I Am The Swarm

Out of responsibility for the Swarm’s future development—and admittedly, a bit for his own safety—Luo Wen had long been researching ways to enable the Brood Queens to download his primary genetic code. Alternatively, he sought methods to produce additional bodies or brood nests.

After exhaustive research and experimentation, he concluded that having the Brood Queens download his original genetic code via a cloud storage system was currently beyond his capabilities.

However, he had gained insights into creating more bodies or brood nests.

Through trial, error, and some creative leaps, Luo Wen discovered that forcibly severing a body or brood nest from the Swarm Network effectively granted him the authority to produce another part.

Simply put, disconnecting them from the network and simulating their “death” allowed him to incubate replacements.

While the concept seemed straightforward, implementation was extraordinarily challenging. He needed to focus all his energy on severing a body or brood nest from the network, a process requiring tens of hours of uninterrupted effort until the new entity was fully incubated.

Luo Wen positioned his body over the spore capsule, using surrounding dust to seal the pit before beginning his cocooning process.

Meanwhile, on Genesis Planet, deep within a subterranean nest 3,000 meters below the surface, a Brood Nest began secreting viscous fluid from its surface. Its massive body rapidly shrank as the liquid hardened, encasing the Brood Nest in an amber-like shell.

This was Luo Wen’s first formal attempt at regenerating a brood nest. Previous efforts were purely theoretical, so he had no guarantee he could sustain his focus for the necessary tens of hours. To mitigate risks, he prepared multiple contingencies.

The Brood Nest utilized a pseudo-death ability derived from specific insect species. These creatures could expel most of their bodily fluids to encase themselves in an amber-like shell that was incredibly resilient, capable of withstanding most external threats. Within the shell, the creature entered a pseudo-death state, with its life force nearly extinguished. Without external stimulation, it could essentially die.

While this ability was typically disastrous—turning pseudo-death into actual death—it was ideal for Luo Wen’s purpose. The Brood Nest’s pseudo-death significantly eased the energy drain required to isolate it from the Swarm Network.

Surges of energy coursed through the Swarm Network, forcibly severing the pseudo-dead Brood Nest’s connection. Simultaneously, the energy reserves in Luo Wen’s tail lard storage organ began to deplete rapidly.

Since Luo Wen’s consciousness had decoupled from his physical body, he remained fully alert while his body entered its cocooned state. He redirected all available energy to the incubation process, entirely deprioritizing the repair of his injuries.

As time passed, Luo Wen concentrated on severing the Brood Nest’s connection to the Swarm Network. Meanwhile, on the yellow moon, his cocooned body began developing a bulge at the rear, which grew steadily larger.

During this period, the Fungal Carpet seed beneath his body also came to life. Supported by the external spore capsule, it rapidly sprouted roots that extended deep underground.

Luo Wen felt a wave of relief upon observing the Fungal Carpet’s progress. Given the limited payload of the rocket and his body’s size constraints, he had brought only one seed. If it failed to take root, the entire lunar mission would have been for naught.

The Carpet’s roots secreted a substance called lichen fluid, which efficiently dissolved the hard rock below. The yellow moon contained water resources, though they were unevenly distributed and existed primarily as solid ice due to the frigid temperatures.

Luck favored Luo Wen. His crash had created a crater about a meter deep, and his subsequent digging extended it by another two to three meters. Within five days, the Fungal Carpet’s roots had penetrated roughly ten meters further, eventually discovering solid ice crystals.

As the roots penetrated the rocky layers, they also absorbed various metals.

The enhanced version of the Fungal Carpet incorporated Luo Wen’s advanced space technology. With access to water, it transitioned from relying on the spore capsule to becoming self-sufficient.

Equipped with modules for producing metallic particles, magnetic field generators, and self-illumination systems, the Carpet accelerated its growth.

A root from the Fungal Carpet extended into the cracked cocoon enveloping Luo Wen’s body. Incubating a Brood Nest demanded immense energy. With his tail lard reserves nearly depleted, the Carpet’s timely intervention prevented Luo Wen from resorting to consuming his own flesh to sustain the process.

Having overcome the initial challenges, the Fungal Carpet not only supported Luo Wen but also continued to expand its infrastructure.

By the time the Brood Nest incubation was complete, the Carpet’s main body had spread throughout the pit, glowing with multicolored light that flickered and shifted.

This illumination system, an enhancement designed by Luo Wen, replaced the monotonous yellow-green glow of its predecessors with a more diverse palette inspired by marine bioluminescent creatures.

However, gazing at the vibrant, nightclub-like lights within the pit, Luo Wen couldn’t help but think of certain Earthly entertainment venues. He briefly considered reverting the lighting system to something less gaudy.

Once the new Brood Nest completed incubation, it conducted a self-diagnostic before detaching from Luo Wen’s body and interfacing with the Fungal Carpet to begin producing space-adapted Swarm units.

These units required specialized components for surviving in space, making them significantly more complex and costly to produce. For example, magnetic field generators necessitated metal resources, driving up their production cost to many times that of their terrestrial counterparts.

Despite their expense, the emergence of these space-adapted units marked the Swarm’s expansion beyond its homeworld. The harsh conditions of outer space would no longer confine the Swarm.

To distinguish them, Luo Wen named the original Brood Nest on Genesis Planet the Genesis Brood Nest, while the newly created one on the yellow moon was christened the Yellow Moon Brood Nest, reflecting their respective birthplaces.

After the Yellow Moon Brood Nest came online, the Genesis Brood Nest initiated its reawakening sequence. The amber encasing it began to dissolve as pre-prepared nutrients flowed from the Fungal Carpet. The Brood Nest’s desiccated body swelled like an inflating balloon, regaining its full form within an hour.

Reawakened, the Genesis Brood Nest seamlessly integrated with the Yellow Moon Brood Nest. Luo Wen noted that the Swarm Network seemed to grow stronger as a result.

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