I Am The Swarm

Since transforming into an insect, Luo Wen had been living a harsh existence. He never imagined stumbling upon such a paradise—food everywhere, eat to fullness, sleep after eating, then wake up and eat again. There was nothing to do but enjoy an endless supply of sustenance.

If only he had a computer and internet access, this would have been his dream otaku lifestyle.

Sadly, he still had a brood of underlings crying out for food. The thought of a boss lazing about like this left Luo Wen feeling a bit downhearted.

After stuffing himself, he roamed the nest for a while. This ant colony was quite large, and deep inside, he discovered a queen ant.

The queen was far larger than the soldier ants—not because she was stronger. On the contrary, her upper body seemed overly frail compared to the soldiers.

Her size came from her massive abdomen, which accounted for two-thirds of her body. Luo Wen doubted whether she could even drag herself along with her feeble limbs.

During his observation, the queen didn’t move an inch.

Several worker ants scurried around her, ferrying various foods and queuing up to feed her mouth-to-mouth.

This reminded Luo Wen of an embarrassing incident: one of his underlings had once tried to feed him mouth-to-mouth. Could that ant have mistaken him for a queen back then? Truly a cringe-worthy memory.

Thankfully, his inner resolve had forced a favorable evolution, granting him his current independent brood nest. Otherwise, if he had turned into something resembling this queen, he might have preferred death.

After wandering aimlessly for a while and finding no special weapons or hidden combat units, Luo Wen relaxed and leisurely crawled out of the nest.

His first visit to a neighbor’s home had been fruitful, leaving him quite satisfied.

Returning to the transport team’s rendezvous point, he noticed the scout’s body had disappeared. Without lingering, Luo Wen hastened back to his brood nest.

On the way, he encountered the returning transport team and joined them for the trip home.

Once back at the brood nest, Luo Wen checked on the brood nest itself. Everything was in order. It had a steady food supply each day, producing offspring while retaining surplus for growth.

Next, he gnawed a piece of tree root to feed Big Black. After that, he went to the hatchery. There were now more than ten mature black ants. Apart from the transport team, five or six ants usually stayed home to care for the eggs.

The hatchery housed dozens of eggs and larvae. The first batch of larvae had begun to pupate under the worker ants’ care. Once they emerged, they would be fully grown small ants.

Of course, Luo Wen’s hatchery was still far from rivaling the neighbor’s, but he believed this was only temporary.

In time, as he deciphered the functions of certain genetic fragments and amassed enough resource-collecting insects, he would engineer even more powerful creatures. Flattening the ant nest would then become a matter of moments.

One day, he too would have his own paradise of food and indulgence, living a life of eat, sleep, and repeat…

Imagining this bright future, Luo Wen drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Luo Wen woke up early with fresh ideas brewing in his mind.

After supplying Big Black with another piece of tree root, he set off with the transport team.

Arriving about ten meters from the neighbor’s nest, Luo Wen began digging. This was a major undertaking.

Luo Wen spearheaded the excavation, while the transport team removed soil from the tunnel. Whenever he got hungry, he would emerge, demonstrate Luo-style insect combat on a nearby ant, and drag the prey back to share.

The hatchery back at the brood nest had a small food reserve, enough to last a day without resupply.

It was Luo Wen’s first time digging such a long tunnel. His digging speed was fast, but transporting the excavated soil outside was time-consuming. As the tunnel lengthened, this process grew exponentially more tedious.

The transport team’s efficiency was low, unable to keep up with Luo Wen’s pace. Eventually, he had to dig and carry soil out simultaneously.

Working tirelessly until nightfall, he had only completed about half the tunnel. Although daytime and nighttime were indistinguishable to Luo Wen, who had previously survived underground without knowing the time of day, he still retained some human habits. For instance, when he saw nightfall, he instinctively felt it was time to sleep—even if he wasn’t tired, his mind told him it was rest time.

He casually buried the tunnel entrance and camouflaged it. Although the new mound of soil was conspicuous, Luo Wen was confident in concealing the entrance.

Using his forged ID, he spread a pheromone warning around the area: “Danger! Do not approach.” It should be enough to deter the brainless worker ants.

Besides, the scout ants in this direction had suffered heavy casualties recently. Even though the neighbor’s nest wasn’t far, few ants ventured this way anymore.

After taking down three patrolling worker ants nearby with the transport team, he divided one on the spot and brought the other two back to the brood nest as food reserves.

Once home, Luo Wen was too exhausted to move further. Big Black would have to endure hunger for the night.

When Luo Wen woke up again and climbed to the surface, dawn hadn’t yet broken. Unwilling to venture out in the dark, he first went to the tree roots to replenish fluids. Having eaten ant meat twice yesterday, the ants’ acidic body fluids had left him slightly nauseous.

After rehydrating, he brought a tree root back for Big Black, who had gone hungry overnight.

While pondering his next steps, Luo Wen passed the time until the first light of dawn, then set out with the transport team.

Reaching yesterday’s buried tunnel, he found it undisturbed. It seemed his pheromone warning had worked well—or perhaps no scouts had passed through this area at all.

Under Luo Wen’s direction, his team resumed their unfinished work with orderly precision.

This time, Luo Wen left two temporary storage chambers along the tunnel. While this added some extra labor, they managed to finish the tunnel by nightfall, digging all the way to the area beneath the neighbor’s nest.

Halting excavation, Luo Wen buried the entrance again and demonstrated Luo-style insect combat for a few spectators. He then brought their vanquished bodies back to the brood nest.

After two days of preparation, Luo Wen’s plan had reached a critical stage. The next morning, he led the transport team out, ready to execute his plan.

Returning to the buried tunnel entrance, he found it untouched. A promising start.

Leading the team into the tunnel, Luo Wen instructed the transport team to wait in the temporary storage chambers and retreat if they encountered danger. He then crawled out alone.

As he moved, Luo Wen couldn’t help but wonder whether the transport team could grasp his instructions. Their intelligence was truly lacking. Even slightly complex commands seemed beyond them. He resolved to find a way to improve their intelligence when he had time—at least enough to understand more intricate directives.

Spreading his forged identity pheromones, Luo Wen once again arrived at the neighbor’s front door.

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