I Am The Swarm

Chapter 436: Expansion

Luo Wen was well aware of what these creatures were

In its understanding, such encounters typically involved a display of size and ended without escalation. However, these three “similar-looking” creatures had no intention of following these unwritten rules. Two of the bugs exploited the raised claws’ opening, swiftly stepping forward to each grab one of the native creature’s claws.

The native creature instantly found itself in an awkward situation, caught between the two attackers. The third bug took the opportunity to strike, raising its claw and delivering a precise thrust that pierced the native creature’s frontal carapace, ending it swiftly and cleanly.

Afterward, two of the bugs dragged their spoils back to the underground base while the remaining bug continued its search.

In just half a day, Luo Wen had obtained genetic samples from several native creatures. Since they were deep underwater, most of these were seabed-dwelling organisms. However, the original imitations could now all be recycled, as a new batch of “authentic” bugs was sent out.

With their newfound “native identity,” reconnaissance and hunting operations that had previously been too risky to undertake now became much bolder.

Numerous carapaced organisms quietly spread out in all directions. Once gathered at a distance from the Swarm’s hive tunnel, they set traps and collectively hunted a fish-like creature.

With the genetic foundation provided by these fish-like creatures, the efficiency of the Swarm’s reconnaissance and hunting teams improved significantly, expanding their operational range considerably.

This, in turn, further accelerated Luo Wen’s acquisition of genetic material, enriching the Swarm’s genetic repository with an ever-growing diversity of marine life, giving Luo Wen more options to utilize.

One particular sample caught Luo Wen’s attention—a small, aggressive species of fish. It resembled the Odd-Headed Fish found on the Genesis Planet. Although small in size, it possessed incredibly fierce biting capabilities, moved at great speed, and traveled in swarms. It was highly suited for the Swarm’s current needs.

With the assistance of this fish-like sample, the Swarm’s operational range expanded even further. These fish, initially prey for larger marine creatures, had now reversed the situation under the Swarm’s command. The Swarm began harvesting the genetic material of large marine organisms.

Meanwhile, under the cover of the fish schools, the Swarm began constructing sub-hives. Eggs from the Brood Queens were carried by the fish to distant locations, allowing the Swarm’s influence in the ocean to grow at an explosive rate.

During the expansion, Luo Wen discovered numerous ships belonging to the planet’s native intelligent species. In the waters near the wormhole, he even found a floating platform. Judging by the aircraft constantly taking off and landing there, the platform was clearly military in nature, likely designed to monitor the wormhole closely.

However, based on the aircraft’s design, they seemed to follow a retro aesthetic. Observing for several days, Luo Wen noted that their performance in terms of takeoff, landing, payload capacity, and speed all pointed to them being true relics of the past.

A bold idea came to Luo Wen’s mind, perhaps the technological level of the native intelligent species on this planet wasn’t as advanced as he had initially assumed. However, more evidence was needed to confirm this hypothesis.

One thing puzzled Luo Wen, as the Swarm’s forces gradually increased, he had managed to locate nearly all of the monitoring instruments deployed by the natives in the surrounding waters. These instruments, like the aircraft, appeared outdated and underwhelming in performance. Yet, they were more than capable of monitoring the flesh pod’s emergence from the wormhole.

Given the platform’s proximity to the wormhole, the natives’ initial response had been unexpectedly slow. Luo Wen couldn’t determine if this delay was intentional. Could everything he was seeing now be a deliberately staged illusion?

Luo Wen’s habit of overthinking resurfaced, as he pondered deeply but failed to grasp the crux of the matter. If the natives’ technological level was low, then how could they have such a wormhole? A small, controllable planetary wormhole—was it truly a natural phenomenon? That idea stretched the limits of Luo Wen’s understanding.

Conversely, if the natives’ technological level was high, why would they stage such a charade for him?

Such a meticulous setup wasn’t something that could be arranged in just a day or two. Luo Wen had no prior knowledge that the flesh pod would land here, so how could the other party predict the future?

He dismissed the notion—it seemed even less plausible than the wormhole being a natural occurrence. Moreover, it didn’t make sense. What significance could the Swarm hold to warrant such elaborate efforts from an advanced civilization?

Unable to make sense of it, Luo Wen temporarily set these thoughts aside. He decided to proceed methodically at his own pace. At worst, he could continue to flee. With the ability to perform long-range Fold Crossing, Luo Wen wasn’t concerned about gaining or losing territory. In a critical situation, he was even prepared to abandon the Genesis System territories entirely.

Before such an abandonment, Luo Wen calculated that he could use the resources within his territory to perform hundreds of long-range random Fold Crossings. He didn’t believe that each jump would lead to him encountering intelligent life.

For now, Luo Wen had no intention of tampering with the natives’ military facilities. However, on the surface of the sea, aside from military platforms and vessels, there were also numerous large civilian deep-sea fishing ships that could easily be distinguished at a glance.

Luo Wen decided to target those.

After careful planning and preparation, a civilian vessel weighing 20,000 tons was selected as the target. The infiltration process turned out to be several times easier than expected. Using bugs created from templates of native marine creatures adept at clinging and climbing, the Swarm infiltrated the ship by crawling along its hull and entering the cabins.

Taking advantage of the native intelligent creatures’ rest period, the bugs successfully collected their genetic samples.

At the same time, the bugs scoured the ship thoroughly, gathering a wealth of intelligence for the Swarm.