I Am The Swarm-Chapter 607: Infiltration

Although it was a bit disappointing not to land directly on the life-bearing planet, landing on its orbit meant there would be plenty of opportunities to infiltrate it in the future.

However, the situation that followed was somewhat unexpected for Luo Wen. Unlike the large starport at the Star Gate, the artificial satellite where the anchor units landed was primarily filled with various research facilities, so it wasn’t open to the public.

The satellite was bustling with Ji Race personnel, and the node units were assigned to a regular laboratory, assisting with minor tasks while learning. They weren’t given any heavy responsibilities since, in the eyes of the Confederation, they were newcomers from a remote, uncivilized region—essentially like savages who had just been introduced to advanced civilization. Naturally, they needed time to catch up.

Since there were no outsiders and the satellite was filled with laboratories, the security measures were extensive, and the alert level was high. Additionally, the entire satellite was an artificial construct, with every corner connected by pipelines. These pipelines were equipped with various monitoring instruments and patrolled by security robots.

This tight security made it nearly impossible for Luo Wen to plant the fungal carpet.

Fortunately, there was still a way. Since the node units were newcomers and hadn’t been assigned to high-security experiments, they had relatively more freedom to move around.

This freedom didn’t mean they could roam the satellite at will, but they could more easily apply for trips to the life-bearing planet. The Ji Race had a relatively lenient policy for newcomers.

Newcomers often had just left their home planets, endured long journeys, and suddenly found themselves in a completely different environment, surrounded by strange-looking aliens. This drastic change could easily lead to negative emotions.

Especially for races like the Riken, who had just joined the Confederation as outer-ring members, their concepts, customs, and perspectives were still planetary in scope. If not handled properly, they could easily become depressed and act out.

To address this, newcomers were provided with professional psychological counseling during their first few years and could easily apply for trips to the life-bearing planet to relax.

The life-bearing planet was home to numerous cultural landscapes and entertainment facilities from various races, allowing newcomers to find a sense of home somewhere. This was a lesson the Ji Race had learned over the years, which was why many important and dangerous laboratories were built in orbit around life-bearing planets.

The node units naturally didn’t waste this opportunity. After a month of observation and health checks, they applied for a trip to the planet to relax and ease their fatigue from the long journey and homesickness.

The process went smoothly, with no unexpected incidents. A Ji Race transport shuttle carried the node units and a few other aliens from the satellite, passing through the planet’s atmosphere in just a few minutes and landing at a surface airport.

Before they could even prepare properly, the journey was over. Traveling through the atmosphere was faster and more convenient than taking a bus in a primitive civilization.

Although the soil and air composition were different from their home planet, and the node units with Riken identities needed to wear breathing masks to move around normally, Luo Wen knew they had succeeded the moment they touched the ground.

While still on the artificial satellite, the node units had gathered some energy and used a small amount of their body tissue to mutate into several nano-seeds. Nano-seeds were one of Luo Wen’s peak achievements for a certain period of time. These nanoscale creations were the most basic units of the Swarm.

Under the right conditions, nano-seeds would absorb surrounding energy to replicate themselves until they reached a certain threshold, at which point they would undergo their first mutation, successfully joining the Swarm network and becoming a glorious node unit.

However, at this stage, they were still just a mass of pure organic compounds. Even if discovered, it would be difficult to determine what they were—they might simply be mistaken for discarded food residue.

Luo Wen would monitor their status, selecting suitable individuals for remote gene sequence transmission. These individuals would then mutate further after absorbing energy, eventually becoming the target organisms.

During the tense relations with the Confederation and the rise of negative public opinion about the Swarm, Luo Wen developed this technology to facilitate large-scale infiltration and expansion into Confederation territory.

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However, due to the limitations of nano-seeds, their projection speed could no longer keep up with the current expansion demands. As a result, the technology was shelved for a while. Nevertheless, their nanoscale size still made them the best units for Swarm infiltration and stealth, bar none. Moreover, Luo Wen had developed new applications for them, allowing them to shine once again.

The node units continued their journey, sightseeing and relaxing like normal newcomers, while discreetly dropping nano-seeds along the way.

In truth, there was no need to be so cautious. The size of a nano-seed was countless times smaller than a speck of dust. Without specialized monitoring equipment, even if they were dropped right in front of the aliens, they wouldn’t notice.

As the node units continued their relaxing journey, the dropped nano-seeds began to replicate. Due to their tiny size, the energy required for replication was minimal, so it didn’t take long for them to reach the threshold for mutation.

Luo Wen, who had been closely monitoring the situation, didn’t hesitate. He immediately authorized the next step for the nano-seeds. Several of the now slightly larger nano-seeds burned all their energy to successfully mutate into fungal carpet seeds.

The fungal carpet was Luo Wen’s ultimate achievement, the embodiment of all his knowledge and abilities. A single fungal carpet seed represented infinite possibilities.

If a fungal carpet seed were to land on a planet and wasn’t eradicated early, it would eventually grow to the point where the only way to eliminate it would be to destroy the planet itself.

The development of the fungal carpet seeds proceeded smoothly. Even as seeds, their energy absorption rate far exceeded that of nano-seeds. Before long, the fungal carpet seeds sprouted roots.

The roots absorbed surrounding energy but didn’t expand horizontally. Instead, they continued to grow downward. Meanwhile, the upper parts of the seeds began to decay, erasing any trace of their existence on the planet’s surface.

The Ji Race couldn’t have imagined this method of Swarm infiltration. Moreover, this location was over two thousand light-years away from Swarm territory. While the security and defense levels were high, they weren’t designed to counter the Swarm.

Thus, without the Ji Race’s knowledge, the fungal carpet took root deep underground. Then, with Luo Wen’s authorization, part of the fungal carpet’s tissue burned energy to mutate into a Brood Queen egg.

The birth of a Brood Queen egg marked the beginning of a Swarm base, the start of infinite possibilities.