I Am The Swarm

The revered scholar, former head of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and mentor to the queen, Morgan, met with an unexpected tragedy. While climbing a ladder to retrieve materials in the library, he fell and passed away at the age of 56.

Upon hearing the news, the queen was devastated. She ensured Morgan was given a grand funeral and declared a day of national mourning.

Although Morgan had long retired from the frontlines of research and spent his later years pursuing seemingly “unscientific” endeavors, his contributions were monumental. With no family of his own, he had dedicated his life to science. Most of the personnel in the kingdom’s scientific community were either his direct disciples or students of his students.

Morgan’s death left a significant impact, not only on the queen but also on many researchers, causing delays in scientific progress.

Time, however, could heal all wounds. People grieved but eventually resumed their lives and work.

Then, the maintenance staff at the library discovered something startling: the broken rung of the ladder from which Morgan had fallen bore signs of deliberate tampering.

The revelation was like a bomb exploding in a hornet’s nest.

The entire scientific community of the kingdom erupted in outrage.

Before the researchers could organize a formal petition, the equally incensed queen ordered the Kingdom’s Security Bureau, Investigation Bureau, and Police Force to conduct a thorough inquiry.

With the three agencies working under mutual supervision and pressure, the truth gradually came to light.

Morgan had been assassinated. A spy from the Kingdom of Merrican had bribed an insider to engineer what appeared to be an accident. This investigation also uncovered numerous other “accidents” that had been deliberate acts of sabotage.

The motive behind these actions was singular: to slow down the Kingdom of Kerrigan’s scientific progress and give Merrican an edge in the moon landing competition.

The revelation triggered an uproar, not just within the scientific community but throughout the entire Kerrigan Kingdom. While spies and traitors were being rooted out, the nation began mobilizing troops along its borders, demanding justice from Merrican.

Merrican, guilty and fearing retaliation, had already begun covertly deploying its forces near the border when Kerrigan started its investigation.

Soon, the armies of both kingdoms were locked in a tense standoff at the frontier. The long-standing peace seemed poised to break, with war imminent.

For years, Luo Wen had sensed strange changes within the Swarm Network. Periodically, external entities would attempt to invade, but Luo Wen had always easily repelled these intrusions.

On this particular day, he encountered another attempted invasion. However, this time, the situation was unusual. The entity attempting to breach the network conveyed a clearer message.

Although Luo Wen couldn’t initially understand the information, the Swarm Network’s translation functions soon made it comprehensible: the entity was requesting permission to join the network.

Luo Wen was stunned. He had always believed the Swarm Network was uniquely his—a closed internal system. How could someone apply to join it?

He was momentarily shaken but realized the matter required an immediate decision. After careful consideration, he decided to grant the request.

The entity was hidden in the shadows; Luo Wen had never detected its existence before. Even when it attempted to breach the Swarm Network, his extensive swarm intelligence network had failed to locate any anomalies.

If he rejected the request, the entity would likely vanish again. Luo Wen reasoned it would be better to let it in and determine its identity, purpose, and allegiance. At the very least, it would provide a chance to understand the entity better.

Confident in his control over the Swarm Network, Luo Wen believed he could neutralize any malicious intent or expel the entity if necessary.

Before approving the request, he summoned all the Blades into the network. There was strength in numbers, after all.

Once preparations were complete, Luo Wen granted access. An unknown energy immediately flowed into the network.

As the energy entered, the Swarm Network underwent a sudden update and upgrade, simultaneously transmitting a vast amount of information to Luo Wen.

The sheer influx of data overwhelmed him like a thunderclap.

It took Luo Wen a while to process the information. Once he did, he realized the supposed intrusion had been a colossal misunderstanding.

The incident traced back to the Swarm Network’s origin. It had been created through Luo Wen’s innate talent, combined with the sacrificial energies of countless bugs. These energies, encompassing life, spirit, and soul, had imbued the network with unique properties and abilities.

As an extension of Luo Wen’s talents and abilities, the Swarm Network naturally inherited these traits. Luo Wen’s bond with the Brood Nest meant the nest also shared these capabilities.

The civilization of the rat folk had unknowingly carried remnants of this connection. Their ancestors had once been Luo Wen’s experimental subjects, leaving them with subtle Brood Nest markers in their biology.

For instance, Luo Wen could establish telepathic connections with rat folk and dinosaur people but not with other species, partly due to these markers.

As the intelligence of the rat folk advanced, some individuals began exhibiting extraordinary mental capabilities.

The Brood Nest marker granted them a kind of identity verification, while their burgeoning mental strength served as the “key” to use it.

However, having a key wasn’t enough; they needed to find the “door.”

Finding the “door” was relatively straightforward. It required resonating with Luo Wen or the Swarm Network—a complex interplay of emotions, including longing, belief, and reverence.

When these feelings reached a threshold, the “door” became apparent.

Simply put, when a rat person died, the physical cessation often triggered a brief surge in mental energy. In their final moments, the sublimation of emotions allowed them to sense the “door.”

The “door” was, in fact, the outer security and identification system of the Swarm Network.

The Brood Nest marker gave rat folk the right to knock on this door. What Luo Wen had previously dismissed as “unknown biological intrusions” was merely their attempt to gain entry.

Once Luo Wen granted access, the entity would enter the network, its mental form restructured to serve as a node. This process would integrate it into the Swarm Network and equip it with a friend-or-foe recognition system.

As a Swarm Network node, the entity would pledge unwavering loyalty to Luo Wen. Other than this allegiance, their personality and consciousness would remain unchanged.

Whether they were still the same individual post-transformation was a philosophical question Luo Wen chose not to dwell on.

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