I Am The Swarm

The Red Fang Breakers, standing over five meters tall, loomed like giants as they activated their defensive fields, temporarily blocking attacks from the Confederation. However, while the negative energy fields were nearly invincible in defense, they consumed an enormous amount of energy. Even the Red Fang Breakers, equipped with miniaturized dark matter furnaces, couldn’t sustain this state for long.

But the Red Fang Breakers weren’t fighting alone. Over five thousand intelligent Swarm members had already arrived at the ceremony site. Now fully armored, they charged toward the Confederation soldiers.

What the Confederation referred to as “intelligent Swarm members” were actually Swarm bodies carrying the consciousness of Swarm intelligent entities. These bodies weren’t products of natural growth but were instead engineered war machines, fused with multiple superior genes. Enhanced by their exoskeletal armor, they became even more formidable.

The agility of these Swarm bodies was astonishing. Their sprinting speed was incredibly fast, and their humanoid structure allowed for exceptional flexibility. Their dexterity rivaled that of the Spider Combat Bugs, and with their size and armored state, their strength far surpassed the slender limbs of the Spider Combat Bugs.

The high-molecular blades that extended from their limb joints made this strength even more lethal, capable of breaching the defensive armor of Confederation soldiers head-on.

Compared to the Swarm’s brutal efficiency, the Confederation soldiers’ advantage lay in their powerful ranged firepower, as evidenced by the attachments on their armor.

However, the venue, while not small, felt cramped given the level of combatants present—both the Swarm and the Ji race.

The Spider Combat Bugs had launched the first wave of attacks, drawing the initial barrage of fire. The Red Fang Breakers absorbed the second wave, and in that brief window, the armored Swarm bodies closed the distance with the Confederation soldiers.

What followed was a display of raw, unbridled violence that left the over two hundred Confederation members in awe. Thanks to Luo Wen’s influence, the intelligent entities had an unusual fondness for close-quarters combat.

To facilitate this, the Swarm had developed several immersive combat games. This culture led to the continuous evolution of Luo-style Combat Techniques, which had now developed into a comprehensive close-combat system. Compared to Luo Wen’s early, playful moves, these techniques now lived up to their name.

The unique nature of Swarm intelligent entities made the dissemination of the new Luo-style Combat Techniques as simple as copying and pasting. This meant that every Swarm body controlled by an intelligent entity was a master of close combat.

In contrast, the Confederation soldiers’ close-combat arsenal was limited to their standard-issue high-molecular tactical knives. Against the armored Swarm bodies, which were essentially walking weapons with impeccable combat skills, the soldiers stood little chance once the Swarm closed in.

Moreover, the agility of the armored Swarm bodies far surpassed that of the Confederation soldiers, making it nearly impossible for the soldiers to create distance and counterattack.

“What’s wrong with the Swarm?”

“Seriously, in the space age, they’ve trained a close-combat unit like this? What were they thinking?”

“I’m starting to doubt the Intelligence Division’s estimates of the Swarm’s population. If the Swarm were truly short on numbers, they wouldn’t waste resources like this.”

From the Confederation’s perspective, the skills displayed by the armored Swarm bodies couldn’t have been mastered overnight. In the space age, opportunities for close combat were rare, and spending vast amounts of time training in such impractical skills seemed like a colossal waste.

“I’m beginning to suspect that these so-called intelligent Swarm members aren’t actually Swarm at all but some kind of biological weapon.”

“That’s a valid suspicion.”

“Impossible. The term ‘intelligent Swarm’ is used to distinguish them from mindless biological weapons.”

“Exactly. The intelligent Swarm are still the intelligent Swarm. Those other things might just be designed to closely resemble them to confuse us. Given the Swarm’s technology, that wouldn’t be difficult.”

“That makes sense. No wonder only a few intelligent Swarm members interacted with us earlier. They must have mixed fakes in with the real ones!”

“Wrong. It’s more like mixing real ones in with the fakes, since the fakes clearly outnumber the real ones.”

“Alright, it seems the Intelligence Division’s estimates of the Swarm’s population are still trustworthy.”

At that moment, the main screens in the command room, displaying the live feed from the ceremony site, went dark almost simultaneously.

The two quantum communication devices the Ji had set up at the ceremony site, though miniaturized, were still conspicuous and had long been targeted by the Swarm.

Before the fighting broke out, the Swarm couldn’t do much about them. But now that the battle had begun, the Swarm wasted no time in dispatching forces to destroy them.

“Enough speculation. We’re on the Swarm’s turf, even if they haven’t had much time to fortify it. Let’s wrap this up quickly to avoid further complications.”

Fortunately, now that the fighting had started, the previous rules no longer applied to either side. The Eagle Eye team’s reconnaissance drones moved in openly, hovering just outside the shielding field, scanning the area.

“Prioritize locating the Swarm’s field generators. Anything capable of generating a shield of this scale must be sizable.”

With the quantum communication devices destroyed, the loss of the live video feed wasn’t a major issue, as the Eagle Eye drones could compensate. However, the loss of audio was significant. The command room staff felt like they were watching a silent movie, which was highly disorienting.

More importantly, with the shielding field in place, no sound could escape from inside, and no commands could be sent in. This situation was likely causing immense psychological pressure on the Confederation soldiers at the ceremony site.

Thus, the command staff prioritized locating and destroying the Swarm’s field generators.

As the Eagle Eye drones moved in, the Swarm deployed small aerial units to intercept them. A flash of light, and one of the Eagle Eye drones disintegrated mid-air, scattering into countless fragments.

“We’re under attack! I didn’t see what hit us!”

Before the report could finish, another Eagle Eye drone met the same fate.

“Climb higher! The attack is coming from the ground!”

“Found it! Coordinates 12.91—energy anomaly detected, likely a field generator! Ah—!” The Eagle Eye team’s report was cut short as their drone was reduced to debris, eliciting gasps from the command room.