I Am The Swarm

As the Swarm’s territory continued to expand, the variety of intelligent entity source species increased, and Luo Wen’s abilities grew at a remarkable pace. Twenty years ago, when he first attempted long-distance warping with a two-meter flesh pod, one attempt failed, and the other only succeeded due to sheer luck.

Now, warping two-meter flesh pods had become effortless, and even five-meter flesh pods were successfully warped on the first try. This improvement was not solely due to increased proficiency with the technique.

Another indication of Luo Wen’s growing strength was the increase in the number of anchor units he could create. In the early days, his limit was five. By the time he joined the Interstellar Technological Confederation, his limit had risen to ten. Now, he could easily produce nearly twenty anchor units.

Of these anchor units, Luo Wen had already deployed eight. One was carried by the intelligent entity sent to the Ji territory, another was stationed near Planet Botian, and six more were deployed with the recent seeds.

However, the number of anchor units could never be too many. Once Swarm bases in other galaxies developed beyond the reach of Ji surveillance, they could freely construct megastructures and detonate them to power warps. At that point, anchor units would undoubtedly be in short supply.

Fortunately, when enough node units were concentrated in a specific region, a quantitative change could lead to a qualitative one. Even without anchor units, Luo Wen would still be able to locate and link to them.

For example, on Planet Botian, the number of node units there had already reached a sufficient level. Luo Wen planned to send its anchor unit elsewhere once the megastructures in that area were fully developed.

This way, the anchor units could reach new star regions, establish bases, scale up, and then be sent off again. With this cycle, even if there were only twenty anchor units, the Swarm’s expansion rate in the future would be ferocious.

From this perspective, the territory around Genesis Planet no longer seemed crucial. Moreover, judging from the current situation, the opposition was closing in step by step, as though they had reached the final stage of their plan and were about to reveal their true intentions.

At this point, abandoning further development of the Genesis System and focusing on expanding “sub-colonies” seemed like a sound strategy. After all, time could overcome most enemies. Luo Wen didn’t need to do anything to the Interstellar Technological Confederation—perhaps in a million years, it would collapse on its own.

And if a million years weren’t enough, what about ten million or a billion years? As an immortal being, Luo Wen could simply “outlast” them.

But Luo Wen was sentimental. This was his place of origin, and he could never simply abandon it. Even if the Swarm still lagged behind the Ji and the Confederation in many aspects, the thought of giving up didn’t sit well with him.

He had not yet reached the zenith of detachment. Luo Wen still wanted to try and fight for it personally.

Looking at the bigger picture, Luo Wen bore no deep hatred for the Ji or the Interstellar Technological Confederation. In a way, their schemes had pushed him to never let his guard down and accelerated the Swarm’s growth.

But from Luo Wen’s perspective, being treated as a pawn was itself an affront. Moreover, pawns rarely meet good ends. And that, in itself, was enough justification for action.

Regardless of the reasons, the Swarm had once again weathered twenty years in peace. Megastructures had been destroyed, and the Swarm had withdrawn.

As the former heart of the Swarm, countless primordial bodies formed a massive exodus that seemed to stretch in a straight line between two star systems. This display left all those secretly observing the Swarm with malicious intent deeply shaken.

The six new seeds had successfully been deployed to different galaxies. While the first seed was still drifting through the void due to a lack of energy, three of the later five had already entered nearby star systems and begun establishing themselves on planets.

Fortunately, the three “sub-colonies” that had landed in star systems were in pristine, untouched conditions. Preliminary observations suggested that there were no competitors near these colonies, and the surrounding star systems showed no signs of intelligent life—at least, none that were immediately apparent. A more detailed analysis would require the colonies to develop further and dispatch fleets for on-site exploration.

The remaining two seeds were also nearing their target star systems. Regardless, Luo Wen had already secured at least three viable “backup plans.”

With these “fallbacks” in place, Luo Wen now felt a sense of confidence, allowing him to act more boldly in the Genesis System. Otherwise, considering his cautious nature, he might have recalled part of the vast number of primordial bodies stationed in the Genesis System to feign weakness, thereby buying more time for the Swarm.

The moment the 20-year deadline expired, Colonel Edres, who had been waiting outside with his engineering team, wasted no time entering the Genesis System. What was originally assumed to be a straightforward engineering task had turned into a long-term deployment, leaving the team simmering with frustration after all these years.

However, they couldn’t afford to vent. Over the years, they had come to understand that the Swarm was no ordinary Outer-ring civilization. It was a hidden colossus. The sheer overwhelming numbers they had witnessed were enough to contend with many Outer-ring and even Mid-ring civilizations.

And this was merely the military presence within a single star system.

While the Swarm’s mobility still left room for improvement, its defensive strength alone was formidable. Even if their combat units were stationary, functioning as defensive installations, they would still require significant sacrifices for the Ji to conquer them.

As for Edres and his squadron, comprised of just over a dozen ships, they knew better than to act recklessly. Thanks to the Koya Alliance’s two rounds of propaganda, the Swarm had been painted as savage oppressors and colonial villains in the eyes of the galaxy.

Edres was acutely aware that if he treated the Swarm the same way he might treat other minor civilizations—by making demands or boasting arrogantly—he could very well disappear without a trace. Even if the Swarm were eventually punished, his own death would render such outcomes meaningless.

Since the Rat Folk civilization lacked the technological capability to build ships for long-distance travel, it was the Swarm—acting as their “inviting civilization”—that sent forces to escort Edres and his team.

Over 10,000 primordial bodies encircled the Ji fleet of more than a dozen massive ships. Even though Ji vessels were each over 4,000 meters long, their presence seemed insignificant in the face of such a dense formation of primordial bodies.

As an escort fleet, the Swarm’s scale was nothing short of extraordinary.

“These guys are definitely doing this on purpose!” complained a Ji crew member, who had only recently been woken from cryogenic sleep and was still irritable from the process.

“So what if it’s on purpose? Those ugly creatures out there could tear us apart before we even get our warp engines online.” This came from another Ji crew member who clearly didn’t share Luo Wen’s—or the Swarm’s—aesthetic sensibilities.

“Just bear with it. Once we reach the destination, we’ll deal directly with the Rat Folk,” another advised.

“Captain, what’s our next move?”

“Proceed as planned!”

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