As the gem revealed more information to me, my concern continued to grow.
If I were a human being fused with the gem, I could strengthen myself rapidly and learn various forms of attack and defense to keep myself safe.But as a planet, things were far more complicated.
Planets cannot attack whenever or however they wish; the very laws that define them do not allow it. Planetary cores generate energy and empower their inhabitants, and those inhabitants, in turn, protect the planet. I cannot go against that principle, for it is one of the laws that sustain reality itself. At best, I can strengthen the barrier that surrounds my core—as other planets do—but that alone would not be enough to kill someone who truly sought to destroy me.
What worked in my favor was the fact that I am an anomaly in this universe. A planet with a soul has never existed before. Because of this, I can make certain modifications to my core and even alter some laws. However, these alterations only allow me to defend myself more effectively, not to attack.
In the end, it became clear that I could only rely on my inhabitants to survive.
According to the gem, planetary cores can produce only a single type of energy, and their inhabitants can cultivate only that specific energy. This planet was on the verge of ascending into a one-star planet. Under normal circumstances, it would not have been able to do so, as it possessed very little energy before my arrival. But now the choice was mine—and that choice was critical, because once made, it could never be changed.
After a long time of deliberation, I made a risky decision.
Instead of choosing a single type of energy, I would attempt to create a new one by fusing multiple energies using the power of the gem. By doing so, I would bind my inhabitants to my survival: if I ceased to exist, they would no longer be able to grow stronger. Moreover, the energy produced by this fusion would be more complete and more powerful than any other.
This would give rise to warriors far stronger than ordinary ones—warriors who, out of pure self-interest, would never allow me to die.
I could also rely on races from other planets to defend me, but I preferred to create my own races—those who would depend on me to grow stronger. They would need me to exist and to evolve. External races would not; they could abandon me and move to another planet that produced the energy they cultivated. The beings I would create would not have that option.
However, this decision was not without risk.
Even with the gem, this was something that had never existed before. During the process, there was a chance that my core would collapse… and that I would explode along with it.
And if that happened, I would die.