I Am The Swarm

Luo Wen’s eyes were exceptionally sharp when it came to moving objects. As soon as the yellow-brown creature entered his clear line of sight, he immediately noticed it.

A closer look confirmed it was the same type of bug he’d seen swaggering into the ant nest earlier.

Was it the exact same one he’d seen that day? Luo Wen wasn’t sure.

He suffered from bug-face blindness; he couldn’t even tell the difference between Black Two and Black Three, who were constantly buzzing around him, let alone a bug he’d only seen once.

Seeing this guy sparked a thought in Luo Wen’s mind. If he couldn’t beat the soldier ants, surely he could take on a yellow bug about the same size as himself?

What’s more, he was always eager to have a cordial and friendly “interaction” with any new species he encountered—preferably by tasting them. Who knew? He might just acquire some unique gene fragments.

Calculating that the transport team would take a little while to return, Luo Wen wasted no time. He identified a safe route and quickly scuttled toward the yellow bug.

The yellow bug was lounging leisurely, completely unaware of Luo Wen’s approach. This was precisely why he still had his large compound eyes—despite their hindrance during digging, they offered an unparalleled visual advantage.

It was like playing a game where everyone else’s map was shrouded in fog, while his was fully revealed.

This unique greeting left the yellow bug completely dazed. Before it could react, the second move of the Luo-style combat technique, “Peach Blossoms in Full Bloom,” smashed into its face, knocking it off balance. This move was very similar to the first—both involved a heavy slam with his burrowing limbs.

Then came the third move, “Vicious Dog Pounce.” Luo Wen’s large mandibles clamped down on the yellow bug’s forelimb with a loud crack, snapping it off cleanly.

He then alternated between the first and second moves repeatedly. Luo Wen’s combat experience had grown significantly recently; very few black ant scouts could withstand even ten moves against him.

The yellow bug, clearly inexperienced with such a scientific and advanced fighting style, was utterly helpless. Its body parts were rapidly being reduced to a scattered mess.

Throughout the fight, Luo Wen noticed that the yellow bug continuously released pheromones. The scent felt somewhat similar to that of Black Two and Black Three. Luo Wen began to understand how this yellow bug could swagger into a neighbor’s home unchallenged. Unfortunately for it, Luo Wen didn’t rely on pheromones to identify enemies—he relied on his eyes and brain.

The yellow bug’s unique ability had no effect. Having lost the initiative and being outmatched in intelligence, it could barely mount a defense before meeting its end.

Luo Wen felt the battle was a bit underwhelming. Despite the yellow bug appearing larger than a black worker ant, it was all show and no substance. Luo Wen hadn’t even exerted his full strength before it fell. At this moment, he felt like slapping his burrowing limbs together and declaring, “Mission accomplished,” but alas, there was no one to appreciate his wit. The loneliness of being a master was palpable.

Dragging the yellow bug back to his earlier spot, Luo Wen waited a short while before the transport team appeared within his line of sight.

When they arrived, he had most of them stay put while he took two black ants back to the battlefield. There, the remnants of the yellow bug’s body were still scattered around, mostly severed limbs—much larger than fly legs, and far too valuable to waste.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Luo Wen returned to the main group. With an unexpected bonus harvest for the day, he decided not to linger at the spot any longer. He set off with the transport team to return.

On the way, they encountered an unlucky black ant scout who had lost its way. Luo Wen demonstrated the Luo-style combat technique on it and then enthusiastically invited its remains back to the nest as a guest.

Luo Wen personally dragged the yellow bug’s body because he intended to enjoy this first specimen alone. Meanwhile, the transport team divided the scout’s body and some parts of the yellow bug to carry back to the brood nest.

He instructed the transport team to feed part of the haul to the brood nest, while the rest was left as rations for the black ants and larvae. These black ants were exceptionally skilled at feeding; Luo Wen had only needed to explain it once for them to grasp the concept immediately.

As for the black beetle, it now had a new name: Big Black.

The black ants, who only sucked sap from tree roots, couldn’t fathom the concept of chewing through roots. Thus, Luo Wen had to take personal responsibility for Big Black’s food supply. But Luo Wen was too busy to dig up roots for it today, so Big Black would just have to go hungry for now—it wouldn’t die from missing one or two meals.

Returning with the yellow bug to a small chamber he had recently excavated, Luo Wen entered his private space—a bedroom strictly off-limits to the black ants.

Though small, the room had two escape tunnels and one connecting passage to the brood nest. All were sealed with mud mixed with saliva and camouflaged for safety.

Finally alone with the yellow bug, Luo Wen cracked open its exoskeleton and skillfully devoured the muscle within.

After finishing his sumptuous meal, Luo Wen had planned to rest but felt a twinge of guilt about Big Black. He summoned a black ant to clean up the food scraps and feed them to the brood nest. Meanwhile, he went to the tree roots to drink some sap and dig up a root for Big Black.@@novelbin@@

No, that wasn’t right. He specifically dug up a root for Big Black and drank some sap along the way.

Returning, he stopped by the brood nest to check on it and reviewed the gene pool. Sure enough, a new gene fragment for pheromone mimicry had been added.

This gene fragment was intriguing. Luo Wen wanted to test it out. Before sleeping, he kept hypnotizing himself into believing he desperately needed this ability, hoping his body’s instincts would rise to the occasion.

Upon waking, Luo Wen hurriedly checked his body and tested the new ability. It seemed he could now alter his own pheromones. He hadn’t expected his instincts to be so effective—he’d truly gained the power of pheromone mimicry.

To test it, he summoned a black ant and changed his pheromones. For ants, pheromones were like ID cards—a single sniff determined if someone was an ally.

The black ant seemed puzzled and showed signs of agitation but didn’t attack Luo Wen. Testing several more black ants, he found their reactions were similar. The behavior felt familiar, though he couldn’t immediately recall why.

“Is it ineffective, or am I using it wrong?” Luo Wen was puzzled, unsure of the issue.

It wasn’t until he saw Big Black wandering around that he realized. Big Black, lacking a pheromone communication system, still identified friend from foe—likely thanks to a recognition system built into the brood nest itself.

The black ants’ reaction had been familiar because they exhibited the same behavior toward Big Black.

Relieved by this result, Luo Wen felt a sense of joy.

Though the bugs’ intelligence wasn’t high, their cunning moves often exceeded Luo Wen’s expectations. He had genuinely feared that one day a yellow bug might sneak into his nest and cause trouble in his absence. That would have been a real headache.

Now, he had nothing to worry about. In fact, he even looked forward to yellow bugs wandering in—they’d be delivering takeout, providing the brood nest with extra meals.

Since his own ants weren’t suitable for further testing, Luo Wen dug up another tree root to feed Big Black, then summoned the transport team and headed out.

Even while experimenting, he couldn’t neglect the hive’s food supply. Luo Wen felt he was truly wearing himself out for the hive’s development.

He invited another lucky scout back to the hive and let the transport team carry it home. Luo Wen used this time to continue his experiments.