I Am The Swarm

To maintain the dignity of the Overmind, Luo Wen had added a few small features to his custom avatar. For example, eyes with enhanced dynamic vision and a corresponding super-fast nervous system.

With these, the Overmind dominated Sarah in various games, leaving her utterly defeated.

Perhaps due to first impressions or the deep impact of those early days, Luo Wen’s appearance in the Swarm Network, as seen by Sarah, had become that of his avatar.

This form’s facial expressions were more effective at conveying emotions than the mask-like faces of the Swarm.

At this moment, Luo Wen’s brows were furrowed, seemingly troubled by something. As Luo Wen and the Swarm grew stronger, such emotions had become increasingly rare.

The battle in Star System One had been set from the start. The main goal was to buy time, hold the territory, and eliminate the Confederation forces.

Everything had been going smoothly, and the “insiders” within the Confederation had performed exceptionally well, exceeding Luo Wen’s initial expectations.

As the Swarm’s forces on the battlefield dwindled, Luo Wen had planned to unleash a decisive move to wipe out the Confederation forces. However, an unexpected event had disrupted his plans.

“Overmind, may I know what troubles you?” Sarah’s voice came again.

Although Sarah had once been a Ratfolk Queen, after joining the Swarm, she had completely abandoned her former “rat-like” appearance, always presenting herself in her new form.

“Very well. Perhaps seeing things from your perspective might shed some light.” Luo Wen thought for a moment. The Intelligent Entities were part of him, so there was no need to hide anything. However, while they were connected on some level, they still had individual thoughts and unique ways of thinking. He was powerful, but not omnipotent. Seeing things through Sarah’s eyes might offer a different perspective.

With that, Luo Wen shared a series of images with Sarah, transmitting the information directly into her consciousness. This was a simple task within the Swarm Network.

Sarah closed her eyes and began receiving and processing the information.

“Elder Cecil, how have you been lately?” The footage was presented in first-person perspective, a format Sarah was very familiar with. All intelligence provided by the Intelligent Entities came in this form.

A somewhat aged voice greeted her, coming from the perspective’s owner. The voice was familiar to Sarah, but from the peripheral view of the mechanical surroundings, which lacked distinctive features, she couldn’t determine the location or which race’s territory this was.

The Overmind hadn’t told her who this footage came from, but she already knew its origin.

In front of the perspective was a large communication screen. While each race had its own style, they were generally similar. Having seen many, Sarah quickly recognized it.

At the center of the screen was a beautiful young woman from another race, her voice as pleasant as her appearance.

Sarah was familiar with this woman’s race—a very special one, the kind every woman wished to be born into.

This was the famous Potling Race of the Interstellar Technological Confederation. All members of this race were stunningly beautiful, conforming to the aesthetic standards of most races. However, with advanced technology, such physical changes weren’t difficult. Even those born unattractive in other races could undergo modifications, so this wasn’t particularly remarkable.

But their other talent was truly astonishing: eternal youth. Without any side effects, it was exactly what it sounded like.

Once Potlings reached a certain age, they would remain youthful until their final days, when they would rapidly age and wither.

While modern technology could make someone appear young again, it was only superficial. The Potlings were different. Their age was frozen—their appearance, skin, muscles, voice, blood vessels, everything remained as it was in their youth. It was true eternal youth.

This ability had given the Potlings a very rough start when they were first discovered. It was a dark period in their history.

Even today, as a powerful civilization, such incidents still occurred. Yet, the secret of their eternal youth remained unsolved.

There were many theories, but the most widely accepted one was that the unique environment of the Potlings’ home planet had shaped their genes. Replicating this was nearly impossible.

Although the Potlings and the Swarm had yet to cross paths, the Potlings might be the race in the Interstellar Technological Confederation most indebted to the Swarm.

While eternal youth would eventually fade, immortality would bloom forever. Thus, the allure of immortality far surpassed that of eternal youth.

Although Sarah had moved beyond the superficial desires of ordinary females, she still found the Potlings fascinating.

With her long, flowing green hair, perfectly proportioned features, and slender, graceful figure, Elder Cecil was the epitome of a Potling.

Her status further confirmed this. After all, Ji Race elders were at the pinnacle of individual power in this galaxy. Someone of Elder Cecil’s apparent age couldn’t have reached such a position.

Thus, this beautiful woman was likely a grandmother several hundred years old.

Yet, even as a grandmother, Elder Cecil’s voice remained melodious and pleasant. The aged greeting earlier clearly hadn’t come from her.

However, in the lower right corner of the projection screen, there was a smaller screen showing the source of the message.

The figure on the small screen had a very peculiar appearance. He was short but not thin, with a stocky build. His neck was unusually long, and his head was flat, making him appear over two meters tall.

This unmistakable turtle-like figure was none other than Ji Race Elder—Humes.

Humes, the first Ji Race elder to contact the Swarm and the highest-ranking Ji Race member the Swarm had encountered so far, had even visited the Swarm Court and met Sarah in person.

This intelligence had come from him?