Chapter 437: Clues
The Swarm’s node units, camouflaged in the exteriors of native marine creatures, had little need to remain hidden while aboard the ship. If discovered, they were either casually stepped on or thrown back into the sea, raising no suspicions.
Behind these reconnaissance units, Luo Wen had already assembled a specialized team of intelligent entities. The Swarm was no longer the fledgling force it had been when it first encountered the Rikens. It had now accumulated considerable experience in deciphering the languages and scripts of alien races.
By observing and recording the conversations between the native crew members, the Swarm steadily expanded its vocabulary of the natives’ language.
In the crew’s quarters, the Recon Bugs discovered numerous books. Judging from the illustrated covers, these books were unlikely to provide much insight into the native species’ history. However, the Swarm’s primary focus was on decoding their written language. Although progress was slow without a direct point of reference, it was better than making no progress at all.
The ship’s machinery also became a focal point of the Swarm’s study. From these machines, Luo Wen could not detect any traces of an advanced civilization. The ship relied on primitive fossil fuels for energy, with an antiquated design where a boiler generated steam to drive a main turbine.
Such a rudimentary combination was not only far below the level of the Rikens but even inferior to that of the Rat Folk civilization.
Although Luo Wen couldn’t draw broad conclusions based solely on this observation, the accumulating evidence began to shape his thoughts.
The Swarm’s expansion proceeded at an accelerating pace, with several ocean-going vessels being infiltrated each day. With more materials for comparison, progress in decoding the natives’ written and spoken language advanced rapidly. Soon, the Swarm could roughly understand conversations between the natives.
Although the discussions aboard the deep-sea vessels rarely touched on anything of substantial value, the Swarm managed to extract some interesting tidbits from the scattered information.