I Am The Swarm

For something to elicit exclamations from a Ji member, it might simply be novel. But for it to earn the approval of two Ji members from different maternal lineages, it was undoubtedly a significant find. The “blue-haired monkey” had truly stumbled upon something remarkable.

Out of curiosity, the group gathered around in a commotion. This wasn’t wartime, so regulations were relaxed, and this breach of seating protocol went unchallenged. Even the cabin supervisors were drawn in by their curiosity and joined the crowd.

When the Ji members saw what was displayed on the screen in front of the blue-haired monkey, gasps of astonishment erupted one after another.

“Is this for real?”

“Could they just be hyping themselves up?”

“Possible, but I don’t believe a civilization of this level could produce something like this.”

“That’s nonsense—it wouldn’t benefit them at all to exaggerate this.”

“Maybe they did it deliberately for us to see.”

“Look at the post’s timestamp. I did the conversion earlier—they didn’t even know about the Interstellar Confederation when this was posted.”

“A universal vaccination plan? Extending the entire population’s lifespan by a tenth? Goodness, that’s quite the ambitious project.”

“Interesting. And it doesn’t even seem to be rare.”

“Exactly. If it’s mass-producible, its value is enormous.”

“Looks like we’ll need to report this. If the information is verified, we’ll all get credit for it. What a surprising discovery,” remarked one of the Ji supervisors.

Seeing the blue-haired monkey, Takk, hesitating to speak, he added with a grin, “Of course, Takk, the first credit is yours.”

Takk’s face immediately lit up with delight.

What the Ji team had discovered was none other than the Longevity Serum developed by the Riken. This was the very same serum that the Swarm had painstakingly created to infiltrate the Riken and convert them into an intelligent entity production base.

The report quickly escalated and received immediate attention. All Ji personnel aboard the two stationed warships were called off leave and ordered back to their posts.

“Everyone, get moving! I want you to do everything in your power, through all available means, to collect every scrap of data on the Longevity Serum,” commanded the Ji officer in charge, a humanoid with dark yellow coloration and eyes resembling massive golden gemstones. He gathered the Ji team and began delegating tasks.

“General, I think we should directly request the data from the Riken. Judging from the public information, this doesn’t appear to be classified,” suggested one Ji member.

The golden-eyed officer, named Oga, though commanding only two warships, held a bona fide brigadier general rank. Nodding at the suggestion, he said, “I will. After this meeting, I’ll submit a formal request to the Riken Council. However, we also need to gather our own data for comparison, in case they withhold anything.”

The group nodded in agreement, returning to their stations and accessing the Riken intranet to search for relevant information.

Though the original Ji race had suffered catastrophic losses in their pursuit of longevity, ultimately leading to their demise, the lesson served more as a cautionary tale than a deterrent. The innate desire of intelligent beings for extended lifespans was not something that could simply be erased, only approached with greater caution. РÃꞐÓʙЕṧ

While many civilizations utilized cryosleep as an indirect means of prolonging life, unconscious slumber wasn’t considered true longevity by many.

The essence of being alive was to experience life’s wonders. What was the difference between eternal sleep and death? The universe was vast and brimming with mysteries; few intelligent beings were willing to pass on without uncovering more of its secrets.

Thus, both the New Ji Race and other species continued to seek methods of extending life, investing heavily in exploration and research. Yet the Progenitor Ji race had already pushed these efforts to their limits. For their successors, achieving further breakthroughs was daunting. Instead, they often resorted to compromises, such as sacrificing a fraction of emotional capacity in exchange for an extended lifespan.

However, they were far from satisfied—they wanted more. This was precisely why the Ji personnel were so thrilled upon discovering the Riken’s information regarding the Longevity Serum. The Riken had never previously interacted with the Ji’s longevity-related technologies, indicating that they had independently forged their own path in this field.

From their universal vaccination plan, it was evident that the technology was highly mature. Moreover, the fact that they could afford to vaccinate tens of billions of their population, despite their pitifully small territory, suggested that the method was extremely cost-effective.

If this technology could be proven to be both genuinely effective and widely applicable, it might have the potential to revolutionize the entire Confederation.

When the Ji requested related materials from the Riken, the latter, perhaps understanding the disparity in strength or for other reasons, didn’t put up much resistance. They handed over the information readily.

Of course, what they provided was limited to general descriptions and didn’t include any core technology.

“The initial material originates from the T85 Star System, near the lair of a beast capable of atomic breath? How could we have missed this? This is negligence! I’m going to report those responsible for monitoring that area.”

“Calm down. That region belongs to the Swarm. For all we know, that beast might be one of their bio-weapons. The report even mentions that this was later suspected.”

“But why didn’t the Swarm discover these materials themselves?”

“Are you joking? Something growing in their backyard—they wouldn’t miss it.”

“Then why did they allow the Riken to take it?”

“Maybe it’s nothing special to the Swarm!”

The Ji members exchanged glances. “Perhaps it’s of no use to the Swarm.”

“If this material isn’t universally applicable, its value would drop significantly.”

“Could it be that the Swarm has better resources? Maybe these are just leftovers?”

“Good point. There’s no way this has nothing to do with the Swarm. They probably have superior alternatives.”

“Possibly. But we know so little about the Swarm. We don’t even know how long their members live. For all we know, their natural lifespans could be so long that they don’t even need this.”

The Ji members exchanged another round of glances, silently noting their discussion to include in their task report—perhaps they’d earn some credit for it.

“The report says that the material is easy to cultivate. It only requires nuclear waste and essentially no other maintenance.”

“If that’s true, then it’s truly a win-win resource. There’s so much nuclear waste—it’s usually just packed up and thrown into stars, which is such a hassle.”

“I knew a small, backwater civilization couldn’t have developed such advanced technology. Their so-called core technology probably relies entirely on this special material. It’s likely not worth much on its own.”

“Agreed. With our level of technology and personnel resources, replicating this product would be a trivial matter.”

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