I Am The Swarm

A month later, as everyone monitored it intently, the Swarm Meteor in question suddenly lost contact—exactly as the previous two had.

It became clear that the hypothesis was correct. Having spent nearly two months in suspense, Luo Wen found himself both relieved and bemused.

The Swarm Network had always exhibited overwhelming capabilities since Luo Wen discovered it upon waking.

He suspected it hadn’t been this powerful initially. Rather, during his extended slumber—its duration still a mystery—the network had grown to its current strength.

Even after his awakening, centuries had passed. Luo Wen had observed the Swarm Network growing stronger but hadn’t identified specific improvements due to a lack of reference points.

Now, at least one aspect was clear: its range had expanded. As for other improvements, those would require continued observation.

When he first awoke, Luo Wen had considered the network’s coverage limits. However, as the Swarm’s exploration area grew, the network never encountered any such issues.

The breakthrough came when the Swarm developed the Storm God. This greatly accelerated exploration efforts, and soon, the Genesis Planet was teeming with Swarm units.

Even at that stage, the Swarm Network showed no signs of range limitations.

Following the lunar expedition and colonization of other planets, the issue faded from Luo Wen’s mind—until now.

Fortunately, for the modern Swarm, this problem was manageable. Developing a new bug species to act as stationary relays in key locations could easily resolve it.

Moreover, the Swarm Network’s capabilities continued to grow. Given Luo Wen’s now-immortal lifespan, it was only a matter of time before he could extend the network’s signal to cover the entire universe without relying on relays.

Two months later, the loss of a fourth Swarm Meteor confirmed the hypothesis.

Though the scare had been unnerving, Luo Wen acknowledged that the Swarm was not yet equipped to face such advanced adversaries. A false alarm was, perhaps, the best possible outcome.

Six months later, after confirming it was indeed a false alarm, Swarm colonies resumed normal activities. On the far side of the Red Moon, meteor launchers were reassembled, and operations restarted.

Over the following months, the Swarm launched dozens of new meteors toward the locations of the lost ones, hoping to reestablish connection.

However, this was unlikely to succeed.

The Swarm’s launch technology had not advanced in recent years, meaning the newly launched meteors traveled at similar speeds to the lost ones.

Given that the new meteors were launched nearly a year later, the distance gap between them was insurmountable. If the lost meteors didn’t stop, the new ones would never catch up.

If they had stopped, their situation was undoubtedly dire.

The dormant eggs within the meteors required Luo Wen’s remote activation to awaken, and without it, they would remain in stasis indefinitely.

While the Spore Capsules themselves were active, they lacked the adaptability to respond effectively without oversight from Luo Wen or the Intelligent Entities. If they encountered celestial bodies, collision was inevitable.

Their sole hope of survival lay in drifting through the void, avoiding obstacles, and waiting for the Swarm’s navigation technology to improve enough for faster units to reach and reconnect them.

Time flew by, and five years passed in the blink of an eye. Luo Wen’s Spore Capsule Meteor was nearing satellite A7B5, ready for descent.

The massive A7 planet remained as turbulent as ever. Its extreme rotational speed fueled superstorms visible even from deep space.

Meanwhile, satellite B5 was emerging from A7’s shadow and rotating into view. In five days, Luo Wen’s meteor would enter its atmosphere.

The monotony of stargazing in space was mitigated by Luo Wen’s ability to multitask via the Swarm Network.

While engrossed in forum discussions, Luo Wen received a Blade’s alert: his meteor was about to enter B5’s atmosphere.

He sprang into action, assembling a large group for tight monitoring and coordinated oversight of the upcoming descent.

Satellite A7B5’s geography bore some resemblance to the Genesis Planet. However, its lower temperatures meant its liquid oceans were encased in thick ice.

Frozen seas enveloped one large and two smaller continents, with scattered islands dotting their peripheries.

During the initial deployment, the Swarm had launched four Brood Queens onto A7B5. To minimize risks, all were sent to the largest continent.

While Spore Capsules could establish bases even in the ocean, the unfamiliar environment had prompted caution. Concerns about hidden marine life led to the decision to land all capsules on land.

If attacked, the units could still be observed by others on nearby satellites. In the ocean, such monitoring would have been difficult.

Ironically, the initial threats had come from the sky.

Thankfully, whether by luck or after minor “playful” interference, all four capsules landed safely on solid ground.

Over the next five years, the Swarm developed cautiously. Initially, fearing unknown surface threats, the four Brood Queen bases remained underground, with even the Fungal Carpet refraining from spreading to the surface.

After producing small scout flyers and discovering that the continent was utterly barren—even of plants—the bases abandoned their caution.

With no threats, the four bases began an explosive expansion.

In five years, they had transformed A7B5’s largest continent into a purple-gray expanse and had started extending into the frozen oceans.

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