I Am The Swarm

At Luo Wen’s command, tens of thousands of Burrower Ants were the first to be mobilized, heading to the construction site of the new Brood Nest.

They were soon joined by over twenty thousand Worker Ants tasked with logistical support. These ants were responsible for transporting food to meet the daily needs of the Burrower Ants. Additionally, they handled soil relocation and the reinforcement of newly dug tunnels.

In the past, Luo Wen personally led the excavation of the hive. However, now that he commanded tens of thousands of subordinates, there was no need for the highest-ranking commander to dirty his claws.

Although there was no longer anything in the vicinity that could threaten the hive, Luo Wen maintained his characteristically cautious style.

At a depth of three meters underground, the Burrower Ants constructed an impressive labyrinth of tunnels, intended as a decoy and transit hub—a fake Brood Nest.

The real Brood Nest was located three to four meters below the fake one. This true hive, also a network of tunnels, was connected to the decoy by a single passage. Both ends of the passage were stocked with loose soil, ready to be sealed at a moment’s notice.

A team of Spy Bugs and Burrower Ants was stationed there permanently. Their mission was to seal the passage and deploy misleading pheromones if intruders breached the decoy, ensuring the true hive remained hidden.

Luo Wen didn’t see this strategy as overly cautious—it was simply prudent.

He was wary of the Yellow Earth Ant Legion atop the cliff. If one day they lost their footing and charged straight down the slope, Luo Wen’s hive would be their first target.

Though the hive had grown much stronger, the gap in power between it and the Yellow Earth Ant Legion was still insurmountable. Direct confrontation remained out of the question; evasion was the safer strategy.

Luo Wen firmly believed in the adage: “Preserve the green hills, and you’ll never run out of firewood.” He swore he would avenge his past grievances… eventually.

Despite the ambitious scale of the new Brood Nest, it was completed at an impressive speed thanks to the collective efforts of tens of thousands of ants.

With the old hive set to be abandoned, Luo Wen no longer needed to hold back. Personally digging his way down, he and the Worker Ants carefully dragged the massive Brood Nest to the surface.

The Brood Nest, tireless and sleepless, consumed vast amounts of food daily, converting it into energy.

Most of this energy went toward producing eggs, while the remainder fueled its own growth.

Its sheer size only became apparent during the move. Now larger than Luo Wen himself, the Brood Nest’s rotund form dwarfed the surrounding ants. Even with multiple tunnel expansions, its bulk barely fit through the passages.

To put it into perspective: if Luo Wen was the size of a plate, the Brood Nest was like a giant watermelon. Worker Ants, no larger than a fingernail, seemed like tiny specks around it.

Countless Worker Ants swarmed beneath the Brood Nest, forming a layered platform to carry it. After numerous adjustments, the platform began to move.

Luo Wen didn’t participate directly. As the hive’s supreme commander and strongest combatant, he focused on overseeing the operation and ensuring its security.

After several hundred meters of careful relay work, the Worker Ants successfully transported the Brood Nest to its new location without incident.

In the following days, the main passage and the Brood Nest’s chamber were further widened.

At last, the Brood Nest settled into its new home.

The main passage was then narrowed once more, restored to its original state.

The move to the new hive was a success, though there was no one to share Luo Wen’s joy. By now, he was accustomed to the solitude of a life without social interaction.

The swarm returned to its steady rhythm of growth: resting, expanding, exterminating ant nests, absorbing territories—a repetitive cycle.

Hundreds of days and nights passed, and the swarm once again approached the limits of its expansion.

Luo Wen, however, already had a solution in mind: establishing branch bases.

This idea had been on his mind for some time, and he had conducted several experiments. Initially, he used the Queen Ant’s genes as a template, attempting to hatch a few hive-specific Queens.

These Queens developed normally from eggs to maturity but failed to produce eggs once fully grown.

Despite multiple rounds of experiments, the results remained unchanged.

Luo Wen racked his brains but couldn’t pinpoint the issue. Could the problem lie with the Brood Nest’s Queens being defective?

Suspecting otherwise, Luo Wen decided to observe an ant colony for answers.

He captured a colony of Black Ants, killed their Queen and most of their members, and reduced their size for easier observation.

This colony was confined indoors, with any ants attempting to leave promptly driven back by Guard Ants stationed outside the nest.

Worker Ants from the hive delivered food to the colony’s entrance daily.

Luo Wen dug a passage connecting to the colony and used his body to block the opening.

His camouflage and pheromone abilities allowed him to blend seamlessly into the colony, making him as inconspicuous as a stone. Not a single Black Ant showed curiosity about him.

To ensure no details were missed, Luo Wen gave up foraging.

Worker Ants periodically delivered his food through the passage. Luo Wen merely needed to turn slightly to eat before resuming his position.

Prepared for a prolonged operation, Luo Wen was surprised by how quickly answers emerged.

After losing their Queen, the Worker Ants somehow managed to hatch several new Queens and some strange ants Luo Wen had never seen before.

Once the Queens matured, they engaged in unspeakable acts with these peculiar ants.

Shortly afterward, the strange ants perished without exception.

Luo Wen discreetly used his adhesive claws to collect the corpses of these peculiar ants.

Meanwhile, internal conflict erupted within the colony, as the new Queens led their factions in a brutal power struggle.

The defeated Queens were killed mercilessly, while their followers surrendered to the victor.

By the end of the war, only one Queen remained, commanding the allegiance of all surviving ants.

The colony resumed its familiar rhythm: laying eggs and raising larvae.

Midway through this process, Luo Wen had already figured out the problem.

But since he was bored, he decided to watch the drama unfold to its conclusion, treating it as entertainment.

The peculiar ants, likely male ants, appeared only during the colony’s early stages. After mating, they died shortly thereafter.

When Luo Wen infiltrated ant colonies in the past, they had all been large, established nests with thousands of members, so he had never encountered male ants.

The issue with the Brood Nest’s Queens lay in the absence of these males to… complete the process.

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