I Am The Swarm

Luo Wen muttered complaints as he found himself traveling farther to hunt lone black ants, dragging them back to the nest. The extra effort annoyed him, but it was worth it. Days of feeding the brood nest with meat had finally restored its vitality, enabling it to begin another wave of spawning.

As he worked, Luo Wen reflected on his previous approach. Last time, he directly hatched a fully grown insect—a black beetle. While it only took two days to mature from egg to larva and then to adult, Luo Wen suspected it might have skipped a pupal stage, condensing four growth stages into one. Though this yielded a combat-ready ally, the process consumed an enormous amount of the brood nest’s flesh to sustain the beetle’s massive body.

This led Luo Wen to a hypothesis: would allowing the brood nest to lay eggs and letting them develop naturally be far less resource-intensive?

His observations supported the idea. Over the past few days, constant feeding of tree roots had caused the black beetle to grow slightly. Initially, its undersized form was due to the brood nest’s limited size at the time of its creation. Luo Wen had thought the beetle was akin to a factory-made product, fixed at “manufacture.” But this new organic biotechnology was unlike the mechanical systems he once knew—it held endless possibilities.

Seeing the black beetle continue to develop, Luo Wen realized he’d underestimated the brood nest’s potential. It was time to try producing an egg and letting it hatch naturally. This time, he chose to create an ant egg using unaltered black ant genetic material, aiming to test whether it carried a communication system.

The brood nest produced a small, pale-yellow egg without any noticeable strain. Luo Wen was thrilled—his hypothesis seemed correct. Producing eggs for natural development was indeed the optimal approach.

However, his excitement was short-lived. As he stared at the fragile egg, he realized he had no experience in egg care. Before he could devise a solution, tragedy struck: the black beetle, wandering nearby, stepped on the egg. Its sharp claws pierced the delicate shell, spilling its contents onto the ground.

Luo Wen froze, dumbfounded. The beetle, oblivious to its actions, continued patrolling. The egg’s stillness, combined with its tiny size relative to the beetle, had made it an unnoticeable casualty. Blaming himself for his lapse in focus, Luo Wen accepted that the egg was beyond saving.

Though frustrating, the incident sparked new thoughts. While the brood nest evolved from Luo Wen and was technically part of him, its creations were not true Iphieash. Both the black beetle and the egg were proof. If Iphieash could be bred this way, they wouldn’t be so rare.

Instead, the brood nest’s products were like living machines, designed for specific tasks. While there might be other traits Luo Wen had yet to observe, these creatures were undeniably fragile and required care.

The black beetle, clearly unsuited for such duties, lacked intelligence and merely patrolled around the nest. Luo Wen needed a better solution.

After some thought, Luo Wen issued a command to the brood nest. Half a day later, it produced two miniature black ants. Unlike the black beetle’s birth, the brood nest only appeared slightly weakened, not critically drained.

Learning from past mistakes, Luo Wen shielded the newborn ants with his body while they were still weak, ensuring the patrolling beetle would avoid them. Compared to the fragile egg, these ants were much larger. After a short adjustment period, they shakily got to their feet.

The ants began interacting, touching antennae as if exchanging information. Luo Wen watched in confusion, wondering what was happening. Did they have a communication system that he lacked?

Suddenly, he felt a jolt—an ability within him awakened. This latent skill seemed to have evolved alongside the brood nest. Luo Wen realized it allowed him to release pheromones, a form of communication he hadn’t needed before.

Upon awakening this ability, Luo Wen immediately understood the ants’ exchange. They were expressing confusion and waiting for instructions. The pheromones were spread across their bodies and antennae, allowing others to interpret them through contact. Luo Wen, however, could directly “see” or “sense” the pheromones, bypassing the need for physical touch.

Fascinated by this new communication method, Luo Wen quickly mastered it. He emitted a pheromone signal conveying, “Follow me,” and the ants obediently moved to his side, touching him briefly before standing behind him.

“Interesting,” Luo Wen thought.

He led the ants into a tunnel, issuing another command: “Dig together.” The three insects began burrowing in unison.

Luo Wen tried a more complex command: “Dig over there.” The ants responded with confusion, emitting pheromones that expressed their lack of understanding.

“Seriously? That’s too much for them?” Luo Wen muttered. Their intelligence seemed disappointingly low.

Testing further, Luo Wen left one ant stationary while guiding the other to a nearby location. He then issued a command: “Bring the other one here.” This time, the ant understood. It scurried back to its companion, communicated briefly via antennae, and returned with the other ant in tow.

Through these tests, Luo Wen identified the limits of their understanding. Commands needed clear, specific targets. For instance, “Go there” was too vague, but “Return to the nest” was easily understood and flawlessly executed.

With this knowledge, Luo Wen prepared for more experiments to further explore his new abilities and the capabilities of the brood nest’s creations.

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