I Am The Swarm

The aerial battle above was beyond Luo Wen’s field of vision, and now, he faced a new problem.

The last time he experienced a free fall from such a height, he had been no larger than a fingernail, and various forces could easily affect his descent.

Even a gentle breeze could significantly slow his fall.

That earlier experience had ingrained a certain mindset in him: high-altitude falls couldn’t harm him.

However, his current body was over sixty centimeters long, and while his thick exoskeletal armor provided strong protection, it was not light.

His weight might now exceed fifty kilograms.

At such a mass, only a strong gale could slow his descent.

Unfortunately, the weather was sunny and calm, with not even a breeze in the air, let alone a gale.

In this situation, Luo Wen wasn’t sure if his body could withstand the impact of landing safely.

He couldn’t leave things to fate; he needed to draw on his meager knowledge to improve his chances of survival.

Stretching out all eight of his legs to increase his body’s surface area, he tried to maximize resistance.

His rapid descent slowed slightly, providing a momentary buffer, but it was far from enough to stop him from plummeting.

Luo Wen cursed under his breath. If he could just sleep for a bit, maybe he’d grow a pair of wings and avoid such indignities altogether.

Thankfully, he had already shed his two heaviest claws earlier; otherwise, those alone—each weighing seven or eight kilograms—would have added significantly to his burden.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

The air sacs located between his carapace and abdomen began inflating rapidly.

These sacs, initially designed as underwater oxygen tanks, had become almost redundant after Luo Wen acquired underwater breathing capabilities.

Unexpectedly, they now proved invaluable. It truly seemed that no skill was ever useless—a fact the ancients were right about.

The air sacs expanded to their limit, even distorting Luo Wen’s abdomen. But the effect was remarkable, significantly reducing his descent speed.

However, this created a new issue.

The sacs were located in the rear half of his body, causing Luo Wen’s position to shift from a horizontal spread to a head-down dive.

With his claws gone, he had no way to shield his head and would have to rely on his armor to endure the impact.

This was far from an ideal outcome.

As the ground drew closer, tall treetops began appearing in Luo Wen’s field of vision.

He struggled to align his fall toward the treetops.

Despite his efforts, his descent trajectory barely changed.

Luckily, the forest below was dense, with layer upon layer of interwoven tree canopies that blocked out the sunlight. From above, the ground beneath the foliage was completely obscured.

When he was about ten meters above the treetops, Luo Wen strained his body into a pull-up motion. Using his immense core strength, he lifted his head momentarily.

In that instant, his carapace and abdomen compressed together, forcefully expelling the air from the sacs. The resulting jet of air shifted Luo Wen’s trajectory by a few centimeters.

He then spread out his legs and fell onto the treetop.

The canopy couldn’t bear his weight, and Luo Wen crashed through the layers of branches and leaves, continuing his descent toward the ground.

The branches scratched against his body, but at most, they left faint marks on his exoskeleton armor, far from piercing it.

These scratches, however, steadily reduced his falling momentum.

Finally, after multiple layers of cushioning, Luo Wen landed on the ground. The impact caused only mild vibrations—hardly enough to qualify as a light injury.

Upon landing, Luo Wen didn’t dare linger. His fall had made quite a commotion.

Furthermore, the moment he entered the canopy, his compound eyes caught sight of another treetop shaking violently nearby.

Given the height and thickness of the trees, whatever caused such movement had to be a massive creature.

Having already encountered pterosaurs, Luo Wen had no desire to satisfy any curiosity.

He had lost both claws, depleted the venom stored in his glands, and, having not eaten enough, was now severely exhausted—a state of extreme vulnerability.

His best course of action was to lie low, sleep, and regenerate his claws.

Maybe he’d even sprout a pair of wings.

Unfortunately, without claws that could double as digging tools, burrowing into the ground was out of the question. And given his unfamiliar surroundings, finding a suitable tree hollow in the short term seemed equally unlikely.

Luckily, the dense forest floor was covered with a thick layer of decomposing leaves. Though the smell was unpleasant, this was no time to be picky.

Luo Wen began by biting into an exposed tree root nearby, intending to quench his thirst. This familiar action reminded him of his days of weakness, evoking a sense of nostalgia.

But he was no longer the size of a fingernail.

It took him biting into seven or eight spots and nearly half an hour to drink his fill.

In the distance, vibrations reached Luo Wen’s sensitive leg hairs.

He had learned his lesson, however, keeping his optical camouflage active throughout.

The local creatures seemed to have sharp vision, making his previously underappreciated stealth feature incredibly effective.

During this time, Luo Wen even managed to ambush a few small, brightly colored birds. Their feathers were stunningly vibrant, but now they were gathering for a meeting in Luo Wen’s stomach.

The birds were so small and feathery that Luo Wen couldn’t taste much before they were gone, leaving him wanting more.

What he wouldn’t give for one of those plump, yellow-furred creatures from before—something that was large and filling.

As he gnawed on the tree root, Luo Wen’s mouth watered at the thought.

Finally full, he sought a complex terrain to hide in. He found a spot between three giant trees. The thick trunks formed a natural barrier, making it difficult for creatures to pass through—evident from the undisturbed layer of fallen leaves.

Unaware of what large predators might be roaming, Luo Wen didn’t want to risk falling asleep somewhere only to be crushed underfoot by a passing behemoth.

Using his legs, he clumsily scraped out a hole in the decaying leaves. Taking a deep breath, he buried his head inside and covered the entrance.

Surrounded by the damp and sticky decay, Luo Wen let his mind drift to distract himself, eventually falling asleep.

His exact location remained a mystery, and the duration of his slumber was unclear.

Since waking, countless unexpected events had occurred, leaving him with little time to explore the myriad abilities acquired through the self-sacrifice of trillions of bugs in the past.

[T/N: The big 100! I’ve really enjoyed translating this novel so far. It’s got me hooked lol. No spoilers but all I can say that it’s only up from here!]

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