I Am The Swarm

Soon, they landed on a planet. As Reggie stepped out of the cabin, he glanced around.

In the distance, the familiar sight of T855 appeared as a half-visible sphere.

This indicated that the current location must be one of T855’s planets. However, due to the angle, he couldn’t determine which one.

The ground quivered, revealing a deep, dark entrance as Morgan led the way inside.

Once inside, Reggie realized that while the planet’s surface seemed unremarkable, it was merely a thin outer layer. Beneath the layer of sand and rocks, the area had been hollowed out by a dark-purple biological material.

These structures resembled internal organs, occasionally writhing. As they passed, a faint purple glow illuminated their path.

“Amazing,” Reggie marveled. No wonder they hadn’t detected this before—it was extraordinarily well-hidden.

“If you’d seen the neon-lit KTV-style ambiance from earlier, you’d find it even more incredible,” Morgan thought but refrained from saying aloud. He wasn’t sure if the Overlord was watching, and such embarrassing history was strictly taboo in the Overlord’s presence.

“How do you plan to execute me?” Reggie finally asked, unable to suppress his curiosity as Morgan continued leading him through the winding passageways. He had come to terms with his fate, understanding Camis’s mindset from before.

“You’re going to experiment on me, aren’t you?” This was Reggie’s greatest fear. He’d already glimpsed a fraction of the Swarm’s methods.

“No,” Morgan replied firmly.

“Then surely you’re not letting me go?” Reggie asked skeptically, though he couldn’t help but feel a sliver of hope.

“You never know,” Morgan said with a grin.

“Are you serious? You’re not going to kill me?” Reggie was dubious, yet a spark of anticipation lit within him.

“Well, we’ll kill you—but you’ll be reborn.”

Fear gripped Reggie as those words carried an ominous undertone, filling him with dread.

Noticing Reggie’s reaction, Morgan tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry; you’ll like it.”

How would you know what I’d like? Reggie cursed inwardly. But it was too late to change anything now; he could only wait and face his fate.

Finally, they reached a small room composed entirely of the dark-purple biological material. Under Morgan’s direction, Reggie lay in the center as the material began to writhe, slowly encasing him.

Before he was completely enveloped, he vaguely heard Morgan’s voice: “Old friend, haven’t you always wanted to meet him? When you wake up, you’ll finally get the chance.”

“Who is he?!” Reggie’s muffled shout emerged from the undulating cocoon.

Darkness consumed his consciousness.

Morgan stared at the pulsating spore capsule before him. Over the years, while he always referred to Luo Wen as “Overlord” in front of others, he preferred calling Luo Wen “God” in private.

It had been over a century since the first Intelligent Entity, Morgan, had been created. Since then, millions of Ratfolk had undergone conversion, and Luo Wen’s understanding of the process had deepened.

Through his observations and experiments, Luo Wen discovered that when a Ratfolk’s spirit entered the Swarm Network, it underwent a complex transformation far beyond simply “passing through a door.”

First, the spirit’s memories were stripped away by the Swarm Network. Then, the spirit itself was used as raw material to create an Intelligent Entity.

The Swarm Network absorbed the spirit’s energy and molded it into a prototype Entity.

Initially, the newly created Entity was a blank slate, devoid of consciousness or memory. At this stage, the Entity had no connection to its original spirit, akin to how consumed food is digested and transformed into fat. The Entity was now entirely a product of the Swarm, no different from the biological units produced by the Brood Nests—a physical creation of the Swarm.

However, an Entity without consciousness had limited utility. Thus, the Swarm Network would replicate the stripped memories and inject them into the Entity, endowing it with intellect and creativity.

This process ensured their unwavering loyalty to Luo Wen.

Luo Wen functioned as both the server and the database itself, while these Entities were akin to NPCs derived from the players’ data. Fundamentally, they were extensions of Luo Wen.

Once this concept was clarified, Luo Wen’s research could progress further.

Why Could Ratfolk Be Converted into Intelligent Entities?

The Ratfolk were experimental creations of Luo Wen. Their ancestors carried genetic material from the Brood Nests; some were even direct Brood creations.

While this alone wasn’t sufficient for them to become Entities, it provided a foundation.

Using a farming analogy, the Entities were the fruit. To harvest fruit, one first needed fertile soil.

The bodies infused with Swarm genes served as this fertile soil.

With the soil prepared, the next requirement was a seed.

This seed could be likened to a soul or spirit, which would grow and develop in the fertile soil until it reached a harvestable state.

However, Luo Wen discovered that not all seeds were viable. Most fell short of the standard.

He had experimented with numerous animals, but their spirits failed to meet the minimum requirements for creating Entities. Luo Wen realized that seeds also required nutrients.

This nutrient consisted of knowledge, experience, and what could collectively be termed “wisdom.” Though unscientific, it was a proven fact.

The Ratfolk’s ancestors couldn’t become Entities due to a lack of wisdom. Over generations, as they developed civilizations, their progress cultivated wisdom, which, in turn, nourished the seeds.

Eventually, with soil, seeds, and nutrients all meeting the standards, suitable material was produced, harvested by the Swarm Network, and transformed into Entities.

Until now, only Ratfolk had achieved the required criteria among Luo Wen’s creations. Other species failed to meet one or more elements of the triad.

The primary obstacle for other species was nutrients—wisdom. Cultivating an intelligent species was immensely challenging, requiring an ecological planet and vast amounts of time. Luo Wen lacked the patience to nurture another civilization as he had with the Ratfolk.

Fortunately, there was no urgent need for this. In essence, such civilizations functioned as material production bases. Though the Ratfolk’s base alone sufficed for the Swarm’s current needs, having additional bases would be beneficial. If Genesis Planet were ever destroyed, the inability to produce Entities would be a catastrophic loss.

Fortunately, the appearance of the Riken offered a new opportunity.

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