light particles that were absorbed by the portal's defenses, causing absolutely no damage whatsoever.
Seeing this impressive result, Sebastian chuckled with satisfaction. The Space Stone inherently has the natural ability to drain energy from the universe itself. Otherwise, it would not possess such near-infinite power. Therefore, if this property were properly studied and incorporated into defensive measures, the various forces acting on the teleportation array could be converted into raw energy, absorbed by the array and used as a backup energy source for its operations.
Charles looked at the remarkably sturdy teleportation array, nodded with approval, and said, "That is very good. With our protection, there should not be too many problems with maintaining it."
"Then, Charles, I will go back to my world now. Once I finish installing the corresponding array over there, I will try to connect here. This will also be a good opportunity to test the success of our inter-universe communication system."
"Okay, we will be waiting here for you!"
"There is no need to follow the timeline so closely. The flow of time between the two universes is a bit strange and unpredictable. By the time I contact you again, it might be three or four days from now, or even a week or two."
"Okay, I understand completely. Then I wish you a safe journey, Sebastian!"
Nodding with a warm smile, Sebastian no longer hesitated and activated the Space Stone's power again. His body instantly transformed into a beam of brilliant azure light, soaring into the sky, tearing through the fabric of reality once again and disappearing before everyone gathered.
After passing through a wormhole tunnel remarkably similar to the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard, a beam of azure light descended upon Hogwarts in his home dimension.
Sebastian gazed at the familiar Hogwarts castle, stretched his shoulders to relieve the tension from dimensional travel, and headed directly to the central tower of Hogwarts. Kaecilius and four other sorcerers were setting up the facilities there in preparation.
In the center of the tower lay a series of nested square frames arranged concentrically. Within the core of the squares was a circular opening; this was where the Space Stone would be stored permanently.
"Kaecilius, how are the preparations going?"
"Everything is ready. Once the Space Stone is inserted into place, it will be operational immediately. At that point, no one except those with the principal's authority can easily remove the Space Stone. Only by using a force exceeding the Space Stone's own power can this be achieved, forcibly breaking through the Space Stone's inherent protective energy."
"Okay, then you should go down from the tower first. Otherwise, the energy impact will be more than you can safely withstand."
Kaecilius and the others immediately left the tower to descend to safety. Sebastian looked at the six nested square frames in the center, arranged from large to small in perfect proportion. He took a deep breath, removed his Space Stone ring from his finger, and slowly peeled the Space Stone apart from the ring's setting with his wand. He carefully put away the ring, which no longer contained the Space Stone, and then meticulously used his wand to place the Space Stone inside the core frame.
The moment the Space Stone was placed inside the designated position, a deep blue light emanated powerfully outward. Blue energy gradually filled the runes and magical patterns carved on the six frames from the inside, eventually spreading throughout the entire tower structure!
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
With the buzzing sound getting progressively smaller and smaller, the tower started to operate completely under the energy supply of the Space Stone. The six square frames began rotating in a complex pattern, completely protecting the Space Stone inside their mechanical embrace, and extracted the almost infinite power from the Space Stone. Together with the Reality Stone already powering other systems, they supplied energy to the entire Hogwarts castle.
Sebastian quickly left the tower, carefully feeling his connection to the tower structure, and even to the Space Stone itself. Just like the Reality Stone before it, he could still remotely borrow the power of the Space Stone whenever needed, just like before!