I Am The Swarm

Chapter 607: Infiltration

Although it was a bit disappointing not to land directly on the life-bearing planet, landing on its orbit meant there would be plenty of opportunities to infiltrate it in the future.

However, the situation that followed was somewhat unexpected for Luo Wen. Unlike the large starport at the Star Gate, the artificial satellite where the anchor units landed was primarily filled with various re

The node units naturally didn’t waste this opportunity. After a month of observation and health checks, they applied for a trip to the planet to relax and ease their fatigue from the long journey and homesickness.

The process went smoothly, with no unexpected incidents. A Ji Race transport shuttle carried the node units and a few other aliens from the satellite, passing through the planet’s atmosphere in just a few minutes and landing at a surface airport.

Before they could even prepare properly, the journey was over. Traveling through the atmosphere was faster and more convenient than taking a bus in a primitive civilization.

Although the soil and air composition were different from their home planet, and the node units with Riken identities needed to wear breathing masks to move around normally, Luo Wen knew they had succeeded the moment they touched the ground.

While still on the artificial satellite, the node units had gathered some energy and used a small amount of their body tissue to mutate into several nano-seeds. Nano-seeds were one of Luo Wen’s peak achievements for a certain period of time. These nanoscale creations were the most basic units of the Swarm.

Under the right conditions, nano-seeds would absorb surrounding energy to replicate themselves until they reached a certain threshold, at which point they would undergo their first mutation, successfully joining the Swarm network and becoming a glorious node unit.

However, at this stage, they were still just a mass of pure organic compounds. Even if discovered, it would be difficult to determine what they were—they might simply be mistaken for discarded food residue.

Luo Wen would monitor their status, selecting suitable individuals for remote gene sequence transmission. These individuals would then mutate further after absorbing energy, eventually becoming the target organisms.

During the tense relations with the Confederation and the rise of negative public opinion about the Swarm, Luo Wen developed this technology to facilitate large-scale infiltration and expansion into Confederation territory.

However, due to the limitations of nano-seeds, their projection speed could no longer keep up with the current expansion demands. As a result, the technology was shelved for a while. Nevertheless, their nanoscale size still made them the best units for Swarm infiltration and stealth, bar none. Moreover, Luo Wen had developed new applications for them, allowing them to shine once again.

The node units continued their journey, sightseeing and relaxing like normal newcomers, while discreetly dropping nano-seeds along the way.

In truth, there was no need to be so cautious. The size of a nano-seed was countless times smaller than a speck of dust. Without specialized monitoring equipment, even if they were dropped right in front of the aliens, they wouldn’t notice.

As the node units continued their relaxing journey, the dropped nano-seeds began to replicate. Due to their tiny size, the energy required for replication was minimal, so it didn’t take long for them to reach the threshold for mutation.

Luo Wen, who had been closely monitoring the situation, didn’t hesitate. He immediately authorized the next step for the nano-seeds. Several of the now slightly larger nano-seeds burned all their energy to successfully mutate into fungal carpet seeds.

The fungal carpet was Luo Wen’s ultimate achievement, the embodiment of all his knowledge and abilities. A single fungal carpet seed represented infinite possibilities.

If a fungal carpet seed were to land on a planet and wasn’t eradicated early, it would eventually grow to the point where the only way to eliminate it would be to destroy the planet itself.

The development of the fungal carpet seeds proceeded smoothly. Even as seeds, their energy absorption rate far exceeded that of nano-seeds. Before long, the fungal carpet seeds sprouted roots.

The roots absorbed surrounding energy but didn’t expand horizontally. Instead, they continued to grow downward. Meanwhile, the upper parts of the seeds began to decay, erasing any trace of their existence on the planet’s surface.

The Ji Race couldn’t have imagined this method of Swarm infiltration. Moreover, this location was over two thousand light-years away from Swarm territory. While the security and defense levels were high, they weren’t designed to counter the Swarm.

Thus, without the Ji Race’s knowledge, the fungal carpet took root deep underground. Then, with Luo Wen’s authorization, part of the fungal carpet’s tissue burned energy to mutate into a Brood Queen egg.

The birth of a Brood Queen egg marked the beginning of a Swarm base, the start of infinite possibilities.