1953 The Phantom
“That was my mistake.”

When Zero said this, faint ripples appeared in the depths of her crystal-clear body.

For a moment, her body looked like a hard and dazzling diamond that had been eroded by time, and it was about to collapse after billions of years.

“For safety, I should have activated the space-based orbital weapons the moment I saw signs that the planet was about to go out of control. I should have performed the most thorough purification on the entire planet. Everything from its ecosystem to its crust should have been reset to zero,” she said.

“However, as the creatures on the chaotic planet became increasingly complex, large, and advanced, their struggles grew more and more intense. As a result, the data they generated increased exponentially every day.

“This data was extremely important for me to construct a virtual universe and deduce endless futures.

“According to my calculations, I only needed to observe it for another three to five thousand years, or even a mere three to five hundred years. After that, I would very likely obtain key data and deduce the best future so far. In this incomparably beautiful future, the entire civilization would benefit from the brand-new life forms born on the Chaos planet. It would learn to understand the unification of genes, machinery, as well as energy, and march into the universe of a higher dimension. This would allow the civilization to maintain its prosperity in the billions of years to come.

“Just then, a storm from the high-dimensional universe swept through the border of the planet’s star field.

“During a raging storm, my ability to monitor and interfere with events on the first Chaos planet would be greatly weakened. The damage index of the space-based orbital weapons would also be significantly reduced.

“Fortunately, it was not a large-scale storm. Based on my past experiences, such storms would only last for a year and a half at most.

“At that point, I had two choices.

“I could give up on collecting key data and burn the first Chaos planet until it turned to glass before the storm arrived.

“I could also wait patiently for a year and a half, or two to three years at most, until the storm subsided. Then, I would be able to collect enough data before I purified and reset the planet.

“Unfortunately, after a complicated calculation process, I chose the latter.

“I had sufficient reason.

“The primitive creatures on the original Chaos planet were only half a step away from igniting the fire of civilization.

“However, it would take hundreds to thousands of years to complete this half step. At least, that was the case in the thousands of virtual simulations that I performed.

“Therefore, I reserved enough buffer time to wait for the storm to subside.

“Besides, when the cosmic storm raged, my connection with the planet was not completely cut off, and the space-based orbital weapons were not entirely paralyzed. Even if everything went wrong, the flames of destruction from outer space could still destroy most of the creatures on the ground.

“However, there were two things that I hadn’t calculated or even thought of at that time.

“Firstly, I didn’t expect the life forms born on the chaotic planet to have such a pattern of wisdom. It was completely different from that of the ancient civilization’s people after brutal and intense collisions.

“The ancient civilization emphasizes individuality. Every person has the ability to think independently and every person has a relatively independent will. That’s why I require the Future Prediction System for coordination and cohesion.

“The life forms of the chaotic planet had apparently embarked on the path of ‘collective intelligence’ or ‘hive intelligence.’ Even when they were still in a rather primitive and barbaric stage, these primitive creatures of different races and origins seemed to be driven by cruelty and bloodshed. They connected and integrated with each other via pheromones and biological magnetic fields.

“Intelligence was born on the chaotic planet a long time ago. It was a collective intelligence formed by the pheromones and biological magnetic fields of what seemed like several thousand beasts. They were muddle-headed and trying to kill each other.

“Besides, the moment this collective intelligence was born, it was aware that it was in some kind of ‘lab.’ It also realized that an observer was watching it and paying attention to its every move from the unreachable sky.

“The harsh living environment had given this group the wisdom to survive.
“Right after it was born, the collective intelligence chose to lay low. It did not exercise any mind control on the living creatures above ground, as well as in the sky, ocean, and shallow underground.

“These creatures were, in a sense, its cells, nerves, and muscle fibers. In truth, it wanted to control them in the same way the muscles in a person’s forearm control his fingers.

“It allowed its ‘cells, nerves, muscle fibers, arms, and fingers’ to continue killing each other. This process eliminated the weak and replaced them.

“I only did one thing: Stare at the sky and the existence above it for a long time.

“In the end, the collective intelligence came to the conclusion that with its current resources and conditions, it was not possible for it to confront the observer in the sky. The only thing it could do was wait for an opportunity.

“The cosmic storm that swept across the star field’s border was its opportunity. However, this was no ordinary cosmic storm, and it was the second thing that I didn’t expect.

“The storm created layers of spatial ripples, and it mixed with a lot of interstellar dust made of crystal fragments.

“When the mighty cosmic storm swept across the first Chaos planet, the interstellar dust left colorful traces of light in its atmosphere. This resulted in beautiful crystal rain, and the planet soon turned into a paradise with abundant spirit energy.

“The collective intelligence that had been dormant for a long time realized that this was the opportunity it had been waiting for.

“It could not miss this chance! Massive pheromones spurted out like volcanic eruptions. Its biological magnetic field resonated with the planet’s magnetic field in a mysterious way with the enhancement of the oversaturated spirit energy. In the end, its will was transmitted to every beast on the planet.

“In an instant, the ferocious beasts that had been killing each other stopped in their tracks.

“The fierce beasts had just been fighting to the death moments ago, and they had vastly different appearances. Yet, they were now standing side by side.

“Cold, sharp, and astute brilliance burst out of their turbid eyes at the same time. From that moment on, they were no longer ignorant beasts, but superior beings with wisdom and will.

“Guided by the collective intelligence, all the intelligent beasts bared their fangs and raised their chests. Hysterical, they shouted their names into the sky as it was torn apart by the high-magnitude storm, the Phantom!”