I Am The Swarm

Operating within the Rat Folk base proved increasingly inconvenient. Despite the Ji squad’s meticulous efforts to cover their tracks with Keller, it appeared he had still become suspicious. The base’s security had noticeably tightened.

With their critical findings in hand, the Ji squad refrained from further risks. They swiftly concluded their mission and returned to their ship.

“Although the records are sparse, we’ve managed to reconstruct the timeline. The unification of the Rat Folk Empire looks quite peculiar,” Art said with enthusiasm. Aided by Warwick and Amina, he had pieced together fragments of the First Empress’s life.

“The Kingdom of Merrican? A sudden plague wipes out the royal family, the chain of command collapses, and it’s attributed to divine punishment? Hah, are we reading a fantasy novel?” Wright scoffed as he skimmed the records, shaking his head disdainfully.

“In early civilizations, rulers often relied on myths and gimmicks to add an aura of mystique and legitimacy to their rule. But we’ve already analyzed the Rat Folk’s case—their accounts are likely genuine.”

“Indeed. Regardless of how they interpreted the events, the collapse of one of the two dominant kingdoms, leaving the other unchallenged, is a historical fact. This suggests the First Empress may have received what they described as divine intervention at that time.”

“So, the so-called god granted her the Swarm’s legacy?”

“Impossible. How can you believe in gods? Wright, as a proud Ji, how can you entertain such ignorance?”

“Then what do you think it was?” Wright shot back.

Blanca, who had been silent, finally spoke up. “Have you considered that this so-called god might actually be the Swarm?”

“Isn’t that what we initially suspected? But if it were the Swarm, why would they choose a native creature as their empress?”

“I misspoke earlier. The so-called god isn’t the Swarm itself—it’s the Swarm’s legacy,” Blanca clarified after a moment of thought. “Let’s assume the Swarm is an advanced civilization. For some unknown purpose, they sent out a legacy object, much like ‘Lumina,’ to disseminate their influence. This legacy reached Genesis Planet and began affecting its environment. That’s why we see such rapid evolution—turning the Rat Folk from prey into a civilized species in a mere thousand years.”

“But all of this was merely the passive influence of the legacy object. Then came the First Empress, who gained its full recognition and inherited the Swarm’s true legacy. With that power, she unified the Rat Folk and split their society, isolating a portion of the elite and transforming them into the Swarm. If the Swarm truly possesses the ability to transfer consciousness and achieve immortality, their personnel quality would eventually surpass ours. Over time, the gap would widen even further.”

Blanca’s theory left the entire team stunned, and a collective gasp filled the room.

“If that’s true, then we can only be grateful that we discovered this early. If they were allowed to develop for tens of thousands more years, they could become a catastrophic threat—perhaps even endangering the Ji’s position,” Amina said, visibly shaken.

She now saw the Swarm as an even greater danger, placing them in an elevated category of threat. After all, the Ji had taken millions of years to reach their current level of development.

The Captain, however, shook his head. “I think you’re still underestimating the Swarm. Our probes have detected Swarm activity across hundreds of star systems in the Outer-ring. Given the growth rate of their bioweapons, they’ve likely already achieved formidable combat capabilities. In terms of numbers, they can now overwhelm any external civilization.”

“However, numbers mean nothing in the face of overwhelming technological superiority. We still hold the absolute advantage in technology,” Wright said with some defiance, his belief in the Ji’s invincibility unshaken.

“If the Swarm’s researchers truly achieve immortality, their knowledge will continuously accumulate without interruption. Imagine how terrifying such researchers would be,” the Captain said, his voice somber. “Over time, they would become omnipotent, capable of conducting cross-disciplinary research entirely on their own. Since all knowledge would reside within the same individual, there would be no gaps in understanding or miscommunication. This would allow the Swarm to make advancements in science and technology far beyond what we can imagine. They could catch up to us in less than ten thousand years. And when that day comes, we won’t be able to compete with their sheer numbers.”

The weight of his words hung in the air as the team began to grasp the gravity of the situation. But then the Captain delivered an even more chilling thought.

“And that’s not the worst part. Consider this—where did the Swarm’s legacy come from? Was it carried on the asteroid that struck Genesis Planet, or has it been hidden there all along?”

“I think it came with the asteroid. The Rat Folk only started evolving after the impact,” one team member offered.

“I reviewed the surveillance records from that time. There’s no mention of the asteroid’s origin,” another added.

“That’s normal. The recorders back then couldn’t have foreseen the significance of this event today.”

“Or it might not have been the asteroid at all. Maybe the impact merely awakened the Swarm’s legacy,” someone countered.

Seeing the argument spiraling, the Captain raised a hand to calm them. “No matter the cause, there’s one undeniable fact: this legacy had a creator. Just like ‘Lumina,’ which was created by the original Ji. And we have no way of knowing how much technology its creator embedded within this legacy.”

“Thus far, the Swarm’s recorded actions are few, and their technology appears limited. But we can’t rule out the possibility that they’re hiding their true capabilities. It’s very likely that we’ve been underestimating their combat potential.”

“If the creator of this legacy is like the original Ji—extinct—then the threat is somewhat contained. But if the creator still exists, the Swarm becomes an even greater danger. There’s no telling whether they have additional reinforcements waiting to join them.”

“Captain, what do we do now? We don’t have the means to verify these speculations,” someone asked.

The Captain mulled over the question for a long time before shaking his head. “Given the urgency of this situation, we can’t afford to linger here any longer, nor is this something we can solve. I’ll compile all the intelligence and hypotheses we’ve gathered so far and submit them to our superiors. The next steps will be for them to decide.”

The team nodded in agreement. The situation had escalated to a strategic level, far beyond what their intelligence-gathering unit could handle.

The Captain’s decision to pass the matter upward was the most logical course of action.

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