"You"!
"Then came that mistake."
As Zero said this, dim ripples spread through the depths of its crystal-clear body.
For an instant, it seemed to change from hard, dazzling diamond into sandstone weathered by hundreds of millions of years, on the verge of crumbling apart.
"To be safe, the moment I calculated that Initial Chaos Planet was about to spiral out of control, I should have activated the Space-Based Orbital Weapon and carried out the most thorough purification of the entire planet—returning everything from its ecosystem to its crustal structure to zero, resetting it."
Zero said, "However, as the creatures on Chaos Planet grew increasingly complex, massive, and advanced, their struggles became increasingly fierce, and the data generated as a result rose by geometric progression every day.
"This data was of vital importance to my construction of virtual universes and deduction of endless futures.
"According to my calculations, I only needed to observe Initial Chaos Planet for another three to five thousand years—or perhaps merely three to five hundred years—to have a great chance of obtaining the critical data and deducing the best future yet. In that incomparably beautiful future, the entire civilization would benefit from the new life forms born on Chaos Planet, achieve a grand unification of genes, machinery, and energy, march into higher-dimensional universes, and allow civilization to continue flourishing for hundreds of millions of years to come.
"Just then, a storm from the higher-dimensional universe swept across the frontier star region where Initial Chaos Planet was located.
"While the storm raged, my ability to monitor and interfere with Initial Chaos Planet would be greatly weakened, and the destructive power of the Space-Based Orbital Weapon would also be sharply discounted.
"Fortunately, this storm was not large. Based on past experience, it would last no more than half