I Am The Swarm

Luo Wen had envisioned a grand scene: standing before his enemies and shouting, “The Sacred F2 binds us—swarm, charge!”

[T/N: F2 is a reference to the game starcraft where the F2 button is the select all army button which is especially helpful for Zerg players.]

Then, an endless tide of insects would flood forth, engulfing the enemy like a rolling dust storm.

However, for now, this vision remained purely in his imagination. Judging by the current situation, he wasn’t even sure it would ever come to fruition.

Frustrated and weary from feeding the Brood Nest, Luo Wen bit off a small section of the tree root, carried it back with the Brood Nest connected to him, and returned to the underground cave.

Back at the cave, he stuffed one end of the root into the funnel-shaped intake of the Brood Nest. The root was long, and much of it stuck out, but Luo Wen decided to leave it that way and let the Brood Nest digest it slowly.

He patted himself on the back for his cleverness. Although this method slowed the Brood Nest’s absorption efficiency, it saved him a great deal of effort, didn’t it?

Over the next few days, Luo Wen stayed put, planning to establish a temporary nest here.

He expanded the small makeshift underground chamber several times over, digging dozens of tunnels that branched in all directions—some leading to the surface, others to unknown areas, and even a few descending deeper underground.

Several of the tunnels were especially spacious, designed as emergency escape routes for transporting the Brood Nest. These routes featured numerous branches to add to their complexity.

Whenever he got hungry, Luo Wen brought the Brood Nest to the surface to drink sap from the tree roots. He would also bite off segments of root for the Brood Nest to absorb later. When he got tired, he simply lay down next to the Brood Nest and slept.

After one such rest, Luo Wen woke to discover he had gained a new ability: he could secrete a sticky substance from his mouth. This secretion could be used to bind soil together, making it sturdier.

“Is this evolution’s way of telling me to never leave the ground? So many abilities tailored for burrowing and hiding?” Luo Wen grumbled.

Still, an ability was an ability. Using the Brood Nest to analyze it, Luo Wen discovered it came from genetic fragments of the Black Ant, which was apparently a master burrower.

Despite his complaints, Luo Wen enthusiastically used his new ability to reinforce the room housing the Brood Nest, making it sturdier, though the process left his mouth dry.

Over the next few days, the now-detached Brood Nest grew noticeably larger. Luo Wen began to suspect it was siphoning off the energy meant for producing insects to fuel its own growth.

The Brood Nest had grown so large that Luo Wen now struggled to move it. If this continued, his wide escape tunnels would become useless.

Upon investigating, Luo Wen realized the problem was his own doing.

The first insect he had designed was based on the Black Beetle “War God”. Luo Wen had further enhanced it by adding digging appendages and replacing its short antennae with longer ones for better sensory capabilities, reducing the risk of ambush.

However, this design drastically increased the material and energy requirements. The real issue was that the “War God” was over ten times Luo Wen’s size. For the Brood Nest to hatch such a creature, it first needed to grow even larger than the “War God” itself.

Upon realizing this, Luo Wen cursed the rigid operating system of the Brood Nest. Couldn’t it be more flexible? All the energy he’d painstakingly gathered had gone into its unnecessary growth!

But the Brood Nest, being a mechanical-like production factory, showed no signs of appeasing its creator. It silently conveyed its indifference: If you don’t want to keep me, just leave me here to fend for myself. Go ahead, I dare you.

In the end, Luo Wen caved. Abandoning the Brood Nest was not an option.

He quickly revised his orders, instructing the Brood Nest to hatch a scaled-down version of the “War God” instead.@@novelbin@@

Meanwhile, Luo Wen took the opportunity to survey the surrounding area while digging tunnels. He found no immediate threats, so he grew less vigilant about constantly dragging the Brood Nest around. Besides, its increasing size made that impractical.

He dug a hidden chamber adjacent to the large room housing the Brood Nest, leaving only a small entryway that he could barely fit through. Luo Wen crafted a makeshift door using his sticky saliva and sealed the entrance every time he left.

After a few tries, his technique improved to the point where the door fit seamlessly, leaving no visible traces from the outside.

Luo Wen reflected on his apparent talent for anything related to digging.

The Brood Nest’s increased size wasn’t entirely a downside—it could now chew through tree roots faster and convert energy more efficiently.

Luo Wen hesitated: would making the Brood Nest even larger be beneficial? But if it grew any bigger, he’d lose the ability to move it entirely.

For now, the current size was sufficient. Luo Wen decided to focus on hatching a few insects to see their effectiveness before making further plans.

Two days later, the Brood Nest finally accumulated enough energy to begin hatching its first insect.

The hatching process took an astonishing amount of time. After another two days, the Brood Nest “spat” out a Black Beetle-like insect, exactly as Luo Wen had envisioned.

Or perhaps “sprayed” would be a more fitting term.

One side of the Brood Nest split open, and the insect emerged amidst a torrent of viscous fluid, splattering onto the ground.

Fortunately, Luo Wen had anticipated this and widened the room’s entrance. Otherwise, the newly hatched beetle would have slammed against the wall.

After ejecting the insect, the Brood Nest rapidly deflated, resembling a punctured balloon. Luo Wen panicked.

“Is this thing a one-time use?” he muttered anxiously.

A quick inspection revealed that while the Brood Nest wasn’t permanently damaged, the process of hatching the Black Beetle had drained it severely. It would need significant time and energy to recover.

“Even the Brood Nest has to go on maternity leave?” Luo Wen sighed in frustration.

Two days to gather energy, two days to hatch, and then an extended recovery period. At this rate, when would he ever amass the insect army of his dreams?

Was this what “the power of the collective” was supposed to mean?

It felt more like a trial designed to exhaust him to death on his way to ultimate evolution.

Despite his disappointment, Luo Wen suppressed his frustration and turned his attention to the newly hatched Black Beetle. He could only hope it wouldn’t let him down.