I Am The Swarm

If that were all, these abilities wouldn’t seem to offer much help in deploying a Brood Queen to Riken’s homeworld. But these abilities were merely the initial functions revealed by the evolution of the Swarm Network.

As Luo Wen continued to explore the capabilities of the new Swarm Network, he uncovered a far more terrifying power.

While experimenting with the remote authorization for Brood Queens to update their genetic libraries, Luo Wen had a sudden idea: what would happen if this function were applied to ordinary units?

That was when he discovered the new functionality.

Ordinary units, upon gaining access to the genetic library and having sufficient energy, could mutate into Brood Queens!

This meant that regardless of their original form—whether Worker Drones, Raiders, Storm Gods, Space Octopuses, or even Fungal Carpets—so long as they were connected to the Swarm Network and Luo Wen willed it, they could evolve into Brood Queens.

Of course, for smaller units like Worker Drones or Raiders, the success rate of evolving into a Brood Queen was extremely low due to their insufficient inherent energy. The process required an immense amount of energy.

Among all units, Fungal Carpets had the highest success rate of mutation, reaching nearly 100%. This was likely because they stored the most energy.

After discovering this ability, not only did the primary body and Brood Nests become less critical, but even the significance of Brood Queens diminished. As long as Fungal Carpets existed, the Swarm could never be eradicated.

The survival capabilities of Fungal Carpets were exceedingly strong, and they were also highly inconspicuous.

All of the Swarm’s space-based units were essentially derivatives of Fungal Carpets. For example, Space Octopuses and Observer Bugs were aggregations of Fungal Carpet components. At critical moments, they could serve as seeds for new Fungal Carpets.

In space, countless Observer Bugs drifted, tasked with monitoring their surroundings and expanding the coverage of the Swarm Network.

Every single Observer Bug could be considered a Fungal Carpet seed, and their numbers were beyond reckoning.

Moreover, over the years, the Swarm had randomly launched a vast number of Swarm Meteors into the void. These meteors could also potentially evolve into Brood Queens and propagate the Swarm when necessary.

With these seeds scattered, Luo Wen’s survivability had improved dramatically. Even if a civilization was watching them or some other force emerged, unless they could eliminate every single Swarm unit across several star systems in a short period, the Swarm would endure.

With this newfound capability, tasks that once seemed impossible became remarkably simple.

On Riken’s homeworld, the original laboratory for the Longevity Serum—reduced to ruins after an attack by unknown armed forces—had been consumed by fire, leaving many buildings and materials burned to ashes. After the rescue teams salvaged some supplies, they escorted the scientific team to another lab.

The now-abandoned ruins, deemed worthless, were left unattended.

Beneath these ruins, however, things had changed.

Cautious of the myriad monitoring devices scattered across Riken’s homeworld, the Fungal Carpet seeds, after burrowing underground, avoided spreading laterally. Instead, they dug down approximately 300 meters to begin their development.

Due to the lab’s secrecy, external monitoring was minimal, and its internal systems had been destroyed in the attack. As a desolate ruin, it became an ideal breeding ground.

After an initial period of growth, the Fungal Carpet had already branched into numerous colonies.

Suddenly, the Fungal Carpet’s network pulsated. Large amounts of material visibly coursed through its conduits and into one particular colony.

The colony underwent rapid changes. It began to swell, its surface becoming encased in secreted material, eventually forming a massive egg over five meters tall.

Inside the egg, the colony’s genetic material transformed. A new sequence of genes developed, fueled by an abundance of nutrients.

Days later, the egg split open, and a Brood Queen emerged.

With the Brood Queen in place, the development of the Riken division of the Swarm accelerated dramatically.

The first hatchlings were specialized Burrower Worker Drones, adept at excavation. They immediately began digging deeper and wider tunnels to expand beyond the confines of the ruined lab.

However, to ensure safety, the division continued to burrow downward. A depth of 300 meters was deemed insufficient to guarantee their security, so the Swarm pushed even further underground.

One month later, the Riken division had expanded to ten Brood Queens. Massive numbers of Burrower Worker Drones had been hatched, which excavated a further 20 kilometers below the surface. There, they widened the tunnels and relocated the Fungal Carpet and the Brood Queens.

Once the Fungal Carpet settled into its new home, its roots extended outward, stabilizing the cavern’s ceiling to prevent collapses. Downward, it pushed another dozen kilometers, eventually reaching the molten layers.

Special roots, crafted from materials derived from Godzilla’s skin, penetrated the magma. Designed to withstand even small nuclear blasts, these roots easily endured the mere thousand-degree heat of the molten rock.

The magma, rich in energy and diverse mineral resources, provided essential materials for the division’s growth. With this new energy pipeline established, the Swarm’s expansion surged to a new level.

“Big Sister, you’re finally here,” Lieutenant Colonel Cross said with a sly smile as she greeted her “sister.”

“Last time I came back, you were still as sharp-tongued as ever, showing no signs of psychological trauma. What’s changed to make you so desperate and suicidal now?” Captain Cleo, whose once-similar appearance had matured far beyond her sister’s, looked at Cross in confusion.

She had hurried back after receiving a distressing call from Cross, claiming she had been reliving the trauma of her alien capture, leading to severe depression and suicidal tendencies.

Although the two often appeared to bicker and mock each other, they were actually very close. While Cross seemed somewhat different this time, Cleo chalked it up to her sister’s experiences during the expedition. Her busy work schedule had left her little time to investigate further.

Hearing about suicidal tendencies, whether true or not, had prompted Cleo to drop everything and return immediately. But now, seeing her sister’s cheerful demeanor, she found it hard to believe the claim.

“I truly felt that way earlier, but I’m much better now. Come, have a drink with me, Big Sister. Let’s chat—I have a surprise for you later,” Cross said, pouring a glass and handing it to Cleo.

Cleo leaned against the wall, taking a sip. “All right, then. What’s going on? What do you want to talk about?”

“When do you have to go back?”

“I don’t know. I left in a hurry and haven’t arranged for leave yet,” Cleo replied, shaking her head.

“Then stay with me a few more days. In the decades since my return, we’ve only had a brief meeting,” Cross said, her tone tinged with melancholy.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!