I Am The Swarm

Reality proved that even though Luo Wen wasn’t afraid of the white grubs, his current weaponry and equipment were utterly useless against them.

The white grubs’ skin appeared delicate and transparent, as if it could break with a single poke. However, it was incredibly tough—at least from Luo Wen’s perspective at the moment. His striding limbs, small claws, and proboscis-like mouthparts were powerless against the white grubs.

At this moment, he couldn’t help but envy their massive fangs.

Watching the fat white grub roll around incessantly as if mocking him—”Come on, do your worst!”—Luo Wen felt his frustration rise. If he were still human, he could have crushed the white grub into a burst of pulp with just two fingers. But thinking about it, the notion felt revolting, so he quickly dismissed the thought from his mind.

Suddenly, a realization struck him. The presence of this white grub here meant there had to be food nearby; otherwise, it wouldn’t be so lively and energetic.

“Just you wait! I’ll eat up all your food and starve you to death. Let’s see how cocky you’ll be then!” Luo Wen glared menacingly at the white grub.

Without paying it any further attention, he resumed digging.

Before long, he unearthed a few more siblings of the white grub. This discovery irritated Luo Wen even more. Why did other insects live in colonies, yet he was all alone?

After brushing these annoying worms aside, the soil crumbled to reveal the food they had been guarding.

A section of an unknown plant’s root emerged from the dirt. Its grayish-brown surface bore several fresh bite marks. Judging from the shape, Luo Wen guessed they had been left by the white grubs.

He pressed his proboscis against one of the wounds on the root and began licking. A trickle of liquid slid down his tongue into his esophagus, eventually reaching his abdomen.

After only a few licks, the wound stopped oozing. Luo Wen switched to another wound, but each dried up after only a few tries. By the time he had licked his way around the root, he was only about a third full. Attempting to enlarge the wounds with his mouthparts proved futile.

After some thought, he shoved one of the rolling white grubs next to the root. As expected, the mindless creature immediately sank its fangs into the food, creating a fresh wound from which tantalizing sap flowed. Luo Wen promptly kicked the worm away and took over the spot for himself.

Thanks to the assistance of his “tool bug,” Luo Wen finally managed to satiate his hunger and quench his thirst.

Feeling full and satisfied, he nudged the “tool bug” back toward the root and kicked the other white grubs even further away.

Returning along the tunnel to the sandy layer above, Luo Wen decided to rest. The digging earlier had drained a significant amount of his energy, and the discovery of food had eased his anxiety, allowing him to relax.

As for why he chose to travel all the way back to the sandy layer instead of resting near the root?

Luo Wen feared that, despite the white grubs’ herbivorous appearance, they might still bite him on a whim. With his small limbs, those massive fangs could easily sever them. Even if they didn’t attack him, waking up to find those fangs dangling in front of his face would be unsettling. After weighing the options, he decided it was safer to rest further away.

When Luo Wen awoke again, he had no idea how much time had passed. His once-full belly was now empty and growling with hunger.

Trying to scratch his abdomen with his forelimbs, Luo Wen suddenly noticed something strange. A new pair of limbs had grown in front of his original forelimbs. These new appendages looked incredibly strong. Their ends resembled rake-like claws, with four stubby, robust prongs slightly curved inward.

“Iphieash: Infinite Evolution Insect,” Luo Wen thought of the term inexplicably, and its meaning became clear to him. Before sleeping, he had grumbled about how ineffective his small claws were for digging through dirt. Upon waking, he had grown a pair of limbs that were perfect for the job.

For a moment, his thoughts wandered to a game he’d played in his previous life, where there was a type of self-destructing insect…

Luo Wen wanted to slap himself. What was he thinking? If he grew something bizarre while sleeping—something that exploded as soon as he woke up—where would he even go to complain?

Still, what determined these evolutionary changes? Next time he rested, he would need to give it serious thought. But for now, filling his stomach was the priority.

The new rake-like limbs proved to be exceptionally efficient. The prongs easily penetrated the soil, dislodging large chunks with each motion.

Strangely, Luo Wen noticed his sense of direction had improved dramatically since becoming an insect. In his human life, he was notoriously bad at navigation, relying on GPS even for short trips. Now, in this pitch-dark underground maze where every direction looked the same, he instinctively knew where to go. He quickly found his way back to the previous tunnel without taking a single wrong turn.

Some parts of the tunnel had collapsed, but what had taken great effort to dig through with his small claws before was now a breeze with his new limbs.

He now had eight appendages, though he had never paid much attention to insect anatomy in his previous life. While he had killed his fair share of flies and mosquitoes, he’d never bothered counting their legs. Insects came in so many varieties, and having more legs seemed normal. Take centipedes, for example—he remembered a childhood story about a centipede putting on shoes, which his kindergarten teacher used to tell before naptime. He had never stayed awake long enough to hear the centipede finish.

Of course, those legs were natural. His, on the other hand, seemed to grow based on need. Luo Wen worried about what he might turn into if this continued, but then he laughed at himself. He was already an insect; why worry about appearances?

It wasn’t as though insects had dating standards, he thought. Then again, who knew? He hadn’t met any others of his kind yet, so he had no idea what insect aesthetics were like. Suddenly, another thought struck him—was he male or female? Did insects even have… that? He tried feeling for something but found nothing. Could he be a female?

If he were still human, his face would undoubtedly have gone pale at this realization.

Distraught, Luo Wen reached the plant root again, only to find the white grubs feasting gleefully. Fury surged within him.

He rushed forward and kicked them away one by one.

Licking the delicious sap while watching the white grubs squirm and roll in frustration, Luo Wen felt much better.

As expected, happiness is built on the misery of other insects.

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