1955 Purifying the Universe
When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.

The same principle applied to the ancient civilization hundreds of millions of years ago.

To collect astronomical amounts of information, Zero had set up an information transmission system in an artificial orbit around the original Chaos planet. The long-distance system was extremely advanced, and it could cross four-dimensional space.

However, the Phantom[1] used the system to easily locate the ancient civilization’s origin planet. It even discovered Zero’s largest computing hub in the three-dimensional universe.

When Zero invested most of her computational ability into the various Chaos planets and massacred the primitive life forms there, she was shocked.

As its name suggested, the Phantom was like an invisible and unpredictable ghost. It crossed the sea of stars and planted the seeds of Chaos on the ancient civilization’s home planet and other fertile planets with large populations.

For a time, Chaos spread wantonly throughout the harmonious and orderly ancient civilization like a plague.

A large number of docile and kind animals, as well as plants with stable ecological niches, underwent the most abnormal mutations. However, they ended up becoming crazy, cruel, and bloodthirsty.

For one, they were trying to kill each other. It was survival of the fittest in the infinite cycle of evolution. They also tried to replicate the form of Apocalyptic Beasts that were best suited for suicide missions on the original Chaos planet.

Additionally, they formed a flood that covered the sky and earth as they attacked the ancient civilization’s people and their glorious city.

What was even more terrifying was that a portion of the ancient civilization’s people had been eroded by the Phantom.

An extremely evil voice suddenly echoed from the depths of their brains.

The voice bewitched them by saying that they had always been Zero’s puppets. They were chess pieces that could not control their fate, soulless cogs in a machine, and walking corpses without self or creativity.

The voice also said that the real ancient civilization died the moment Zero was born. Whatever that spread across the sea of stars was no different than a corpse. The cycle could repeat itself, and nothing would change because the individuals from the ancient civilization were like parasites in a dead body. It was impossible for them to obtain true freedom, let alone comprehend the true meaning of life.

Meanwhile, the Phantom represented true freedom, true life, and never-ending possibilities. It was unpredictable and ever-changing.

It was the true civilization!

It called on all the individuals of the ancient civilization to block the “system” that Zero had deployed in their minds. They would no longer submit to the false rule that Zero had maintained for ten thousand years. They would no longer be puppets, chess pieces, or cogs in a machine. Instead, they would become real people and control their own destiny with their own hands!

Zero reacted and strengthened her control over the ancient civilization.

However, it was too late. A large number of individuals from the ancient civilization had already fallen into the “demon’s” trap. Guided by the Phantom, the systems in their brains were burned away, and they severed their connection with Zero. As a result, they turned into deformed and ugly monsters that were neither human nor ghost.

For a thousand years after that, Zero and the Phantom each controlled a part of the planet and launched an interstellar war that shook the universe.

Ever since its birth, the universe had never been so chaotic.

On certain planets, the animals, plants, and people of the ancient civilization were pulled into the overwhelming tide of Chaos. They acted as the Phantom’s limbs, nerves, and cells. As such, they went into a crazy rampage and destroyed everything in sight. This went on until any trace of civilization on the entire planet was gone and it turned into a hellhole of eternal slaughter.

However, destruction was always easier than construction.

Compared to dull order, chaos had a twisted kind of attraction.

The ancient civilization had grown old after tens of millions of years. It was exhausted and even showing signs of death.

Perhaps, the Phantom was not the main cause of its decline but merely the result of its decline.

No matter how hard Zero and her supporters tried, those on the front line had to constantly retreat.

Planet after planet fell into the Phantom’s control. The planets that had yet to fall also appeared lifeless, desperate, and depressed due to the lack of resources and high militarism.

The Phantom then launched a new round of attacks.

The difference in strength between them and the enemy had passed the critical point.

After that, Zero could no longer see any possibility of victory no matter how many calculations she did.

Zero had no choice but to turn to her last resort.

Regardless of friend or foe, all terrestrial planets and artificial celestial bodies within the range of radiation would be “purified” at the highest intensity.

She wanted to purify the entire universe.

Meng Chao had once seen the bombardment of space-based orbital weapons in the monster mastermind’s memories.

In fact, the monster mastermind was, in a sense, just one of the Phantom’s insignificant brain cells.

The fierce battles and extermination that took place in the Other World billions of years ago were only an ordinary aspect of the magnificent interstellar wars and ultimate evolution.

The Phantom’s brain cells that were rooted in the depths of the Other World, along with all its descendants, creations, and the entire planet, were burned into glass.

The same scene happened on countless planets and galaxies in this universe.

Some of the more powerful beasts that the Nether created could travel freely through the galaxies in the sea of stars. However, Zero’s target was not the terrestrial planets themselves but the star at the center of the galaxy.

By intensifying the star’s internal reaction, she could accelerate its aging and even detonate the star. In the end, the entire galaxy would be completely destroyed.

“It’s not even ‘shock therapy’ but a mass suicide.” Zero said.

“But believe me, I studied it a trillion different ways, and the conclusion was the same every time. It was the only way.”

Just like that, the once-mighty overlord met its end in the most magnificent way.

Only a few planets escaped the apocalyptic purification.
Most of these planets were located in barren lands at the edge of the universe. They had just been discovered by the ancient civilization and were undergoing feasibility studies or early development.

Zero had just sent the Kindling, also known as the Creation Engine, to these planets. She estimated that it would take several hundred million years for these planets to be modified into a state that was suitable for the ancient civilization.

Some of the planets had harsh environments, and their spirit energy was so thin that it was almost non-existent. Even Zero could not determine if it was possible for life or civilization to thrive on them.

One of these planets was Earth, the home planet of Earthlings.

[1] The Nether has been changed to the Phantom to fit the context provided in this chapter.