I Am The Swarm

“Cover fire!” Seeing the pursuers closing in, the Daqi could only opt for the most dangerous method.

The heavy machine gun on the vehicle roof opened fire first. Simultaneously, the team members leaned out of the car windows, raising their weapons to shoot.

These actions would be simple under normal circumstances, but they were extremely dangerous during high-speed movement.

Although their combat armor had magnetic lock devices to help stabilize their bodies, there was still a risk of being thrown off.

Moreover, shooting in this situation made accuracy difficult to ensure. If the angles were bad, they might even accidentally hit their own teammates.

Dazzling energy beams streaked backward, though the amount was somewhat disappointing. With only five vehicles and limited personnel, very few had the proper angle to shoot, resulting in sparse firepower.

While they couldn’t form a powerful fire net, their attacks still effectively slowed down the Swarm beasts’ pursuit, increasing the distance that had been closing in.

“Boom!” A sudden loud explosion erupted, blasting a group of Swarm beasts spanning tens of meters. It was a heavy sensor mine that had just been dropped.

These sensor mines had an enormous blast radius. To prevent enemies from disarming them, they were triggered based on vibration coefficients within the detection area. When the vibration coefficient in the area reached a specific threshold, the mines would detonate.

Explosions rang out continuously, scattering flesh and blood. The Swarm beasts suffered heavy casualties, yet no sign of joy appeared on the Daqi’s faces. The sheer number of beasts was overwhelming, and the gaps left by the explosions were quickly filled with more creatures. Their total numbers didn’t seem to decrease at all.

“Still no signal?” The squad leader shouted as he reloaded his energy magazine.

“No! The signal is still blocked!”

“Damn it!” The squad leader cursed angrily, spitting on the ground.

He was about to continue venting his frustrations when the soldier manning the heavy machine gun shouted.

“Squad leader, they’re slowing down!”

The squad leader quickly turned his head and saw that, indeed, compared to before, the Swarm beasts’ speed had clearly decreased.

“What’s going on? Why are they slowing down?”

“No idea. Could they be scared of our attacks, worried about stepping on more mines?”

“Impossible. They’re not real beasts. There’s no way mere mines would frighten them!”

“Exactly. The Swarm’s combat style has never cared about such losses.”

The Daqi discussed the bizarre behavior, unease creeping over them. After thinking it over, one of the soldiers suddenly proposed a theory:

“I’ve carefully studied the Swarm’s records. They’ve only made limited moves so far—most of it has been space battles. Ground combat is extremely rare. Also, the soldier types we’re encountering now have never been recorded before. Based on the Swarm’s prior behavior, I think they might be experimenting on us.” Ȓ𝔞ꞐỌ฿Ë𐌔@@novelbin@@

“You mean they’re using actual combat to test their new weapons?”

“Exactly. The Swarm has likely already taken over the Star System. They could destroy us in a hundred different ways, but they’ve chosen this cumbersome method. I don’t think they’re doing this just for fun.”

“Now that you say it, that does make sense.”

“Following that line of thought, if these beasts are experimental units, perhaps they have some flaws that caused them to stop pursuing us?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“What do you mean?”

“If this is a live test, there might be other strange creatures waiting for us ahead…”

As the Daqi had guessed, the pursuing beasts indeed had certain flaws.

The current species appearing on the Daqi Planet had all been modified using native genetic templates. This made them far cheaper to produce compared to their space-based counterparts while imbuing them with more biological traits.

For instance, the pursuing beasts had been enhanced by Luo Wen to increase their adrenaline secretion, enabling them to ignore pain and fatigue, heightening their mental stimulation and explosive strength. However, their foundational templates imposed limits on their capabilities.

Their respiratory and heat dissipation systems simply couldn’t handle such high-intensity, prolonged bursts of activity. After chasing for a certain distance, their bodies naturally slowed and gradually came to a stop.

If they kept running, even without the Daqi attacks, their lungs would rupture on their own.

Fixing these flaws wasn’t impossible, but it would require more investment, and the incubation process would take longer. After weighing the options, Luo Wen decided not to enhance them further. If these units became too costly, they would lose their numerical advantage, which was their primary value as expendable cannon fodder.

Furthermore, the beasts’ current performance wasn’t up to par. Luo Wen’s intention had been to create a species capable of long-range pursuits, constantly exerting pressure on retreating forces.

But as it stood, he seemed to be trapped in a cycle: the balance between cost and functionality couldn’t be achieved, forcing Luo Wen to consider other solutions.

The Daqi convoy continued forward as the pursuing Swarm beasts disappeared from view. Soldiers stationed on the open roof positions remained vigilant, scanning their surroundings nervously, while the others seized the rare opportunity for a brief rest.

“Huh?” One soldier positioned in the open roof was cleaning his weapon and checking his remaining ammunition when a shadow suddenly enveloped him.

What puzzled him was that the surrounding ground was still bathed in sunlight, and their vehicle was speeding at over 400 miles per hour, yet this shadow remained firmly over him—and was rapidly expanding.

His instincts told him this was far from normal. He hurriedly looked up.

“Ah!!” A cry of terror and despair escaped his lips.

Within the bright glare of the star, a black dot was rapidly growing. That black dot soon revealed itself as a massive beast. It had sharp, piercing eyes and a gleaming, lethal beak. Its wings stretched out like a curtain of night, each feather polished to a metallic shine, giving the beast an awe-inspiring, divine presence.

The creature’s wings pulled back as it dove, its terrifying talons extending forward. It plummeted rapidly, its target clear: the vehicle he was riding.

“What’s happening?” Hearing his shout, the squad leader stuck his head out of the car window, scanning the surroundings with alarm in search of the threat.

“It’s above us! Overhead!” The beast was descending almost vertically, at nearly a 90-degree angle, leaving the vehicle’s heavy machine gun with no line of fire. The soldier in the open roof hurriedly grabbed his nearby personal weapon and started shooting into the sky.

The red energy beams cut through the air, pointing out the threat to the other soldiers. More heads emerged from car windows, straining to look upward. When they finally saw the source of the danger, their mouths instinctively gaped open.

Although they had grown somewhat prepared for encounters with massive Swarm units during their battles.

But when a colossal creature with a wingspan nearly sixty meters came plunging down from the sky, the suffocating pressure it brought was something no data or briefing could ever fully convey.