I Am The Swarm

Luo Wen had gone through a complex emotional journey regarding the Daqi prisoners of war.

In the early days, after the Swarm had taken custody of the prisoners from the Riken, Luo Wen had worked tirelessly to research a method to convert them into intelligent entities. He feared that during this period, the Interstellar Technological Confederation might intervene and demand the prisoners’ immediate return.

But Luo Wen had overestimated the cohesion within the Confederation and underestimated the civilizations’ loose perception of time. As a result, these prisoners had stayed with the Swarm for over 20 years.

Initially, Luo Wen had only planned to convert a portion of the prisoners into intelligent entities and then mix them with the unconverted ones before returning them to the Daqi civilization. Yet, the Daqi left their people in the Swarm’s custody without a second thought, as if they had no concerns at all.

This indifference annoyed Luo Wen. Was it the Swarm they looked down upon, or was it him personally? If the prisoners were left unattended for so long, wouldn’t it make him look weak if he didn’t fully convert them?

Thus, what began as a plan for partial conversion turned into a complete transformation—every last Daqi prisoner became an intelligent entity in disguise.

Having created spies, Luo Wen naturally needed an opportunity to send them back. He waited and waited, and eventually, a Daqi fleet arrived. Luo Wen thought, If they’re willing to show some humility and pay a nominal fee for accommodations and meals, I’ll return their people.

After all, maintaining the prisoners was a resource drain, so much so that the Swarm had built a massive eco-pod on Planet Izumo just to sustain them.

But what happened?