I Am The Swarm

Luo Wen’s curiosity had always been intense, a trait that had often gotten him into trouble in the past. With the Ji’s installation of quantum communication systems, keeping up with the gossip and news from various civilizations had become one of his favorite pastimes.

Naturally, he had noticed the Riken’s recent public statements.

However, Luo Wen didn’t take them seriously. To be honest, without his approval, the Koya Alliance’s plan wouldn’t have gotten off the ground in the first place.

Thanks to years of development and the Riken’s universal vaccination program, at least 200 million Riken individuals were now disguised intelligent entities under Luo Wen’s control, occupying 80% of the Riken’s military, political, and commercial leadership. They secretly controlled every facet of the Riken’s society.

And that wasn’t all. At least 50% of the Riken population had undergone physical modifications, allowing Luo Wen to forcibly extract their spiritual entities from their bodies at any time. In essence, the rise or fall of the Riken rested entirely in Luo Wen’s hands.

With such capabilities, Luo Wen considered the theoretical possibility of dominating the entire Confederation by spreading Longevity Serum universally. However, his calculations showed that even under optimal conditions, this process would take at least 10,000 years to complete—assuming there was no resistance from any civilizations.

By that time, the Swarm might already possess the sheer military power to overwhelm the Confederation directly. Surely, the mastermind wouldn’t allow the Swarm that much time to grow.

When the Koya Alliance first approached the Riken, Luo Wen had known about it. Initially, he dismissed it as a minor attempt to sow discord and decided to let events unfold, curious to see what tricks they would play.

But as the Koya Alliance’s plans became increasingly elaborate, Luo Wen sensed something was amiss. Could this be the long-awaited next step in the hidden manipulator’s strategy?

The more information Luo Wen uncovered, the more convinced he became that his suspicions were correct. He had begun to discern his opponent’s methodology and had even pieced together a vague understanding of their ultimate goal.

The Koya Alliance might have some insight into the truth, but it was far more likely that they, too, were merely pawns. Their so-called “plan” was almost certainly orchestrated and encouraged by the hidden manipulator.

After all, there was no deep-seated enmity between the Koya Alliance and the Swarm. Conflicts between civilizations were far more complex than personal grudges. Impulsive decisions could lead to disastrous consequences, but a civilization’s “brain” was composed of countless individual minds. Even if some were prone to rashness, the collective wisdom of others would pull them back from the brink.

And for a coalition like the Koya Alliance, composed of over twenty civilizations, the minor grievances between the Swarm and the Daqi were insignificant. They were more likely to spectate and mock from the sidelines than actively intervene in such a dispute.

As for alliance agreements? Luo Wen laughed at the thought. Through the Riken, he had reviewed these agreements himself. They weren’t even proper defense pacts—barely more than mutual aid agreements for convenience.

If the Swarm had attacked the Koya Alliance outright, perhaps they would have united to resist. But in this case, it was the Daqi who had initiated the conflict and bungled it so badly that they became a laughingstock, losing tens of thousands of crew members in the process.

The notion that the Daqi’s actions were motivated by a desire to avenge their prisoners was laughable even to the Daqi themselves.

Luo Wen knew exactly what had happened to those prisoners after they were repatriated.

The Daqi prisoners, held captive by the Swarm for over sixty years, did not return to a hero’s welcome. Fearful of resentment and rebellion, the Daqi government relocated them to a small colony world under the pretense of assigning them to “guard duty.” In reality, they were kept under semi-detention.

As a result, the tens of thousands of intelligent entities embedded among them failed to gather any useful information. For Luo Wen, it was a disappointing investment. However, over the course of a century, a portion of these intelligent entities had been allowed to “die” through reasonable means, returning to the Swarm Network, where they finally served some purpose.

The Daqi’s aggressive actions, therefore, could only be explained as an attempt to save face. However, the humiliation they endured had already been etched into history, and unless the Daqi managed to reclaim their pride through direct military victory, their honor would remain irretrievable.

Yet, curiously, the Daqi seemed to suddenly rally together with unwavering resolve to destroy the Swarm. Luo Wen found it impossible to believe this was happening without an invisible hand guiding events from the shadows.

In the Interstellar Technological Confederation, some civilizations in the Middle Circle and even the Inner Circle had grown complacent. Their territories were entirely bordered by other member states, leaving them with little incentive to explore unclaimed star systems in the distant Outer Ring. The pioneering spirit of their ancestors had long since faded, replaced by an attitude of comfortable stagnation.

These civilizations, immersed in their spiritual pursuits, often developed peculiar hobbies. Among them, certain factions took great pleasure in sympathizing with the weak. Under the guise of altruism, they intervened to “help” those they deemed vulnerable, achieving a sense of moral fulfillment in the process.

These factions were typically well-resourced—far better off than many Outer Ring civilizations. With their long histories, they had established extensive social circles and influence within the Confederation.

Moreover, their actions, while eccentric, rarely crossed the line, and their neighbors were content to let them indulge rather than risk turning them into competitors. For many, having a passive, non-expansionist neighbor was a dream come true.

In this permissive environment, these factions had gradually become more domineering and capricious in their behavior.

The Koya Alliance, aware of this dynamic, decided to target these civilizations. The Riken’s plight, carefully orchestrated, became a trending topic in the Confederation’s internal news network. Predictably, the unprecedented story captured the attention of these idle factions.

Previously, such groups had limited themselves to helping endangered subspecies or saving near-extinct animal populations. A case involving an entire civilization in need of salvation was unheard of. The mere thought of such a grand cause was enough to give them an almost euphoric sense of purpose.

As for the supposed oppressor—the Swarm—how powerful could they be? The complacent factions, uninterested in relevant details, dismissed the Swarm as mere Outer Ring primitives.

The situation quickly grew bizarre. More and more old, established powers began stepping in, brandishing the banner of altruism. They called on the Ji to revise the rules, demanding better protections for weaker civilizations to ensure their healthy development.

At this point, Luo Wen’s earlier suspicions became absolute certainty. If he had been 80% sure of his hypothesis before, he was now 100% convinced. After all, the Swarm was being labeled an Outer Ring upstart—so what was the Koya Alliance in comparison? They certainly didn’t have the capacity to orchestrate a media storm of this magnitude.

Clearly, the mastermind behind these events was immensely powerful, with influence not only among the Ji but also within other factions across the Confederation. But what were they after? With such strength, why the need for secrecy? The only plausible answer was that their ultimate target was the Ji themselves.

But what role did the Swarm play in this grander scheme?

Luo Wen had a fairly good idea of their immediate objectives based on their recent actions. However, linking these objectives to their ultimate goal left him feeling as though something didn’t quite add up.

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