I Am The Swarm

As they approached the ground, the bugs unfurled their wings, halting their descent momentarily. Jets of air continuously vented from the spiracles on their abdomens, counteracting the downward momentum until they finally landed smoothly.

Seconds after the bugs touched down, the pterosaurs that had been struck earlier let out anguished cries before plummeting to the ground.

One fallen pterosaur wasn’t immediately dead. A massive hole had been blasted into the base of its right wing, taking out half its torso. The grievous injury caused its wails to weaken over time.

It wasn’t the only casualty. Each bug that had leapt off the back of the Storm Gods had a specific target, and the number of targets perfectly matched the circling pterosaurs.

The results were spectacular. Every pterosaur was hit, and the severe penetrative injuries left none capable of continuing to fly. Against this new type of combat bug, the pterosaurs were utterly defenseless.

These bugs had been specifically designed to counter the pterosaurs. Their full designation was “Auto-Locking, Jet-Propelled Collision Flying Bugs,” but they were commonly referred to as “Flying Kamikaze Bugs.”

Luo Wen’s initial concept had been to equip these bugs with large toxin sacs in their thoraxes, designed to detonate upon impact with enemy targets. The primary damage output was meant to be from the released toxins.

However, to ensure that the Flying Kamikaze Bugs could reliably hit their targets, Luo Wen incorporated a slew of advanced technologies. To prevent disintegration from the high-speed dive, he also reinforced their defenses.

This resulted in such formidable physical damage output that their initial toxin feature became redundant. Despite the pterosaurs’ robust physical defenses, they couldn’t withstand even the first wave of collision damage.

Deciding to streamline their design, Luo Wen temporarily removed the toxin sacs. This change allowed the Flying Kamikaze Bugs to transition from single-use consumables to reusable combat units, significantly reducing resource consumption.

Yet, their fatality rate remained high. At such extreme speeds, even slight miscalculations led to catastrophic outcomes. For example, one Flying Kamikaze Bug had struck the spine of a pterosaur—a particularly tough section of its anatomy. Though the impact’s sheer kinetic force shattered the spine, the backlash snapped the bug’s neck, killing it instantly.

Such losses, however, were deemed acceptable. Exchanging a few pounds of bug biomass for hundreds of pounds of prey was a trade-off Luo Wen was more than willing to make.

Through this approach, the swarm steadily cleared the skies of nearby pterosaurs, enabling their territory to extend beyond the forest.

Luo Wen also leveraged the pterosaurs’ high mobility by dispatching several as reconnaissance units, finally gaining a clearer understanding of the planet’s current state.

This planet appeared to have only one continent, which, despite its irregular shape, was largely interconnected and stretched in an elongated form.

From south to north or west to east, the furthest distances exceeded 20,000 kilometers. Surrounding it was an endless ocean. Luo Wen tried to locate familiar landmarks but found that most features were either unrecognizable or had shifted over time, likely due to tectonic activity.

Luo Wen wasn’t concerned. In this world, he had no attachments or obligations—living the kind of life where a lone individual needed only to feed themselves. As long as he survived, the swarm could always be rebuilt.

During this period, Luo Wen discovered several pterosaur nests. Most were built on sheer cliffs, while others were on small islands by the sea.

The sky belonged to the swarm, and Luo Wen wouldn’t tolerate any unidentified entities flying above 100 meters without a designated swarm ID.

One by one, the Storm Gods launched into the air. Thirty Storm Gods formed a flying squadron, adopting a V-formation as they ascended to an altitude of 10,000 meters and soared toward their target.

Their destination was one of the nearest pterosaur nests, located on cliffs over 2,000 meters high. Hundreds of pterosaurs had built their nests there.

After over an hour of long-distance flight, the squadron reached the designated location. Without delay, several Flying Kamikaze Bugs leapt off the Storm Gods. The piercing whistle of their dives cut through the air, and several circling pterosaurs were swiftly taken down.

Next, Modified Spider Combat Bugs leapt from the backs of the Storm Gods. These bugs had been upgraded from the basic Spider Combat Bug model. While they lacked optical cloaking, they featured enhanced stingers and enlarged abdominal toxin sacs. Additionally, their toxin storage capacity had been further increased.

Their eight legs were connected by thin membrane-like webbing extending from the third joint to the base, enabling them to stretch their legs and spread the webbing during descent, slowing their fall. These were the Spider Combat Bug II, the swarm’s newest airborne infantry.

The Storm Gods demonstrated their exceptional payload capacity and long-range deployment abilities by delivering 10,000 Spider Combat Bug II to the battlefield.

A dense cloud of black dots descended from the sky, unfurling their legs and webbing leisurely at 1,000 meters above the mountaintop to reduce their falling speed.

The Storm Gods above still carried a contingent of Flying Kamikaze Bugs, which they deployed whenever a pterosaur attempted to take off.

The 10,000 Spider Combat Bug II split into smaller teams and landed across various peaks. Many pterosaurs, startled by the earlier whistles, were ambushed by the descending bugs before they could react.

The enhanced stingers and enlarged toxin sacs posed a significant threat to the pterosaurs. Just two Spider Combat Bugs’ worth of venom could bring a pterosaur down within 10 kilometers, and five bugs’ worth would prevent one from taking off altogether.

The battle was swift. The swarm suffered the loss of 11 Flying Kamikaze Bugs and 61 Spider Combat Bug II, but eliminated 639 pterosaurs and secured over 500 pterosaur eggs.

Hours later, new Storm Gods arrived, bringing a juvenile Brood Queen, over a million Worker Ants, and tens of thousands of Worker Drones. Given the distance from the main swarm base and the logistical challenges of transporting prey, Luo Wen opted to establish a branch base on-site.

An underground base began to take shape. The pterosaur corpses were piled up beside the base by the Storm Gods, forming a mountain of carcasses.

A faint purple-gray hue spread from the base of the corpse mountain, quickly enveloping it entirely.

Wherever the swarm established a base, a fungal carpet was sure to follow. The fungal carpet would digest the mountain of corpses, converting them into nutrients stored within its tissues. Once the Brood Queen matured and formally began base operations, these stored nutrients would be invaluable.

In the days that followed, the aerial squadrons expanded in number, conducting raids on pterosaur nests across the continent and planting branch bases in their wake.

Gradually, the entire continent—including its surrounding islands—fell under the swarm’s control. The once-dominant apex predators, including the T-Rex, were now little more than livestock under Luo Wen’s rule.

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