I Am The Swarm

From the moment Luo Wen emerged as a fingernail-sized hatchling, he had systematically and strategically eliminated countless foes that once seemed insurmountably powerful to him. He understood the dangers of relying too heavily on a single weapon.

While the electromagnetic railgun was a formidable force, he had always been wary of its limitations and ensured that the Swarm’s strategies were not overly reliant on it.

In fact, long ago, after the Swarm captured a Cat-Eared vessel, they had reverse-engineered its energy weapon technology. Luo Wen even produced a batch of larval units equipped with energy weapon systems to offset their melee limitations. However, he quickly found these weapons impractical due to their short range and high energy consumption, and the project was shelved.

Later, when the Swarm seized Riken warships and acquired more advanced energy weaponry, it became clear that the Swarm had already surpassed the Rikens in this domain. By that time, Luo Wen had amassed over ten million research-oriented Intelligent Entities. This was a monumental advantage.

To understand the scale, consider that no civilization begins omniscient. Each must learn slowly, advancing along specific technological paths over generations.

Progress demands enormous time investments, and as technology becomes more complex, new members of the civilization require increasingly longer periods to digest prior knowledge before they can contribute meaningfully.

During this process, many individuals give up, leaving only a select few to reach the pinnacle of a particular technological field. These rare experts might further advance their chosen field incrementally during their lifetimes.

The overall progress of a civilization depends on the continuous advancement of countless technological paths. Therefore, the lifespan of its members often determines a civilization’s potential.

Take the Ratfolk civilization, for example. Even without the Swarm restraining them, their potential to become a spacefaring civilization was slim. Despite Luo Wen’s interventions to address their genetic flaws and extend their lifespan, most Ratfolk still lived less than fifty years.

When their accumulated knowledge reached a critical threshold, newborn Ratfolk could barely master existing knowledge within their lifetimes, let alone innovate further.

In contrast, both the Riken and Daqi peoples enjoyed lifespans exceeding 300 years. This gave their young generations over a century to advance their civilizations’ knowledge and technology.

This was why the Rikens had placed such value on longevity-enhancing plants. In times of peace and abundant resources, longer lifespans meant deeper cultural and technological foundations.

Now consider the Swarm’s Intelligent Entities. Freed from the limitations of mortality, they had infinite time to accumulate and refine knowledge.

Take Morgan, one of the earliest research-oriented Intelligent Entities, for instance. Having existed for centuries, any one of his caliber would be a treasured asset in a civilization like the Rikens. As time passed, the Swarm would produce ever more such “treasures.”

When hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of such minds collaborated, their collective innovation and advancement would be incomprehensible to most civilizations.

This ability to reverse-engineer physical objects, deduce their principles, and surpass the original creators was a natural consequence of the Swarm’s intellectual might.

Even so, despite their progress in energy weapons, the Swarm’s early opponents were technologically inferior. Sheer numbers and basic long-range weaponry were sufficient to overpower them.

Additionally, Luo Wen had already suspected the existence of Watchers at the time. His inclination to conceal the Swarm’s full capabilities influenced the Blades as well. Against the Rikens, the Swarm operated on a “just enough” principle.

For instance, if the Rikens hadn’t developed railguns for counterattacks, the Swarm’s laser-eye bugs would never have been revealed.

Similarly, while it appeared that the Swarm had lost its primary weapon, they were far from defenseless.

The Space Octopuses, an amalgamation of atmospheric creatures and fungal carpets, were modular beings capable of internal transformation. Under the control of the fungal strains within, their bodily tissues churned, modules shifted, and organs relocated. Amid this internal overhaul, their external electromagnetic cannons remained unchanged in appearance, but their inner workings underwent a complete overhaul. ᚱＡꞐȪʙĚṡ

When Diallo ordered his fleet to fire, the Daqi warships’ primary cannons unleashed a thunderous barrage. Simultaneously, the Swarm’s counterattack began.

Thousands of red beams streaked toward the Swarm’s position—standard behavior for the Daqi. But from the Swarm’s side, the very cannons that had previously launched electromagnetic projectiles now fired red energy beams directly at the Daqi fleet.

The red beams from both sides met mid-space, interweaving and parting ways, creating a spectacular display as they hurtled toward their respective targets. This visual marvel, however, was not universally appreciated.

“What?!” Diallo shouted in disbelief, the lava-like patterns on his face cracking visibly in his shock. Aslit’s three eyes widened in astonishment.

“This is impossible!” Diallo roared again. “Since when could electromagnetic cannons fire energy beams? What kind of freakish nonsense is this Swarm? Do they have no sense of honor?!”

But the Swarm’s attacks did not pause for his incredulity. Diallo’s flagship, measuring over 2,500 meters, was the largest in the Daqi fleet and bore the largest repulsion field generator. Consequently, it also bore the brunt of the Swarm’s counterfire.

Having anticipated nothing like this, and with the fleet maintaining its bow-aligned formation toward the Swarm, the Daqi warships made no effort to evade the barrage of energy beams.

Diallo’s flagship shuddered violently under the assault. Though still venting his frustrations, Diallo’s years of military experience had prompted him to brace for impact in advance. Aslit, standing behind him, also emerged unscathed from the shockwave.

“Damn it!” Diallo cursed. “Doria, Chisaya—advance and assess flagship damage. Report fleet casualties. Shut down the repulsion fields! Lock main cannons on target and fire at full capacity!”

Despite his rage, Diallo forced himself to regain composure and issued a series of swift commands.

The Doria and Chisaya, heavily armored escort ships slightly smaller than the flagship, were tasked with shielding it and absorbing damage in its place.

Repulsion fields, while effective against physical projectiles, offered no protection against energy beams. With the Swarm shifting its attack strategy, keeping the fields active would only waste energy.

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