I Am The Swarm

The universe itself, though its internal worlds may cycle and reset, exists on a higher level of being where time is meaningless. Luo Wen needed only to accompany it, lazily sleeping, to grow stronger in his dreams.

However, Luo Wen had not fully transitioned into a higher-dimensional being. He could not ignore the passage of time, and his lack of understanding of his essence led him to perform a variety of operations. By chance, he stumbled upon a way to accelerate his growth—the creation of Intelligent Entities.

Regardless of Luo Wen’s initial intent, the emergence of these Intelligent Entities undeniably made him stronger—not just in technological terms, but more importantly, in the development of the Swarm Network.

Perhaps this was because Luo Wen’s ascension had been achieved through a sacrifice of both life and spirit, granting him the ability to absorb spiritual energy to enhance his essence.

This was far more efficient than passively drawing energy from the universe. Moreover, while absorbing spiritual energy, he could simultaneously extract the universe’s energy.

The process of forming an Intelligent Entity involved the Swarm Network consuming the entirety of a spiritual entity, creating a blank slate, and then copying its original memories into this new entity.

It is important to note that this process required the spiritual entity to first be absorbed and digested by Luo Wen, which in turn strengthened his essence. As for what an Intelligent Entity truly was, it could be understood as a derivative of Luo Wen’s higher-dimensional essence.

This relationship was difficult for lower-dimensional beings to comprehend. They might interpret it as a clone, a split personality, or even as akin to precise control over one’s own cells, but none of these explanations sufficed to describe the unique connection.

Whether or not this relationship could be understood, Luo Wen grew stronger, and the Swarm Network grew more robust as a result. Unfortunately, Luo Wen’s understanding of this higher-dimensional growth was limited. What he could perceive was merely an increase in the node units’ signal range and their ability to create more anchor points.

At the time, Luo Wen used various methods—putting his primary body into dormancy or simulating death—to hatch additional primary bodies and Brood Nests.

In reality, his relationship with these primary bodies and Brood Nests was that of tools. They could have been created with far less effort, but Luo Wen’s limited understanding caused him to overcomplicate the process.

For higher-dimensional beings, their power is largely an expression of their will. Yet Luo Wen was still confined by his old way of thinking, believing that a being could have only one primary body. This mental limitation hindered his ability to create more anchor points.

Luo Wen’s subsequent elaborate operations were, in essence, a way to hypnotize himself into bypassing these mental blocks. However, no matter how he circumvented them, he could only create five primary bodies or Brood Nests at the time. This limitation stemmed from his capabilities at that point, which allowed for a maximum of five anchor units.

As Luo Wen’s true essence grew stronger and his mindset gradually shifted, he came to understand more, and his abilities expanded. Yet, his self-awareness remained flawed.

The so-called “upgrade” of the Swarm Network occurred. Afterward, Luo Wen believed he had fully transformed into a “networked being.” However, this transformation was simply an inherent aspect of his nature—his essence.

Every network has a carrier. In the networks Luo Wen previously understood, their carriers were storage devices and electrical signals. Networks were not intangible; their signals could be intercepted, and destroying their carriers could dismantle them.

But since its inception, the Swarm Network had never been detected by outsiders, nor by any known instrument. What, then, was its carrier? What was its method of transmission? How did the node units achieve instantaneous communication with zero delay?

Now Luo Wen understood: the Swarm Network was an expression of his higher-dimensional essence. To beings in lower dimensions, without the means to observe higher dimensions, the Swarm Network could never be detected—no matter how advanced their technology or how deeply they investigated. It was simply beyond their grasp.

Instantaneous communication now became much easier to comprehend. Although the Swarm nodes appeared to be scattered across the lower-dimensional world, in Luo Wen’s higher-dimensional essence, they were inherently unified. Communication occurred through exchanges outside the constraints of dimensions, naturally eliminating any delay.

The relationship between the universe and Luo Wen’s essence transcended the traditional concepts of “large” and “small” as understood by lower-dimensional beings.

As long as an anchor point existed, Luo Wen could effortlessly connect two points in the lower-dimensional world through his higher-dimensional body, completely bypassing the concept of distance in the lower dimensions.

With this realization, Luo Wen experienced a profound sense of self-awareness—an epiphany that made him feel as if he had truly understood himself for the first time. This was not a material or power-based ascension but a spiritual elevation, a deeper understanding and mastery of his true essence.

As a result, problems that had once seemed insurmountable—such as extending the Swarm Network’s coverage throughout the Confederation—now appeared manageable. Luo Wen’s current capabilities allowed him to create up to ten anchor units.

These no longer needed to be tied to physical Swarm bodies or Brood Nests, nor did they require the elaborate and resource-intensive efforts of the past. He could now freely design their form as he desired, limited only by their quantity.

With this newfound flexibility, Luo Wen crafted a small golden insect encased in amber, disguising it as a personal belonging for one of the departing Riken Intelligent Entities. This inconspicuous anchor point would enable Luo Wen to locate the universe and breach its dimensional barriers, allowing him to connect with nearby Swarm nodes.

As the Intelligent Entities and the amber-encased insect drifted farther away, Luo Wen made yet another discovery. Node units themselves could transmit coordinates, though their signals were too weak to pierce through the many layers of barriers. Furthermore, Luo Wen’s essence had previously been too feeble to actively locate them.

However, when tens of thousands of node units gathered in one place, the combined strength of their signals rivaled that of an anchor unit. In such cases, even without a nearby anchor unit, Luo Wen could pinpoint their location and establish a connection.

This revelation suggested that the limitation on the number of anchor units might become irrelevant. While the current cap of ten seemed generous—and Luo Wen had so far only utilized two—it was clear that as technology advanced and the Swarm’s speed increased, the network’s coverage would eventually face new challenges.

If, for example, the Swarm reached the Ji race’s current warp speed of eight times the speed of light, exploring unknown star systems would become cumbersome if they had to repeatedly decelerate, exit warp bubbles, and deploy network nodes. This would not only be inefficient but also significantly hinder their expansion efforts.

Now, however, the solution was simple. As long as the exploration fleets maintained a sufficient number of node units, Luo Wen would never lose contact with them. Solving this potential issue before it arose left Luo Wen in high spirits.

Additionally, as his essence continued to strengthen, the distinction between node units and anchor units might eventually blur. When that day came, any node unit could function as an anchor unit, regardless of its signal strength. Luo Wen would be able to locate them through even the most impenetrable barriers.

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