I Am The Swarm

In the past, Luo Wen would never have dared to conduct such risky experiments. However, his Brood Nest body had become more like a tool—a uniquely irreplaceable tool, but one that could serve as an ideal experimental subject.

Over the years, as a Swarm Network entity, Luo Wen had mostly operated by projecting his consciousness into temporary hosts among the network’s nodes. His original body often remained hidden deep under the ocean, rarely utilized.

This shift in perspective had profoundly changed Luo Wen’s mindset. He now saw himself as a mecha pilot, with the nodes—including his original body—acting as his mechas. Depending on the situation, he could switch between various “mechas” such as insects, birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, beasts, or even Ratfolk, all tailored from genetic templates.

If a mecha broke down? He could simply replace it. The Brood Nest, while special, was just another mecha.

Of course, he still prioritized the protection of his Brood Nest and his original body, as they represented the Swarm’s ultimate potential and could not be destroyed simultaneously. But sacrificing one occasionally was acceptable.

As it was now.

Prolonged exposure to high-intensity radiation provided Luo Wen with valuable data, but it caused irreparable damage to his original body. Under the mournful gazes of the “semi-insiders,” the body was incinerated. A month later, an identical creature was delivered to the lab.

The “semi-insiders” were baffled. Wasn’t this specimen supposed to be extremely rare?

Radiation protection experiments involved a wide variety of radiation sources, making them a lengthy endeavor. Luo Wen understood this and focused on ensuring progress wasn’t hindered by human factors. Beyond that, he could only wait.

With the strong support of the Kerrigan Empress, the institute expanded rapidly, influencing many young scholars’ career choices.

Within five years, its staff grew to over twenty times its initial size. It had originally been established by integrating experts from the Kingdom of Kerrigan and the Kingdom of Merrican, with nearly 20,000 personnel at its inception.

The collaboration of so many brilliant minds accelerated progress on the Lunar Exploration Project.

The Ratfolk had been developing aerospace technology for years, but concepts alone weren’t enough. Under Luo Wen’s guidance—though he was no academic—their technological priorities were severely misaligned. Lacking a robust industrial foundation and a complete system, building a lunar rocket was a pipe dream.

In previous years, the Ratfolk had launched numerous prototype rockets, all of which failed. To Luo Wen, some didn’t even outperform firecrackers.

Still, failure is the mother of success. Through repeated setbacks, the Ratfolk gained valuable experience and refined their designs to resemble rockets from Luo Wen’s memories.

However, they eventually hit a wall. Theoretical blueprints could no longer be realized:

Supersonic flight demanded strong, pressure-resistant, heat-tolerant, and lightweight materials, which the Ratfolk’s material sciences couldn’t provide.

Increasingly precise rocket engines exceeded the capabilities of Ratfolk machinery.

The refinement of rocket fuels, oxidizers, and accelerants was beyond their technological reach.

Many associated technologies faced similar challenges. Without external intervention, the project might have been abandoned due to its immense cost.

But the Kerrigan Empress, being a “Networked Being,” proposed a groundbreaking solution: consolidating all related fields under the research institute’s jurisdiction.

This bold move shocked many. The space institute already consumed a significant portion of the empire’s budget with minimal results, mostly launching overpriced fireworks for public entertainment.

Jealous of its funding, critics had repeatedly called for its dissolution, only to be overruled by the Empress. As the founding monarch, her authority was unparalleled, leaving dissenters little recourse.

The Empress’s latest expansion plans sparked a wave of rumors and slander. Some claimed she was infatuated with a handsome researcher; others questioned her sanity. There were even whispers of the Merrican Kingdom’s remnants attempting to exploit the situation to restore their monarchy. ℟àΝỗBĘS

People quickly forgot how Kerrigan had unified the empire. Or perhaps the enormous stakes encouraged selective amnesia.

Fortunately, Luo Wen was a “helpful bug.”

Those spreading the wildest rumors—whether overtly or covertly—began dying in their sleep. Luo Wen’s intervention rekindled memories of the fear once instilled by “unfortunate accidents.” The rumors swiftly disappeared, restoring peace and harmony to the empire. Ordinary citizens, bewildered by the rapid turn of events, could only marvel at how quickly the tide shifted.

The institute’s expansion proposal passed with unprecedented speed, facing no further resistance. Many of the tens of thousands of personnel now in the institute came from fields merged during this restructuring.

As supporting systems improved, a prototype rocket based on conceptual blueprints was finally constructed five years later. Around the same time, Luo Wen resumed adaptation experiments in Starlight Enterprises’ private lab.

Once assembled and inspected, the new rocket underwent its first launch test two months later. Unfortunately, shortly after liftoff, it exploded into a spectacular firework, witnessed by officials and citizens across a 100-kilometer radius.

While the test failed, it revealed numerous issues. Six months later, a new rocket was built.

The new rocket measured 15 meters tall and weighed 13.5 tons.

Its nosecone housed gyroscopes, an inertial navigation computer, and a radio command receiver.

The middle section contained fuel and oxidizer tanks, using a combination of alcohol fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. The tail housed the engine and fins.

The system worked by pumping fuel and oxidizer through separate pipelines into the engine’s combustion chamber, where they mixed, ignited, and burned. The high-temperature, high-pressure gases expelled from the bottom generated thrust.

When Luo Wen examined the system and blueprints, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

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