I Am The Swarm

The pterosaur had not expected an additional gain. After seizing its prey, it began a rapid ascent.

The fierce wind howled past, and the intense air pressure made Luo Wen’s eyes feel extremely uncomfortable, impairing his vision. His eyes started secreting fluid, forming a thin membrane-like covering.

This was a skill Luo Wen had acquired from the Submersible Bug. Unexpectedly, it proved not only effective underwater but also quite useful in the sky.

Regaining his ability to see, Luo Wen noticed the ground rapidly receding until it faded beyond his vision, becoming a blur. This indicated that he had been carried to at least three hundred meters above the ground, and the pterosaur showed no sign of stopping as it continued to ascend.

Since becoming an insect, Luo Wen had only suffered during the initial hatching phase. Once the Brood Nest was established, he had gradually begun living a life akin to a lord. If he hadn’t been so picky himself, he could have even had dedicated bugs feeding him.

This perilous situation was something Luo Wen hadn’t encountered in a long time.

Adding to his troubles, he had only recently awakened, his mind was still groggy, and his stomach was yet to be filled. Surrounded by strange creatures, he felt as though he were in a dream—a surreal and unreal experience.

Yet, the smooth fur beneath his hands, the hard claws gripping him, and the occasional cheerful chirps from the creature above kept pulling Luo Wen back to reality.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Luo Wen realized he could no longer discern his altitude. White clouds surrounded him, and the temperature had dropped sharply, though the cold didn’t pose much of a threat to him.

It was unclear where the pterosaur intended to take him, but it was unlikely to be a friendly place. Once there, his single opponent might turn into a group.

This was not a flight Luo Wen wanted to continue. He had to find a way to disembark early.

Though the pterosaur’s large wingspan made it appear massive, its actual body was likely less than two meters long. From Luo Wen’s angle, he could even see its unprotected soft underbelly.

Moreover, Luo Wen had a tremendously powerful long-range attack that he had never used in combat before.

Extending his right claw, he assumed an attack posture. The full-powered hyperbolic system began charging, aimed directly at the target.

Even a weakened version of the hyperbolic system was challenging for Luo Wen to control. Now, with the complete version, aiming was purely a matter of chance.

To make matters worse, both the pterosaur and Luo Wen were in rapid motion. The turbulence from the pterosaur’s flight made it difficult for him to stabilize. Whether he could hit the target was anyone’s guess.

But the arrow was nocked; there was no turning back.

A deafening sonic boom resounded as the hyperbolic system fully discharged. In that instant, Luo Wen’s right claw accelerated to supersonic speed, detaching from his body and shooting upward into the sky before vanishing.

The pterosaur’s body was struck first on its right side, leaving a gash. The attack then pierced through the base of its wing. The claw’s extreme speed generated such high temperatures that the wounds cauterized instantly, leaving the pterosaur with barely a drop of blood lost.

If this had occurred on land, Luo Wen’s self-sacrificial attack might have gone to waste. However, at such close range, the damage was not limited to mere physical trauma.

Before the pterosaur could even register the pain, a massive sonic boom followed, stunning it. The unexpected impact left the pterosaur dizzy, its head ringing.

Reeling from the dual blow, the pterosaur involuntarily released its grip, losing its prey as it began spiraling downward, its punctured wing leaking air.

Although Luo Wen had escaped its claws, he was far from safe.

The pterosaur’s earlier cheerful calls had attracted its kin, which had been lurking in the clouds. Now, seeing the first pterosaur lose its prey, they swarmed toward the falling Luo Wen.

Due to their position beyond his line of sight, Luo Wen couldn’t tell how many of them were preparing to attack. But based on the sounds coming from different directions, he estimated there were at least three.

With his right claw already lost in pursuit of its dream and his left claw jammed at the joint by the bizarre creature’s teeth, Luo Wen was in free fall, unable to leverage any foothold. It was as though he had entirely lost the ability to resist.

The situation was even more dire than before.

Faced with a life-and-death crisis, Luo Wen’s intellect surged. He displayed a hidden talent.

This skill, borrowed from a type of deep-sea crab, involved deliberately shedding a claw when facing an irresistible attack to distract the predator while escaping.

Luo Wen had never imagined he would need this skill, having long since forgotten it. Caught off guard by the aerial assault, he had been half a beat too slow to react decisively.

Had he shed his claw the moment the pterosaur attacked, he wouldn’t have had so much trouble later.

But there was no point dwelling on past mistakes. The situation was what it was, and he could only treat it as a valuable lesson for the future.

At the root joint of his left claw, a segment opened, detaching the claw. As it fell away, Luo Wen used his legs to push it, along with the attached creature, with all his might.

The recoil sent Luo Wen hurtling in the opposite direction. Simultaneously, he activated his optical camouflage system.

Though the rapid motion caused a slight delay in the system’s operation, the monochromatic sky environment minimized its impact.

From the pterosaurs’ perspective, the peculiar yellow-furred creature seemed to glide a short distance through the air. Then, the black insect clinging to its back vanished entirely.

Their limited brain capacity didn’t allow the pterosaurs to ponder deeply. They pursued the brightly colored creature instead.

The smaller pterosaurs began a fierce aerial struggle. Their sizes were nowhere near that of the first pterosaur, which was why they had dared only to trail and not snatch the prey before.

But now that the larger predator was injured and retreating, the prey it had dropped became the prize for their persistence.

Being similar in size, none of the smaller pterosaurs could easily overpower the others. As their quarry approached the ground, they grew increasingly desperate, as the ground was not their domain.

Driven by the mindset of “a bite is better than nothing,” one pterosaur took the initiative and jabbed its sharp beak into the creature.

Unbeknownst to them, the peculiar creature had long since died. Its muscles had liquefied under the effects of Luo Wen’s excessive venom injection.

Though its skeleton and fur held its shape, it was essentially a giant water balloon.

Under the pterosaur’s attack, the creature’s thick hide gradually tore open, unable to withstand the pressure.

Finally, with a loud pop, the creature exploded.

The sudden eruption and splattering fluids startled the pterosaurs, scattering them. By the time they looked back, all that remained was a tattered patch of fur drifting in the wind.

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