I Am The Swarm

As Lute had suspected, the technology aboard the Cat’s Ear Spaceship was, compared to its intrinsic value, no more than scrap metal for the Swarm.

The experiments commenced swiftly.

Luo Wen, with his extensive experience from countless tests conducted during the genesis of intelligent entities, approached this process with confidence.

The creation of intelligent entities relies on three essential elements: soil, seeds, and nutrients.

First comes the nutrients, intricately tied to the seeds in a symbiotic relationship.

The Riken civilization has a far more ancient history than the Ratfolk, making the latter appear as a newly emergent culture in comparison. From this perspective, wisdom nourished by such a venerable civilization was bound to meet the required standards.

And seeds cultivated by such wisdom would likely be exceptional as well.

So far, the highest-quality seed Luo Wen had encountered was the first-generation Ratfolk Empress, Sarah. Her spiritual essence was extraordinarily refined, and her capacity for reception exceeded all others. Most intelligent entities would enter a comatose state after the infusion of memories due to an adaptation process, but Sarah showed no such reaction.

Although this was the only advantage Luo Wen had discovered in her, he was certain there was more to uncover as his capabilities and familiarity with her deepened.

From the perspective of nutrients, the Riken civilization, with its profound cultural heritage, might produce entities of higher average quality compared to the Ratfolk.

While there were no issues with seeds and nutrients, the Riken people encountered a bottleneck in the most fundamental element: the “soil.”

Their bodies lacked any connection to the Swarm.

Yet, this issue was relatively straightforward to address given the Swarm’s current capabilities.

Luo Wen’s proudest creation wasn’t the Ratfolk, nor the Hive Queens, but the fungal carpet.

The fungal carpet, a genetic amalgamation, possessed unparalleled versatility and compatibility.

Electromagnetic cannons, bio-ships, and external incubation chambers were just a few of its derivatives. Nearly every unit in the Swarm now had some degree of association with it.

By implanting fungal carpet cells into the bodies of the Riken people, their physical forms could gradually be transformed into suitable “soil.”

Luo Wen had conducted similar experiments on various wild animals in the past, all of which succeeded. Unfortunately, these subjects ultimately failed in the seed and nutrient stages, preventing their transformation into intelligent entity production materials.

The transformation process was remarkably smooth. After only a few failures and the loss of a handful of test subjects, the “soil” was gradually modified. Seeds then thrived in the enriched nutrients.

A year later, the seeds matured and were harvested.

Thus, the first Riken intelligent entity was born.

Subsequently, Riken intelligent entities began to appear at a rate of two every half-month—precisely matching the frequency with which crew members were taken, as recalled by Reggie.

Despite the success, Luo Wen still perceived minor flaws in the process.

First, during the transformation of “soil,” the fungal carpet cells within their bodies could be detected. Given the Riken people’s advanced technology, such anomalies would be easy for them to discover.

This made covertly transforming the Riken into hosts unsuitable. However, once the transformation was complete and the seed converted into an intelligent entity, the Swarm could use the original body as a template to produce an identical new one.

This new body could be made indistinguishable from its pre-transformation state, leaving no detectable differences. This sparked some plans in Luo Wen’s mind at the time.

These plans, however, led to a second minor flaw.

The transformation of the “soil” took too long. Allowing the fungal carpet cells to slowly alter the entire body of a Riken individual required almost a year. This extended timeframe rendered Luo Wen’s plans nearly unfeasible.

Thus, accelerating the maturation of seeds became Luo Wen’s next research focus.

The remaining Riken test subjects became precious, a non-renewable resource in the short term. Even if Luo Wen attempted to breed them in captivity, the seeds produced without the proper nutrient environment would likely differ from the originals.

Furthermore, the experimentation itself introduced risks to the otherwise perfected technique.

Under such circumstances, the timeline for converting key Riken figures into intelligent entities was postponed.

If, in the end, the ordinary Riken subjects were exhausted before the maturation acceleration experiments reached the desired results, the important figures would have to be used. While they still possessed some classified information, its value had likely already diminished due to time, rendering it insufficient to save them from becoming expendable resources.

Fortunately, the experiments progressed well. Luo Wen’s centuries of accumulated expertise finally bore fruit. The maturation period for the seeds was compressed to seven days.

At this point, further reductions became nearly impossible. On both genetic and spiritual levels, Luo Wen had reached the current limits of his ability.

Within these seven days, half a day was allocated to the fungal carpetification of the body.

During the remaining six and a half days, the body’s transformation facilitated a profound metamorphosis of the spiritual essence, culminating in its connection to the Swarm network.

Further compressing this metamorphosis period would severely damage the spiritual essence, rendering it incapable of retaining memories. Such a compromised entity would be utterly useless to Luo Wen.

Thankfully, seven days, while inconvenient, held strategic value.

The reduced timeframe came with one unavoidable side effect: irreversible destruction of the physical body.

For the Swarm, creating a new body for an intelligent entity was effortless. However, applying this research to practical plans still required careful consideration.

Reggie awoke fully aware of everything. Before regaining his body, the Hive Queen had transmitted essential information to him. He inherited all of Reggie’s past and continued to exist as Swarm Reggie.

“Old friend, how do you feel?” Morgan asked as Reggie sat up.

“Excellent. Better than ever,” Reggie said, flexing his arm. “But why put me in the same body as before? I need something more robust.”

“I thought you might feel nostalgic,” Morgan replied with a grin.

“I’ve been reborn. I should leave the old era behind,” Reggie said firmly.

Different seeds produced subtly distinct outcomes.

Perhaps because the Ratfolk were derivatives of the Brood Nest’s creations, intelligent entities made from them, while absolutely loyal to Luo Wen, often experienced identity confusion for the first few years post-conversion, craving a return to their former lives.

Riken intelligent entities, however, exhibited no such tendencies. From the moment they awoke post-conversion, they clearly understood their identities, leaving no room for confusion.

Luo Wen marveled at this difference and welcomed it wholeheartedly.

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